College Update: Crescenta Valley High alum Surrey, Irvine’s series run, sensational season comes to close

The following are updates on local athletes at the collegiate level.

Elliot Surrey (Crescenta Valley High, 2012) UC Irvine baseball sophomore: A surprising and dramatic run to the College World Series concluded Wednesday evening for UC Irvine and Surrey.

Texas dealt the Anteaters a 1-0 loss in Omaha, Neb. to an end an Irvine season that most believed would have been done long before.

Losers of eight of their final nine games in the regular season, the Anteaters finished fourth in the Big West Conference, but were rewarded with one of the final four selections into the field of 64 for the College World Series and made some noise and then some.

After opening up the Corvallis Regional with a victory over the University of Nevada Las Vegas, the Eaters, with Surrey twirling a gem on the mound, shocked the baseball world with a 14-2 win over Oregon State, the overall top seed in the tournament. Surrey got the victory on the mound and two days later got a save against Oregon State to advance to the Stillwater Regional. There, the Eaters swept Oklahoma State, beginning with an 8-4 win on the strength of another Surrey start.

Irvine began the College World Series with a 3-1 win over Texas on Saturday, but Surrey was dealt his first trouble of postseason play Monday in a 6-4 loss to Vanderbilt.

On Wednesday, a rematch against Texas in an elimination game concluded the Eaters’ run and a 41-25 season.

Surrey threw 4 1/3 innings Wednesday, allowing five runs, seven hits and two walks, while striking out one. It was a tough way to end a remarkable postseason run for the multiple-time former All-Area pick. Surrey made four postseason appearances, going 2-1 with a save, throwing 19 1/3 innings, tallying a 3.26 ERA with 14 strikeouts to eight walks, with 16 hits allowed.

Wrapping up the season, Surrey went 8-5 with a 2.32 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 112 2/3 innings.

Samantha Sismundo (Glendale High, 2010) Cal State Los Angeles tennis senior: Throughout success at Glendale High, Glendale Community College and Cal State L.A., Sismundo and Sevana Zargarian’s greatest triumphs have come in tandem.

That was the case this past senior season for the two.

The Golden Eagles concluded a 7-10 season April 19 with a 9-0 win over Cal State Stanislaus at the CSULA Tennis Complex.

Sismundo swept her opponent in No. 6 singles with a flawless 6-0, 6-0 win, while teaming with Zargarian one final time for an 8-2 win in No. 2 doubles.

Sismundo, who graduated from Glendale High before moving on to GCC, and Zargarian, who attended Clark Magnet before heading to GCC, were former All-Area Girls’ Tennis Doubles Team of the Year honorees.

Together, Zargarian and Sismundo went 10-9 to tie for the second-most doubles victories on Cal State L.A. They compiled a 4-1 mark playing at No. 2 doubles and a 5-5 tally as the No. 3 team. Sismundo was 1-1 with other doubles partners. Sismundo and Zargarian’s 4-1 mark at No. 2 doubles came over their last five matches.

Sismundo finished the year at 5-7 in singles with a 2-6 mark at No. 6 singles. Zargarian went 1-2 in singles play.

Sergio Plasencia (Glendale Community College, 2013) Dayton baseball junior: Following an All-Western State Conference season with GCC, Plasencia quickly acclimated himself to the four-year level as a regular starter with the Flyers.

Getting the start in all 46 games he played, Plasencia tallied a .231 batting average on 37 hits, including nine extra-base hits. His on-base percentage was .332 after drawing 18 walks. He scored 22 runs and had 22 runs batted in.

Dayton concluded its season at 23-30 and 14-13 in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

The Flyers dropped both their games in the season-ending conference tournament, including a 4-3 loss to Fordham to end the year May 22. Plasencia went one for three, driving in a pair of runs on an RBI double and a sacrifice fly.

Plasencia finished with four multiple-hit games, including four three-hit tilts.

Angel Rodriguez (Glendale Community College, 2014) Cal State Northridge junior: Rodriguez, an All-American at Glendale, will begin his days at CSUN next spring, but is now playing for the Conejo Oaks in the California Collegiate League this summer.

Thus far, the former junior college All-American has appeared in two games, throwing seven innings, striking out nine, allowing seven hits, walking five and tallying an 0-1 record and 2.57 ERA.

Rodriguez went 5-3 with a 2.80 ERA and 41 strikeouts through 64 1/3 innings for GCC as a sophomore.

Conejo was 5-8 headed into Thursday’s road game against the Santa Barbara Foresters.

Jason Kim (Crescenta Valley High, 2010) Biola University baseball junior: Kim, who played at Crescenta Valley High before Glendale Community College, sat out this past season with Biola, but has caught on with the SoCal Catch of the California Collegiate League for summer ball.

Kim has appeared in four games so far, building an 0-1 record with a save, the latter coming in his last appearance on Sunday in a win over the Santa Barbara Foresters. Kim pitched 3 1/3 innings, allowing one run, two hits and striking out two.

In four appearances, he’s pitched 13 1/3 innings, struck out eight, walked three and tallied a spotless 0.00 earned-run average as all three runs he’s given up have been of the unearned variety.

On Thursday, the Catch (7-5) traveled down to Mexico for a game with the Mexico Build.

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Follow Grant Gordon on Twitter: @TCNGrantGordon.