Raider Tello's start to his collegiate hitting career is right up there with the most productive in Pasadena City College baseball history. The freshman shortstop continues to destroy opposing pitching including his performance over two days to complete a 17-1 victory over Los Angeles Harbor that was halted on Saturday due to rain in the fifth inning and finished on Monday.
Tello batted 5-for-6 and knocked in seven RBI as he raised his batting average to fourth in the state at .500 and is now tied with Cuesta's Zach Tallerman for the state RBI lead at 26. Both Tello and sophomore third baseman Marco Martinez launched home runs at Brookside Park's spacious Jackie Robinson Memorial Field against the Seahawks. Martinez, an All-American from the 2019 team, is starting to heat up with round-trippers now in consecutive games.
The state's #12-ranked Lancers upped their overall record to 12-5 and with only 25 percent of the precincts in for the South Coast Conference title race, they are in a wild, 4-way tie for first place with Long Beach CC, Rio Hondo, and East Los Angeles, all at 4-2. With 18 games to go in the conference season, things will only get more exciting in one of the most competitive years in recent memory in the SCC. Both LA Harbor and Mt. San Antonio are 3-3 thus far to place six teams battling closely.
On Saturday, Tello began his monster performance with his second home run of the season, a 2-run drive over the left field fence in the first inning. In the third, he singled up the middle and scored on a Martinez double. In the fourth, Tello lined a RBI single to right center. On Monday, he struck out in his fourth at-bat in the fifth to show he was human, but in the seventh he roped another RBI single to center. Then in the eighth, The Arcadia High graduate launched a bases-clearing, 3-run double to deep left center that capped his 2-day, 1-game tour de force.
After missing the first game of the season due to COVID-19 protocols, Tello has hit safely in all 16 Lancers games he's played in. In the series v. LA Harbor, won by the Lancers, 2-1 in games, Tello batted 11-for-14 with two doubles, a homer, an intentional walk, a hit-by-pitch, and nine RBI. His 36 total hits are second in the state and he has knocked in a run in at least 13 of his games.
"I'm really proud of the effort and time Raider has put forth in preparing for the 2022 season," said PCC head coach Pat McGee. "Having been away from the game for three full years, it's never been about his ability. It's simply been waiting for the opportunity to show everyone what he is capable of. The tone that he and Max Blessinger set for the entire offense has been the big reason for our early success."
Blessinger, the team's transfer sophomore centerfielder, raised his average to .362 by going 2-for-3, scoring three runs, drawing two walks and lining a 2-run double in the finale. As the leadoff hitter, Blessinger has scored 26 runs and has a streak of 16 straight games plating a run. Tello is second in the batting order.
Coleman Mitchell pitched 4.2 innings on Saturday, allowing just three hits and striking out five. On Monday, relievers Rider Gardner (winning pitcher), Hayden Zweig, Kyle Noell, and Martin Hernandez combined to pitch the final 4.1 shutout innings.
Last Thursday, PCC trailed 2-0 but Blessinger crushed a 2-run homer and Martinez followed with another 2-run blast all in the fifth inning in a 4-2 victory at Harbor. Sophomore righty Benny Olguin was magnificent in relief as he pitched 4.2 innings of 5-hit shutout ball with six strikeouts to improve to 3-0 on the mound.
In the series opener on March 1, the Seahawks handed PCC a 7-4 defeat despite a 4-for-5 day for Tello and a 3-for-5 effort by Blessinger. Catcher Matthew Delgado went 2-for-4. Harbor was led by the power-hitting bats of Marlon Oviedo and Anthony Bassett, who both slugged home runs to help the Seahawks take a 7-1 lead by the top of the sixth. Casey Popham recorded three shutout innings of relief for starter and losing pitcher Jakob Guardado (5 innings, six hits, three runs).
Pasadena will start an important, 3-game series against Long Beach on Tuesday in a 2:30 p.m. first pitch at Brookside.
"Our coaching staff talk to the kids all the time about how long and drawn out of the conference season is at 24 games long," McGee said. "We have to maintain our poise for the duration of the conference race."