COMMUNITY COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Rancho Santiago Wins 9th in Row

Don Sneddon, baseball coach at Rancho Santiago College, got off to a rough start Tuesday morning.

He went to get the bus for his team’s trip to Golden West and it was gone. At first, he believed it had been stolen, but it actually was in the repair shop.

He then had to scramble to get three vans to transport his team.

In his haste, he forgot his uniform top and didn’t discover it was missing until it was too late to go back for it. He spent the day in an undershirt covered by a black windbreaker.

But once at Golden West, things went pretty well for Sneddon. Rancho Santiago rolled to a 12-3 Orange Empire Conference victory over the Rustlers.

It was the ninth consecutive conference victory for Rancho Santiago (28-6 and 14-3 in conference), which has a 2 1/2-game lead over second-place Golden West, with six games left in the conference race.

“It was a long morning,” Sneddon said. “But this was a big win. I don’t believe the race is close to over but this will definitely help us. There are too many games left to get overconfident.”

Sneddon made sure the point was clear to his players after the game. During a long post-game meeting, he explained the importance of the remaining games.

While Sneddon was lecturing, Golden West Coach Bert Villarreal was making a different point with his players--a running one. Golden West players were doing wind sprints after the final out.

The Rustlers, playing without shortstop Robb Carabba (hamstring injury), made five errors that led to three unearned runs, but Rancho Santiago also had 17 hits.

The Dons got a solid performance from sophomore right-hander Matt Lackie, who pitched a seven-hitter for his fourth complete game. Lackie (10-2) leads the conference in victories.

Jeremy Sherman had four hits, two stolen bases and scored two runs for Rancho Santiago.

Marty Neff, Chris Floth and Steve Grack each had three hits. Neff hit his conference-leading 15th home run in the first inning off loser Todd Long (5-2). Long lasted 2 1/3 innings, giving up eight hits and seven runs, six earned.

Rancho Santiago scored two in the first, one in second and four in the third to build a 7-1 lead. Brian Criss had a two-run double in the fourth for Rancho Santiago.

Gary Christopherson had two hits and an RBI for Golden West (22-8, 12-6).

In other Orange Empire Conference games:

Cypress 10, Saddleback 2--Jason Bates hit two home runs and Doug McConathy and Troy Babbitt also hit homers for host Cypress (21-14, 7-10), which had 17 hits.

Saddleback took a 1-0 lead in the first on a home run by Brent Ferguson, his fifth.

But leadoff batter Bates tied the score with a solo home run, and Terry Tewell doubled and later scored on a two-run home run by Babbitt, his fourth, as Cypress took a 3-1 lead in the first.

Bates and McConathy hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth as Cypress scored six times to take a 10-1 lead. Bates had three hits, and McConathy, Tewell, Tom Puppe, Tom Acuna, Mark Pak, and Jim Berry each had two for Cypress.

Ken Kendrena (4-0) pitched seven innings, allowing six hits and five strikeouts for the victory. Ferguson added a double and two walks and scored two runs for Saddleback (10-17, 4-13).

Orange Coast 18, Fullerton 3--OCC had 17 hits, including a three-run home run by Kevin Schula, at Fullerton. Sid Maldonado had three hits, two runs and two RBIs, and Mark Dodd had three hits and two RBIs for OCC (13-17, 6-11). John Douris pitched a six-hitter, allowing three runs, and had 12 strikeouts for the victory.

Fullerton made eight errors, which led to eight unearned runs by OCC.

Steve Trachsel (7-3) took the loss for Fullerton (18-12, 8-9). Kevin Monson had two hits and two RBIs and Gary Mota hit his ninth home run for Fullerton.

In Orange Empire Conference men’s tennis:

Saddleback 7, Cypress 2--Cypress’ No. 1 player, John Swaino, defeated Arlen Sternberg, 6-1, 6-0. Cypress is 13-6, 7-4; Saddleback is 11-0 in conference.

In Orange Empire Conference women’s tennis:

Saddleback 7, Cypress 2--Tami Blume won, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 1 singles for host Saddleback (14-4, 10-2).