Community College Baseball : Churchill’s Grand Slam Paces Fullerton

Tim Churchill hit a grand slam in the first inning and Brad Hopper pitched 4 innings of scoreless relief to lead Fullerton College to a 5-3 South Coast Conference victory at El Camino Tuesday.

The victory kept the Hornets (12-2, 16-5-2) in a first-place tie with Cerritos.

Shawn Blankenship, Emmitt Cohick and Andy Ruscitto singled to load the bases with one out in the first for Fullerton. Churchill then hit the first pitch from Jeff Beck (6-4) over the left-field fence.

Hopper (5-0), who relieved starter Craig Oden in the fifth inning when Cerritos (6-8, 14-11) rallied, allowed only four hits and struck out four for the victory.

Golden West 7, Pasadena 1--The Rustlers (6-8, 10-10) scored five runs in the fourth inning, three on Darren Tomasick’s bases-loaded triple, to win at home. Winning pitcher Ken Hokus (2-3) went seven innings and struck out 12 batters.

In the Orange Empire Conference:

Orange Coast 16, Saddleback 4--The Pirates (5-2, 17-5) scored four runs in the first inning and 10 in the eighth at Saddleback. OCC (5-2, 17-5) had 14 hits.

Rancho Santiago 11, Cypress 6--The Dons (7-0, 17-3) were led by Dave Kirkpatrick, who was 3 for 4 with 4 RBIs and a home run, his fourth of the season.