SCC Baseball Teams Return After 2-Year Absence
They call it America's pastime, but the diamonds were empty for most South Coast Conference teams from March, 2020 through the beginning of 2022 due to the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two seasons of South Coast Conference baseball were cancelled (one shortened) with 2019 the last time a conference champion was crowned.
In the early goings of the 2022 baseball season, '19 state finalist El Camino College is joined by Mt. San Antonio, Rio Hondo, and Pasadena City with strong returns to the field after the layoff. In the just released CCCSIA State Top 25 Baseball Poll, El Camino (8-2) was rated #5, Mt. SAC (8-2) at #11, and RHC (8-3) ranked #18. PCC (6-3) received votes to be among the top 30.
The Warriors figure again to challenge for the SCC title with yet another staff of outstanding pitchers. Ace Thomas Bainton (3-0, 1.52 ERA, 27 Ks) and closer Julian Diaz (four saves, 1.80 ERA) leading the mound patrol. ECC opened the year by playing in the Memorial Cup against '19 state champ Orange Coast. The Warriors took two of three games from the Pirates in the tourney that was created to honor the memories of ECC player Sladen Mohl (killed by a drunk driver during the 2019 season) and OCC head coach John Altobelli, who tragically died in the helicopter crash that also killed Lakers legend Kobe Bryant on Jan. 26, 2020.
The Mounties opened the season with six consecutive wins before #21 Fullerton (lost 10-2) and #3 Riverside (lost 12-7) cooled them off. Mt. SAC recovered with wins over Pierce and Cypress, a 7-1 win as lefty Michael Flores (3-1, 2.29 ERA) hurled five shutout innings.
Rio Hondo won six of its last eight games and are sparked by the play of catcher Rafael Flores, who has hit safely in all 10 games, batting .523 with 4 HR, 16 RBI and a state-high 23 hits thru Feb. 18.
Pasadena rallied from 10 runs down and had the bases loaded in the ninth before #7 San Joaquin Delta beat the Lancers, 14-12, for the Rawlings SoCal Challenge Tournament title. PCC has a win over #22 Irvine Valley and a loss to #16 Golden West. Shortstop Raider Tello has been a sparkplug with a .457 average, five doubles, a home run and 13 RBI.
Long Beach (5-6), winners of SCC titles five times from 2014-2019, just split games v. #17 Orange Coast, went 1-2 v. Irvine Valley and lost 12-8 v. #2 Saddleback. Outfielder-pitcher Moises Guzman had quite a series v. OCC (Feb. 15, 17) as he blasted three home runs and 10 RBI.
After starting out the year on a 5-game losing streak, East Los Angeles (3-6) ran off three consecutive wins. The Huskies have played a tough schedule with a pair of losses v. state #1 ranked Santa Ana and #3 Riverside CC as well as a defeat v. #14 Glendale. ELAC is paced by centerfielder Jason Vela, batting .324 with 10 RBI.
On Feb. 10, Cerritos (3-5-1) thought it had #1 Santa Ana beat, scoring eight runs in the top of the ninth for an 11-6 lead only to see the Dons rally for five runs in an 11-11 tie with game called due to darkness. The Falcons have a win over Irvine Valley and losses to Santa Ana, Delta and twice v. Fullerton. Speedy leftfielder Julian Francois is batting .375 with a state-leading four triples plus six stolen bases.
Compton (2-7) has a solid second baseman in Crixtian Contreras, hitting .441 with two HRs and 13 RBI while LA Harbor (2-7) is led by catcher Julian Rodriguez, hitting .471.
The SCC schedule begins on Tuesday, Feb. 22 as the nine teams will play a 24-game, in-conference slate.
Release written by Robert Lewis, SCC SID