COMMUNITY COLLEGE BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Hodges, Belovsky Help Cypress Win

Josh Belovsky made his second consecutive impressive start, and Jason Hodges drove in five runs as host Cypress beat Golden West, 11-3, in an Orange Empire Conference baseball game Saturday.

The victory moves Cypress (26-9, 12-4 in conference) into a first-place tie with Riverside with eight games left. The Tigers lost to Rancho Santiago, 5-3, Saturday.

Belovsky, a sophomore from Orange, was coming off a five-hit shutout of Rancho Santiago last Sunday. He moved into the starting rotation for that game because Rob Crabtree has a sore arm.

Belovsky improved to 6-1 Saturday, allowing two runs and eight hits in 7 2/3 innings. He was most effective when in trouble, which was often. He walked six, hit a batter and threw two wild pitches.

But Belovsky had nine strikeouts, eight with runners on base. Five times he struck out a Golden West batter with a runner on third.

“He’s really stepped it up for us,” Cypress Coach Scott Pickler said. “The guy will battle for you. I can’t say enough about him.”

Hodges had an RBI groundout in the first to give Cypress a 1-0 lead. He had an RBI double and later scored in the third as the Chargers took a 4-0 lead. Hodges singled and scored in the fifth as Cypress went up, 6-2.

Hodges, a left-handed sophomore designated hitter, started the seventh with his seventh home run to put the Chargers ahead, 7-2. He added a two-run double in the eighth.

Andy Gonzales hit a two-run home run, his second, for Cypress.

Dustin Martin had a triple and an RBI single, and Nick D’Amato had two hits for Golden West (13-16, 6-10).

In other conference games:

Rancho Santiago 5, Riverside 3--Toby Sanchez hit a two-run homer, his 13th, for host Rancho Santiago (26-9, 9-7). The Dons got solid relief pitching from Kirk Irvine and Brandon Hoalton, both normally starters, to secure the victory. Irvine got a strikeout with two runners on to end the eighth.

Hoalton earned his first save by getting the final two outs with a runner on second in the ninth.

David Mallas had a sacrifice fly and a run-scoring groundout for Rancho Santiago. Riverside is 25-7, 12-4.

Orange Coast 9, Fullerton 8--Nick Valencia hit a three-run home run in the ninth for host Orange Coast (7-23, 2-16) to cap a four-run rally.

He also had a two-run double earlier in the game.

Kiki Blanchet walked and Richard Ernst singled with one out in the ninth for OCC. Chris Yakura then singled to cut the lead to 8-6, bringing Valencia to the plate. Steve Escobar had three hits, including a triple, and drove in two runs for Fullerton (16-14-1, 7-9).