The Roadrunners battled the Long Beach City College Vikings at The Jungle Saturday, March 15. Rio jumped ahead early on but were unable to hold the lead, falling to LBCC, 5-4.
Rio got on the board in the very first inning, thanks to right-fielder John Sabajan and first-baseman Luis Aguilar. With a couple singles, Sabajan and Aguilar were able to drive in left-fielder Nick Ybarra and Steven Mendoza, respectively.
It was a two-point lead after the first for Rio, but they weren’t ahead for long.
In the top of the third inning, LBCC right-fielder Steven Delgado and second-baseman Raul Gonzalez found themselves on base with Reese Berberet coming up to bat. The third-baseman, Berberet smacked a ball from Rio pitcher Jake Gaudet.
Berberet’s smack resulted in a home-run, driving Delgado and Gonzalez in, and giving LBCC the 3-2 lead.
Later on, in the sixth inning, Vikings’ first-baseman Mark Stanford was able to hit a home-run of his own. This time a two-run homer off of Roadrunner pitcher Edmundo Fernandez. Stanford’s home run increased the Viking’s lead to three, at 5-2.
It wasn’t until the seventh inning that the Roadrunners got on the scoreboard again. Nick Ybarra hit a two-run home run but it wasn’t enough to spark a rally.
Neither team scored after that, and the LBCC Vikings earned the 5-4 victory over Rio Hondo. The loss dropped the Roadrunners record to 8-13 on the season.
Rio will move on and play three games this upcoming week. They battle LA Harbor Tuesday and Thursday, and Bakersfield College Saturday at The Jungle.
RAMON ALVARADO 
Leave a comment