Photo by Michael Watkins

College Baseball:

PCC (27-13) at Palomar (31-19)

Pasadena City College certainly didn’t end the regular season the way they would have liked.

But take the Lancers lightly at your own peril.

PCC opened SCC play in late February with series wins over Mt. SAC, LA Harbor and ELAC.

The Lancers would then snag their share of the SCC penthouse after three-game sweeps of Compton and Rio Hondo College.

In the span of a couple games, however, PCC dropped from first to fourth place in SCC South Coast play.

The slide started two weeks ago, as the Lancers got swept by El Camino, including a game two scenario in which the Lancers saw a nine-run, ninth-inning lead disappear.

And PCC would win just one of three with seventh-place Cerritos to finish the final two weeks 1-5, and a fourth-place finish behind Mt. SAC, LBCC and El Camino, respectively.

With all that said, don’t be shocked if the Lancers head home from the San Diego area with a series victory over the Comets.

And that’s not taking a single thing away from the season that Palomar has had in 2022, which included a Pacific Coast championship.

But PCC has been knocked down several times in 2022, and Pat McGee’s boys have picked themselves up each time, brushed the dirt off, worked harder and grinded out victories.

The Lancers’ No. 1 and No. 2 hitters, Max Blessinger and Raider Tello, respectively, are amongst the state leaders offensively.

Blessinger is batting .374, with 64 hits, 51 runs, 47 RBIs, 14 doubles, a triple and four home runs.

Tello, who just committed to play next season at Iowa, is batting .413, with 74 hits, 40 runs, 18 doubles, a triple, seven home runs and 51 RBIs.

PCC has also relied on a pitching-by-committee strategy all year and this weekend will be no different.

The Lancers and Comets have already played once this season.

Back on March 26th, PCC picked up an 11-6 victory at Palomar.

And that get us to the Comets.

Palomar is on a 13-game win streak, including sweeps over San Diego City, Imperial Valley, Grossmont and San Diego Mesa.

The Comets offense averages 11 runs per game and boasts a .349 team batting average.

Palomar has doubled PCC’s home run total (32-16) and their offense has mustered 82 more runs than PCC.

Their ace is Logan Park.

Park is 10-1, with a 2.87 ERA, and 77 strikeouts.

On paper, Palomar would certainly be considered the favorite, but that’s exactly how PCC likes it.

Quotable:

PCC coach, Pat McGee: “Palomar is an outstanding offensive team that’s highlighted by their top two hitters in the lineup. We are going to have to play at a high level all weekend if we expect to win this series. Obviously, the experience of playing down there earlier in the year has provided some familiarity and with the facility and the opponent. I think the guys are excited to get back on the field and compete in this tournament. We have had a great week of practice and the guys look refreshed after a grueling finish to the regular season. As a program, we have had some success playing at Palomar, we travel there every season and have won three of the last four games. Our young men have put in a full year of work in preparation for the CCCAA playoffs. They are more than eager to get on the field and compete!”

By the Numbers:
Records: PCC (27-13); Palomar (31-19)
SCC Conference Finish: PCC (fourth in South Coast); P (Pacific Coast champions)
Total Runs Scored: PCC (.327); P (409)
Runs Allowed: PCC (232); (P (199)
Team Batting Average: P (.327); (.348)
Team ERA: PCC (4.73); P (3.88)
Home Runs Hit: PCC (16); P (32)
Current Streak: PCC (lost 2); P (won 13)
Palomar’s Home Record: (18-3)
PCC’s Road Record: (12-7)

Stat Leaders:

Pitching:
Benny Olguin, PCC: (7-2, 1.91 ERA, & 65 strikeouts)
Jakob Guardado, PCC: (4-3, 4.07, 47 strikeouts)
Coleman Mitchell, PCC: (2-2, 3.51, 33 strikeouts)
Ryan Graves, PCC: (3-1, 3.91, 34 strikeouts)
Nicco Day, PCC: (3-1, 6.91, 20 strikeouts)
Rider Gardner, PCC: (3-1, 7.17, 11 strikeouts)
Logan Park, Palomar: (10-1, 2.87, 77 strikeouts)
Dylan Delvecchio, Palomar: (6-1, 3.42, 99 strikeouts)
Christian Wood, Palomar: (1-0, 3.19, 24 strikeouts)
Ethan Sally, Palomar: (2-0, 3.18, 18 strikeouts)

Batting:
Max Blessinger, PCC: (.374, 64 hits, 47 RBIs)
Raider Tello, PCC: (.413, 74 hits, 51 RBIs)
Andrew Scannell, PCC: (.242, 36 hits, 29 RBIs)
Aryonis Harrison, PCC: (.311, 33 hits, 13 RBIs)
Matt Rice, PCC: (.344, 22 hits, 11 RBIs)
Kenny Kim, PCC: (.265, 30 hits, 20 RBIs)
Jake Trabbie, PCC: (.243, 34 hits, 21 RBIs)
Jakob Guardado, PCC: (.292, 28 hits, 17 RBIs)
Kyle Harvey, Palomar: (.404, 42 hits, 22 RBIs)
Quincy Scott, Palomar: (.370, 57 hits, 40 RBIs)
Jack Sanders, Palomar: (.466, 62 hits, 34 RBIs)
Bryson Hashimoto, Palomar: (.365, 57 hits, 36 RBIs)
Devlin Linderman, Palomar: (.365, 54 hits, 56 RBIs)
Ethan Ellis, Palomar: (.317, 45 hits, 29 RBIs)

PCC-Palomar Schedule:
Friday: PCC at Palomar at 2
Saturday: PCC at Palomar at 11 AM
Saturday: PCC at Palomar (if necessary) at 2

2022 South Coast Standings:
Mt. SAC (32-8, 19-5)
LBCC (28-12, 19-5)
El Camino (29-11, 17-7)
PCC (27-13, 15-9)
ELAC (18-22, 11-13)
Rio Hondo (19-21, 9-15)
Cerritos (13-26-1, 8-16)
LA Harbor (10-29, 6-18)
Compton (8-31, 4-20)

Pacific Coast Standings:
Palomar (31-9 overall, 21-4 in conference)
Southwestern (24-17, 15-10)
Grossmont (22-16, 15-10)
San Diego City (16-20, 11-14)
San Diego Mesa (10-29, 9-16)
Imperial Valley (6-30-1, 4-21)