Sea View League : University Clinches First Playoff Berth With Win
University High School took advantage of seven wild pitches, four errors and two balks and romped to a 12-2 victory over Woodbridge Friday that clinched the Trojans’ first playoff berth in the school’s history.
The Trojans also remained on top of the Sea View League standings with a 12-2 record and need only one victory in their last two games to clinch their first league title since the school opened in 1970.
University combined another strong pitching effort by starter Mark Stride (7-0) with a 12-hit attack that saw the Trojans score in every inning but the first. Stride struck out seven and allowed only four hits but found himself trailing, 2-0, after Woodbridge third baseman Jeff Stoddard belted a high fastball for a two-run homer over the left-field fence.
Stoddard’s homer was the first one Stride has allowed all season. He kept the Woodbridge hitters off balance most of the afternoon with a dazzling curveball that he said he learned as an 11-year-old in Hawaii.
“Most of the pitchers in Hawaii don’t have the speed like players on the mainland, so they learn to rely on a curve,” Stride said. “My fastball has been clocked at 80 miles per hour, which isn’t that great, but I think I’ve learned how to set up hitters with my curve.”
Stride struck out at least one hitter in every inning but the fourth and watched his teammates take the lead in the second inning with three runs. The Trojans have been averaging nine runs per game in league play and totaled 15 runs in their two losses.
“Our leadoff batter (Mark Favorite) is our top RBI guy which means that our seventh, eighth and ninth batters have been hitting well all season,” assistant Coach Bryan Shaw said. “There isn’t a bad hitter in our lineup and our ninth hitter, Roger Wilson, was hitting .571 in league play going into today’s game.”
In other Sea View League action:
Newport Harbor 7, Laguna Beach 6 (eight innings)--The Sailors, who scored three times in the seventh to send the game into extra innings, got a run in the eighth to beat host Laguna Beach. The win clinched third place for the Sailors, who will be playing in the Southern Section playoffs for the first time since 1969.
In the eighth, Manny Adams walked and Joey James singled him to third. Chris Hirahara then hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Adams with the winning run.
Costa Mesa 5, Corona del Mar 3--Tom Kaiser led the Mustangs from the mound and plate. The senior pitched 6 innings and allowed only one hit. However, Kaiser kept himself in trouble by walking 10, and was pulled in the seventh.
Offensively Kaiser was 2 for 3 with two doubles. He scored Costa Mesa’s first run when Brent Mayne (2 for 3) singled him home in the first. Mayne later came home on a hit by Rick Wanne, who also was 2 for 3. Wanne had a solo home run in the fifth inning.
Estancia 5, Saddleback 1--Winning pitcher Jim Foley allowed only four hits and one unearned run on way his ninth win of the season. Eagle left fielder Eric Van Doren continued a hot week, he was 3 for 3 against the Roadrunners with a triple and two RBIs. Van Doren is 5 for 5 for the week.