The Cuesta Men’s Baseball team won the Western State Conference Championship with a win at Santa Barbara City College on April 30. 

2022 brought the Cougars’ baseball program its first full season since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The season also brought them their 18th conference title, the ninth under Head Coach Bob Miller. 

Under Miller’s 20 year tenure, the Cougars earned 16 playoff seasons and 460 regular season wins. Cuesta is 25-15 on the year overall and 18-6 in their conference.

“This has been a fantastic season for our players,” Miller said. “We’ve seen a big step forward in their development and success. This group is very dedicated and cohesive. It’s been a fun team to coach and I couldn’t be happier for them.”

Cuesta’s lineup is headlined by infield slugger Zach Tallerman, who compiled the best overall stats on the team with 8 HRs and 56 RBIs. Infielder Ryan Fenn is another star for the Cougars, with a batting average of .359 and 29 RBIs. 

On the pitching side, Ben Broughton is the team’s ace on the bump. Broughton pitched 86.0 innings, posting a 2.62 ERA and 42 strikeouts. He went 8-1 in 11 games started. 

The conference title gave Cuesta the 7 seed in the CCCAA playoffs. They fell to El Camino in the opening round, but that didn’t diminish the team’s overall success on the year.