By Mia Magana

Riverside City College’s baseball team is currently competing in their final series of the 2019 season and look earn the top spot in the Orange Empire Conference.

The Tigers have accumulated a 28-9 record in the 2019 season. They will compete in a three game series against Cypress College before they place into the Southern California Regionals which begins April 30.

If the Tigers win out the next two games against Cypress College, they will win out the Orange Empire Conference.

“We have a saying that goes along here, ‘zero egos.’ There’s no egos, and no agendas,” head coach Rudy Arguelles said. “There’s just one objective and that is how can we utilize our resources and get our players better so that we can open up opportunities.”

Sophomores Matthew Happ and Ulises Caballero leads the team both morally and statistically. Happ places in the top three on the team for 23 RBIs overall in the season, while Caballero leads the team overall in hits per game.

“From a defensive standpoint, we’re not in the position we’re in right now without Matt,” coach Arguelles said. “As far as growth, development and progress being made from day one to where we’re at right now, Caballero has probably progressed to the top 10 of all the guys I’ve seen in all 20 years of my tenure here. Still a long ways to go, but again another individual with potential. He’s going to hit. When it is all said and done he’s going to be a really good hitter. Where he goes, we go.”

The Tigers next play on April 25 against Cypress in a home game.

“We’ve been consistent with the routine plays and we’ll take anything beyond routine as icing on the cake,” Arguellas said. “If we can fulfill those two components and be consistent as we fully anticipate we will be, we got a chance to make a really deep run in the postseason and we like our odds.”