Great Playoffs Start, But Baseball Falls In 3 Games v. Palomar

After opening the Southern California Regional Playoffs with a stunning 6-4 win over host #3 seed Palomar on Friday, the underdog #22 Pasadena City College baseball team hoped to advance with one more triumph. It was not to be as the Comets responded with 7-4 and 12-7 victories on Saturday, eliminating the Lancers to end their 2025 season.

Making a historic seventh consecutive appearance in the postseason, PCC closed the year at 22-18, the seventh straight 22-plus win completed season (shortened schedule in pandemic 2020) under head coach Pat McGee.

In the opener, Hugo Tafoya (6-3) earned his team-leading sixth victory as he pitched seven admirable innings, allowing nine hits, three earned runs, and struck out five. Aiden Nunez hurled the last two innings, throwing 1-hit scoreless ball and two Ks for his third save. 

The Lancers jumped ahead, 1-0, on catcher Joaquin Salcedo's team-leading eighth home run in the first inning. Palomar grabbed a 2-1 lead before PCC posted five runs in the fifth. First baseman Adrian Roman singled with two outs and aided by a third baseman error, the play scored two runs to regain PCC's advantage at 3-2. After centefielder Tyler Garcia laced a RBI single, designated hitter Evan Nahra lifted a sun fly, 2-RBI double to the rightfield fence to cap the rally.

Nahra and Garcia each batted 2-for-4 while second baseman Bryan Richman extended his hitting streak 29 games on a single during the fifth inning outburst.

In game 2, PCC served as the "home team" and after falling behind 3-0, the Lancers cut it to 3-2 in the second on leftfielder Thomas Villanueva's 2-run single. The sophomore came through again in the sixth with a 2-out, 2-RBI basehit that sliced the Comets edge to 6-4. 

That was the only hit Pasadena could muster v. Palomar reliever Jacob Imoto, who hurled four innings and earned his fifth save. Pasadena received a solid relief outing by Logan Parker, who pitched the final six innings, allowing six hits, two runs and keeping PCC within striking distance. Roman and Villanueva each had two hits while the rest of the Lancers lineup was limited to just two singles. Richman's PCC record hitting streak was stopped at 29 games.

Palomar's Drake Cobb delivered three doubles to lead the Comets offense as Palomar evened the series to force a third game for advancement. 

In the finale, Tyler Garcia's sacrifice fly gave PCC an early 1-0 lead, but Palomar went ahead, 3-1 after two innings. In the third, Nahra bombed a 2-run blast that regained the Lancers lead at 4-3. However, the Comets bats exploded with a 2-run double by Cobb in the bottom of the frame, then a 3-run homer by Adrian Macias in the fourth as they pulled back in front, 9-4. 

In the fifth, Nahra slugged his second home run of the contest, another 2-run shot and Richman added a RBI groundout in the sixth that cut the lead to two, 9-7. 

With one out in the eighth, shortstop Omar Cisneros and Richman both singled but Palomar reliever Mason Garris struck out the next two batters to stop a potential rally. Palomar then struck for three runs in that inning and closed out a 5-run victory to advance to the Super Regionals. Nahra, Richman, Cisneros (a double), and third baseman Devin Munoz had two hits a piece. 

Overall in the series, Nahra batted 4-for-12 with six RBI as the most productive PCC batter. After a tough start to the '25 season, Nahra ended in a flourish over his final 11 games in batting 13-for-38 (.342) with six doubles, four homers and 18 RBI. 

The Lancers hit 30 home runs for the season as the freshman Salcedo, an All-South Coast Conference Second Team selection, led the squad with eight dingers, 16 doubles, four triples, 39 RBI and a .369 average. Frosh rightfielder Devon Eskridge batted .338 with 13 doubles, five home runs and 33 RBI.

All-SCC closer Matt Garcia finished a strong frosh year at 4-1 and four saves in 21 appearances. Redshirt freshman outfielder/pitcher Isaac Ton (.338, 17 RBI) and redshirt defensively-strong shortstop Cisneros (.286) proved to be valuable contributors.

A number of sophomores closed their Lancers 2-year careers including Nahra (25 RBI), Villanueva, Munoz (.331, nine doubles, 21 RBI), and Roman (.325, 30 RBI). Garcia, an All-SCC Second Teamer, finished at .344 with seven home runs and 35 RBI.

On the pitching staff, Connor Campbell was the team's ace at 4-2 before an injury ended his season in March. He finished with nine mound victories, three saves and struck out 76 batters in 101.1 career innings. Joe Bacon posted eight career wins (seven as a freshman) and pitched 116.2 IP. Nunez had a solid sophomore campaign in making a team-high 23 appearances, 44 innings, a 3.89 ERA, four wins and three saves. Lefty reliever Alex Saucedo also had his sophomore year ended prematurely by injury 

Finally, 2-time, All-SCC First Team infielder/utility player Richman (.353) posted a team-high 60 hits, a new school-record 54 runs scored, eight stolen bases and 33 RBI. In his two seasons at PCC, he collected 120 hits, scored 101 runs, 63 RBI, 49 walks, hit .369 and had a solid .473 on-base percentage. His consistency will be hard to replace as after he didn't record a hit in his first three collegiate games, he went on to hit safely in 68 of his final 76 games, including his record hit streak this season.