Corsairs Win 2 Games, Now Face Leaders

After taking a pair of conference victories, the Santa Monica College baseball team will try to climb out of last place in the Metropolitan Conference when it hosts Harbor at 2:30 p.m. today and Long Beach City at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Harbor and Long Beach are 9-3 and tied for first place in the Metro. The Corsairs have lost twice to Harbor and have split a pair with Long Beach.

In non-league action the Corsairs will play the USC junior varsity at 2:30 p.m. Friday at USC and the Cal State Los Angeles junior varsity at 2:30 p.m. Monday at Cal State.

Coach Marty Berson said the Corsairs are showing a renewed confidence after an early 10-game losing streak. “Nobody bothers us. We’re going to make an impact on this league. Our goal is to catch El Camino (7-5) and take over third place.”

In other league standings as the week began, Los Angeles City and Pierce were tied for fourth at 6-6 and Bakersfield and Pasadena were knotted for sixth at 4-8, followed by the Corsairs (3-9).

SMC pitcher Jaime Ramirez (2-2, 4.40 earned-run average), who pitched a complete game in a win over Pierce, 6-5, last week, will start against Harbor and Long Beach.

Right fielder Harrison Shearman, who leads the team with five home runs, may lead the Corsairs to a new team home run record. The Corsairs need two to break the season record of 17.

Last week the Corsairs also beat El Camino, 2-1, as pitcher Andrew Peruzzi (1-3, 5.20 ERA) pitched a complete game and picked up his first conference win.