J J Thobe

Octavio Medina singled home Rene Arias in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Rancho Santiago a 9-8 victory over Riverside in an Orange Empire Conference game Saturday at Rancho Santiago College. J.J. Thobe (2-0) pitched a perfect 10th inning for the victory. Randy Curtis put Riverside ahead, 8-7, with a home run in the top of the ninth, but Rancho Santiago tied it in the bottom half when Raul Rodarte scored after Jeremy Sherman hit into a fielder's choice.

Two Cal State Northridge baseball players with Orange County ties have signed professional baseball contracts. Ken Kendrena, a right-handed pitcher from Cal State Northridge and Cypress College, signed with the Florida Marlins. Kendrena, who attended Bishop Amat High School, was taken in the 28th round. The senior was 11-6 this spring, leading the Matadors in victories, and had a 3.11 earned-run average with 13 complete games. He struck out 176 in 162 innings and walked only 41.

Rancho Santiago, which had appeared to knock Golden West out of the game twice, finally did it with a five-run ninth inning in an Orange Empire Conference baseball game Thursday in Huntington Beach. The Dons beat the Rustlers, 13-7, to increase their lead to 2 1/2 games over second-place Golden West. Rancho Santiago (22-3, 8-0 in conference) led, 5-1, but Golden West scored three in the sixth inning. Golden West (10-9, 5-2) fell behind, 8-4, but got three more in the eighth.

Doug McConathy had a bases-loaded single to drive in Jason Bates in the 11th inning and give Cypress a 9-8 victory over Riverside Thursday in an Orange Empire Conference game at Cypress. Bates had a sacrifice fly to drive in Eric Nygard with the tying run to cap a three-run ninth for Cypress. The victory moves Cypress (22-10, 9-7 in conference) into second place, 3 1/2 games behind Rancho Santiago. McConathy had a single, double, triple, drove in four runs and scored two more.

Rancho Santiago seemingly had everything going its way Sunday afternoon. The Dons had already defeated Riverside once and appeared ready to do it again. Rancho Santiago had a two-run lead going into the the ninth inning and J.J. Thobe, the Dons' top reliever, was on the mound. Thobe already had a single-season, school-record 11 saves. But Riverside rallied for three runs to stun Rancho Santiago, 10-9, and win a berth in the State tournament next weekend in Sacramento.

Brian Walker continued his torrid hitting with a home run and two singles as Saddleback defeated MiraCosta, 6-1, in a nonconference baseball game in Mission Viejo. Walker, a sophomore transfer from Loyola Marymount, has reached base in 18 of his past 26 plate appearences with 14 hits and three walks. He was hit once. Walker is batting a team-high .413.

Chris Walters hit a free throw with two seconds left to give visiting Antelope Valley College a 75-74 victory over Rio Hondo in a Foothill Conference basketball game Friday. The victory was the sixth in a row for the Marauders (15-10, 9-1 in conference play) and kept them alone atop the Foothill Conference standings. Rio Hondo dropped to 17-8, 7-3. D. J. Jackson had game-high totals of 33 points and 12 rebounds for Antelope Valley. Jason Grimes added 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Marauders.

Before his team's Sunset League game against Westminster Tuesday afternoon, Kent Neil, Fountain Valley High School's baseball coach, said his team was feeling a bit down. The Barons were 6-7 with a three-game losing streak. Hopes for their first playoff berth in two years were beginning to look bleak as they prepared to play the league's first-place team. "It's a win or die situation for us," Neil said. "There's not much else to say."

Strong pitching helped Rancho Santiago win two games Saturday in Southern California Regional play. But the Dons must win two games today to keep playing this season. Rancho Santiago must sweep Riverside in two games starting at noon to advance to the State tournament next weekend in Sacramento. A Riverside victory will put the Tigers (35-12) in the State tournament for the second consecutive year. David Goldstein (7-1) pitched seven-plus innings, and J.J.

Second baseman Ricky Parra's throwing error allowed pinch-runners Bryan Smith and Joe Aguirre to score the tying and winning runs with two outs in the ninth as host Golden West continued its late-inning heroics with a 7-6 victory over East Los Angeles in a nonconference baseball game Saturday. On the play, Harvey Perez hit a grounder to Parra, whose throw was in the dirt and skipped past first baseman Gabe Molina. The Rustlers (9-8-1) won in their last at-bat for the fifth time.