Baseball Takes Series from Rio Hondo after Numerous Delays

TORRANCE, Calif. --- It took two days of play and a number of weather delays but El Camino College secured a South Coast Conference series win over Rio Hondo with a 12-3 win on Monday at Warrior Field.

The game, which officially began at 11:59 a.m. on Saturday, was hit with numerous rain and lightning delays along with a game suspension on Saturday before it was ultimately concluded on Monday afternoon.

The first delay came in the bottom of the first inning as they Warriors loaded the bases to start the frame against starter Joseph Russo. At that point, the umpires sent the teams to their dugouts for what was initially a rain delay. Before the teams even got to their dugouts, a lightning strike in the area trigged the first of three mandatory 30-minute delays due to lightning.

The game resumed on Saturday at 2:14 p.m. after a two-hour delay and that's when Ethan Felix immediately brought some thunder of his own, blasting a grand slam home run to right field to put ECC up 4-0. The Warriors would score six times in the first and two more times in the second for an 8-0 advantage.

The Roadrunners struck for three runs in the third to cut into the deficit against starter Jack Snyder but the Warriors came right back with three runs in the fourth and one in the fifth for a 12-3 lead. Neither team got much done in the sixth inning and, as the teams were coming out for the seventh, another lightning strike prompted another mandatory delay at 4:14 p.m. After another strike at 4:30 p.m., the game was officially suspended.

The teams returned to Warrior Field on Monday for a proposed 2:30 p.m. restart but that start was delayed due to heavy rain. When the game finally restarted at 3:05 p.m., the teams needed just 34 minutes to put an end to the affair as neither team was able to get any runs across and, finally, secure the series win for the Warriors.

Felix would finish the game 3-for-4 with four RBI, adding a double on Monday to go with his Saturday slam. Daniel Murillo and Jake Harper each had two hits while Brendan McAndrews, Dylan Knowles, Felix and Murillo each scored two runs.

Snyder got his third victory of the season on the mound as he tossed five innings on Saturday and allowed three runs on eight hits. He walked five and struck out four.

The Warriors will return to action on Tuesday afternoon when they host Pasadena at Warrior Field. First pitch has been moved to 1 p.m. as there is inclement weather in the forecast for Tuesday evening.