COMMUNITY COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Rancho Santiago Clinches Title With Victory Over OCC
Last Saturday, Rancho Santiago assistant coach Jim Reach had his cigar ready in case the Dons clinched the Orange Empire Conference title.
But Reach went smokeless as the best the Dons could do was clinch a tie for the championship with their victory over Saddleback.
On Tuesday, Reach got to light up after Rancho Santiago defeated Orange Coast, 8-3, in Santa Ana. It marks the second consecutive conference title for the Dons (35-8, 17-5 in conference), who were picked to finish third this season.
“At the begining of the year, we had no idea where this thing would go,” Rancho Santiago Coach Don Sneddon said. “The key for us was consistency. We only lost two (conference) games in a row once.”
Rancho Santiago’s chances in the playoffs appear strong as the Dons’ pitching staff continues to recuperate. Paul O’Hearn, who missed three weeks with a sore back, pitched a complete game Saturday.
Jay Hassel, also coming off an injury, made his third consecutive strong start Tuesday, allowing nine hits and three runs in 8 1/3 innings.
Hassel (4-1) missed most of the first two months of the season because of a sore right (pitching) elbow.
“I feel strong,” Hassel said. “My elbow is fine but there is room for a lot of improvment. I’ve worked hard and will get that complete game my next time out in the playoffs.”
OCC pitcher Chad Rolish matched Hassel by not allowing a run in the first three innings. But Raul Rodarte led off the fourth with his 11th home run for Rancho Santiago.
Rolish later appeared out of the inning when he struck out Robin Lindsey, but the pitch bounced past catcher Mark Dodd and Lindsey reached base. Lindsey moved to second on another wild pitch and scored on an error.
Rodarte had a run batted in double in the fifth and later scored on a wild pitch as Rancho Santiago took a 4-0 lead.
OCC scored a run in the sixth on doubles by Chris Larson and Dodd, but Rancho Santiago scored four more runs in its half of the inning.
Mark Wasikowski had a two-run double and Sean Ramos had a two-run single.
John Arnold had a triple and Donnie Smith an RBI single in the seventh, and Mike Burns had a run-scoring single in the eighth for OCC (24-17-1, 9-14).
In other Orange Empire Conference baseball:
Riverside 7, Golden West 1--Riverside (30-11, 14-8) scored four runs in the top of the first and three more in the fourth. Gerad Cawhorn homered and Jerry Maldonado pitched 5 1/3 innings of relief, striking out seven and allowing just one hit, for Golden West (14-20, 9-13). The game was marred by a benches-clearing brawl when Riverside’s Ray Cervantes charged the mound after he was hit for the third consecutive time by Golden West starter Jeff Henderson.
Cypress 10, Fullerton 9--Rob Utz’s double in the bottom of the ninth drove in Matt Wilson to give Cypress (27-13, 13-10) the victory and a third-place finish in the conference.