COMMUNITY COLLEGE ROUNDUP : LaRocca Rebounds to Beat Orange Coast

Josh LaRocca, coming off a poor start, pitched a six-hitter to help Golden West to a 10-1 victory over host Orange Coast on Sunday in an Orange Empire Conference baseball game.

LaRocca (1-2) didn’t allow a hit after the fourth inning. He retired 16 of the final 17 he faced, including 14 consecutive batters before a ninth-inning error. He had allowed seven earned runs in two innings Tuesday in a loss to Fullerton.

Danny Flanagan had two hits, including a two-run triple, and Dustin Martin had two hits and scored two runs for Golden West (9-11, 3-6). Robert Prince hit his first home run for the Rustlers to tie it, 1-1, in the third.

It was the 11th consecutive loss for Orange Coast (3-14, 0-6).

In other Orange Empire Conference games:

Cypress 6, Riverside 1--Rob Crabtree pitched his second consecutive complete game for Cypress (18-5, 5-2). Crabtree, a sophomore right-hander, allowed eight hits, had 11 strikeouts and didn’t allow a walk. He has 24 strikeouts in his last two starts and hasn’t walked a batter in his last 18 1/3 innings.

The Chargers scored four runs in the fifth to take a 6-0 lead. After a dropped third strike and two errors loaded the bases, Josh Kliner had a sacrifice fly, Jason Hodges followed with a two-run double and Andy Gonzales ended the scoring with an RBI double. Riverside is 17-4, 7-2.

Fullerton 7, Saddleback 4--Mark Veronda’s sacrifice fly scored Jon Gardikas to give visiting Fullerton a 5-4 lead in the seventh. Brent Coon added a two-run single in the ninth for the Hornets (11-9, 5-4). Tim Walker had two hits and an RBI also for Fullerton.

David Biddinger had two two-run homers for Saddleback (10-7-1, 5-4). His second homer in the sixth tied it, 4-4.