Erik Boal
STENGEL FIELD -- If the Glendale Community College baseball team
has visions of capturing a share of its third straight Western State
Conference South Division title, an uphill battle lies ahead.
Following Saturday's 7-3 loss to Pierce College at Stengel Field, the
Vaqueros find themselves in the unfavorable position of being five games
out of first place with just six conference games remaining in the
regular season.
GCC (14-18-1 overall, 9-12 in conference) is in fourth place behind
co-leaders Pierce (18-11, 14-7) and College of the Canyons (18-12, 14-7)
and third-place Bakersfield College (16-16, 13-8).
"We needed this game today because now we're down five with six to
play," said GCC Coach Chris Zavatsky. "Now we're in a position where we
have to run the table and get some help from the other teams knocking
each other off."
The Vaqueros face Bakersfield twice and Canyons and Pierce once each
in the final two weeks, after a four-game stint in the Fullerton Classic
Tournament, which starts Wednesday.
Zavatsky's squad was competitive and in many ares dominated its
opponent Saturday, but couldn't come up with the big hit in many key
situations.
GCC outhit Pierce, 15-5, and put a runner on base in every inning but
the fourth, yet it could only score one run in the first eight innings
and left 11 runners on base.
"We couldn't come up with the big hit," Zavatsky said. "It's funny the
way this game treats you sometimes. We're competing really hard and the
guys are fighting tooth and nail, we just didn't get a couple of big
calls to go in our favor."
The Vaqueros took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second as Brandon
Bell's RBI groundout scored Andy Lopez, one of three Vaqueros to single
in the inning off Brahmas' starting pitcher Jack Cassel (5-1).
Tony Messenger walked to load the bases with two outs, but Cassel
struck out Andy Karp to escape further harm. The Pierce right-hander
tossed five innings, allowing eight singles and a walk, in addition to
recording seven strikeouts.
The Brahmas tied the game, 1-1, in the top of third as Gene Holdgrafer
singled, advanced to second and third on groundouts, and scored on a wild
pitch.
Vaquero starter Matt Sagoian was very effective, despite being tagged
with seven earned runs, as he faced only one over the minimum through the
first three innings.
Sagoian (5-4) ran into a little trouble in the fourth, walking Kris
Dominique and Nick Browne. Traviss Hodge followed with an RBI double,
