City College men’s baseball team experienced a tough home 1-5 loss to the Grossmont Griffins Feb. 29 at Morley Field.

The Knights aimed to come into league play strong against the Griffins to gain momentum going into their first Pacific Coast Athletic Conference game of the season. However, Grossmont’s combination of good pitching and strong offense led to the Knights defeat.

City’s starting pitcher Jesse Hernandez looked strong on the mound, allowing no runs to be scored for the first four innings. Hernandez worked in good tandem with his catcher, freshman Ryan Lischer.

Infielder Fabian Cosio made two catches in the first inning to force two outs.  The Knights were the first team to get ahead on the scoreboard in the 2nd inning after infielder Ryan Carrazco hit a single to bring in Harrison Guiol for the Knights.

It quickly became apparent that Grossmont’s starting pitcher Justin Disboro was a force to be reckoned with. Grossmont’s pitching staff didn’t allow the Knights to get any hits during the first inning, and he was very alert when it came to base stealing runners.

The score didn’t shift into Grossmont’s favor until the fifth inning, when Aaron Ayon hit a single into left field. On deck batter Braden Peters brought him in for the RBI to put the Griffins on the board.

City’s closing pitcher Cole Chandler gave up two runs in the 6th inning to bring the score to 1-4.  Grossmont was able to nudge another hit off Chandler in the 7th inning which brought the score to 1-5.

City’s head coach Chris Brown and his team will faced a tough schedule league play following the loss.

The Knights lost to Southwestern, 0-1, on March 1 but  eked out a win  at home  against Mesa College, 3-2, on March 3,  bringing their league record to 1-2.

The Knights next game is March 6 against Palomar at Morley Field.