Story by Marcus Tolero/ Photo by Eric Sun
The City College of San Francisco baseball team lost their first two games of the season against Hartnell College Panthers on Friday and Laney College Eagles on Saturday.
In the 4-3 away loss to Hartnell, CCSF fell behind early in the bottom of the second inning when Panthers' shortstop Ryan Clack scored on a Timothy Burkhardt single.
CCSF responded in the top of the third when shortstop Justin Robinson tied up the score with a solo home run shot.
The game remained tied until the bottom of the fifth inning when Panthers right fielder Isaiah Azua's drove in two runs on a triple off of CCSF's starting pitcher Daniel Walsh.
Hartnell tacked on another run in the seventh inning when catcher Baxter Black's double drove in centerfielder Kacee Takasaki to push their lead to 4-1.
The Rams cut into the deficit by scoring two more runs in the eighth inning, but their effort came up one run short.
CCSF's Walsh had a strong opening day start, he pitched six innings and allowed three runs on six hits and one walk.
The Rams were on the road again on Saturday at Laney College Eagles.
CCSF fell behind early in first inning when the Eagles scored two first-inning runs. But the Rams responded with a three-run third inning. First baseman Guillermo Gomez's single knocked in two runs to put CCSF up 3-2.
The score remained the same until the bottom of the third inning when second baseman Cassian Castillo's triple drove in three runs for the Eagles. Laney added one more run in the inning to increase their lead to 6-3.
After the Eagles added another run in the bottom of the fourth inning to push their lead to 7-3, the Rams responded in the top of the fifth inning when shortstop Justin Robinson RBI triple scored infielder Ian Chiang. But the score would remain 7-4 in Laney' favor the rest of the way.
CCSF pitcher Jordan Montoya pitched six strong innings in relief of starter Marcelo Gallegos, who lasted two innings. Montoya allowed two earned runs, six hits, one walk and struck out five batters.
The Rams host Laney College Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 1pm.