The South Coast Conference baseball race got a little more difficult for Pasadena City College after losing its series v. Long Beach City, 2-1. But after two straight close defeats, the Lancers walked away from the Vikings series with pride in hand behind a 6-4 victory at Brookside Park's Jackie Robinson Field on Monday.
PCC (14-8 overall) fell from its temporary first place perch to now fifth place in the highly competitive, 9-team conference. However, the Lancers are just a game back from second-place Rio Hondo and 1.5 games behind first-place El Camino, a team PCC won its series against.
Jakob Guardado became the first Pasadena pitcher to throw a 9-inning, complete game victory since Patrick Pena on Mar. 26, 2019 at Rio Hondo. The last to throw a CG at home was Gordon Ingebritson (UC Irvine) v. Chaffey, a 1-hitter pitched just three days before Pena's effort.
Guardado (3-2 record) scattered 11 hits, walked no one, and struck out seven in going the distance. He fired 1-2-3 innings v. the Vikings in the third, fifth, and eighth innings.
PCC's hitting star was red-hot first baseman Jake Trabbie, who launched three doubles in going 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Trabbie's third double, a hard hit down the right field line turned into the game-winning run as third baseman Toshiki Kuriya broke a 3-3 tie and drove him in with a single in the bottom of the seventh. It was part of a 3-run inning for the Lancers. Kuriya was 2-for-3 and centerfielder Tommy Castillo 2-for-4 with a double.
On Saturday, Long Beach handed the Lancers an 8-6 loss as Vikings rightfielder Ryan Geck was a single shy of the cycle in batting 3-for-4 with five RBI. Kuriya slugged a grand slam in the eighth while Castillo hit an RBI triple in the fifth. Guardado pitched a shutout eighth inning in relief which means the sophomore hurler/rightfielder threw 10 innings over just three days. Justin Goldman also had one inning of scoreless ball.
On Friday's opener at LBCC (rainouts pushed all three games back from its usual Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday schedule), the teams played perhaps the most intense game of the season to date, a 7-6 loss for PCC. Three lead changes became a 6-6 tie in the seventh when Castillo tripled, then rightfielder Damien Ureta was intentionally walked. That brough up shortstop Jack Esguerra, but a wild pitch plated Castillo. Esguerra followed with a double to deep center, but Ureta was tagging on the play and then was gunned out at home plate to keep the game knotted.
With a runner on third and two outs in the bottom of the seventh, PCC closer Rider Gardner got out the team out of the situation with a fly out. He later induced the Vikings to hit into a 5-4-3 double play to end the eighth. With two outs and two runners on in the ninth, Gardner surrendered a walk-off, RBI single to center by third baseman Justin Santoyo.
Also in the defeat, leftfielder Aryonis Harrison made another brilliant diving catch down the left field line after a long run to end the third inning. Trabbie batted 2-for-4 with a double, Guardado was 2-for-4, and second baseman Ivan Barragan 2-for-5. Trabbie was 6-for-13 with five runs scored in the series while Kuriya was 4-for-7 with six walks and six RBI. Kuriya has been a free pass machine of late with 12 walks drawn in the past seven contests.
Trabbie has hit safely in 22 of the team's 24 games and is in the midst of an 11-game hit streak. He leads the SCC in doubles with 12 and is second in hits with 32. In the 11 conference-only games, Trabbie holds the SCC lead in hits and doubles and second in runs scored.
The rain has continued to cause havoc to the conference schedule. At this point, Pasadena's next series v. Mt. San Antonio tentatively are looking at a Thursday, Friday, Saturday series. Check the website and our Twitter site @PCCAthletics for updates.
Toshiki Kuriya launched a grand slam v. Long Beach
