Baseball: Wills strikes out 16 including five in first inning in loss at Chaffey

Rio Hondo College starting pitcher Joe Wills achieved one of the rarest feats in baseball on Thursday. Wills struck out three batters in the first inning, but had to keep pitching thanks to a pair of passed balls. He went on to strike out two more to give him five for the inning on his way to 16 Ks in a 10-3 Foothill Conference loss at Chaffey College.

R.J. Romo, who went 4 for 4 on Tuesday, continued his hot hitting as he added a 3 for 5 day at the plate including a RBI double in the first inning against the Panthers. He is 7 for 9 this week with three doubles and three RBI and has upped his batting average to .365.

Despite Wills' and Romo's impressive game, it was Chaffey that came up with the big hits for the win. Even while striking out 16 times, the Panthers handed Wills (3-1) his first loss of the season as they jumped on him early. Chaffey scored two runs in the first, three in the second, and one more run in the third to take a 6-2 lead.

But Wills settled down after the third inning to retire eight of the next nine batters he faced. The Roadrunners added a run in the top of the seventh when Gabe Chavez scored thanks to a pair of Chaffey errors. With Rio Hondo down 6-3, Chaffey extended its lead in the bottom of the seventh with four runs to put the game out of reach.

 Rio Hondo had a chance to get back in the game in the top of the eighth. Romo singled to lead off the frame, Fernando Rosales reached base on an error, and Matt Munoz walked with two outs to load the bases. But Chaffey reliever Aaron Sheridan got Chavez to ground out to end the threat.

Wills went 6 1/3 innings and allowed six earned runs and 12 hits. Anthony Franco and Jonathan Duran closed out the game with 1 2/3 of scoreless relief.

Rio Hondo returns to action on Saturday (Mar. 12) when the Roadrunners travel to College of the Desert for a 12 p.m. conference game.