COMMUNITY COLLEGE REGIONAL BASEBALL PLAYOFFS : Rancho Santiago All Smiles After Victory

Rancho Santiago Coach Don Sneddon smiled broadly after the game Friday.

That was about the first time even the slightest grin crossed his face. He certainly didn’t smile while the Dons beat Mt. San Antonio, 9-7, in a Southern California Regional game Friday at Los Angeles Pierce College in Woodland Hills.

Sneddon had endured plenty of misfortune before the final out.

Mt. San Antonio scored twice in the first and four times in the fourth to open a 6-0 lead against Mike Fontana, the Rancho Santiago right-hander with the 12-0 record. Rancho Santiago made four errors and mishandled three other grounders in the first four innings.

Sneddon perked up for the first time in the fifth when Rancho Santiago scored three runs. The Dons got two more in the sixth to get close at 7-5.

Rancho Santiago (29-12) then got four runs in the seventh to take the lead.

Tony Truel opened the seventh with a double down the right-field line. Robin Lindsey then sent a double down the left-field line to drive in Truel, and Steve Thobe’s single to left tied it, 7-7.

Chris Lugo singled and continued to second as the throw to third, trying to get Thobe, was late. With one out, Derek Brown was intentionally walked to load the bases for David Gonzalez. The Mater Dei graduate broke the tie with a two-run single to center.

“Why not save your best comeback for the most important game of the year?” Sneddon said. “Obviously we didn’t play very well early. We looked like we couldn’t do anything right.”

As a rule this season, when Fontana pitched, the Dons haven’t needed many comebacks. But he wasn’t that sharp Friday; Mt. San Antonio got seven runs, five earned, in the first six innings. There were three infield hits and two fly ball singles among 11 hits the Mounties had off Fontana, who struck out three and walked none. Fontana has 108 strikeouts this season and is two short of the single-season record of 110 set by Jack Bailey (1989).

Ryan Filbeck took over in the seventh and pitched three scoreless innings to get the victory. Filbeck, who struck out one and gave up two hits, is 3-1.

Rene Arias and Lindsey had RBI singles and Octavio Medina’s fielder’s choice drove in another run. Gonzalez had an RBI triple on a hit-and-run to drive in one run and Arias had another RBI single in the sixth as the Dons scored twice.

“We played like we were a timid team at the start,” Lindsey said. “This is a big win for us to learn from and build on.”

Rancho Santiago advances to play L.A. Pierce at 11 a.m. today at Pierce College in the second game of the double-elimination regional. J.J. Thobe (9-3) is expected to start for Rancho Santiago. The loser of that game plays at 3 p.m. against the winner of the Mt. San Antonio-Riverside game, which is at 10 a.m. at Moorpark College.

In another regional game:

Los Angeles Pierce 7, Riverside 4--Ruben Hernandez hit a three-run home run in the eighth to give Riverside a 4-3 lead, but host Pierce rallied for four runs in its half of the eighth.

Riverside now must win two games today and two more Sunday if the Tigers are to advance to the State tournament for the third consecutive year. The tournament is May 23-25 at the Riverside Sports Complex.