Rio Hondo College News


3600 Workman Mill Road / Whittier, CA 90601 / 562-692-0921


Article published: Friday May 19th, 2006
Whittier Daily News

Rio Hondo Baseball Looks for Super Ending
 

By Brian Baiotto Correspondent
Inside SOCAL

Rio Hondo College will ride the strong left arm of pitcher Bobby La Fromboise when it plays host Riverside in the first round of the Super Regionals baseball tournament today at 4 p.m.

The double-elimination tournament runs through Sunday with the winner advancing to the state championship in Fresno.

This is the Roadrunners' second consecutive trip to the Super Regionals. They used some late-inning heroics last weekend to advance to this weekend. Rio Hondo (35-10) beat Palomar in a best-of-three series despite losing the first game 1-0 and trailing by five runs in the ninth inning of Game 2.

The Roadrunners scored five times in the ninth and once in the 11th inning to save elimination, then came back 30 minutes later and eliminated Palomar with a 10-2 victory.

Bryan Robertson, who hadn't had an at-bat in two weeks and who pinch ran earlier in the game, had the game-winning hit in the 11th inning.

The challenge gets even more difficult for Rio Hondo. The Roadrunners today will face whom coach Mike Salazar calls the "best pitcher in California," Riverside's Tommy Hanson.

La Fromboise, the Foothill Conference pitcher of the year, will get the ball in Game 1 for Rio Hondo and has stats that can match up with anyone. The left-hander is 11-2 with a 1.94 ERA. He has 110 strikeouts against just 26 walks in 97 innings.

In the two losses, La Fromboise gave up just one run in each game and each time the Roadrunners failed to score.

"The key to winning this is to win Game 1," Salazar said.

If Rio Hondo wins Game 1, it would need just two more consecutive victories to win the regional. If it loses, it will take four consecutive wins to advance to Fresno.

Pitching is a strong point for Rio Hondo as La Fromboise, Bryan Baines and Jacob Norton all went the distance last weekend to defeat Palomar on the road.

The three lefties will move on next year as teammates at the University of New Mexico, but they currently have their minds set on advancing.

"That's all we've been talking about," La Fromboise said of a chance of playing in Fresno over Memorial Day weekend.

When asked about facing Riverside's Hanson (10-2, 1.69 ERA), La Fromboise said, "To me, it's just another game. If I stick to my game plan, I'm going to do well."

The Roadrunners' offense is led by former Mountain View High School standout Victor Peinado, who is hitting .395 with five homers and 36 RBIs.
 

-RHC-


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