As the sun slipped behind the San Gabriel Mountains on March 31, the stadium lights at LoanMart Field, home of the Los Angeles Angels affiliate Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, flickered on. The Quakes and the Pomona‑Pitzer Sagehens stepped onto a professional field for a rare exhibition game between a Division III college and a Single-A minor league baseball team. The Sagehens outlasted the Quakes, holding on for a 6-5 win in a scrimmage with an atypical structure.
The exhibition was set up nontraditionally, with each team’s pitchers facing their own lineups. Defensively, Sagehen fielders played behind the Quakes pitchers and vice versa, allowing the teams to see new situations on the diamond.
Mike Lindskog, newly appointed general manager for Rancho Cucamonga, explained that the Angels organization made a special request: The Quakes, newly affiliated with the Angels after 15 seasons as a Dodgers affiliate, needed exhibition games to prepare for their season opener. The Angels organization asked the team to find colleges willing to play, and Pomona‑Pitzer was one of the programs that agreed.
“This was the first of two exhibition games,” Linskog said. “Tomorrow, we play [Whittier College] to kick off our season, but tonight was a special opportunity for [Pomona-Pitzer] players to step onto this field and experience the atmosphere before the [MiLB] professional season really begins.”
Sagehen baseball rarely gets the chance to warm up in clubhouses, and 2B Jack Gold PO ’27 expressed that excitement by describing the pre‑game mood as electric.
“Everyone was having a great time, getting fed and treated like big leaguers,” Gold said. “It was surreal walking into a stadium instead of a Division III field.”
CF Kai Gonzaga PO ’28 also appreciated the special treatment.
“Getting fed in the clubhouse beforehand really made it feel like a real game day,” Gonzaga said. “You don’t usually get that treatment. It was a nice perk. It made us feel big time.”
The Sagehens’ entered the first inning feeling the pressure of the stadium. With crowd noise and bright lights adding to the nerves, the first Sagehen struck out as the game got underway; however, the team then settled in.
The Sagehens’ turnaround was spurred by excellent defensive play. In the sixth inning, shortstop George Nahabedian PO ’26 came off the bench with no warmup and fielded a hard‑hit ball up the middle of the infield. The play erased a runner and prevented the Quakes from expanding their lead. Gold called it a huge moment for the team.
One play triggered a shared laugh across both dugouts. A Sagehen reliever threw an inside pitch, inducing a hard swing from Devran Orens PZ ’26 — typically a pitcher himself — and the bat shattered on contact. The crack echoed off the infield dirt, and players, coaches and a few fans in the front row burst into laughter.
“That was a funny moment for everyone,” Gonzaga said. “Seeing a bat break like that just made the whole thing feel more like a real game‑day experience.”
For the Sagehens, playing against a team of professionals offered an opportunity to compete against a globally diverse group of players, venturing from very different backgrounds than their own.
Linskog explained that the Quakes serve as the first stop for many young players who aspire to move up to higher-level affiliates.
“The Angels draft kids from high school, college and countries like Mexico, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Canada,” Linskog said. “This year, we even have a kid from Italy. They start here in Rancho, and if things go right, they’re in Anaheim in a few years.”
The game settled into a tight, back‑and‑forth contest before the Sagehens finally pulled ahead, behind sharp defense and timely contact. After the final out, the Hens sprinted across the Quakes’ field in celebration.
Given that the game was an exhibition, it was not defined by intense competition; rather, both teams understood it as an opportunity to improve and train for their seasons ahead. For Gold, the night proved the Sagehens were well equipped for a second-half run.
“It showed that we can compete with players at the next level,” Gold said. “It means the team can play with anyone, and that’s something we’re going to carry beyond this game.”
The Sagehens faced the Quakes, coming off a sweep versus Whittier College to give them a 9-3 record in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC). They will travel to Portland, Oregon, to face Lewis & Clark in a series on April 3-4, and will return to SCIAC action versus Claremont-Mudd-Scripps for their Sixth Street Rivalry series on April 10-11.
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