By Ana Rocha
FAST PITCH
By Ana Rocha
After days of intense rain, the Tigers were ready to face their next opponent. Without much anticipation the players headed out to the field with their heads up high.
The bottom of the first inning was started by Kevan Kelley whose strong hit was caught by the opposing team.
Tommie Hanson was the pitcher that would participate in the Tigers battle against LA Harbor. After the Harbor’s first batter Brent Dean was up and made it to first base and then managed to steal and get to second, Raul Landeros was up to base. After Landeros hit, Dean ran home, but the Tigers were much faster and though for a brief moment it seemed that Harbor would score, the Tigers got Dean out.
The third inning began and Riverside Community College had not scored a run, but neither had their opponents. Neither team was playing it easy and the scoreboard remained unchanged. With two outs, Jorge Franco was on base and Alex Chavez at second, LA Harbor finally made it past the plate. But this would not be it on the third inning, Franco also made a run, leaving the Tigers behind two to nothing.
Unfortunately, L.A. Harbor scored yet another run in the fourth inning, putting the score 3-0.
But there was no way RCC would let themselves be defeated and in the ninth inning turned the Tigers luck around. RCC sent their batters out and though they were losing they kept their heads held high. Without time left the Tigers scored five runs all in the ninth inning. Sean Lorentz, Andy Bouchie, David Quinowski, Tony Haro and Chris Hinkley all ran past home base and put the scoreboard at 5-4 as the final score.
“It was a great come back,” head coach Dennis Rogers said. RCC (5-13) managed to win five games in a row and as recently as March 8 the Tigers beat Santa Ana 4-2.
The Tigers have come head to head with many teams, but the way they are playing it would not be a surprise for them to continue to earn victories.
“We’ve played well all through the year,” Rogers said. “We’re a team in development with a lot of new players.”
