Bracamonte Estupendo: Lancers Righty Hurls Shutout As Baseball Wins Series v. ELAC

Freshman righthander Jonathan Bracamonte hurled a complete-game, 7-hit shutout as the Pasadena City College baseball team won its South Coast Conference series over East Los Angeles, 2-games-to-1. The Lancers' 5-0 blanking over the Huskies was played in the nearly 90-degree heat at Brookside Park's Jackie Robinson Field on Saturday afternoon

The 6-foot tall Bracamonte (2-0) has not allowed a run in his last 14 innings pitched as he fired 74 strikes and just 29 balls in delivering the program's first CG shutout since March 25, 2023 when SCC Pitcher of the Year Jakob Guardado went the 9-inning distance in shutting out Mt. San Antonio. 

In the second inning and a runner on second and two outs, second baseman Logan Parker made a diving stop to prevent a run. Bracamonte, who struck out four batters, didn't allow a walk until two outs in the ninth, then closed out the performance by getting ELAC's Fernando Soto to lift a fly ball to left. 

The game was scoreless until the fifth when Ricky Gonzales singled and advanced to third on a wild pitch plus a groundout. With two outs, Xiovany Ochoa lined an opposite field, RBI single to left for a 1-0 lead.

After Chris Torres' sacrifice fly made it 2-0 in the sixth, the Lancers added three insurance runs in the eighth as Parker (single), Gonzales (double) and Omar Cisneros delivered RBI hits.

Cisneros, Gonzales and Luke Bauer each collected two hits.

In game 2 at ELAC on Thursday (Feb. 26), AJ Flores allowed just two runs over seven innings (seven hits, two walks) while striking out six as PCC downed the Huskies, 6-3. 

An Ochoa sacrifice fly and Isaac Ton's run-scoring single gave PCC a 2-0 lead in the top of the third, but ELAC responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame. The Lancers broke it open with three in the top of the fourth on a 2-RBI hit by Ochoa and Joaquin Salcedo's RBI single. Ochoa finished 2-for-4 with three ribbies, Salcedo was 2-for-4 as was designated hitter Kyle Ly. 

Matt Garcia, an All-South Coast Conference reliever last year, made his first appearance of the season with two innings (three hits, one run) to close out the trimph.

East LA routed the host Lancers, 10-1, in the series opener on Tuesday (Feb. 24). Ton ripped a RBI double that sliced the lead to 2-1 in the fifth, but the wheels came off in the sixth when the Huskies erupted for seven runs, including a solo home run by winning pitcher Phillip Chaidez. The ELAC starter shut down Pasadena's bats to just five hits, an unearned run, no walks while striking out 10. 

Camren Lobo did well in relief for the Lancers, striking out three batters in the seventh as part of two no-hit innings.