Community College Roundup : Golden West Moves Step Closer to Playoffs, 16-6

Golden West College scored 10 runs in the seventh inning to turn a close game into a 16-6 rout of Mt. San Antonio Saturday in a South Coast Conference baseball game at Golden West.

The victory moves Golden West (26-13 overall, 14-7 in the conference) into a third-place tie with Mt. SAC (28-12, 14-7). But because Golden West won the season series, 2-1, the Rustlers move into prime position for a berth in the Southern California Regional playoffs.

El Camino and Cerritos tied for first, but El Camino won the season series, 2-1, and receives the automatic berth to the playoffs. Cerritos and Golden West probably will receive berths into the wild-card round, which begins Thursday, because of the overall strength of the conference.

The decisions on the berths will be made when the seeding committee, which is made up of a representative from each of Southern California’s five conferences, meets Monday.

Golden West trailed, 5-2, going into the fourth but scored on a sacrifice fly by Joe Averasa. Craig Paquette hit a home run for Golden West in the fifth to cut the lead to 5-4. James Buccheri hit a two-run home run in the sixth to give Golden West the lead, 6-5.

In the seventh, Golden West scored 10 runs on 9 hits. The key play was a one-out fielding error by Mt. SAC second baseman Jesse Urias. Joe Averasa then flied out for what should have been the third out of the inning but was only the second.

Golden West then had seven consecutive hits, including a two-run double by Buccheri, a two-run triple by Mike Huyler, a two-run home run by Paquette and a two-run single by Keith Laszlo, to cap the inning.

Tom Smythe had two hits in the inning and was 5 for 5 with 2 RBIs in the game. Paquette’s two home runs give him the team lead with seven. He also leads with 58 RBIs. Terry Reichert had four hits, and John Martin and Mike Huyler had three hits each for Golden West, which had a season-high 25 hits.

Tom Thobe, a freshman left-hander, pitched 8 innings for the victory. He had given up five runs and nine hits in the first four innings. Thobe (10-2) didn’t allow another hit until the ninth, when he was replaced by Bill Baird, who got the final two outs.

In another South Coast Conference game:

Fullerton 13, Compton 6--Rod Klopfer was 4 for 4 with 3 RBIs and scored 2 runs for host Fullerton (13-8, 30-11-1). Klopfer set the school’s single-season record for hits with 65, passing Kirk Bates (63 hits in 1983). Shawn Blankenship was 4 for 5 with a triple and 2 RBIs, Emmitt Cohick 3 for 5 with 2 RBIs and 3 runs scored and Phil Diplock was 3 for 4 with an RBI for Fullerton. Mark Kiefer (11-1) pitched five innings for the victory.

In the Orange Empire Conference:

Cypress 20, Riverside 4--Steve Gill hit two solo home runs, Jason Friedman hit a three-run home run and Doug Yates hit a two-run home run for host Cypress (32-9, 15-5). Ken Briggs and Friedman had four hits each and Bobby Thome had three hits and three RBIs for Cypress. Rich Lodding (6-1) pitched five innings for the victory.

Orange Coast 8, Citrus 1--Sam Colarusso (5-5) pitched a seven-hitter and struck out five for host Orange Coast (26-17-1, 11-9), which moves into third place. OCC has a good chance at a wild-card berth in the playoffs.

In men’s tennis:

Sophomore Craig O’Shannessy led Saddleback to victory in the Southern California Regionals at San Diego.

O’Shannessy defeated teammate Mark Hansen, 6-4, 7-6, in the semifinals and then defeated Long Beach’s David Fontaine, 6-2, 6-4, in the tournament final. Fontaine had defeated Orange Coast’s Eric Rebitzer, 7-6, 6-2, in an earlier semifinal.

Saddleback (19-1, 10-0) won the tournament with 20 points. OCC was second with 16; Grossmont was third with 13, and Long Beach was fourth with 12.

Saddleback advanced to play West Valley in the state championship final on Thursday at Cabrillo Racquet Club in Oxnard.

The Cypress doubles team of John Swaino and Eric Glade won the doubles championship by defeating Chris Flood and Will Marino of Orange Coast, 6-4, 6-4.