Southern Section 1-A : Errors Help Eliminate Lancers

The Orange Lutheran High School baseball team, which was happy just to be in the Southern Section 1-A semifinals, was not happy with the way it was eliminated, ending its season at 16-10.

Tuesday afternoon at Hart Park.

Lancer errors and calls they questioned played a part in a 6-3 semifinal loss Tuesday to Baldwin Park at Hart Park.

The Lancers fell behind early, 1-0, rallied to take a 3-1 lead, but then saw the visiting Braves come back to take the lead and the game.

Orange Lutheran Coach John Malnquist was upset with the umpiring after the game, but he said was more bothered by the positioning of the umpires on key plays than he was with the actual calls themselves.

“We’re used to good umpires in Orange County,” said Malnquist, who was upset with the officials from the San Bernardino area. “This is a semifinal game. They should be in position.”

What irked Malnquist was that on a play at the plate on a Baldwin Park runner in the second inning, the home-plate umpire was slightly up the third-base line. The runner, attempting to score from second on a two-out single, was ruled safe at home on a close play.

Malnquist held that if the umpire was closer to the plate, he might have made a different call and Orange Lutheran would have been out of what turned into a big inning for Baldwin Park.

That run cut the Lancers’ lead to 3-2, and the Braves scored two more runs to take the lead for good.

Baldwin Park opened the scoring in the first inning on an error and two singles, but the Lancers came back for three runs in the bottom of the inning.

The Lancers’ rally began when Mike Amling and Mike Utke walked and catcher Matt Zaun followed with a run-scoring single to right field, as the runners advanced to second and third on the late throw to the plate.

John Cummings singled to center, scoring Utke and Zaun, and the Lancers had their 3-1 lead. The Braves, meanwhile, had 11 hits on the day, but did not pull away until the sixth inning when two singles, two passed balls, and a double led to their final two runs.

“They’re a good baseball club,” Malnquist said. “They hit the ball all over the place. Next year I think they’re even moving up to 2-A or 3-A (Baldwin Park has 1,700 students, and Orange Lutheran has 560).”

The Lancers put runners at first and second in the last inning but could not push any runs across. Orange Lutheran had its chances throughout the contest, but poor baserunning took it out of potential rallies on three occasions.

In the third inning with the Lancers down only 4-3, Zaun singled to right to put runners at first and third, but Zaun overran first base and Baldwin Park right fielder Brett Ward threw him out trying to get back.

On two other occasions, Lancer runners were caught leaning off first base by Brave pitcher Paul Potvin, a left-hander with a good pickoff move.