Harbor Begins Its Quest for a State Baseball Title

The Harbor College baseball team will play host to Pierce College in the first round of the Southern California Regional at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The second game of the best-of-three series is scheduled for 11 a.m. Sunday. A third game, if needed, would follow.

The winner advances to next week’s regional finals at a site to be determined.

The third-seeded Seahawks (28-10) won the South Coast Conference with a 16-4 record.

With a .322 team batting average and an earned-run average of 3.08, Harbor is one of the state’s most balanced teams. Sophomore second baseman David Rosato, a South Torrance High graduate, leads the Seahawks with a .394 batting average. Sophomore third baseman Tristan Paul, who attended Rolling Hills High, is batting .388.

Freshman shortstop Grant Hohman, who attended St. Bernard High, is batting .364 and sophomore center fielder Rolando Avila and freshman catcher Jeff Poor, a former El Segundo High player, are batting .352.

“Our three sophomores have dominated all season,” Coach Tony Bloomfield said. “But a lot of guys have come alive lately. I don’t know what it is, but the kids are playing exceptionally well right now.”

Freshman starter Javier Mejia leads the pitching staff with a 7-0 record and a 3.70 ERA. Sophomore starter Clint Lynch is 5-2 with a 4.26 ERA. Lynch will start on Saturday and Mejia on Sunday. Harbor’s best relievers are sophomore Marco Martinez (5-1, 2.65 ERA) and freshman Mark Chavez (2-3, 2.52 ERA).

Pierce has four players batting .360 or higher. The 14th-seeded Brahmas (22-15) finished second in the Western State Conference. Louie Tapia leads the team with a .395 batting average and Jason Cohen is second at .387.

Pitcher Danny Rodriguez (5-1 record, 3.21 ERA) is the Brahmas’ top starter. Chris Frith-Smith is the best reliever (4-2, 2.42 ERA).

When Harbor and Pierce played two years ago in the regional finals at Harbor, the Brahmas upset the Seahawks to advance to the state tournament.

“The kids that are here now weren’t here then so they may not know about it, but the coaching staff remembers,” Bloomfield said. “I think we have a great chance of winning a state title.”

Notes

Six Harbor College players were named to the All-South Coast Conference first team and three made the second team. Jeff Poor, Grant Hohman, Tristan Paul, David Rosato, Rolando Avila and Mark Chavez (Banning High) made the first team. Marco Martinez (Carson High), Javier Mejia and infielder Jay Uhlman (Redondo High) were named to the second team.