Baseball falls to Pasadena City College in play-in round of playoffs
With runners in scoring position throughout the game, the Owls baseball team struggled on offense all game long, leaving nine runners stranded on the basepath. In one instance the bases were loaded and Citrus failed to bring in any runs after two batters had the chance to do so.
After making the playoffs for the first time since the 2011 season, Citrus’ run did not last long.
The 15th seeded Pasadena City College Lancers’ 3-1 victory over the 18th seeded Citrus College Owls, thrusted the Lancers into the next round of the playoffs where they will face the second seeded team, El Camino College, in a three-game series.
The Lancers’ pitching staff was exceptional all game long, only giving up one run which was unearned due to an error by Lancers’ third baseman Marco Martinez.
Pasadena starting pitcher Patrick Pena went out and secured his ninth win of the season, pitching seven innings while giving up no earned runs.
At multiple points in the game, Pena was able to get out of high pressure situations, including one jam that resulted in bases loaded for the Owls. Over the course of two innings he forced Citrus to leave five total runners on the basepath.
“Obviously the pitching was outstanding, Patrick did a great job,” Lancers head coach Pat McGee said. “I was hoping we would score more to make it easier for him, but he’s been outstanding and he’s really put us on his back and carried us.”
The Citrus College Owls baseball team was coming off a five-game winning streak that elevated them to second place in the Western States Conference East division, which ultimately put them in the play-in game against Pasadena.
Pasadena had other plans in mind and did not want the Owls to continue their hot streak.
“We were playing a red hot team there and a team that played with a lot of courage down the stretch, credit Citrus they did a lot of great things,” McGee said.
After an error in the first inning by Owls shortstop Isaac Luevano, the Lancers subsequently scored three runs, all unearned by way of the error.
The three runs scored in the first inning would be the only runs scored by Pasadena all game long.
“It was a great game, just one mistake early on in the game for Citrus and that led to a lot of runs for us,” McGee said. “They can swing the bat and they’ve been playing some great baseball.”
The season ends for the Owls following the loss, which brings their final record to one game shy of .500 at 19-20-1.
The pitching staff for the Owls during the game was spot on. Had it not been for the error in the first inning, Pasadena would not have scored the three runs that wound up winning them the game.
Enrique Zaldivar started for the Owls on the mound but only lasted two innings.
“I thought Enrique came out and gave us a good shot right off the bat getting ground balls and forcing contact, unfortunately we just didn’t make the plays behind him,” pitching coach Justin Grijalva said.
After Zaldivar’s two innings, Mario Castro came out of the bullpen and pitched two innings of his own, giving up no hits and only one walk.
Following Castro on the mound was first-team all-conference reliever and ace for the Owls, Sam Gomez.
“Castro came in and did his job and they didn’t score after the first inning and then Sam came in and competed his tail off and kept us in the ball game, which gave us an opportunity to win, but unfortunately we just didn’t get the runs across,” Grijalva said. “But I thought the guys came out today and they competed and they left it all out on the field.”
The skipper for the Owls, Steve Gomez, was pleased with Sam Gomez’s performance, not only in this game but all season long.
“The biggest pitcher by no doubt in anyone’s mind and everyone would recognize is Sam Gomez,” Gomez said. “He was a starting pitcher and he had struggled a bit so we put him in the pen and then every time he came out of the pen he pitched very well and we didn’t want to start him because we might burn him. So he was the biggest guy, he’s going to be special.”
Coach Gomez is excited about the players that are returning next season and talked about Sam Gomez and Zaldivar specifically. He also mentioned centerfielder Kanta Kobayashi and infielder Tyler Kretschmar as returners that he is excited to see develop.
Despite the loss, coach Gomez appreciated the effort and hard work from his squad all season long.
“I am very proud of what they accomplished coming from a start of 1-8 and struggling through all the difficulties there and pulling themselves up out of that position and keep on competing and then we ended up getting to the playoffs,” Gomez said. “We played very well, we just didn’t play well enough.”
While the season comes to a conclusion for the Owls, developing his returning players and recruiting are next on the list for coach Gomez.
