El Dorado’s Frid Has Enough to Blow Away Hesperia

El Dorado pitcher J.P. Frid hung his head after the Golden Hawks’ Southern Section Division III quarterfinal game Friday against Hesperia.

“I didn’t have all of my pitches working,” Frid said. “My fastball was all right and my change was all right, and I didn’t really have a curveball today.”

It was like Rupert Murdoch complaining about gas prices.

Frid dominated Hesperia in El Dorado’s 10-0 victory at El Dorado High. Frid gave up only four seeing-eye singles in five innings, and El Dorado (24-5) closed it out in the fifth with its 10th run, enacting the mercy rule.

Hesperia (19-7) only challenged Frid once, loading the bases with one out in the fourth. Frid dug in and coaxed a pop out to the first baseman and a fly ball to right field to end the inning. Frid improved his record to 9-0.

Hesperia helped the Golden Hawks out, committing five errors and throwing three wild pitches. El Dorado jumped on the mistakes, scoring four unearned runs to take a 7-0 lead after three innings.

Even when the Golden Hawks made a rare error, they ended up without a scratch. With men on first and second and two outs in the top of the third, Frid misplayed a high pop-up. The ball bounced off of the mound and right to first baseman Mitch Nord, who fired home in time to nail the baserunner for the third out of the inning.

“We played well,” El Dorado Coach Steve Gullotti said. “We misplayed that one pop fly, and we got a little lucky on that. We played good defense and we have a good enough offense that we know we’re going to score runs.”

El Dorado has breezed through the first three rounds of the playoffs, outscoring its opponents, 29-4, and picking up two mercy-rule victories. The Golden Hawks have not advanced past the section semifinals since winning a championship in 1989, but a trip to the final is looking promising.

“We’ve got incredible defense, offense all the way through the lineup and deep pitching,” Frid said. “I know we can go all the way.”

El Dorado will play Norwalk, a 4-1 winner over El Monte Mountain View, in the semifinals.

In another Division III game:

La Habra 6, San Luis Obispo 5 (10 innings)--Ryan Huff singled to start the 10th and scored after San Luis Obispo reliever Tyler Fitch walked three batters. David Zamorano (four for five, four RBIs) hit a two-run home run in the sixth to tie the score, 4-4. The Highlanders (22-6) play Hemet Tuesday.