JC baseball: Rams on brink of elimination

Just as it did in an earlier postseason series against Skyline and Ohlone, the Fresno City College baseball team is facing elimination.

Palomar (37-6) scored four in the fourth Saturday and beat the Rams 7-3 in a Day 2 game at the state final four at John Euless Ballpark.

Fresno City (35-10) needs to win twice today to advance under the double-elimination format, then win two more Monday for a state title.

The Rams will play San Joaquin Delta at 10 a.m. The Mustangs lost to defending champion Orange Coast 5-0.

Palomar and Orange Coast play in the winners’ bracket at 2 p.m., with the loser dropping into a 6 p.m. game against the survivor between Fresno City and Delta.

“Most important game tomorrow is at 10,” Rams coach Ron Scott said. “Winning tomorrow would be big so we can relax and come back and play against a team who just got beat.”

The Rams, whose only back-to-back losses this season came April 18-19 in Central Valley Conference play, will attempt to become the first team in 10 years to win the title after dropping the first game.

“We’ve been in this situation before,” third baseman Christian Funk said. “Lost to Skyline in the first game and came back and won two. I think we’re at our best when we have our backs against the wall.”

Said first baseman RJ Hartmann: “I think there’s a reason why we haven’t lost back-to-back except once all year — because we play for the guy next to us. It’s about everybody. It’s an eye-opener and we know what we have to do and (need to) come out and do it.”

This story was originally published May 23, 2015 at 10:31 PM with the headline "JC baseball: Rams on brink of elimination."