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California Community Colleges Commission on Athletics Baseball Championship May 26-28 Fresno City College Fresno, CA

Sacramento City College

Sacramento City College 'Panthers' (35-13, 19-5)
Collegiate Baseball was right on in its Northern California preseason poll when CB selected Sacramento City's "Panthers" as No.1. The Panthers received that slot for the playoffs and are the highest seed at the state championships.

SCC is led by the one-two punch of sophomore righthanders Tim Schlatter and Leroy Hunt. Schlatter is 7-2 with an era of 2.00. He has 83 strikeouts in 94 innings while allowing 80 hits. He has signed a scholarship with UCLA. Hunt is 9-3 with an ERA of 1.93. He has a team-leading 93 strikeouts in 88 innings and allowed only 61 hits. He set a new school record with 33.1 scoreless innings pitched during Big 7 Conference play. Hunt has signed on with Oral Roberts University for next season along with teammate Ben Petralli

Petralli, son of former major league and SCC player Gino Petralli, is one of two switch-hitting offensive threats for the Panthers. He is hitting .338, with 52 hits, 24 RBI, and leads SCC in doubles (16) and walks (44).

Chris White is the other switch-hitter and leads all starters with a .377 average. He also leads SCC in hits (72), RBI (45), runs (51) and stolen bases (30-of-34). He has signed on with Long Beach State for next season.

Left-handed batters Jeremy Malmendier and Chris Elder are also top threats. Malendier is hitting .355 with 35 runs, 50 hits and 24 RBI. Elder is hitting .340 with 53 hits and 34 RBI.

The Panthers have the most appearances in the state championship game with 16. SCC won back-to-back titles in 1998-1999 and, like Fresno City, has won five state championships.

Narratives were prepared for the COA by these members of the Calif. Community College Sports Information Assn.: Teresa Wang, Cypress; Robert Schmidt, Riverside; Steve Gill, Sacramento City and Woody Wilk, Fresno City.