Community College Roundup : Mike Gonzales Has Five RBIs to Lead Rancho Santiago, 13-5

Mike Gonzales hit a home run and had five RBIs to lead Rancho Santiago College to a 13-5 victory over Saddleback Friday in an Orange Empire Conference baseball game at Rancho Santiago.

Gonzales hit a three-run home run, his 10th, in the fourth inning. Kraig Washington had four hits, three RBIs and scored three runs for Rancho Santiago (31-6 overall, 13-3 in the conference), which leads second-place Cypress by a game with four remaining.

Steve Watson (1-1) pitched six innings of relief for the victory.

Bobby Hamelin, who had hit six home runs in the last five games and leads the state with 23, walked three times and was hit by a pitch. Rancho Santiago’s Rich Gonzales went 0 for 4 to break his 30-game hitting streak.

Matt Lundin had three hits for Saddleback (16-22, 4-11).

In other Orange Empire Conference baseball:

Cypress 15, Riverside 2--Tim Churchill had three doubles and a triple, drove in three runs and scored one for host Cypress (26-8, 12-4). Churchill had his 34-game hitting steak stopped Wednesday but has gone 6 for 9 since in two games. Steve Gill had three hits, including a solo home run. Mark Steinert hit a two-run home run and Ken Briggs had two hits and scored four runs for Cypress. Rich Lodding (5-1) pitched six scoreless innings for the victory.

Citrus 17, Orange Coast 9--Todd Danato had three hits, including two home runs, and five RBIs and picked up the victory in relief for visiting Citrus (9-6, 22-15). Derek Dehdashtian hit his 17th home run for OCC (6-9, 22-17-1), which lost for the fourth consecutive time. John Kuzmic hit a home run and Mike Misuraca had a three-run double for OCC.

In South Coast Conference softball:

Golden West 4, Cerritos 3 (8 innings)--Tina Barranco singled with the bases loaded to drive in the winning run for host Golden West (16-14, 11-5). Toni Barrett was hit by a pitch, was sacrificed to second and went to third on an error before she scored the winning run. Jessica Duran (10-8) pitched the final four innings for the victory.

In Orange Empire Conference softball:

Rancho Santiago 3, Saddleback 2--Tami Rogers (1-0) threw a six-hitter, giving up just one earned run, for host Rancho Santiago (17-17, 10-8). Heather Illsley had a double, triple and two RBIs for Rancho Santiago. Patti Taylor (30-3) threw a six-hitter but lost.

Cypress 7, Riverside 3--Noel Parker had two hits and three RBIs and Sandy Alvarino had two hits and two RBIs to lead host Cypress (26-14, 13-5).

In the Orange Empire Conference men’s swimming championship:

Orange Coast 519, Palomar 424, San Diego Mesa 223--Nat Kinny broke the meet record as she swam 1 minute 43.87 seconds in the 200-yard freestyle for OCC at Saddleback.

In the South Coast Conference women’s swimming championships:

Golden West 553.5, Pasadena 298.5, Long Beach 224.5--Kris Takayama won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:16.76 as Golden West won all five individual events at Mt. San Antonio.

In the South Coast Conference men’s swimming championships:

Golden West 560, Mt. San Antonio 302, Pasadena 225--Duke Zander won the 100-yard backstroke in 55.96 and Golden West won the 800-freestyle relay in 7:11.10 at Mt. San Antonio.