Prep Baseball : Huntington Beach Surges Past Edison

Huntington Beach High School scored six runs in the top of the seventh inning Tuesday night to defeat Edison, 7-4, in a Sunset League game played in Mile Square Park at Fountain Valley.

Edison had what appeared to be a comfortable, 4-1, lead entering the seventh when the Oilers loaded the bases with one out. David Grace then tied the game with a three-run double to right-center field off Charger reliever Chip Damato, who started the seventh.

Jeff Cogan then walked and scored the go-ahead run on Ed Lidyoff’s double to left field, which placed runners on second and third. Both scored when Edison shortstop Dave Solarzano threw away Stan Anderson’s ground ball.

Huntington Beach, which improved to 6-2 in league and 11-5 overall, took a two-game lead over Edison (4-4, 14-8) in the Sunset League. Doug Euper, who relieved starter Cary Pont in the fourth inning, was the winning pitcher, and Lidyoff, who pitched the bottom of the seventh, got the save.

In other Sunset League action:

Ocean View 3, Marina 2--For the third consecutive game, the Seahawks came from behind in the seventh inning to win. Trailing, 2-1, Ocean View’s John Savidan started the inning by singling and taking second on a throwing error. Center fielder Dave Hinkle was intentionally walked, then left fielder Phil Chess hit a ground-rule double to score Savidan, the tying run. Tom Smythe was intentionally walked to load the bases with no outs. Pinch-hitter Andy Austerwick hit a sacrifice fly to score Hinkle and Ocean View won.

CENTURY LEAGUE

Canyon 11, Villa Park 10 (8 innings)--The Comanches had 14 hits but needed a two-out rally in the eighth inning to get the win. Steve Milledge doubled, and Eric DeGraw followed with walk. Kevin Taylor then got his second hit of the game, a single to bring across the winning run. It was Taylor’s third RBI of the game. Comanche shortstop Mike Sliemers went 3 for 4 with three RBIs, while Canyon pitcher Leonard Damian improved to 7-1 with three innings of work.

Orange 5, Santa Ana Valley 2--Tad Meyer’s two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning gave Orange a 5-1 lead and the Panthers held on for the win at Orange. Meyer also pitched one inning in relief of starter Paul Renner (4-1). Jeff Welsh and Jaime Alatorre had three hits each for Orange (3-4, 7-9).

Tustin 4, Foothill 0--Tiller pitcher Steve Surico allowed only three hits and struck out nine on his way to a complete game victory at Foothill. Tustin got Surico all the runs he needed in the fourth inning. After an error and walk had put runners on first and third, Dean Roberts hit an RBI single to left. Ken Lynch followed with a two-run double.

El Modena 12, Santa Ana 8--The seventh-place Vanguards upset the first-place Saints to give Santa Ana its first league loss.

EMPIRE LEAGUE

Los Alamitos 2, Loara 1--Robbie Katzaroff’s two-out, opposite-field single in the top of the sixth inning scored Mark Houck and gave the Griffins the win at Glover Stadium. The win keeps Los Alamitos (5-2, 14-5) tied with Esperanza for second place in the league standings. Travis Tarchione was 2 for 4 with a triple for Los Alamitos. Brian Malavar was 3 for 4 for Loara (2-4, 8-8).

Kennedy 8, El Dorado 5--A grand slam by Mike Faddoul and two-run single by Jeff Green gave Kennedy a six-run fifth inning and its first league victory at El Dorado. Green also had a solo home run for the Irish in the fourth inning. Pat Crockett got the complete-game win for Kennedy, limiting El Dorado to five hits. Brett Boone had a two-run homer for the Golden Hawks.

Esperanza 10, Cypress 2--Tom Redington and Paul Good had three hits each to pace Esperanza’s 17-hit attack and lead the Aztecs to the win at Cypress. Eric Cox was 2 for 4 with four RBIs and scored four runs for the Aztecs (5-2, 10-7) and Mike Simms was 2 for 3 with three RBIs, including a solo homer in the third inning. Bill Steiner was 2 for 3 and scored a run for Cypress (3-4, 12-9).

Katella 16, Pacifica 4--Mike Connolly and Phil Axtell each homered and knocked in three runs to lead the first-place Knights past the Mariners at Pacifica. Chris Doll and Dave Lewis added three hits and two RBIs apiece, as Katella improved to 7-0 in league and 13-3 overall.

OLYMPIC LEAGUE

Whittier Christian 7, Capistrano Valley Christian 6 (eight innings)--A two-out, bases-loaded walk to Kraig Johnson in the bottom of the eighth gave Whittier Christian the win. Mike Goodcase tripled with one out and Capistrano Valley elected to intentionally walk the next two hitters. One out later, Johnson worked to a full count before drawing the game-winning walk.

Orange Lutheran 10, Brethren 0--First baseman John Cummings hit a three-run home run in the first inning to put Orange Lutheran on its way to this easy win. Brethren gave up 10 walks and committed four errors to help Orange Lutheran.

ACADEMY LEAGUE

Heritage 5, Cal Lutheran 4--Dave Beelers’s two-run triple in the bottom of the sixth gave Heritage the come-from-behind win. Terry Grabau got the win in relief.

Newport Christian 6, Liberty Christian 3--Steve Forber was 2 for 2 with one RBI to lead Newport Christian to the win in Costa Mesa.