COMMUNITY COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Cypress Blanks the Dons

Josh Belovsky pitched a five-hitter as Cypress beat Rancho Santiago, 4-0, in an Orange Empire Conference baseball game Sunday at Rancho Santiago.

Belovsky (6-1) had six strikeouts, three of which helped him escape jams.

Cypress (25-8, 10-3 in conference) scored twice in the first but Rancho Santiago threatened in its half of the first.

David Mallas singled and Corey Doll reached base on an error for the Dons (24-8, 7-6).

But Belovsky, a sophomore right-hander, struck out Matt Kastelic and Toby Sanchez. The inning ended when catcher David Trentine threw out Mallas trying to steal third.

Cypress led, 2-0, in the fifth, but Rancho Santiago’s Joe Fraser reached second on an error by Cypress left fielder Ken Granger with two outs.

But Belovsky, who had picked off a runner earlier in the inning, struck out Raul Gonzalez to end the inning.

Cypress went ahead, 4-0, in the seventh when Trentine hit a two-run home run over the right-center field fence. Jason Hodges, who had started the inning with a single, was on. It was Trentine’s second home run.

Cypress scored twice in the first using the first three batters. Ojeda singled and scored on a triple by Josh Kliner. Kliner came home on a sacrifice fly by Israel Gonzalez.

Brian Martineau (1-2) gave up four runs and seven hits in seven innings to take the loss for Rancho Sanitago.

With the victory, Cypress moves into first place by a half-game over Riverside. Riverside plays at Orange Coast at 2:30 p.m. today.

Rancho Santiago travels to Cypress Tuesday for a 2:30 p.m. game.

In another Orange Empire Conference game:

Saddleback 9, Golden West 0--Dennis Crine (5-3) pitched a four-hitter with 10 strikeouts for visiting Saddleback (18-9-1, 9-6). Ted Wilkes had a home run and double and drove in three runs and Sam Voita also hit a home run and had two runs batted in for Saddleback.

David Biddinger and Wade Jackson also had two hits and scored two runs for the Gauchos.

Phil Ruhl had a double for Golden West (12-14, 5-8). The Rustlers’ best chance to score came in the second when they loaded the bases with two outs. But Crine stuck out Robert Prince to end the threat.