Despite losing their last 14 out of 15 games, BC (9-26-1, 7-16 Western State Conference South Division) defeated the 2008 WSC South Division champions College of the Canyons (21-15-1, 16-7) 13-6 on April 18 for their first win at the Dean and Adah Gay Sports Complex.
BC centerfielder Imaad Nurridin came into the game in the seventh inning and went 2-for-2 with two 2-run singles with four RBIs in the seventh and eighth innings.
BC teammate shortstop Joe Ramirez went 3-for-6 with two RBIs, second baseman Greg Osteen went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and leftfielder Matt Reyes went 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs.
BC had 18 hits and committed only one error, which was a low compared to many of the Renegades’ games this season.
Painton was pleased with the results of the game against Canyons.
“It was a pretty well played game all the way around . things just happened to fall together.”
Painton said about Nurridin’s late offensive power, “He came off the bench in the seventh inning, ended up with two hits and drove in four runs, so he was a big factor of the outcome of the ballgame.”
The Renegades lost 9-4 April 16 at home to West L.A. Painton talked about the struggling season.
“We’re in the middle of a really bad year.it’s a little bit of the same thing everyday, and they feel it, I feel it; everybody feels it.”
BC’s Jeremy Gonzales threw five innings for the loss. Gonzales walked three, struck out three, and gave up 4 earned runs on 10 hits, with 5 of them unearned due to a BC infield error committed in the top of the third inning.
BC sophomore Gonzales has been put to the test for many games this season. Painton expressed why.
“He’s a guy that took the ball everyday last year and pitched us to two games from the final four. And you don’t take the ball out of somebody’s hands. He’s a victim of circumstances, sure, we haven’t scored a lot of runs, but you give a ball to somebody who’s going to go out and give you his best effort, and that’s that guy,” said Painton.
BC’s Ramirez went 2-for-5, with two walks and a controversial ground-rule double that was caught in the foliage in left field. According to reports, BC catcher A.J. Day separated his right elbow on a home slide collision that was called out in the bottom of the fifth inning.
BC lost 6-3 April 14 to West L.A. Renegade Greg Sanders threw seven innings, and Greg Ziegler closed out the game for the Renegades as they attempted a ninth-inning rally that came up short with only one BC run off two hits and one Wildcat error.
West L.A. used four pitchers and Alex Coons closed out the game against the Renegades.
BC faced West L.A. starting pitcher Flavio Ramos, who hit BC batters Reyes and Day multiple times.
The BC offense highlight came in the fifth inning that inched BC closer with a Jarret Martin solo home run in right field that was his eighth on season which made the score 4-2 in favor of West L.A., after being down 4-1.
Other than Martin’s lonely home run, the only other RBI’s for the Renegades came at different points in the game; RBI-singles by Ramirez in the sixth inning and Travis Morgan in the ninth inning.
The Renegades committed two errors, had five hits and the Wildcats committed three errors and had twelve hits. The Renegades left a total of thirteen runners on base in the first home game against West L.A.
Saddleback College defeated BC on the Renegades April 10 in a 6-5 battle.
BC’s Gonzales pitched six innings, struck out three and gave up eight hits but was given the no-decision as BC lost the game after coming back in the bottom of the fifth inning with four runs on two hits and two Saddleback errors.
BC’s Sam Westendorf reached first and hit in a run on a Saddleback error, which led to a Martin’s two-run towering home run over the right field scoreboard, which landed in the uncompleted BC softball field. The four runs scored in the fifth gave BC the lead for two innings until in the top of the eighth inning when Saddleback rallied and scored three runs off one hit. One hit a Saddleback hitter, and one crucial BC infield error was made.
Martin talked about his home run and what it did to motivate BC’s team.
“I was thinking I got the job done, [I was] just trying to do one thing and that was just the get home at third. When I knew it was gone, it felt good, and I felt like I pumped up the team, and we had some momentum going, so I was ready to go.”
Martin added about the season.
“It’s a rough season. You get a bunch of guys on this team with great talent, and we just can’t put it together. It’s frustrating.right now we just got to support our pitchers and try to get over that hump.”
BC’s Marcos Reyna threw eight innings and gave up three runs on four hits with two errors April 9 at Sierra College in the Renegades 3-1 loss, and BC had nine hits.
On April 8, BC lost at College of the Sequoias 7-6 with Day (2-for-4), Morgan (2-for-4, two RBIs) and Reyes (2-for-4, three RBIs) were BC’s main offense.
BC’s Sanders received the loss and went eight one third innings, giving up 13 hits, seven runs, six of them earned and struck out two.
BC lost their season home opener at the Dean and Adah Gay Sports Complex on April 4 to L.A. Pierce 9-7. After leading the Brahmas 5-4 for three innings, BC gave up two runs, off one hit and committed one error in the seventh inning to give a 7-5 lead to Pierce.
BC’s Greg Fowler hit a double to drive in teammates Morgan and Art Charles in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game 7-7.
The Renegades’ last offensive mark was Nurridin’s single after Fowler’s double.
BC committed two errors in the top of the eighth inning to give Pierce an 8-7 lead, and Pierce added on another run in the top of the ninth inning with a sacrifice fly by Matthew Moreno. BC’s Gonzales threw over 100 pitches in seven innings and struck out seven, but BC fell hard to Pierce’s late rally and tarnished the Renegades’ home opener.
Painton reflected about the home opening loss at BC.
“This was our season opener, home opener. The anticipation, the excitement has been building for nine months now.” Painton added, “It was good to be at home. I felt like our kids played hard for nine innings, and I felt like we had 32 players involved in a baseball game for the first time in a long time.”
Painton talked about the errors and how much they impacted the game.
“Unfortunately, the timeliness of the errors that we made resulted in plays that were game-changing plays.”
BC lost their road games at Pierce on April 2 (4-2) and at Glendale on March 31 (7-2). Both games were conference losses and had few hits from BC used six pitchers.
Painton hoped for the best for the remainder of the season: “It’d just be nice to finish this thing on a good note.”
BC plays Canyons April 21, L.A. Valley April 23 and 25 and closes out against Citrus College April 28 and 30.