By Carlos Alvarez
The season comes to an end for the Husky baseball team with an 8-0 loss to the Riverside City College Tigers at the California community College Athletic Association Southern California Regionals at Cerritos College.
After losing the opener 1-0 last Saturday, the Huskies needed to win the next two games
Christian Madrid led the Huskies as the starting pitcher.
Madrid (4-4) pitched 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run while striking out four in the second game of the series.
The Huskies offense earned two runs, enough to earn the victory.
Greg Aldrete pitched the last inning for his fourth save of the season.
After an emotional 2-1 victory, the Huskies had little time to celebrate as the third game began as a part of the double-header.
Elias Novelo got the start for game three.
Novelo (3-5) pitched three innings, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on two hits while striking out three Tigers.
In the third inning, with the game scoreless, the Tigers scored two runs.
RCC’s Jacob Rogers began the third inning with a double down the left field line.
Jake Middleton then bunted to first base, moving Rogers to third.
Rogers would score on first baseman Manny Estevez’s errant throw to third, allowing Middleton to advance to second.
Middleton would score on a sacrifice fly ball by Ryan Garvey, making the score 2-0 in favor of the Tigers.
“Our offense is what it is. They threw excellent pitchers against us. Mejia was awesome,” said Head Coach James Hines.
RCC’c Jordan Mejia was dominant against the Huskies, showcasing a mid-90’s fastball with some breaking stuff.
“Mejia overmatched us,” said Hines.
A lone-scoring opportunity came in the bottom of the eight when Mejia lost sight of the strike zone.
Chris Rucker led off the inning with a walk.
After getting the next batter to fly out to left field, Mejia walked Walter Aguilar to put runners on first and second.
The Huskies loaded the bases against Mejia when he hit Rodrigo Martinez, bringing up Robert Gonzalez.
Gonzalez, one of the best hitters for the Huskies all season, grounded out, helping Mejia escape the jam.
The Huskies finish the season with a 22-17 record.
“We had a great season we went from 13-15 to winning eight in a row and making playoffs. It was great to see,” said Hines.
The Huskies will loose some key players from this season, including starting pitchers Juan Vera, Madrid, and Martin Valdez.
“Madrid, Vera and Valdez started games for us this year. Last year they were all relievers and they stepped up big this year,” said Hines.
Hines added that this season was a success because of all of the effort from his players, coaching staff, athletic trainers, and Athletic Director Al Cone.
“Our guys did a great job through all the adversity of not having a field. Our guys just bear down and just played baseball,” said Hines.