Pictured: Thomas Villanueva, Evan Nahra & Jameson Ferraro
College Baseball:
No biggie.
With their postseason hopes on the line, Pasadena City College entered the final week of their South Coast Conference schedule in a two-way tie for fourth place with El Camino.
To make the task even steeper, the Lancers were set to face the No. 1 team in the state from Cerritos College.
At Brookside Park on Tuesday, the Falcons looked every bit their ranking, as they dropped the hammer, 12-5, in game one of a three-game set.
Fast forward 48 hours, and the Lancers would secure their biggest win of the 2024 season.
PCC defeated Cerritos, 2-1, on the Falcons home field.
And they handed Derek Valdez (10-1) his first loss of the season.
Jameson Ferraro went eight-plus innings to earn the win.
He allowed one unearned run on two hits.
Ferraro walked six and struck out seven.
But the first two Cerritos batters reached base in the bottom of the ninth, and PCC skipper Pat McGee brought in sophomore, Ben Griffith.
Griffith would get the final three outs to earn the save in the biggest appearance of his college career.
The first batter bunted the runners to second and third with one out.
Griffith would coax consecutive ground balls to end the game.
The only Falcons run came on a Diego Orozco RBI ground out in the ninth.
DJ Massey and Anthony Bassett had one single apiece to account for the Cerritos offense.
Valdez got the loss after allowing the two runs on eight hits over 7 1/3 innings.
He didn’t issue a walk and struck out five PCC batters.
Cade Sonoqui went 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief for the Falcons.
He allowed one hit, didn’t walk a batter and struck out five.
In the top of the fourth inning, Thomas Villanueva had an RBI ground out to give the Lancers a 1-0 lead.
One inning later, Evan Nahra had an RBI double, and PCC took a 2-0 lead.
Nahra, who has been raking at the plate, went 2-for-4, with the RBI.
Jack Esguerra singled twice and scored on Villanueva’s ground out.
Ivan Barragan singled and scored.
Villaneuva also singled for PCC.
Tyler Garcia doubled in the win.
Bryan Richman and Adrian Roman had one single apiece for the Lancers.
Ferraro now has wins over the No. 1 (Cerritos) and No. 2 (Golden West) programs in the state this year.
Quotable:
PCC pitcher, Jameson Ferraro: “I told my team from the beginning to put a run or two on the board and we’ll get the win. They did that and then I had to do my part. I walked six guys, but there were some close pitches that were called balls, and I didn’t want to give them anything good to hit. I felt my fastball worked well and I got a lot of swings and misses, and then I had good command of the curve later in the game. It made it harder for them, because I was hitting my spots and both pitches looked the same. I am super happy for Ben. When I was walking off the field, he gave me a high-five and I told him I had all the confidence in the world in him. We needed to get the win, and it’s huge for his self-esteem, because he’s a legit pitcher. I’ve told him to just go out there and pitch with your stones (not your head). He came up really big for us, and I’m very proud of him and the whole team.”
PCC pitcher, Ben Griffith: “We had great energy and remained focused today, and we know that if we play to our capabilities, we can compete against anyone. It didn’t seem like an impossible thing to beat Cerritos. Jameson was just incredible. He’s so mentally tough, and no matter what is going on around him, he just shoves it. I look up to him for the way he goes about his business. This also does a lot for my confidence, and I was so happy to be able to contribute to such a big win. I knew that if I made the pitches I needed to, my defense would back me up, and they did just that. I really enjoy playing on this team, because we really like each other, and that makes it so much more fun.”
Box Score:
PCC: 0-0-0-1-1-0-0-0-0-(2)
CC: 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-1-(1)
Win: Jameson Ferraro (7-3)
Loss: Derek Valdez (10-1)
Save: Ben Griffith (6)
2B: Evan Nahra (P), Tyler Garcia (P)
Records: PCC (20-16, 12-11); Cerritos (30-6, 17-3)
Thursday’s SCC Scores:
Mt. SAC 12 LA Harbor 2
ELAC 6, Rio Hondo 0
PCC 2, Cerritos 1
Compton 11, Long Beach 1
Saturday’s Schedule:
Cerritos at PCC
Mt. SAC at LA Harbor
Long Beach at Compton
Rio Hondo at ELAC
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