It was a bittersweet Monday afternoon for the Pasadena City College baseball team. While the Lancers saw their 10-game winning streak snapped by non-conference host Los Angeles Valley, 17-5, two significant single-season program records were broken and another tied by shortstop Raider Tello and centerfielder Max Blessinger.
Tello, who had a 4-for-5 day with two doubles and four runs driven in, set a new PCC standard for RBI in a season with now 46. He breaks the mark of 44 set by Jeremy Conant in 2017. Tello also tied PCC's record for doubles in a season, now at a state-leading 17 as he matched the previous Pasadena mark set by Zack Kalter in 2004. Blessinger scored two runs and reached a new Lancers record for runs scored in a season with 48. The sophomore passed the previous high of 46 set by Gabe Arellano in 2019 when Arellano led the state in hits.
Tello raised his current batting average to presently a state-leading .450 to go with his state-high 67 hits, 10 more than the next highest total. The freshman is second in RBI behind only Palomar's Devlin Lindeman (48). Blessinger, a sophomore, is fourth in total hits (55) and fifth in the state in RBI with 43.
The team's 10-game win streak, the longest by any PCC team in the 21st century, was reached when Pasadena swept its second straight South Coast Conference series, defeating Rio Hondo, 10-8, on Saturday. PCC (25-8 overall) entered this week in a tie for first place in the SCC with Mt. San Antonio, both with 14-4 conference records.
Against LAVC, the state #8-ranked Lancers took a 2-0 lead in the third inning on run-scoring doubles by Tello and designated hitter Jakob Guardado. LA Valley (21-11) responded with six runs in the fifth. Tello's bases-clearing, 3-run double in the fifth cut the Monarchs lead to 7-5, but LAVC kept pouring it on with three runs in the sixth, five in the seventh and two more in the eighth, putting the game well out of reach.
LA Valley's starting pitcher Jackson Lapineer (moved to shortstop in the fourth) led his team's hitting attack, batting 2-for-3 with four RBI, including a 2-run homer in the sixth that extended the Monarchs lead at that point to 9-5.
PCC head coach Pat McGee used six pitchers, three with less than 10 innings of work each this season in an opportunity to get innings for those hurlers. Starter and sophomore lefty Chase Pedersen turned in the best performance of the bunch by pitching 2.1 innings, allowing one unearned run and two hits. The staff had its worst control game of the year, walking 10 batters and PCC was doubled in hits, 18-9.
Against Rio Hondo on April 9, the Lancers banged out a season-high 20 hits as first baseman Jake Trabbie went 4-for-6 and scored three runs. Guardado was 3-for-5 with a double, three runs and two ribbies while Tello hit 3-for-5 including a double. Leftfielder Aryonis Harrison was 2-for-4 with two RBI, second baseman Andrew Scannell 2-for-3, and reserve DH Josh Hernandez hit 2-for-3. Starting DH Collin Johnson went 1-for-2 with a RBI double. Catcher Matthew Delgado was 1-for-4 with two RBI. Blessinger and third baseman Toshiki Kuriya each added singles as all nine Lancers starters hit safely.
On the mound, Kyle Noell pitched two innings of 2-hit shutout ball for the relief win and closer Nicolas Day hurled the final three innings (two runs) to earn his third save.
The Lancers trailed 3-0, but scored four in the fourth and three each in the fifth and sixth innings to take a commanding 10-3 lead.
PCC hosts Taft in a non-conference game on Wednesday, April 13 in a 2:30 p.m. first pitch at Brookside Park's Jackie Robinson Memorial Field.