Baseball
FOLSOM - Riverside City College set the standard right from the opening at-bat and never allowed Ohlone back in the game as the Tigers rolled to a 14-8 over the Renegades in the championship semifinal of the 2022 California Community College Athletic Association Baseball State Championships at Folsom Lake College on Sunday.
With the win, the Tigers (37-12) get the rest of the night off and will return to action at 11 a.m. on Monday in the championship final, where they will play the winner of Sunday night’s win-or-go-home game between Ohlone (45-5) and host Folsom Lake.
RCC scored eight runs over the first two innings and never really allowed the Renegades back into the game the rest of the afternoon.
The big blow came off the bat of Daniel Garcia, who highlighted the Tigers’ big first inning with a grand slam blast far over the right-field fence.
Tiger starter Giancarlo Flores (5-4) kept the big innings off the scoreboard and earned the win, allowing five runs (two earned) over five innings with no walks and three strikeouts. Reliever Ryan Hernandez picked up the save with four solid innings of relief, allowing three runs on three hits with three strikeouts.
Ignacio Alvarez continued his scorching tournament performance, going 4-for-4 with three runs and one RBI, while Garcia added three hits, including the aforementioned grand slam, and scored three times. Daniel Briones anchored the bottom of the lineup with a 3-for-6 performance with a run and an RBI.
Riverside went 10-for-26 with runners in scoring position as the Tigers kept the pressure on the Ohlone pitching staff throughout the entire ballgame.
Takumi Maeno led the Renegades at the plate, going 2-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBI, while Cameron Calvillo added two hits and two runs scored.
(Tony Altobelli, CCCSIA)
