Baseball Earns #12 Playoff Seed; 5 Lancers Named All-South Coast Conference

The Pasadena City College baseball team was selected the #12 seed and will play a best-of-3-game series at #5 Palomar in Round 1 of the Southern California Regional Playoffs on Friday-Saturday, May 6-7.

PCC (27-13), the fourth place team from the South Coast Conference, was ranked #15 in the final regular season CCCSIA State Top 25 Baseball Poll while Palomar (31-9), the champions of the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference, was chosen #9. The Comets enter the playoffs on a 13-game winning streak. 

The two teams played against each other once this season on March 26 with the Lancers winning at Palomar, 11-6. In that victory, second baseman Andrew Scannell batted 3-for-5 with three RBI and shortstop Raider Tello was 2-for-5 with a double and three RBI. Comets second baseman Bryson Hashimoto hit 3-for-5.

Since 2018, PCC has won three of four contests played v. Palomar.

The Comets played most of their non-conference schedule against Orange Empire Conference teams and did well with a 7-4 record (10-5 v. all non-conference opponents. PCC spread their non-conference opponents, including games against state #6 San Joaquin Delta, #17 Merced, and #24 LA Valley. PCC finished 12-4 outside of the South Coast.

In the state rankings, four SCC teams were ranked in the State Top 25, but Palomar was the lone representative from the PCAC. Ironically, Palomar's only game v. a SCC opponent was the Pasadena defeat. 

Pasadena will be playing in the regionals for the fourth straight season (2017-2019, COVID-19 pandemic cancelled '20, '21 playoffs) under head coach Pat McGee. The team's 27 victories thus far are the most by a PCC team under McGee's leadership (since 2015) and most since prior to 1960. 

PALOMAR V. PCC PREVIEW 
PCC
Top Hitters: SS Raider Tello .413, 7 HR, 51 RBI (state leader in hits with 74), 18 doubles (tied for 3rd in state), CF Max Blessinger .374, 4 HR, 47 RBI 
Top Pitchers: Benny Olguin, 7-2, 1 save, 1.91 ERA (4th in state), Jakob Guardado, 4-3, 1 save, 4.07 ERA

PALOMAR
Top Hitters: C Devlin Lindeman .365, 14 HR (2nd in state), 56 RBI (3rd in state), RF Jack Sanders .466 (2nd in state), 6 HR, 34 RBI 
Top Pitchers: Logan Parker, 10-1 (4th in wins), 2.87 ERA, Dylan Delvecchio 6-1, 3.42 ERA, 99 Ks (2nd in state), Austin Schroeder 11 saves (2nd in state)

STATE RANK HITTING
Palomar .348 (#1), 409 runs (tied #1), 524 hits (#1), 106 doubles (#2), .428 on-base percentage (7th), 76 hit-by-pitches (tied 16th)
PCC .300 (32nd), 327 runs (18th), 426 hits (24th), 208 walks (9th), .413 on-base percentage (15th), 83 hit-by-pitches (tied 10th)
STATE RANK PITCHING
Palomar 3.88 ERA (9th), 141 walks allowed (tied 14th, 3.60 average per 9 IP), 347 strikeouts (tied 11th, 8.9 average per 9 IP)
PCC 4.73 ERA (24th), 131 walks allowed (9th, 3.33 average per 9 IP), 276 strikeouts (51st, 7.0 average per 9 IP)

Longest Win Streak: PCC 10 games (March 19-April 9), Palomar 13 games (April 2-Present)
Double Digit Runs Scored: PCC 14 (12-2 record), Palomar 18 (18-0 record)
1-Run Margin Games: PCC 6 (3-3 record), Palomar 9 (6-3 record)
Record v. Like Opponents: PCC 2-2, Palomar 4-1 (Golden West, Pierce, LA Valley, Cypress)
Record v. State Top 25 Teams: PCC 5-7, Palomar 6-2
Record v. All State Playoff Seeds: PCC 8-6, Palomar 13-5

LANCERS REPRESENT ON ALL-SCC SELECTIONS

Tello, Blessinger and Olguin were all named to the 2022 All-South Coast Conference Baseball First Team, released on Monday. 

Guardado (utility) and starting pitcher Coleman Mitchell were selected All-SCC Second Team. 

The selections were based on the 24-game, SCC schedule statistics only. Tello hit .364 with five home runs, eight doubles and 24 RBI. Blessinger batted .365 with 3 homers, eight doubles, and 30 RBI. 

Olguin, a sophomore, was outstanding in eight relief performances, earning a 4-2 SCC record, one save, and a SCC best 1.45 ERA in 43.1 innings (41 strikeouts). Only one reliever is chosen by the conference for First Team and Olguin beat out several of the state's top closers.  

Guardado batted .311 with nine RBI and went 3-3 (one save) and recorded a 3.72 ERA in 38.2 innings pitched. Twice, Guardado had shutout performances in conference play, including a 6-inning, 1-hitter v. Compton and an 8-inning, 4-hitter v. Cerritos (he also had a 5-inning shutout game in a non-conference win over Mt. San Jacinto). 

Mitchell was a consistent, control starter for the Lancers with eight SCC starts for a 2-2 record, 3.51 ERA and 27 Ks in 42.2 innings. Mitchell walked just seven batters in SCC play, an average of just 1.5 per nine innings thrown. 

Leftfielder Aryonis Harrison (.309, 10 RBI, six stolen bases in conference play) was selected All-SCC honorable mention. 

All-SCC First Team reliever Benny Olguin

 Max Blessinger, All-SCC First Team