Community College Baseball : Rancho Santiago Wins Stengel Tournament

Rick Martin escaped an eighth-inning jam and pitched a scoreless ninth to earn a save as Rancho Santiago College defeated Cerritos, 6-5, in the championship game of the Casey Stengel baseball tournament Sunday at Cerritos.

Martin, a sophomore left-hander, entered the game in the bottom of the eighth with the bases loaded, two out, and Rancho Santiago ahead, 6-4.

He walked Todd Guggiana to force in a run but got Jose Millares to fly out to right to end the inning. Martin then retired Cerritos in order in the ninth to get his first save.

Martin was the second relief hero of the day for Rancho Santiago (8-0), the top-ranked team in the state. Cerritos (8-3) is second in the state.

Brett Snyder had replaced starter Tim MacNeil after MacNeil walked the bases full with two out in the fourth. Snyder struck out Brian Greback to end the inning and preserve Rancho Santiago’s 4-1 lead. Snyder (2-0) pitched four innings to get the victory.

Rancho Santiago took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a tremendous home run by sophomore Bobby Hamelin, a transfer from UCLA. Hamelin lined his home run over the 415-foot sign in right-center field.

Rancho Santiago scored twice in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead. Todd Lloyd grounded into a double play for one run and Richard Gonzales hit a double off the left-field wall to score another. Rancho Santiago scored single runs in the sixth and seventh to take a 6-2 lead.

Rancho Santiago had more chances to score but hit into four double plays and had a runner picked off.

“This was a good tournament for us,” Don Sneddon, Rancho Santiago Coach, said. “This game showed our team that we can win a close ballgame with a good team.”

Rancho Santiago had defeated Cerritos, 15-4, Saturday.

In the College of the Sequoias Tournament:

Orange Coast 6, Foothill 3--OCC capped its second consecutive day of playing three games by winning the tournament. Brett Johnson pitched six innings of the seven-inning game for the victory and Craig Nixon had a three-run double in the third for OCC (9-4-1).

Orange Coast 21, Foothill 1--Derick Deheashtian hit a grand slam in the fifth for OCC in a game called after five innings on a mercy rule. Dane Clatney pitched five innings for the victory. It was the fourth home run of the tournament for Deheashtian, who has seven this season. J.J. Culpepper had four hits, including two doubles, for OCC.

Orange Coast 9, Fresno 5--Nixon had three hits and three RBIs for OCC as Fresno was eliminated. Mike Misuraca added two doubles and two RBIs and Culpepper also had two doubles for OCC.