Prep Baseball : Loara’s Hopper Pitches No-Hitter Against Esperanza

Loara High School’s Tim Hopper pitched a no-hitter Friday to lead the Saxons past Esperanza, 1-0, in a semifinal game of the Loara Tournament in Glover Stadium.

Undefeated Loara (4-O) meets Fountain Valley tonight at 7 o’clock in Glover Stadium to decide the championship of the 32-team, two-week tournament.

Hopper struck out five and walked three as he improved his record to 2-0.

The only run of the game came in the third inning. With one out, Carlos Vargas doubled and Sean Angotti drew a walk off losing pitcher Greg Haskell. An out later, Curtis Henson singled off Esperanza right fielder Greg Yarber’s glove to drive in Vargas.

Esperanza (2-3) is ranked No. 1 in this week’s Orange County Sportswriters’ Poll, but the Aztecs have lost successive games to Valencia, Canyon and Loara.

The Saxons got six hits in the game, including Rich Bravo’s 2-for-3 performance (double and single) and Ray Odegard’s triple.

In other Loara Tournament action:

Edison 8, El Toro 4--Edison scored six times in the fourth inning and went on to defeat El Toro in a seventh-place semifinal game in Glover Stadium. Edison plays Los Alamitos at Los Alamitos today at noon for seventh place. Frank Appice and Scott Shockey hit back-to-back home runs for El Toro in the sixth inning.

In nonleague action:

Irvine 6, Savanna 5--Pinch-hitter George Kouteras’ two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning capped a three-run rally and led the Vaqueros (2-2) past the Rebels at Irvine.

Irvine trailed, 5-3, going into the bottom of the seventh. Bobby Hamlin, who was 2 for 2 on the day, knocked in a run with a single to cut the Savanna lead to 5-4 before Kouteras came off the bench to win the game.

Remy Rahmatulla and Rick Smetenka also added two hits for Irvine. Brian Snoddy was the winning pitcher in relief. Miguel Salas had two hits and two RBIs for Savanna, and teammate Alex Madas had two hits.

El Toro 7, Buena Park 2--In El Toro’s first game of the day, the Chargers took a 4-0 lead after two innings and beat the Coyotes at El Toro. Nick Adams went the distance for El Toro to get the win. He allowed two hits, both solo home runs, and struck out six.

Scott Shockey was 2 for 4 with two RBIs for El Toro. Frank Appice and Corey Crews each went 2 for 3. One of Crews’ hits was a bases-empty home run in the fourth inning.

As soon as the game was over, El Toro boarded a bus to take the Chargers to Anaheim for a Loara Tournament game against Edison.

Mission Viejo 2, University 1--The Diablos scored an unearned run in the top of the seventh and it turned out to be the difference as they held on to beat the Trojans (2-2).

The unearned run gave Mission Viejo a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the seventh when University rallied for one run on Dave Huegy’s RBI single. The Trojans had a chance to win the game, but left the bases loaded.

Crespi 11, Tustin 10--The Tillers (3-1) blew an early 6-0 lead and went on to lose to the Celts (3-2) in a game called after six innings because of darkness at Tustin.

Dean Roberts was 3 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs for Tustin, and Mark Gonzales was 3 for 3 with three runs scored. Derek Stark led the Crespi offense with two hits, including a three-run double. Brian Clancy went all the way, allowing all 10 runs and 11 hits, to get the win for the Celts. Steve Surico took the loss in relief for the Tillers.

Orange Lutheran 3, Rio Hondo 1--Orange Lutheran rallied for three runs with two out in the top of the seventh to beat Rio Hondo at Arcadia. The winning hit was Brett Wards’ two-run double. Mike Utke pitched a complete game and earned the win, allowing four hits and striking out six.

Woodbridge 11, Capistrano Valley Christian 3--Kam McNee was 3 for 4, scored twice and drove in a run and Randy Albright was 2 for 3 with three RBIs to lead the Warriors (1-2) past the Eagles (2-1) in a night game at Alton Park.

Cancellation--The doubleheader scheduled for today between Fountain Valley and Capistrano Valley has been postponed until next Saturday, March 16, at 11 a.m. at Capistrano Valley.