ELAC baseball ends Vikings win streak
MONTEREY PARK, CA — The East Los Angeles College baseball team put an end to Long Beach City College’s nine-game South Coast Conference win streak while winning a three-game series against the Vikings.
ELAC entered the series 4-5 in SCC play while Long Beach was 9-0 and No. 16-ranked in the multi-state Junior College Pacific Division Poll. ELAC (11-16, 6-6) is now a game out of fourth place while Long Beach (18-9, 10-2) remains in first place, but reduced to a one game lead.
In the series opening game on Tuesday, ELAC won 6-2 behind the solid pitching of sophomore Julian Vizcarra (El Rancho High School) who pitched the full nine innings. Vizcarra (3-1) threw two strikeouts and scattered two runs in the first and ninth innings.
The Vikings opened the first frame hitting three of their six hits off Vizcarra, including an RBI triple from leading Viking hitter Tai Tiedemann (.353 batting average). Vizcarra got out of the jam. The Huskies were down 1-0.
In the bottom half of the inning, leading Huskies hitter freshman centerfielder Anthony Bocanegra (Burroughs HS), who has a .368 batting average, singled. He stole third and scored when sophomore designated hitter Seve Romo (El Dorado HS) grounded out (RBI) to second base. ELAC tied the score 1-1.
In the third, sophomore first baseman Larson Anzaldo (St. Paul HS) reached first from a Viking error. Bocanegra and sophomore shortstop Shun Tsunoda (HH Wilson HS) singled. Sophomore third baseman Ryan Viramontes (West Covina HS) doubled in three RBIs and ELAC led 4-1.
Also in the ELAC 11-hit attack, Bocanegra doubled adding to his single, Viramontes singled adding to his double and second baseman Johnny Salgado (Whittier HS) singled twice.
In an 8-3 win at Long Beach yesterday, ELAC scored seven runs in the top of the ninth to erase a 3-1 Viking lead.
The Huskies began the ninth with a double from Romo down the left field line, and consecutive singles, the first by Viramontes to center field, to cut the ELAC deficit to one run, down 3-2. Freshman center fielder Kelvin Brito (Miami Beach HS) blasted the other single to right field.
A pitch then hit Salgado. Sophomore right fielder Mel Robles (St. John Bosco HS) reached first on a fielding error that scored two more runs for a 4-3 ELAC lead. The Huskies scored four more runs to lead by five runs.
Each team had seven hits. Viramontes and Romo had two hits with two RBIs each to lead the Husky offense. The winning pitcher was freshman Alberto Lopez (Southeast HS) who pitched the last 4.1 innings. He threw five strikes, three looking and two swinging.
Long Beach avoided a sweep in the series finale today. After six scoreless innings, it was 3-1 in favor of the Vikings after seven. ELAC rallied to score a run in the eighth. Tsunoda doubled in the inning. Another Husky rally in the ninth produced singles from Salgado and freshman Nathan Luna (JW North HS), but the comeback fell short.
ELAC outhit Long Beach 8-7, but an error in the seventh scored an unearned run for the Vikings, the difference in the one-run game.
ELAC resumes South Coast Conference play at Mt. San Antonio College (10-17, 3-9) on Tuesday, April 5 at 6 p.m. with Vizcarra on the mound.
The Huskies only home game of the three-game series is Thursday, April 14 at 6 p.m.
story submitted by Tadzio Garcia