Quire At The Wire: PCC Lancers Baseball Rallies to Extra-Inning Win

Head coach Pat McGee needed one of his sophomores to step up Saturday if the Pasadena City College baseball team was going to snap a 7-game losing streak and give the team some hope after a 0-5 start to South Coast Conference play. Letterman first baseman Joe Quire played the role of Mr. Clutch and rallied the Lancers to a 6-5, 11-inning win over host El Camino.

PCC improved to 7-11 overall while El Camino dropped to 13-6 and 4-2 in SCC play.

Down 5-1 in the top of the ninth inning, the Lancers stormed back with four runs to send it into extra innings. Quire laced a 2-run double down the leftfield line, the team’s fifth consecutive hit of the frame, that cut it to 5-4. Leftfielder Brandon Benson then tied it on a RBI groundout to shortstop.

In the 11th, second baseman Paul Christian singled and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Quire then knocked in the game-winning RBI with his third double of the game, a drive to right center scoring Christian. The 6-foot-2, Bonita High product finished the day batting 4-for-5 with four RBI. Quire also stole a base.

Reliever Chris Brown (2-1) set down the ECC bats in the bottom of the 11th to close out the mound victory. He pitched 3.2 innings, allowing no runs and scattering four hits. Brown followed a sterling performance by lefty reliever Phil Nava, who tossed four innings of 2-hit, shutout ball with four strikeouts.

Christian, third baseman Mitch Bryan and shortstop Alex Briggs collected two hits each in the team’s 12-hit attack.

On March 17, ECC pitcher Sebastian Sanchez fired a complete-game, 6-hitter as PCC lost to the Warriors, 7-2, at Brookside Park’s Jackie Robinson Memorial Field. Rightfielder Anthony Rabito went 2-for-4.

In the series opener on March 15, PCC trailed 3-2 before catcher Justin Cage delivered a RBI double in the eighth inning to tie it. In the 10th inning, Sanchez, who came in as a pinch runner, scored the game-winning run for ECC on a wild pitch by PCC reliever Evan Bricker as the Lancers fell, 4-3. Designated hitter Jeremy Conant (2-for-3) belted his second home run of the year, a 2-run blast to right center in the first inning. Quire was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk and finished 7-for-9 in his two road games at the Torrance campus field.

Four PCC pitchers limited ECC to just three hits as starter Isaac Holguin allowed only two hits and three unearned runs plus four Ks over six innings. Brown fired 2.2 innings of 1-hit scoreless relief.

On March 12, Long Beach City College capped a 3-game series sweep over the Lancers, 6-2. PCC was held to four hits in a dominating performance by LBCC starter Tai Tiedemann, who hurled eight innings and struck out seven.

On March 10, the Lancers fell behind 5-1 and lost to the host Vikings, 6-4. Quire went 3-for-5 with a double while Conant was 2-for-4. Rabito drove in two runs on a double and a sacrifice fly. Anthony Mizrahi pitched four strong relief innings, allowing three hits, one run and striking out five.

After 18 games, Conant remains the team’s top hitter with a .378 average (16 RBI). Quire raised his average to .357 and leads PCC in doubles (eight) and on-base percentage (.477). PCC’s pitching has been a brightspot with a 4.15 team ERA. Holguin (0-2), a sophomore righthander, compiled a team-best 2.08 ERA in 21.2 innings, allowing only 11 hits with 18 strikeouts. Mizrahi, also a letterman, has struck out 25 batters in only 22.1 innings with a 2.82 ERA.

PCC takes a break from conference action this week, but will play three non-conference home games. The first is Tuesday, March 22 against Ventura College, a team PCC beat 8-5 in 11 innings back on Feb. 25 at Ventura. First pitch is 2:30 p.m.