Glendale Community College pitchers hold down Antelope Valley
A trio of Glendale Community College pitchers surrendered 10 hits Thursday afternoon against visiting Antelope Valley College.
However, they were able to work their way out of their share of jams to only give up a single run.
And with the aid of two home runs, the Vaqueros earned a 4-1 Western State Conference East victory over Antelope Valley at Stengel Field.
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Sophomore Angel Lerma started on the mound and picked up the win for the Vaqueros, going five innings, allowing one run on six hits, striking out one and walking one. Max DeAmicis pitched scoreless sixth and seventh innings and James Giambalvo finished off the eighth and ninth innings to earn the save.
“Our starter Angel wasn’t real sharp to start off with today, but he made pitches when he had to make pitches,” said Vaqueros Coach Chris Cicuto, whose squad was outhit, 10-6. “After the third inning, Angel started to execute his pitches, but his pitch count got too high.
“We knew we were going to have to go to our bullpen early and DeAmicis has been a guy who has been solid for us in relief and then we have a guy like Giambalvo at the back end, so we felt really confident going with those guys.”
At the plate, solo home runs from Bruno Teramoto and Mondo Rodriguez highlighted the Vaqueros’ day.
The Vaqueros fell behind early, giving up a run in the top of the first inning when Kyle Lathrup led off with a single and scored on a double by Michael Behen.
Glendale college erased the lead with one swing after Teramoto blasted a solo home run to left field in the second inning. The Vaqueros added another run in the frame for a 2-1 lead after Sergio Rey walked and was plated by a sacrifice fly to left field by Matt Colomes (two for four).
The Vaqueros made it 3-1 with a solo home run by Rodriguez (two for four) in the third inning.
NJ Omoruyi walked in the eighth inning to set up Glendale’s final run. He was lifted for pinch-runner Troy Viola, who stole second and went to third on a throwing error. Viola scored on a single to center by Jacob Gribbin.
Antelope Valley had runners in scoring position in the second, third, fourth and eighth innings but could not add a run.
“It was really nice to see the pitchers do their jobs today and the defense really backed them up on every pitch,” Rodriguez said.
“We always want to do better, but we’re pretty happy with the way we’ve been playing and where we stand right now.”
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It was the 10th straight win for Glendale college, which is unbeaten in its last 11 contests.
More importantly, the victory kept the Vaqueros (30-5-1, 14-1-1 in conference) in first place in the division by a half-game with four more to play. College of the Canyons (24-11, 14-2) is in second, having beaten Citrus College, 9-1, on Thursday.
Glendale will have one more game against Antelope Valley (11-25, 4-12) on Saturday before playing a three-game series next week against College of the Canyons.
“We feel like we can compete with anyone in the state right now,” said Cicuto, whose squad is the defending conference champion and is ranked No. 5 in the Southern California Community College Athletic Assn. poll. “Every game is very important.
“I don’t want to look too far ahead to next week, we have to take care of our job Saturday against Antelope Valley. But the guys are playing with confidence right now and that’s nice to see.”
Twitter: @jefftsports
