Community College Baseball : Tellers the Right Choice as Rancho Santiago Wins

Rancho Santiago Coach Don Sneddon couldn’t decide whether to start left-hander Willie Navarrette or right-hander David Tellers before Thursday’s Orange Empire Conference baseball game against Cypress.

Sneddon finally decided on Tellers, and he responded with an eight-hitter as Rancho Santiago defeated Cypress, 11-1, at Cypress.

Tellers (8-1) had a season-high nine strikeouts as he mixed a series of off-speed pitches. He gave up only one extra-base hit, a double to Doug Yates in the second inning, and one walk, to Steve Gill to open the game.

“Both wanted the ball,” Sneddon said of Navarrette and Tellers. “But I remembered that Tellers threw a shutout against Cypress last season. That was the deciding factor.”

The teams started the week tied for first place, but Rancho Santiago (28-5, 10-2) now holds a two-game lead over Cypress (25-8, 8-4) with eight games left in conference play. Cypress has lost three conference games to Rancho Santiago, including an 11-10 decision Tuesday.

Rancho Santiago’s Bobby Hamelin, Rich Gonzales, Mike Gonzales and Ed Luna hit home runs.

Hamelin hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning as Rancho Santiago scored six runs. It was the 19th home run of the season for Hamelin, who tied the Orange County single-season record set by Joey James of Orange Coast in 1986. Hamelin has 79 RBIs, one behind James’ record, also set in 1986.

Cypress’ Tim Churchill, who singled in the third inning, has a hit in all 33 games Cypress has played this season.

Cypress’ Benny Gonzales (9-1) pitched 8 innings and gave up eight runs, seven earned.