The Week Ahead for Hancock Athletics: Track & Field and Swimming Hit the Road, Baseball and Softball Host Conference Games
It will be a busy week on the Allan Hancock College baseball and softball fields. The Hancock baseball team will host conference games on Tuesday and Thursday, while the softball team will five games on its home field this week, including a doubleheader against Santa Barbara City College on Tuesday and a showdown with undefeated Mt. San Antonio College Saturday afternoon.
BASEBALL (1-2, 8-12)
This Week:
Tuesday, March 14 vs. Oxnard * , 3 p.m.
Thursday, March 16 vs. Moorpark *, 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 18 @ Moorpark *, 1 p.m.
The baseball team will look to go for a home and away series sweep of Oxnard this week when the Condors visit Hancock on Tuesday, March 14, for a 2 p.m. game. The Bulldogs enter the week 1-2 in Western State Conference play and 8-12 overall. Following the home game with Oxnard, Hancock will host Moorpark on Thursday, March 16, at 2:30 p.m. before playing at Moorpark Saturday, March 18, at 1 p.m.
Last week, Hancock opened conference play with two losses to Santa Barbara. The Bulldogs built an early 4-1 lead at Santa Barbara in the opener, before falling 5-4 when the Vaqueros scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning. Daniel Curiel (Righetti HS) collected a career-high three hits and 3 RBI in the game. Josh Harmonay went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Quinntin Perez (St. Joseph HS) went 2-for-4, and freshman Dylan Maiden (Cabrillo HS) went 2-for-5. Hancock managed four hits at home last Thursday in an 8-1 loss to the Vaqueros. The Bulldogs ended the week with a 5-0 win at Oxnard behind eight shutout innings from sophomore Walker Armstrong (St. Joseph HS). Kyle von Tillow (Santa Ynez HS) had three hits, and freshman Brendan Gomez (Santa Ynez HS) added two. Maiden and Chris Taitague (Lompoc HS) each had one RBI in the victory.
Twenty games into the season, Perez leads the team with a .415 batting average to go with seven doubles and 16 RBI. Harmonay is hitting .347 with a team-leading 19 runs, 18 RBI and 13 walks. Gomez has a .309 batting average, two home runs and 13 RBI, while Curiel is hitting .276. Freshman catcher Nash Ackerman (Arroyo Grande HS) has one home run and 14 RBI. Armstrong is 2-4 on the mound with a 2.45 ERA. He has allowed just 42 hits and eight walks with 35 strikeouts over 44 innings.
Oxnard starts the week 0-3 in league and 10-10-1 overall. Moorpark is off to a 1-2 start in WSC play and 9-11 on the year. Francisco Tostado leads the Condors with four home runs, 16 RBI and a .326 batting average. Zane Chittenden is hitting .355 with 14 RBI and 13 walks. Moorpark is led by Jake Baer, who it hitting .424 with two home runs and 11 RBI. Daniel Cipriano ranks second on the team with a .280 batting average. Grant Bunker leads the team with 14 runs scored to go with two home runs.
SOFTBALL (5-1, 11-4)
This Week:
Tuesday, March 14, vs. Santa Barbara *, 12 and 2 p.m.
Thursday, March 16, vs. L.A. Pierce *, 12 p.m.
Saturday, March 18, vs. Southwestern, 11 a.m.
vs. Mt. San Antonio, 3 p.m.
After playing five games last week, the Hancock softball returns home for another busy one with five games on the books. The Bulldogs have won five straight conference games and are tied for first in the Western State Conference – North Division standings at 5-1 in league and 11-4 overall. Hancock will host a doubleheader with third place Santa Barbara on Tuesday, March 14, with games at noon and 2 p.m. Hancock will then welcome in winless L.A. Pierce Thursday, March 16, at noon. The Bulldogs will host two nonconference games Saturday, March 18, starting at 11 a.m. against Southwestern and undefeated Mt. San Antonio at 3 p.m.
Last week, Hancock swept a doubleheader in dramatic fashion from Ventura 4-1 and 14-13. Bailey Killough (Arroyo Grande HS) allowed eight hits and one run in a complete game win in the opener. The freshman struck out seven Pirates, and also clubbed a two-run double as part of a four-run third inning. Maggie Dasis (Righetti HS) went 2-for-3 with a two-run single. The Bulldogs built a 9-3 lead in the second game only to trail 13-10 headed into the bottom of the seventh inning. Sophomore shortstop Larrissa Ostrander (Santa Clara HS) hit a two-run single to start the rally and later scored on a RBI-double from Isabella Partida (St. Joseph HS). With two on and one out, Myranda Morales (Pioneer Valley HS) delivered a walk-off single to complete the comeback in the bottom of the seventh. Ostrander went 2-for-4 with 4 RBI. Morales went 2-for-4 with 3 RBI, while Killough and Emily Gantt (St. Joseph) each hit a home run. Killough finished with 3 RBI at the plate and earned the win in the circle despite allowing 10 runs and eight hits over 6 1/3 innings. The Bulldogs played three road games over three days last week starting with a 10-2 conference win in five innings at Santa Monica. Dasis and Ostrander had 3 RBI each, and Shannon Peterson (Santa Clara HS) earned the win with a complete game. Partida had 2 RBI, stole two bases and scored twice in the win. Nakalia Fuggs (Righetti HS) drew two walks and scored twice for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs traveled to Riverside where they fell 1-0 to the Tigers on Friday. Killough allowed a single run in the sixth inning that proved to be the difference. Partida had two of Hancock's four hits in the loss. The Bulldogs ended the week with an 8-3 loss at Mt. San Jacinto on Saturday.
Santa Barbara enters the week 4-2 in league and 9-6 overall. The Vaqueros have dropped four in a row, including a 10-2 loss to Ventura. Alyssa Richter is hitting .432 with three home runs and 21 RBI. Monica Salas has three home runs and 14 RBI to go with a .386 batting average. Pitcher Madison McNamee is hitting .524 with 3 home runs and 14 RBI at the plate, and is 1-2 with 17 strikeouts in 13 1/3 innings.
L.A. Pierce is 0-7 in league and 0-11 on the season. Catcher Maria Palacios owns a .304 batting average, while Cynthia Lopez is hitting .333. Pitcher Madison Tupper is 0-10 with a 13. 57 ERA.
Southwestern starts the week 10-5-1. With games against Mt. San Jacinto, San Diego and Moorpark on the schedule for this week, Southwestern will play Hancock at 11 a.m. before battling Mt. SAC at 1 p.m. Saturday. They have three players hitting above .400 led by Alyssa Garrette who is hitting .463 with 10 stolen bases. Nicole Correia has three home runs and 15 RBI to go with a .432 batting average. Amanda Whitley is hitting .400 with two home runs and 10 RBI. Pitcher Yasmine Jameson is 8-5 with 61 strikeouts and a 1.77 ERA over 71 innings.
Mt. SAC is off to a 17-0 start. Eleven players with 28 or more at bats are hitting above .345, and eight players have at least one home run. Kayla Sok leads the team with five home runs to go with 16 RBI, 23 runs scored and a .405 batting average. Aleyah Wilbon is hitting .500 with 10 RBI, while Taylor Jaurique has three home runs, 17 RBI and a .383 batting average. Mt. SAC pitchers have a combined ERA of 1.39 and are averaging more than one strikeout per inning pitched.
Last year, Hancock lost 7-0 to Mt. SAC and 8-3 to Southwestern. Hancock defeated Mt. SAC 8-4 in 2015 and blanked Southwestern 5-0 behind Katie Chenault.
WOMEN'S SWIMMING
This Week:
Friday, March 17, @ L.A. Valley – Western State Conference #2, 11:30 a.m.
The Hancock women's swim team will return to action Friday, March 17, at L.A. Valley for the second Western State Conference five-team meet of the season. The Bulldogs will compete against LA. Valley, Santa Monica, Cuesta and College of the Canyons.
Hancock swimming opened last week with a 93-54 dual meet win over Clovis at the Paul Nelson Aquatic Center. Dria Kwong (Orcutt Academy) set a school record in the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 27.62 seconds. Makena Blanco (Lompoc HS) finished second in 30.68 seconds. Kwong, a three-time Conference champion, later won the 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 29.49 seconds. Rebecca Gonzalez (Nipomo HS) won the 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 32.95 seconds. Freshman Ellen Clardy (Righetti HS) won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 26.84 seconds. Hancock won both relay events, the 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard medley.
The Bulldogs followed that with a seventh place finish out of 25 teams during the two-day Cuesta Invitational. Kwong, Gonzalez and Maddie Diaz (Pioneer Valley HS) both earned top five finishes for the Bulldogs. Kwong finished third in the 100-butterfly and 100-yard individual medley, along with an eight place finish in the 200-yard backstroke and fifth place effort in the 200-yard butterfly. Diaz came in second in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 18:50.96. Freshman Meagan Stevens (Cabrillo HS) finished eighth in the 1650-free with a time of 20:31.65. Diaz later came in eighth in the 400-yard individual medley and ninth in the 500-yard freestyle. Gonzalez came in fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke and sixth in the 200-yard breaststroke. Diaz, Kwong, Clardy and Stevens finished fourth in the 800-yard freestyle relay to break a school record by 10 seconds. The Bulldogs later finished seventh in the 200-medley relay and fifth in the 400-yard medley relay.
TRACK AND FIELD
This Week:
Friday, March 17 @ Antelope Valley Classic
The Hancock track and field teams will head to the Antelope Valley Classic on Friday, March 17. The Bulldogs competed last week at the Occidental Distance Carnival Spring Break Classic. The meet featured athletes from dozens of community colleges and four-year universities. Sophomore Brent Dionisio (Pioneer Valley HS) finished second in the men's high jump with a clearance of 6 feet, 7 inches. Jose Rodriguez (Cabrillo HS) finished 14th in the men's pole vault by clearing 12-5.5, while Ben Wulfestieg (Cabrillo HS) finished 17th in the shot put with a top mark of 38-11.5. Sophomore thrower Taylor Nevitt (Nipomo HS) finished eighth in the women's shot put with a top mark of 35-5.25 and eighth in the discus throw by hitting 113 feet.