On Friday Cinco De Mayo a rare occurrence took place during the game that pitted the San Francisco Giants against the Cincinnati Reds. Two players from the same small high school played against each other in a Major League Baseball game. The pitcher for the Reds was Bronson Arroyo and the third baseman for the San Francisco Giant was Christian Arroyo. Both of these players graduated from Hernando High School and even though they share the same last name and hometown, they are unrelated.
In Christian’s first at bat he homered off Bronson, but Bronson got the win as the Reds won 13-3. Bronson pitched for 5 1/3 innings only allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits. Christian finished the day 1 for 4 and was one of the few bright spots for the Giants. It was a good day for the former Hernando High players.
Both of the players were coached by Tim Sims at Hernando High. Coach Sims helped to connect the two as Christian was working his way to the Majors. Bronson explained to Christian what to expect on draft day. Christian was only five days old when Bronson was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1995.
Bronson made his return this year as a pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds after being out of baseball for a couple of years recovering from Tommy Johns surgery. Bronson won a world Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2004.
When Christian was called up last week, he received a text from Bronson that “Everybody in ‘Brooks-Vegas’ will be watching” and on Friday many in Brooksville and around the county were watching with pride. It is a testament to the area’s baseball greatness that it produced as much baseball talent as it has. Baseball is not the only professional sport where Hernando County is well represented, in the NFL the San Francisco 49ers currently have two running backs from Hernando County DuJuan Harris (Central) and Matt Breida (Nature Coast).
If you missed their first face off, you might see them when the Reds visit the Giants May 11 through the 14. Bronson is scheduled to pitch the first game of that four game series. That series is the last time the Giants and the Reds will play this regular season.
Photo: Christian Arroyo (left) of the SF Giants and Bronson Arroyo (right) of the Cincinatti Reds before Friday night’s game. Both Arroyos, although unrelated, are from Brooksville and played baseball for Hernando High School. Photo via #floridacrackerstyle