Bakersfield College baseball (7-7-1) hit the road and ended up earning a six-game winning streak against L.A. Pierce, Glendale and L.A. Mission in Western State Conference play.
BC pitcher Jeremy Gonzales threw a three-hit complete game with one earned run and six strikeouts against L.A. Pierce on Feb. 28 to give BC a 3-2 win.
“[Jeremy Gonzales] was in command from start to finish,” said BC head coach Tim Painton. “He really set the tone for the entire day. Gonzales went out and shut them down in the ninth inning and we got a 3-2 win.”
BC shortstop/second baseman Joe Ramirez went 4-for-4 in the game and Renegade teammate Greg Fowler hit the game-winning groundball RBI in the eighth inning. A.J. Day led off the inning, with the score 2-2, with a single to start the Renegades’ rally.
Painton is pleased and is optimistic about the team’s defense and overall. “We were better defensively, we’re still growing. We’re getting better, and hopefully we continue to eliminate small mistakes in ball games. One of these days we’re going to look up and we’re going to have what we think we’re going to have,” said Painton.
Painton elaborated on the team’s winning streak after its first game against L.A. Pierce.
“It’s been a good thing. Outside of baseball people throughout of the state, nobody really understood how tough our schedule was in the preseason when we started 1-7,” he said. “There was a monkey on our back at that point, and there was pressure at that point, but as we’ve started to play [conference] we’re starting to see some of the mistakes be eliminated, and guys are starting to swing the bat a little bit better so I think the pressure has been removed as we’ve started to win.”
In the Feb. 26 game at Glendale College, BC won 8-7, as Jarret Martin threw seven innings and had a no-hitter into the sixth inning as he struck out 14 of Glendale’s hitters. BC’s Ryan Huston earned the win as he threw the last innings to win the game for the Renegades.
The Renegades won the first game at Glendale 5-4 on Feb. 24. BC pitcher Marcos Reyna threw four innings, left-handed pitcher Patrick Isbell threw 3 2/3 innings and pitcher Zach Ameson closed out the game for BC.
“We performed very well, Glendale’s been playing very well up to this point and to go in there and really work to get a 5-4 win was a good win for us,” Painton said.
The Renegades defeated L.A. Mission in both games at Sylmar 12-11 and 7-5.
BC pitcher Gonzales threw five innings Feb. 21 for the 12-11 win. Gonzales allowed eight runs on six hits. BC’s Greg Sanders and Jarret Martin closed the game out with a combined 3 2/3 innings’ work, and Sanders only allowed two runs. BC’s Art Charles went 3-for-4, and Joe Ramirez went 2-for-4. The Renegades eighth inning was very important as BC scored two runs that helped win the game. BC committed five errors in the game, and L.A. Mission committed one.
BC won 7-5 at the top of the ninth inning at L.A. Mission on Feb. 19, with four runs. Renegade pitcher Reyna pitched 7 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts. Reyna allowed five runs on six hits, but four runs were unearned due to errors committed by BC, which two of three in the game were charged to Reyna.
BC pitcher Huston closed out the game in 1 1/4 innings’ work and received the win with two strikeouts and no hits. BC’s Ramirez went 3-for-5 and teammate left fielder Joey Walker went 3-for-4 against L.A. Mission pitchers John Boersma, Donny Williams and Nick Cerritos.
The Renegades had a total of 12 hits against L.A. Mission.
Painton said that the amount of games that BC will play on the road is actually good for the team because they’re not used to Sam Lynn Ball Park.
“I’d rather play on the road where at least we’re accustomed to playing in the ballparks on the road,” he said. “Obviously, the cost factor at Sam Lynn, plus it’s their ballpark, they’re trying to get ready for minor league season. They don’t want a tremendous amount of games played there tearing up their field for a minor-league team that’s going to arrive inter league, so there’s a lot of factors. We are going to play two or three dates from the middle of March to first of April. We’re just as comfortable traveling on the road. We’re more familiar with those ballparks than we are [at] Sam Lynn, and that’s the way it is right now.”
The Renegades travel to Woodland Hills March 3 for their second game at L.A. Pierce.