Baseball Stays Alive In Playoff Hunt With 8-4 Win Over ELAC

Hugo Tafoya makes the defensive play during Thursday's win (photo by Richard Quinton).
Hugo Tafoya makes the defensive play during Thursday's win (photo by Richard Quinton).

While a few streaks were kept alive for the Pasadena City College baseball team on Thursday, the most important part of the Lancers' 8-4 victory over East Los Angeles was the team's chances of making the postseason are still in motion.

PCC has an opportunity to advance to the Southern California Regional Playoffs for the seventh straight season if it can defeat the Huskies at ELAC on Friday (April 25) in the South Coast Conference finale for both teams. Game time for that contest is 2 p.m.

The Lancers reached the 20-win mark under head coach Pat McGee for the sixth straight full season (2020 was pandemic-shortened 11 wins) while shortstop Bryan Richman used an eighth inning single through the left side to extend his remarkable hitting streak to 27 games. 

Pasadena ended a rough, 6-game conference losing streak thanks to a clutch pitching performance by starter Hugo Tafoya, who hurled seven innings, allowing eight hits, three runs, two walks, two hit-by-pitches and striking out six for his team-leading fifth mound win. 

Against ELAC, the Lancers (20-16, 11-12 in SCC play) fell behind 2-0, but battled back to take a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning when first baseman Adrian Roman lined a 3-0 pitch down the left field line for a RBI double. Roman had earlier delivered a 2-run single to center in the third that tied it.

Leftfielder Thomas Villanueva batted 3-for-4 with three RBI including a booming 2-run ground rule double that bounced off the center field fence in the seventh. 

Third baseman Devin Munoz went 2-for-3 with a double while catcher Joaquin Salcedo bombed his tied for team-leading seventh home run, a 2-run shot over the right-center fence in the eighth.

For ELAC (19-19, 12-11 in SCC play), Manny Ramirez Jr., the son of the famous former Major League Baseball slugger and 12-time All-Star for Cleveland and Boston, slugged his 10th home run in the ninth.