"CG" Guardado Blanks Mt. SAC, Baseball Wins Another SCC Series

Jakob Guardado likes to finish what he starts. The sophomore hurler pitched his second, 9-inning complete game victory in six days as the Pasadena City College baseball team shut out Mt. San Antonio, 9-0, on Saturday afternoon at Brookside Park's Jackie Robinson Field.

The Lancers (16-9 overall) improved to 9-5 in the South Coast Conference, winning their fourth league series out of five. After losing the opener at Mt. SAC on Thursday, PCC won on back-to-back days at home, capped by Guardado's 5-hit gem, the first complete-game shutout by a Lancers pitcher in five years. 

The right-hander, who homered in Friday's 7-4 win, didn't walk a batter and struck out six. Guardado (4-2 record) not only pitched two CGs in one week, he did so without a free pass in either win. 

Guardado was backed by solid infield defense from third baseman Toshiki Kuriya and shortstop Jack Esguerra. Kuriya made two sharp plays on hard hit balls at the hot corner, speared a line shot by Elias Gomez to double off a runner off first to end the fifth, then started a 5-4-3 double play to close the sixth.

Esguerra, who had six fielding assists, made a heads-up play for the game's first out. After CJ Ontiveros doubled to lead off the game, Esguerra fielded a ball toward the second base bag and turned it into a fielder's choice with a perfect throw to Kuriya at third to cut down Ontiveros. In the eighth, he robbed a sure hit by Andres Mitat as he went deep in the shortstop hole and gunned it to first baseman Jake Trabbie who picked the throw off the hop.

Offensively, Trabbie continued his hot hitting as he lined a RBI double in the first inning, ripped a 2-run single to center in the second, and lined a sacrifice fly in the sixth. Trabbie finished 2-for-4 with four RBI as he leads the SCC in overall hits (37), doubles (14), tied for first in runs scored (22) and is second in RBI with 26. He leads all PCC regulars in batting with a .356 average and after having an 11-game hitting streak stopped in the series opener, started a new one by going 5-for-9 in the last two contests. 

Leftfielder Aryonis Harrison batted 2-for-2, scored three runs, hit a sacrifice fly, walked twice, had two RBI and stole a base. Rightfielder Damien Ureta was 3-for-4 (three runs scored) and Kuriya hit a RBI triple to right in the fourth inning. Kuriya, a letterman from Japan, has drawn 15 walks in his last 10 games, hitting .370 during this stretch.

"Jake Trabbie, Jack Esguerra, Toshi, Coleman, so many of these young men played outstanding baseball this week, but Jakob absolutely went above and beyond on the mound and at the plate," said PCC head coach Pat McGee. "He did it all! From throwing two complete games, not allowing a walk over 18 innings, and hitting a clutch homer on Friday. He was a total bulldog this week, and every week during his two seasons here."

In Friday's win, Coleman Mitchell picked up his conference-leading sixth pitching victory (six innings, five hits, one earned run) and closer Rider Gardner threw 2.1 no-hit innings for his state-leading (tied with two others) seventh save.

Mitchell was helped by two sensational defensive plays behind him on the game's first two batters. Ontiveros drove a high drive that Harrison made an incredible, over-the-shoulder catch while crashing into the left field fence. The next batter Gibby Morales was then robbed of a single when Esguerra made a diving stop up the middle and finished the 6-3 putout. 

PCC jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third on designated hitter Patrick Garcia's sixth home run of the season, a 2-run blast over the left field fence. In the top of the eighth, Guardado, a lefty hitter as the starting rightfielder, slugged a 2-run bomb HR over the center field wall to give the Lancers some insurance runs. 

In the top of the seventh, Mt. SAC cut PCC's lead to 5-4 on a 2-run homer by Elijah Pelayo. With two outs and runners on first and second, McGee removed middle reliever Ben Griffith to bring in Gardner. On his very first pitch, Damien Delgadillo fouled a ball past the Mounties first base dugout, but Trabbie made a circus diving catch to stay within the out-of-play line to get PCC out of the inning. 

Overall, Trabbie hit 3-for-5 with a double, Guardado was 2-for-5 with three RBI, and second baseman Amaris Harrison (Aryonis' younger brother) went 2-for-3 with a walk. Amaris, who has played sparingly this season due to injury, is 7-for-14 (.500).

Due to the heavy rain that has altered the conference schedule, PCC didn't play its series opener until Thursday evening at Mt. San Antonio. The Mounties rode the southpaw arm of 2022 SCC Pitcher of the Year Michael Flores, who struck out 12 Lancers and allowed just three hits over seven innings in the Lancers' 7-0 loss. Kuriya batted 2-for-4 and reliever Justin Goldman tossed 2.2, 1-hit shutout innings as the team's lone brightspots.

Pasadena is in fourth place in the SCC, a game behind first-place Long Beach (9-3). The Lancers will next play third-place Rio Hondo (14-10, 8-3 in SCC play) in a 3-game set starting on Tuesday, Mar. 28 at Brookside Park. First pitch is 2:30 p.m.