Sodders & Petersen Drafted in 17th Round; Eight Tigers to Continue Careers at Four-year Colleges

RIVERSIDE -- A pair of pitchers from the Riverside City College (RCC) baseball team was drafted earlier this month at the Major League Baseball (MLB) first-year player entry draft. A total of eight Tigers have opted to continue their collegiate baseball careers at the four-year collegiate or university level.

Sophomore starting left-handed pitcher Austin Sodders (Moreno Valley / Canyon Springs HS), who is pictured above, and sophomore right-handed relief pitcher Cory Peterson (Rancho Cucamonga / Etiwanda HS) each was drafted in the 17th round. Peterson was selected 511th overall by the Milwaukee Brewers and Sodders was tabbed 517th overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

As of June 22, at least eight Tigers have opted to continue their collegiate baseball careers at the four-year collegiate or university level.

Sodders, who appeared in 11 games (all starts), posted a 7-1 overall record (two complete games) and allowed 18 runs (all earned) in 79-2/3 innings for a 2.03 earned run average (ERA). He allowed 77 hits and only 11 walks and struck out 58 batters. Sodders has opted to attend NCAA Division I member University of California, Riverside (UCR) in the fall.

Peterson, who appeared in seven games (zero starts), was 1-0 overall and allowed two runs (both earned) with three walks and five strikeouts in 8-1/3 innings for a 2.16 ERA. He will attend NCAA Division II member Cal State San Bernardino this fall.

Six other Tigers have opted to attend four-year institutions this fall.

Also attending UCR will be sophomore infielder Austin Roberts (Riverside / Ramona HS). Roberts played in 27 games (18 starts) and batted .246 (16 for 65) with two doubles, eight runs and nine RBI.

Sophomore catcher Mason Fishback (Rancho Cucamonga / Rancho Cucamongs HS) plans to transfer to NCAA Division I member New Mexico State U. (Las Cruces, NM). Fishback played in 19 games (12 starts) and batted .319 (15 for 47) with one double, one triple and one home run.

Two other Tigers will attend NCAA Division II member Cal Poly Pomona: sophomore starting right-handed pitcher Tyler Rowe (Rancho Cucamonga / Los Osos HS) and sophomore outfielder Dajohn Murray (Compton / Roosevelt HS).

Rowe appeared in 13 games (ten starts) and posted a 4-4 won-lost record. He allowed 32 runs (31 earned), 21 walks, and struck out 34 in 70-2/3 innings for a 3.95 ERA. Murray batted .333 (seven for 21) in 11 games (five starts) with one double, three runs and four RBI.

Two other Tigers will attend NAIA member Lewis-Clark State College (Lewiston, ID): sophomore right-handed relief pitcher David Robles (San Bernardino / Rialto HS) and sophomore outfielder Logan Griffin (Apple Valley / Oak Hills HS).

Robles appeared in 19 games (all in relief) and was 0-4 with a team-high four saves. He allowed 21 runs (16 earned), 13 walks, and struck out 27 in 24-2/3 innings and posted a 5.84 ERA. In 34 games (all starts), Griffin led Tigers regulars with a .360 batting average (49 hits in 136 at bats). He had six doubles, five triples, 23 runs and 15 RBI.

According to 26-year RCC head coach Dennis Rogers, four other sophomore Tigers are still considering collegiate offers: infielder Anthony Ayala, infielder Austin Monte, catcher/DH Garrett Dean, and outfielder/DH Bryan Saucedo.

The Tigers finished 22-17 overall, 9-12 (seventh place) in the Orange Empire Conference (OEC). As the No. 18 seed, RCC defeated No. 15 seed Cerritos in a play-in game before losing a pair of games (in a best-of-three series) at No. 1 seed Palomar College (May 1-2).

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