Baseball Bats Silenced By El Camino Arms, Season Ends

All year, the Pasadena City College baseball team relied on its ability to reach base and create runs to reach 25 victories and a South Coast Conference North Divison Co-Championship. In the team's SoCal Regional Round 1 series, #2 seed El Camino's pitching shut down the visiting #15 Lancers offense and swept PCC in the best-of-3 sereis on May 3-4.

El Camino posted a 6-0 win over the Lancers in the opener on Friday and a 5-1 victory on Saturday to end another successful season of PCC baseball. The Lancers finished 25-15 overall while El Camino continues to the Super Regionals next week at 34-6. 

In game 2, PCC ended a 17-inning scoreless streak in the first inning. Trailing 2-0, centerfielder Gabriel Arellano and shortstop Ryan Lewis reached on singles. Arellano would score from third when ECC starter Aaron Orozco was called for a balk. That was it for the Lancers who were limited to just four runs in their three playoff games (won 3-1 v. Citrus on Tuesday). Orozco pitched a complete-game, 6-hitter, striking out 11 and walking only one as he lifted his record to a sparkling 11-1. 

Lewis finished his Lancers career with a strong performance as he had two hits, turned a double play and made a diving stop and flip for a fielder's choice in the second inning on defense. The 2-time, All-SCC North infielder was the team's top hitter in the El Camino series, going 4-for-7. Arellano was 2-for-4 in this one, including the team's only extra-base hit of the series, a double in the sixth inning. 

PCC used five pitchers, including Play-In Round winner and sophomore righty Patrick Pena, who hurled 2-1/3 innings, allowing two hits, one run in his final Lancer appearance. Matt Orozco struck out three batters in the eighth and Benny Olguin threw a 1-2-3 ninth. 

In game 1, Lewis and Lancers third baseman Marco Martinez each collected two hits but ECC righty and All-South Coast Conference First Team selection Jimmy Galicia improved to 10-2 this year by throwing a 5-hit, complete-game shutout. Gordon Ingebritson (6-4) took the loss after giving up five runs and six hits over four innings while striking out seven. Arty Zambrano pitched two scoreless innings of relief for PCC. 

RECORD SETTING YEAR

Arellano finishes as the current state leader in hits but holds the new PCC record for hits in a season with 75 in 40 games played. The freshman and Co-MVP from the SCC North also set records for most runs scored (46) and most at bats (190). Pena's nine wins is a school record as well as Ingebritson's 13 career mound victories is a new all-time standard. Martinez set the Lancers walks with 35. In all, six single-season/and or career records were broken in the year 2019.

In the last three seasons under head coach Pat McGee, the Lancers have become a regional playoff regular with 74 wins, three straight postseason appearances and game victories in each of the three years. PCC also captured two SCC baseball titles (2017 and 2019) after none in the first 29 years as a member of the South Coast (and ended a 45-year overall drought of no conference championships).