Golden West baseball (27-11, 14-5 OEC) win their third Orange Empire Conference title with victory over Orange Coast (15-23, 9-10 OEC), 7-3.
For the first time in almost a decade, the Golden West College Rustlers baseball program has won the Orange Empire Conference title. It is the third time that the program has come in first in the conference with the last time being in 2015 and prior to that in 2004. Head Coach Andrew Ramos in only his third year at the helm has steered the ship in the right direction as he has amassed 27 total victories and 14 OEC wins with two games remaining in the 2024 regular season.
Sophomore bats on the squad such as Ayden Garcia, Robert Castillo, Zech Samayoa and Jack Salmon have adapted to a leadership role on and off the field. Along with freshman sluggers like leadoff hitter Kaleb Duncan who has aided in the conference leading 52 home runs. The arms on the team have been a key component to the Rustlers success with starters Dante Jackson, Jack Smith and JD Rodriguez. Pitching has seen a massive improvement with a team ERA of 4.61 which lands third in the OEC that jumped from 5.44 in the 2023 year.
In March, conference competition began with a series against the Fullerton Hornets who are currently in second place behind Golden West. The Rustlers flashed signs of power in the first conference series as the team totaled six home runs in just three games. Golden West took the series two games to one with a walk off sacrifice fly by Andrew Kirchner to win the rubber match at home. The team's next series was against the Riverside Tigers as the Rustlers walked it off yet again from a come from behind two-run blast off the bat of Samayoa. Golden West took the first two meetings to take the series win.
The Rustlers shifted their sights to the defending 3C2A Champion Santa Ana Dons for their third series of conference play. Golden West would lose their first series to Santa Ana but with each game being a nail biter till the last inning. The team turned around at the start of April and swept the Cypress Chargers in three big offensive games. After a tough loss to Saddleback, Golden West came back in the series and won the final two matchups.
In the last month of the regular season, the Rustlers seemed to refuse to lose as they are currently on a six game winning streak. After a sweep of Irvine Valley and a win against Orange Coast College, Golden West have solidified their place standing in the Orange Empire Conference. In their win over their district rivals the Pirates, the Rustlers did what they do best. The team smacked five extra base hits with two home runs from the bats of Samayoa and Kirchner. Left handed starter Jackson went 4.1 innings with three runs allowed. JJ Robles and Rodriguez delivered 4.2 scoreless frames of relief to end the victory.
Head Coach Ramos and the rest of the Rustlers coaching staff have done an incredible job all year of building a healthy and productive atmosphere on and off the diamond. The returning cast of sophomores and freshman newcomers positive comradery has shown in their play and have now crowned them 2024 Orange Empire Conference Champions.
Last year, the team exited the first round of playoffs against Santa Barbara in a three-game series. For the 2024 season, the Rustlers look to host playoffs and be ranked amongst the top teams in the state with seeding still yet to be unannounced. Golden West has two regular season games remaining on their schedule against Orange Coast College on Thursday, April 25th at home and on Friday, April 26th at Orange Coast. Golden West Athletics is excited to see what the baseball program has in store for the month of May and in the 3C2A postseason bracket.
UP NEXT: The Rustlers bring the series against Orange Coast back home with the middle game on Thursday, April 25th. First pitch will be at 2pm.