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California Community Colleges Commission on Athletics Baseball Championship May 26-28 Fresno City College Fresno, CA

Riverside Community College

Riverside College "Tigers" (34-18, 13-11, 6-2)
The Tigers appear to be playing their best baseball coming into the Final Four. RC has won 16 of the past 23 games and 8 of the last 10 .It will be RC's fourth championship appearance in the past eight years. In the regional playoffs, the Tigers won 6 of 8 games including a doubleheader sweep of Cuesta in last week's super regional finals.

RC is led by two Lousiana State Univ. bound players in sophomore Rene Escobar and Matt Clark. Escobar, the Co-MVP of the Orange Empire Conference and a candidate for the state's Big Stick Award, is hitting .359. He leads the Tigers in hits (78), runs (58), triples (6) RBI (71) and on base percentage (.444). Clark adds extra muscle hitting a team best 14 home runs. His .335 batting average is second best on the team while his .610 slugging percentage is a team best. Of his 67 hits in 2007, 27 have been for extra bases.

On the mound, Riverside has been getting solid pitching performances down the stretch, led by Cal State Long Beach-bound sophomore, Tyler Topp, a first-team All-OEC selection. Topp has a 10-3 record and is figured to pitch against Fresno City in Saturday's 6 p.m. game. Bryant Hollingsworth (6-1) figures to start Game 2. Nine of Riverside's pitchers have seen action in 11 or more games this season, so RC's strength may be in its depth.

RC is looking for its fourth state baseball championship. The Tigers won three consecutive state championships from 2000-2002 becoming only the third team in California community college baseball history to do so.

Narratives were prepared for the COA by these members of the Calif. Community College Sports Information Assn.: Teresa Wang, Cypress; Robert Schmidt, Riverside; Steve Gill, Sacramento City and Woody Wilk, Fresno City.