One to many missed opportunities proved costly for the Tigers in their super regional loss against Palomar.
The No. 6 Riverside City College baseball team lost 5-4 to No. 3 Palomar College at Bob Vetter Field on May 10, ending their season in a sweep during the California Community Colleges Athletic Association SoCal super regionals.
Riverside’s starting pitcher, freshman Jake Valenzuela – Orange Empire Conference pitcher of the year – was solid through six innings, giving up two runs. In the seventh, Palomar designated hitter AJ Klubeck came to the plate with a runner on first after a leadoff walk, sending a two-run home run over the right-center field wall, shifting the momentum to Palomar’s favor.
“Jake pitched his a– off,” Tigers head coach Rudy Arguelles said. “He ran out of gas that last inning.”
Valenzuela exited after throwing 109 pitches, relieved by sophomore Dylan Escobar.
The Tiger offense stranded eight runners on base, including freshman Bubba Heidler, who led off the bottom half of the seventh with a single but never advanced past second base.
“We could’ve done the little things better,” Tigers third baseman Eddie Alfaro said. “The small ball, getting guys over that changes the game, and we failed in that aspect.”
Escobar held Palomar scoreless in the seventh and eighth, but a ninth-inning Palomar rally put them ahead by one, which proved to be the deciding run.
“Their execution was on point, and their bullpen did a great job shutting us down,” Arguelles said.
The Tigers finish the 2025 season 31-14 – the third 30-win season in Arguelles’ tenure. Six of their 14 losses came by a single run.
“I’m proud of them, but at the same time disappointed in our outcome,” Arguelles said. “Our expectation is never going to be happy with super regional play. Hopefully, they can take the sting and the burn of this loss to motivate them with their commitment moving forward.”
It’s the second straight super regional exit for Riverside and the third consecutive year they’ve failed to reach the state finals since winning it all in 2022.
Arguelles reflected on whether he felt the 2025 season was a disappointment.
“We fell short of our goal (winning a state championship), and we truly felt with our personnel that we could make a deep run,” he said. “It’s a disappointment of falling short of our goal, but overall, the progress that has been made from an individual and a club standpoint … you had to have had a successful season to be here. There’s no denying that, and I expressed that I was absolutely proud of them.”
Arguelles holds his expectations to the highest standard in Riverside: competing to be among the final four at the state championship. That expectation is fueled by the philosophy of ultra competitiveness, execution, and the willingness to learn and grow as a player and person.
“It’s a grind, and it’s competitiveness; those words were the theme this year,” Alfaro said.
Riverside players embraced in dap ups and hugs as they walked off the field as a team for the final time. Sophomore Marc DiCarlo stood at the end of the dugout, visibly emotional, struggling to get out his words as he reflected on what it meant to be an RCC Tiger.
“A thing is not beautiful because it lasts,” DiCarlo said. “It’s beautiful because of the people and the memories. I’m tremendously grateful, these tears are tears of gratitude. The experience of being on this team and playing for these coaches and being able to be around my childhood friends, … and now we’re going to go our separate ways. It’s hard letting go, but the reason it’s so hard is because it was special. One chapter closes and another one opens, and we’re all going to go our separate ways, and that’s the hard part… I don’t want to let go.”
