La Mirada’s Emilio Morales deceives and beats Edison

A couple of times, Edison High baseball coach Cameron Chinn came out of the dugout to talk to the umpires. His issue was with La Mirada starter Emilio Morales’ movement while he got set.

Chinn believed Morales was deceiving the baserunners a few times. Morales’ pitches deceived the hitters as well on Wednesday.

Morales, a USC commit, struck out 11 and threw a complete game in La Mirada’s 10-1 win at Edison.

The sophomore only needed 93 pitches to go the distance in the Downey Tournament opener. He allowed five hits. The run Edison scored came on a balk by Morales in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Chinn arguing with the umpires worked. They paid close attention to Morales, and Edison at least avoided the shutout.

“They did [call a balk],” Chinn said, “[but] it was on a different thing … we were arguing earlier. It was more about how his feet were aligned. His feet were not aligned toward home plate. It was more of a hybrid position.”

The Chargers (1-2), who fell behind in the first inning after Jared Jones’ three-run home run, were in position to get back in the game.

Nevertheless, they stranded runners on second base in the second, third and fourth innings, and one on third base in the fifth inning. Morales got out of the situations in the second, third and fourth innings with strikeouts. His changeup and breaking ball fooled Edison.

In the fifth, Morales induced a groundout to keep the Matadores up 3-1.

“He’s a special kid,” La Mirada coach Jimmy Zurn said of Morales, who walked one batter, hit one batter and allowed one extra-base hit, a double to Ted Burton. “He kept them off balance, kept his pitch count [down]. He was in a groove.

“His changeup was special today, particularly being able to throw it in plus counts.”

The home run ball is how La Mirada hurt Edison, which used five pitchers, and extended the lead to three runs in the sixth inning. Darius Perry led off the sixth with a homer over the left-field fence, near where the Matadores’ other two home runs landed.

Jones had the other two homers, both on 0-2 counts. His last at-bat saw him produce a grand slam in the seventh, and he finished three for four with seven runs batted in.

Jones’ first home run came off a letter-high fastball. How he hit the second impressed Chinn.

“The last time up it looked like it was a breaking ball down at his feet that he kind golfed out. He’s a good hitter,” Chinn said of Jones, another sophomore committed to USC.

“La Mirada is a team that is a lot tougher, a lot more competitive than we are. They exposed us today in those areas.”

La Mirada and Edison almost met last year in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs. The Chargers made it and played Palm Desert, which edged the Matadores 4-3 in the second round.

Both teams bring back talented players. Edison has senior catcher Connor Aoki, who is committed to Binghamton University, senior right fielder Chase Hanson, a UNLV commit, and senior pitcher Riley Haddon, while La Mirada has Morales, Jones and shortstop Jimmy Blumberg, who is committed to Long Beach State.

Next for Edison and La Mirada is another tournament. The Downey Tournament does not have bracket play.

In the Loara Tournament, the Chargers play at USC’s Dedeaux Stadium against Downey on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. The Matadores (2-0) face El Toro at Glover Stadium on Friday at 7 p.m.

“We did it last year, too,” Chinn said of playing on the Trojans’ field. “They’re looking to get some high school teams to play up there. It’s good for them to see some teams and it is good for the kids to play on fields like that.”

david.carrillo@latimes.com

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