Renegades rout Contra Costa in two-game series sweep

SAN PABLO – After dropping its first two games of the 2024 season last week, the Ohlone College baseball team quickly turned things around in a big way.

Contra Costa College will likely want nothing to do with Ohlone for the foreseeable future after the Renegades swept a two-game series, outscoring the Comets by a combined 61-5 margin.

Ohlone opened the series on Monday at home with a 31-1 rout and followed that with a 30-4 thrashing at Contra Costa on Tuesday to end the set.

The Renegades pounded out 48 hits over the two games, including 16 for extra bases.

Matt Leiterman had a huge series, going 8 for 14 with double, triple, home run, and 9 RBI. He totaled 6 RBI in the opener alone and banged out 5 hits in Game 2.

Will Anderson was 4 for 6 with a pair of doubles and 7 RBI. Niko Lombardi went 4 for 7 with 2 doubles, a triple, a home run, and 6 RBI while Gavin Shaddix drove in 5 runs.

Ohlone's pitchers were just as dominant, allowing just 6 hits and 4 earned runs while striking out 29 batters over the two games.

Five Renegades pitchers struck out 15 batters and allowed just 2 hits in Game 1. Binyam Gebhardt took the ball to open and held Contra Costa hitless for 3 innings. Jordan Rutchena, Luke Spies, and Teru Khan also had hitless outings.

Eight different pitchers threw for Ohlone in Game 2 that saw the Renegades give up 4 hits while striking out 14. Ben Thompson, Titus Clappin, Diego Menjivar, Khan, and Leiterman all had hitless outings on the mound.

The victories evened up Ohlone's overall record at 2-2. The Renegades are back in action on Feb. 9 when they begin a three-game series in Southern California at San Bernardino Valley College. Game 1 is set for 1 p.m. on Friday with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 10 a.m.