South Coast League : El Toro Survives Walk-a-Thon to Win

El Toro High School Coach Dan DeLeon watched his team present another charitable walk-a-thon Friday. The generosity on the part of the Charger pitching staff helps raise runs for opponents, and its something DeLeon could do without.

“Walks are the one thing that have plagued us this year,” he said. “We’ve played defense as well as I’ve seen it played at the high school level, but there is no defense for a walk.”

El Toro pitchers Nick Adams and Scott Perkins combined to walk eight batters in Friday’s game against Mission Viejo on the Chargers’ field. Adams, the starter, walked six and hit a batter in 1 innings work.

Fortunately for DeLeon, El Toro hasn’t gotten to the top of the South Coast League standings with pitching. Hitting is what has propelled the Chargers to an 8-2 league record and one-game lead over Irvine in the race for the league title. And it was hitting--combined with Mission Viejo’s willingness to return nearly every El Toro favor--that gave the Chargers an 8-6 win over the Diablos.

El Toro used eight hits, six walks and three Mission Viejo errors to win in a manner that DeLeon has become accustommed to this season. This team gives up runs in bunches, but it seems to find ways to outscore its opponents.

The Chargers scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single by Scott Shockey and a two-run homer by Chris Dernovich. They gave up three runs in the top of the second on four walks and a two-run single by Sean Campbell, Mission Viejo’s starting pitcher. They took a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the second, with the help of two Diablo throwing errors.

And so it went, until the last out was recorded and the theory that good pitching wins games was once again disproved, El Toro style.

Shockey--one of three Chargers to enter this week over the .400 mark hitting--was 3 for 4. Dernovich and Eric Brass had two hits each and Chad Fouts hit his first home run of the season, a solo homer in the fourth.

“It’s not like, all of the sudden, the hitting fairy tapped us on the heads,” DeLeon said. “We work hard at hitting . . . every day.”

In other South Coast League action:

Dana Hills 17, San Clemente 0--The Dolphins hit three home runs, including a fifth-inning grand slam by third baseman Bill Lasher to easily defeat the Tritons. Leadoff hitter Greg Mark and Ed Esteban hit back-to-back homers to start the game. Esteban was 3 for 5 with five RBIs.

Laguna Hills 7, Capistrano Valley 5 (8 innings)--The Hawks scored on two, two-out doubles in the seventh and eighth innings to win their second close game of the week. Laguna Hills had squeezed by last place San Clemente, 3-2 on Wednesday, and needed Reed Ringler’s bases-loaded double to tie the score at 5-5.

In the eighth, first baseman Howard Gasser hit a double with two runners on. The runner from second scored easily on Gasser’s hit to the left-center field gap, and second baseman Dave Shetland raced all the way home from first base to provide an insurance run for the Hawks.