ELAC baseball wins one in Hancock Tourney
SANTA MARIA, CA -- East Los Angeles College won 11-10 against Allan Hancock College in the opening game on Tuesday of the round-robin Allan Hancock Spring Baseball Tournament then fell to ranked teams today and yesterday.
The Huskies lost 5-4 to No. 6-ranked Merced College (22-12) yesterday and lost a 10-7 decision to No. 8-ranked College of the Canyons (22-11) today. In the loss to Merced, the Huskies were out hit 17-6. ELAC out hit Canyons 16-10, but committed six errors to two for the Cougars.
The Huskies (15-19) continue play with their third-of-six straight games against ranked opponents with a home game tomorrow against No. 7 Santa Ana College (21-12) at 6 p.m.
ELAC will then continue South Coast Conference play against first place Pasadena City College (19-12) in a three-game series beginning with an away game on Tuesday April 18 at 2:30 p.m. at Brookside Park's Jackie Robinson Memorial Field in Pasadena.
Against Hancock and their vocal home crowd, the Bulldogs led 2-0 after the first inning off a 2-RBI triple from freshman Dylan Maiden (Lompoc Cabrillo HS).
The Huskies stormed back with a 5-run third inning.
Freshman catcher Julian Zermeno (Alhambra HS) doubled (2 RBIs), freshman designated hitter Joaquin Castillo singled (RBI) and the Huskies scored two unearned runs from a Hancock error.
Two ELAC freshmen also singled, first baseman Damien Lomeli (St. Paul HS) and left fielder Anthony Soto (Garfield HS).
Hancock tied it 5-5 the fourth inning with three runs off four hits. Hancock added four runs from four hits and a Husky error in the bottom of the fifth and led 9-5. Hancock added a run in the bottom of the 7th and led 10-5.
The Hancock crowd was two innings away from a win, but ELAC had other plans. In the top of the 8th, the Huskies singled five times and scored six runs and took an 11-10 lead, which was the final score.
It was their season’s third-best offensive outburst in one inning. ELAC scored six runs from seven hits in the second inning against No. 5-ranked Glendale Community College (29-5-1) on Feb. 4. The Huskies had an 11-run second inning explosion from six hits against ECC Compton Center (9-26) on March 14.
Against Hancock, sophomore pitcher Matthew Cortez (Cantwell Sacred Heart HS) pitched the final 2.1 innings for the win and had one strikeout.
During the tournament, the ELAC pitchers threw for more than 20 strikeouts, freshman Ryan Orozco (Montebello HS) three 6 strikeouts in five innings, freshman Tyler Oblea (Cathedral HS) threw five in 2.1 innings, sophomore Alex Carrillo (West Covina HS) threw 3 in 3.2 innings, Escobedo threw three in 3.2 innings and freshman Richard Gregory (Alhambra HS) threw two strikeouts in two thirds of an inning on the mound.
Top Husky batters in the tournament included freshman Elias Maldonado (Northview HS) with 6 hits and an RBI, sophomore right fielder Kyle Francis (WA / Redmond HS) with 5 hits and 4 RBIs, Zermeno with 4 hits and 4 RBIs and freshman Oscar Osorio III (Charter Oak HS) had 4 hits and 3 RBIs.
story submitted by Tadzio Garcia