Century League : Foothill Holds On to Defeat Santa Ana Valley

Foothill High School was cruising for six innings against Santa Ana Valley, but then needed a clutch defensive play and strong relief pitching to down the Falcons, 2-1, on Friday.

With one out and two men on base, Santa Ana Valley’s Luis Hernandez cut the Knights’ lead in half with a single. On Hernandez’s hit, Eugene Novella attempted to score from second but was thrown out at the plate by a perfect relay throw by shortstop Jud Dutrisac.

The Falcons kept their rally alive when the next batter singled. The hit knocked winning pitcher David Fox (3-5) out of the game. Mike Pope replaced Fox and struck out the last batter to earn a save.

In other Century League action:

Canyon 7, El Modena 3--The Vanguards’ first four hitters got hits off Leonard Damian, but the senior right-hander settled down after that and won his eighth game in 10 decisions at Canyon.

Ed Luna and Corey Ahart singled to lead off the game, and Chris Gallego doubled them home. Brett Johnson followed with a single to score Gallego for a 3-0 lead.

But Canyon came back with a run in the bottom of the first on Kevin Taylor’s RBI double and then scored three in the third to take a 4-3 lead.

Santa Ana 6, Orange 2--John Torres (5-2) pitched a three-hitter and struck out five to lead the first-place Saints past the Panthers at Santa Ana.

The Saint offense was led by Jaime Franco, who hit a two-run home run in the sixth, and by Richard Tellez, who hit a bases-empty home run in the second.

Tustin 3, Villa Park 1--Dave Staton’s two-run home run in the fourth inning led the Tillers past the host Spartans.