Griffins baseball: better start than 2017 state title team

By Nick Pellegrino
Updated: January 29, 2026

2026 GROSSMONT C COLLEGE BASEBALL
Results/Boxscores

East County Sports.com

FLETCHER HILLS – When Grossmont College captured the CCCAA state championship with a 38-8-1 overall record in 2017, the troops of head coach Randy Abshire can’t compare to the record-breaking fast start by this season’s edition of the Griffins.

Posting a 3-0 start through the first eight days of the current campaign, Grossmont has sandwiched a pair of 8-0 triumphs around a victory when the Griffins postd 31 runs in front of a very select audience.

Thw shutouts came against L.A. Mission College on Jan. 23, and a pasting of College of the Canyons on Jan. 28.

In between, in front of scouts at the Major League Baseball Academy ballpark in Compton, the Griffins destroyed the hsot Comptans Tartarsm 31-6, on Jan. 27.

The 3-0 mark and run differential is thebest since Abshire took over for legendary Griffins head coach Eddie Olson, and eveb vetters the 2-1 start by the ’17 state title-winning ballclub.

Game-by-game

Grossmont 8, L.A. Mission 0 – At Grossmont, the Griffins utilized seven different pitches to fire a 4-hit shutout at the Eagls (orifinally nicknamed “Free Spirit” when the school opener in the mid-1970s).

Rowan Haynes (Granite Hills) and oshua Swikard (Grossmont HS) eached tossed two innings of1-hit ball, followed by five releivers with one frame each.

Haynes struck our four Compton batters in his start, but Swikard garnered the victory.

Among the others, Zander Allen-Fox (Santana) and Anthony Potter (San Pasqual) each posted a pair of Ks, part of 11 whiffis by the pitching staff.

On offense, catcher Owen Rodgers (Granite Hills) drove in three runs, while second baseman Brendan Shanahan (Temecula-Great Oaks) slugged a 2-run double.

GrosGrossnont mont 31, Compton 6 – At MLB Acadedmy in Compton, Griffins right fielder C
Owen Rodgers collected a renarkable 8 RBI in a spanking of host Compton.

included was a Rogers grand slam in the third, when the G-House tallied 11 Ttimes to mount a 17-3 cushion. The Griffins would score in every frane except thte ninth.

Grossmont 8, Canyons 0 – At Noel Mickelson Field, could bullpen games on a full-time basis be thefuture for the Griffins?

Following a season-opening, 4-hit shutout, a variation of the unique strategy by Abshire nprodiced a combier 2-hitter.

Starting pitcher Joshua “J.D.” Swikard ,pved to 2-0 five five dominate, no-hit innings. The sophomore struckout four Cougars and faed justr one batter abiove the minimum ona walk.

The other trio of pitchers were Zander Allen-Fox (1 inning), William Smale (2) and Eric Flores (1).

Center fielder Justin Heffler and shortstop Logan Aguilar — the 2-3hitters — combined to bat 7-for-10, each slugging a home run anf a triple. Aguilar proved four hits, falling just a doubleshrt of hitting for the cycle while driving home three runs.

Up Next: Grossmont will seek to extend its win streeak on Thursday in Mission Viejo, meting Saddleback, one of the top teams in Southern California.J