Pasadena City College Lancers watch as they slowly but surely lose the game 7-2. (Kristen Luna/Courier)
Tuesday was the same story on a different day for PCC baseball, as they took one on the chin at home against the Irvine Valley Lasers on by a score of 7-2.
Irvine Valley scored first in the top of the third inning with three runs, all coming with two outs. A poorly played ball by freshman right fielder Anthony Rabito gave Irvine’s Clint Jack a stand-up double instead of a single. The Lasers followed with back-to-back singles, the second of which found its way underneath the glove of freshman centerfielder Manuel Tapia, giving the runners two extra bases.
Mistakes plagued the Lancers early and often. Aside from their defensive woes, the Lancers saw their lead-off batter reach base and then thrown out in each of their first two innings. In the bottom of the first, sophomore shortstop Thomas Castro was picked off of first after drawing a leadoff walk. In the bottom of the second, freshman catcher Justin Cage was gunned down at second while trying to advance on a poorly placed sacrifice bunt by Tapia.
Head coach Patrick McGee was far from pleased.
“We need to come ready to play,” he said. “We need to play with more energy. We just were not at all ready to play today.”
Irvine Valley deflated whatever energy was left out of Jackie Robinson Field in the top of the fifth inning. A leadoff double, followed by a walk that was sandwiched between a pair of wild pitches, followed by another timely single gave the Lasers a 5-0 lead.
Each team managed to scatter two runs apiece over the course of the next three and a half innings for a final score of 7-2.
Lasers’ head coach Kent Madole said that he was very pleased with the performance of Ryan Adaby, his starting pitcher.
“It all starts with pitching,” said Madole. “It wasn’t the sharpest he has looked, but he was able to pump strikes.”
Adaby threw six scoreless innings.
“My fastball was definitely my best pitch today,” said Adaby. “It had good run and I was able to control it.”
Lancers freshman third baseman Cameron Tuck was one of the few bright spots for PCC. In addition to reaching base in two plate appearances, he made a pair of outstanding plays on balls hit sharply down the third baseline, one of which resulted in a double play.
PCC looks to bounce back as they travel to Irvine this afternoon. First pitch is at 2:30 p.m.
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