Baseball: Rio Hondo swept out of postseason by Golden West

Rio Hondo College's 12th consecutive postseason appearance came to an end after No. 3-seeded Golden West College swept the No. 14-seeded Roadrunners in a best-of-three Southern California Regional playoff series. Golden West came from behind to beat Rio Hondo 6-5 in the series opener on Friday while the Roadrunners fell 6-1 in Game 2 on Saturday.

In Game 1 on Friday, Rio Hondo jumped out to a 3-0 lead after scoring single runs over the opening three innings. R.J. Romo hit a RBI single in the first, Fernando Rosales smacked a run-scoring double in the second, and Mike Hernandez lined a RBI single in the third.

Golden West answered with a run in the bottom of the third and two more in the fourth off Rio Hondo starter Joe Wills to tie up the game. But in the fifth, the Roadrunners went back out in front when Albert Perez came through with a clutch two-out, two-run double that scored Hernandez and Jordan Abernathy.

With Rio Hondo leading 5-3, Golden West got a run back in the bottom of the fifth to cut the Roadrunners' lead to 5-4. It stayed that way until the eighth. Dillon Persinger led off the frame for the Rustlers with a double and promptly came in to score the tying run on a single by Cody Marshall.

And in the ninth, a lead-off walk to the Rustlers would prove costly. Three batters later, Chris Gilbody hit a walk-off sacrifice fly to score Tyler Depreta with winning run for the 6-5 Golden West victory.

Wills (8-2) went the distance for the Roadrunners and suffered just his second loss of the season. He allowed 12 hits and six runs in his final start in a Rio Hondo uniform.

Rio Hondo totaled 11 hits in the contest, including two each from Mauricio Guadarrama (2 for 4), Hernandez (2 for 5), and Randy Buenrostro (2 for 3).

In Game 2 on Saturday, the Roadrunners had just five hits and were shut out over the final eight innings in the 6-1 loss. Romo lined a RBI single to drive in Gabe Chavez in the bottom of the first inning for the Roadrunners' lone run.

Golden West tied up the game with a run off RHC starter Cameron Legrand in the third and went ahead for good with a run off reliever Brady Carlson in the seventh. The Rustlers blew the game open with four runs in the ninth before retiring Rio Hondo in order in the bottom of the inning to close out the game and series.

Romo went 3 for 4 in Game 2 to lead Rio Hondo at the plate. Legrand and Anthony Franco pitched well for the Roadrunners as they combined for six innings and allowed one run and five hits.

Rio Hondo closed the 2016 season with a 24-14 overall record and finished in second place in the final season of the Foothill Conference at 19-5. Next year, the Roadrunners will compete in the South Coast Conference.