Empire League : Salcido Stops Katella, Esperanza Wins, 4-3

Dave Salcido continued to make up for lost time Friday, as he pitched a five-hitter with seven strikeouts to lead Esperanza High School to a 4-3 win over Katella in an Empire League game played on the Aztecs’ field at Anaheim.

Salcido, a senior right-hander, improved his pitching record to 9-1 while helping Esperanza gain a share of first place with the Knights. Both are 8-2 in league.

Thanks in part to Salcido’s excellence on the mound this season, the Aztecs have a good shot at winning their second straight Empire League championship.

But Salcido had little to do with last year’s title.

For the first half of his junior season, Salcido spent most of the time in the dugout or bullpen watching Greg Oram and Kurt Dempster, who provided Esperanza with one of the best pitching combinations in Orange County.

Salcido spent the second half of the season watching the Aztecs from the bleachers after he was ruled academically ineligible to compete.

But Salcido made the grades this season and has helped keep Esperanza in the thick of the league race.

He kept the Knights off balance for six shut-out innings Friday before tiring in the seventh, when he allowed Todd Lloyd’s three-run home run. He recovered to get Mike Connolly on a ground out to end the game.

“I was a little nervous out there, but the home run sort of relieved some tension,” said Salcido, who had walked two batters to open the seventh. “At least, there was no one on base.”

Salcido’s arm wasn’t as tired as the arm of Esperanza Coach Mike Curran, who threw the Aztecs a multitude of curve balls during batting practice Thursday in preparation for Katella ace Chris Doll, who one-hit the Esperanza in the Knights’ earlier 8-0 victory.

But by the time Doll (5-1) gained command of his breaking pitches, Esperanza had built a 3-0 lead. Tom Redington tagged a Doll fastball for a two-run homer to left field in the first inning, while Eric Cox doubled down the right-field line and scored on a fielder’s choice in the third.

Doll walked three in the first three innings but found his rhythm in the fourth, when he struck out Kevin Clancy and Redington, the Aztecs lead-off and No. 2 batters. But he made a mistake while pitching to Mike Simms in the fifth.

Simms hit a fastball well beyond the left-field fence to give Esperanza a 4-0 lead and the decisive run.

“The last game, we weren’t prepared for Doll, but we were very well prepared today,” Curran said. “I threw to the hitters yesterday, and I can’t even pick my arm up today. We worked like mad on hitting his curve ball and being selective.”

Esperanza had just six hits on the day--two home runs, two doubles and two singles--but the Aztecs made the most of their offense.

Katella couldn’t come up with the big hits when it needed them. The Knights put runners on first and second in the sixth inning after lead-off singles by Lloyd and Connolly but couldn’t score.

Salcido got Doll, Katella’s clean-up hitter, to pop out to Simms at first base, and then struck out Steve Bennett and Mike Slagle to end the inning.

Pinch hitter Dave Bowler and Phil Axtell walked to open the seventh inning, but Manny Villanueva struck out and John Paboojian flied out prior to Lloyd’s home run.

In other Empire League action:

El Dorado 3, Cypress 0--Jeff Petredes pitched a two-hit shutout and had an RBI double in the fourth inning to lead the Eagles to a win at home. Petredes, a junior, struck out three on the way to his fourth win of the season. He was 2 for 3 from the plate.

El Dorado scored twice in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by Rob Sporrer and an RBI single by Chris Saito.

Los Alamitos 12, Pacifica 10--Travis Tarchione homered and Ronnie Scanlon hit a three-run home run to lead the Griffins past the Mariners at home. Robbie Katzaroff also extended his hitting streak to 22 games with two singles, and Gary Renko went 2 for 4.

Fred Agular and Tim Shumway each homered for Pacifica. The Griffins maintained their hold on third place in the Empire League.

Loara 5, Kennedy 3--The Saxons, trailing by two, scored three runs in the sixth inning to win at home. Two runs scored on right fielder Joe Farrentino’s single.

Farrentino, a senior, went 2 for 3 with 2 RBIs in the game. In three games this week, Farrentino was 6 for 10 with 5 RBIs. Pitcher Tim Hopper (6-3) got the win.