El Camino College’s baseball team lost its South Coast Conference finale to Long Beach City College last Friday at ECC.
The win gave the Vikings, who ended conference play at 16-5 and are 24-12 overall, the South Coast championship while the Warriors ended up third at 13-8 in SCC play and 24-12 overall.
Things started to look good for El Camino. Pitcher Taylor Rashi held LBCC to just one hit through five innings with the Warriors ahead 1-0. The Vikings tied the game on a run-scoring sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth.
El Camino College’s baseball team lost its South Coast Conference finale to Long Beach City College last Friday at ECC.
The win gave the Vikings, who ended conference play at 16-5 and are 24-12 overall, the South Coast championship while the Warriors ended up third at 13-8 in SCC play and 24-12 overall.
Things started to look good for El Camino. Pitcher Taylor Rashi held LBCC to just one hit through five innings with the Warriors ahead 1-0. The Vikings tied the game on a run-scoring sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth.
The game remained a 1-1 tie until the top of the eighth. With two runners on, Vincent Byrd hit a three-run home run to give Long Beach a 4-1 lead. The Vikings proceeded to add three more runs in that inning, finishing with six for a 7-1 lead. Gavin Windes followed with a double off Rashi, a freshman from West Torrance High. Jackson Foss and Tanner Moore walked. Rashi was replaced by Kyle Mitchell, a freshman from Torrance. Steven Nuno followed with a single, driving home Windes. Jacob Gota singled in a run to up the Vikings’ lead to 6-1 and LBCC added another run on a sacrifice fly from Trisin Chamberlain off another reliever, Kevin Ahir.
Down by six runs, the Warriors attempted to rally in the bottom of the ninth. With one out, Jake Sagagian walked and Brady Dorn was hit by a pitch. Carter Underwood struck out but Mason Landis singled home Sagagian. Kyle Hemni struck out but a pass ball helped him reach first base. That enabled Jonathan Pasillas to hit a two-run single. Noah Barba, however, ended the threat by grounding to second and the Vikings jumped on to the field celebrating their conference title.
“It was a bad pitch on the home run,” ECC head coach Nathan Fernley said. “It was a tough inning. One bad inning can make a difference in baseball.”
El Camino scored first in the top of the third when Hemni, who led off the inning with a double, scored on a ground out by Nick Sablock.
Pasillas finished the game by going 2-for-5 with two runs batted in. Hemni was 2-for-4 with one RBI and a run scored. Rashi pitched seven-plus innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on eight hits. He struck out nine batters and walked two.
The winning pitcher for Long Beach was Tai Tiedemann who went eight innings. He allowed one earned run on six hits with six strikeouts and one walk.
A day earlier at LBCC, the Warriors defeated the Vikings 8-3. Sablock had a two-run triple. Zack Ferreira went 2-for-4 and drove in two runs. Jake Sahagian was 2-for-5 with one RBI.
In the first game on April 26 at ECC, the Warriors fell to Long Beach 4-2. El Camino ran into a player who was last season’s Daily Breeze South Bay Player of the Year in Daniel Rocha from Narbonne. Rocha struck out nine batters to key the Vikings.
Rocha went up against Warrior ace Cassius Hamm who allowed eight hits in seven innings. A bad fifth inning, however, proved vital for Hamm and the Warriors. LBCC scored two runs to take a 3-1 lead and it proved to be the difference in the game.
Down 4-1, ECC attempted to mount a comeback in the bottom of the ninth. It scored after Ferreira tripled and scored on a groundout by Connor Underwood. Rocha was relieved by closer Evan May who got the final two outs.
Despite its third place finish, the Warriors made the playoffs and will be on the road on Saturday and Sunday. Their opponent is yet to be decided.
_________________________
Serra Baseball
Serra continues to struggle in Del Rey after three losses
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
Serra High’s baseball team fell to 1-7 in the Del Rey League after three losses last week. At East Los Angeles College on April 25, the Cavaliers lost to host Cathedral 6-4. A day later, Serra traveled to St. Paul in Santa Fe Springs and came home with a 12-6 loss. Last Friday, the Cavaliers were unable to hold on to a six-run lead in a 10-9 defeat to the Swordsmen.
A rash of errors plagued Serra in each of their three losses. Last Friday, the Cavaliers committed six miscues that led to eight unearned runs.
“We played very poor defense,” Serra head coach Martel London said. “The guys are not making the plays.”
The Cavaliers were led by Rollie Nichols who went 3-for-4 with two runs batted in. Adrian Morales was 2-for-3 and drove in two runs. Gary McCoy walked four times, reached first on an error and scored four times.
Serra had a shot at pulling the game out. In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Cavaliers loaded the bases with one out. Morales hit hard ground ball but it was well fielded and converted into a double play to end the threat.
On April 26, McCoy went 2-for-4 with three RBI’s. Errors, though, again hurt Serra.
Nichols and Morales each had two hits in Serra’s loss to the Phantoms.
Things will not get any easier as the Cavaliers play first place Bishop Amat. After visiting the Lancers last Tuesday, Serra hosts Bishop Amat Friday at 3:15 p.m. The Cavaliers close the season with a senior day at Serra against Cathedral next Monday at 3:15 p.m. and visiting the Phantoms at East L.A. College next Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
__________________________________________
Sports Scoop
Hot Narbonne proves too much for Gardena
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
Last week, Gardena fell to 0-8 in the Marine League after losses to two-time defending league champion Narbonne. At Narbonne on April 26, the Panthers fell to the Gauchos 8-3. Things did not get any better at Gardena as Narbonne won handily 9-1.
The Panthers, who are 3-9 overall after winning the first three non-league games before losing their last nine, hope to get a spot in the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division II playoffs. Gardena visited the Generals on Tuesday and will close league at home against Washington, also 0-8 in league, today at 3 p.m.
The Gauchos, who are 6-2 in league with their losses to Carson, have two games against front running Banning (8-0 in league after sweeping the Colts last week) and hope to pull off a tie for the league title. If Carson sweeps San Pedro and Narbonne sweeps the Pilots, the three teams could end up tri league champions.
Narbonne currently has a seven-game winning streak after edging Bell 8-7 in a San Fernando Tiger Classic game last Saturday.
In a Marine showdown last week, host Banning blanked Carson 5-0. At Carson last Thursday, the Pilots clinched, at least, a tie for the Marine crown with a 5-3 win over the Colts.
Big L.A. moves: It was a huge week for two Los Angeles pro teams last week. In the National Football League draft, the L.A. Rams got the first pick and, as expected by many, they took University of California quarterback Jared Goff. A day later and five days after the Los Angeles Lakers National Basketball team fired head coach Byron Scott, they hired current Golden State Warrior assistant coach Luke Walton as their next head mentor.
Ram fans were thrilled with them selecting Goff, who set several school and even NCAA records at Cal. The quarterback position has been a weakness for the recent St. Louis Rams and they knew they needed to pick up a very good potentially talented player. It might be a little while but once Goff get himself together, look for him to be a lift for the Ram offense.
The Rams did not pick, again, until the fourth round on Saturday. They chose Western Kentucky tight end Tyler Higbee who could be a prime target for Goff. They had another fourth round pick in wide receiver Pharoh Cooper from University of South Carolina. L.A. had three sixth round picks in tight end Temarrick Hemingway (South Carolina State), linebacker Josh Forrest (Kentucky) and wide receiver Michael Thomas (Southern Mississippi). Last season, the Rams had one of the worst offenses in the NFL but once the young players mature, things should turn around.
The Lakers could have had ideas on picking up ex-Laker Luke Walton, who retired as a player three years ago. (Scott is also a former Laker player.) Walton began coaching the powerful Warriors, who captured the NBA crown last season then set a record with 73 wins and nine losses this season. With head mentor Steve Kurr out the first 43 games, Walton guided Golden State to a 39-4 record. It also included two blowout wins over L.A., who had its worst season ever at 17-65. Walton is anxious to return to his old team that he played nine seasons with, mostly as a reserve. He will be expected to start out with a very young rebuilding squad that will be expected to have a couple more losing seasons but once things get on, the Lakers should get back into playoff and, possibly, championship contention. However, top players such as Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder and maybe even Golden State’s Klay Thompson, who could also go free agent after this season, could be selected by the Lakers that might make them contenders. It might help but they will be expected to lack depth. The Lakers, though, should have one of the top three picks in next month’s NBA draft and they hope that they will pick up one of the top college or international players.
Walton will continue with the Warriors, who opened the second round with a 118-106 win over the Portland Trailblazers last Sunday at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, through the playoffs as they attempt for their second straight NBA championship. As a player, Walton won the crown with the Lakers in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. Then, he will have the big chore to turn L.A. around as head coach.
