HENDERSON, Nev. — May 8, 2026 — The College of Southern Nevada Coyotes saw their 2026 season come to an end Friday morning with a 9–7 loss to Cochise College in an elimination game at the NJCAA Region 1 Baseball Championship at Lied Field | Morse Stadium.
The loss concluded a highly successful season for the Coyotes, who finished the year with a 37–13 overall record after capturing the ACCAC Regular Season Championship for the second consecutive season and earning the right to host the Region 1 Tournament.
CSN came out aggressively in the opening inning and took an early lead. Evan Festa singled up the middle and Brandon Swanson followed with a walk before Jake Gorrell lined a two-run single to left field, giving the Coyotes a 2–0 advantage.
After both teams were held scoreless in the second inning, CSN added to its lead in the third. Caden Kirby reached on an error and Harvey Smerdon followed with a single before both runners advanced on a double steal. Gorrell again delivered in the clutch, lining a two-run single up the middle to push the Coyotes' lead to 4–0.
Cochise answered in the fourth inning. Shiryu Sato singled before Andrugh Yee launched a two-run home run to left field, trimming the deficit to 4–2. Later in the inning, the Apaches loaded the bases and plated another run on a walk to cut the lead to 4–3.
The game shifted in the sixth inning when Cochise strung together four runs on four hits. TJ Shaw Jr. drove in the tying run with an RBI single before Landon Blais delivered a two-run single through the right side. Sato later added an RBI single up the middle as the Apaches moved in front 7–4.
Cochise added two more runs in the seventh inning on RBI singles from George McCarroll and Blais to extend the lead to 9–4.
The Coyotes continued to battle late into the game. In the seventh inning, Alex Rhynes doubled to right center and later scored on an RBI single from Smerdon to make it 9–5.
CSN mounted another rally in the eighth inning. Carson Anderson worked a walk and Jeffrey Peters III followed with an RBI double to right center. Rhynes then reached on an error, allowing Peters III to score before Kirby delivered an RBI single through the left side to cut the deficit to 9–7.
The Coyotes brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning after Swanson singled and Joseph Randazzo entered as a pinch runner, but Cochise recorded the final outs to secure the victory.
Gorrell led the Coyotes offensively with a standout performance, finishing 3-for-5 with four RBIs. Smerdon added two hits and an RBI, while Peters III collected two doubles and drove in a run. Kirby, Festa, Anderson, and Rhynes also recorded hits as CSN totaled 12 hits in the contest.
On the mound, Christopher Wrench started and allowed three runs over 3.1 innings. Mayson Reichartz was charged with the loss after Cochise took the lead in the middle innings. Benjamin Schroeder and Andrew Kaplan combined to finish the game in relief.
The Coyotes conclude the 2026 season as ACCAC Regular Season Champions for the second consecutive year and finished the final NJCAA Division I Baseball Poll ranked No. 11 in the nation. CSN totaled 37 victories during the season, earned the right to host the Region 1 Baseball Championship, and established itself as one of the premier programs in junior college baseball throughout the 2026 campaign.
Full coverage and offseason updates can be found at www.csncoyotes.com.
