GCC loses wild one

Edgar Melik-Stepanyan

NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- Thursday’s Western State Conference Southern

Division baseball contest between Glendale Community College and Citrus

College typified a junior college game in which no lead is safe.

Especially at hitter-friendly Stengel Field.

Citrus’ six-run eighth inning propelled the division-leading Owls to a

13-9 victory, and a two-game lead over the second-place Vaqueros.

The game featured three lead changes, a combined 28 hits, 10 errors,

six hit batters and numerous complaints from both coaches about the

home-plate umpire’s judgmental calls.

GCC (16-8, 6-4 in division) let a four-run first-inning lead slip in

the third when Citrus (22-2, 8-2) got to Vaquero starting pitcher Jon

Felfoldi for six runs and four hits.

“That takes a lot out of your sails,” GCC Coach Jon Strauss said.

“When your ace gets hit, it’s tough.”

After a struggling Vaquero offense produced just one hit from the

second to the sixth inning, GCC rediscovered its stroke, scoring three

runs in the seventh to retake the lead.

Strauss turned to dependable reliever Kenny Gibson in the eighth

inning, but the freshman was anything but reliable, allowing five earned

runs and four hits.

“It hurts,” Strauss said. “It should hurt. It was a frustrating day.

“We came out with a lot of intensity and emotion. When you get beat

like that, it hurts.”

Strauss blamed himself for inserting Gibson.

“It’s tough when you haven’t pitched competitively for a month,”

Strauss said. “Kenny just threw bad pitches.”

Paul Harter’s run-scoring double in the eighth proved to be the

game-winner. Sophomore teammate Mark Duursma capped the inning with a

three-run homer.

“When we’re down, it’s kind of like a little motivation,” said Harter,

who went two for six with three runs batted in. “When we get down, we

work that much harder.”

Citrus, known for its deep and strong roster, had four players score

twice.

“One through nine, [we have] the best California JC line-up,” Harter

said.

Vaquero designated hitter Chris Keeran reached base in all five of his

plate appearances, scoring twice and driving in a run. Right fielder Evan

Shahak also had a strong day, going three for five with two RBIs.

“I’m proud of our offense,” Strauss said. “We went down fighting.”

BOX SCORE

Citrus*0*0*6*1*0*0*0*6*0*--*13*13*5

GCC*4*0*0*0*1*0*3*0*1*--*9*15*5

Citrus*IP*R*ER*H*BB*K

Heil*6*5*3*7*2*7

Stelzriede*0.2*3*3*3*1*1

Carrillo*0.1*0*0*0*0*0*

Schmidt*2*1*1*5*0*0*

Totals*9*9*7*15*3*8

GCC*IP*R*ER*H*BB*K

Felfoldi*4*7*5*6*1*0

Hampel*3*0*0*3*1*2

Gibson*0.2*6*5*4*0*0

Marble*1.1*0*0*0*0*1

Totals*9*13*10*13*2*3

WP-Carrillo (1-0).

LP-Gibson (1-1).

2B: C-Stuck, Harter, Saldivar; G-Quintana, Shahak.

HR: C-Aldana (5), Duursma (1).

SB: C-Duursma; G-Ramirez.