Orange County Prep Baseball : Hit Batter Helps Canyon Beat Santa Ana

Canyon High School’s Todd French, hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning Tuesday, forced home the winning run in the Comanches’ 2-1 upset over third-ranked Santa Ana in the Century League opener at Canyon High.

Steve Lichtenwalter led off the seventh with a triple to left-center field off Saint starter Fred Barrios, and Mike Sliemers and Joe Furukawa were intentionally walked. Ray Lopez came in to face French, but his 2-2 pitch was low and hit French in the foot.

Mike Townley, a senior left-hander, went the distance on a seven-hitter and struck out six for Canyon (3-2-1 overall). Townley had three hits, and Lichtenwalter also led off the fifth inning with a double and scored on Furukawa’s sacrifice fly.

Armando Olivares had three hits for Santa Ana (5-1) and scored the Saints’ only run on Hector Olivares’ RBI single in the third inning.

In other Century League action:

Tustin 4, Santa Ana Valley 3--The Tillers, trailing by two runs, scored three times in the bottom of the fifth inning to defeat the Falcons at Tustin High. Ken Lynch had a two-run single and Chris Floth added an RBI single in the fifth, for the Tillers (4-0).

El Modena 4, Villa Park 3--Ross Bauer and Steve Sewell, who each had two hits, both scored on suicide squeezes by Dennis Brooks and Chris Gallego in the fifth inning, as the Vanguards (3-1) defeated the Spartans at Villa Park High.

Foothill 12, Orange 3--Frank Governale had two doubles and knocked in five runs to lead the Knights (4-2) at Foothill High. In Empire League action:

El Dorado 8, Kennedy 4--Senior lefty Scott Holcomb went the distance on a four-hitter and struck out 11 to lead the Golden Hawks past the Irish in the league opener at El Dorado High. Katella 3, Pacifica 1--Kevin Shaw, a junior right-hander, pitched a complete-game, three-hitter and struck out 11, as the Knights defeated the Mariners at Pacifica High. Esperanza 11, Cypress 1--Kevin Clancy had three hits, two stolen bases and scored two runs, Tom Reddington had two hits, two runs and an RBI, and Eric Cox had two hits and two RBIs, as the Aztecs (8-1) beat the Centurions (7-2) at Cypress High.

Loara 18, Los Alamitos 11--Carlos Castillo went 3 for 3 with two runs and three RBIs and Wade Clester added two hits, three RBIs and three runs to help the top-ranked Saxons (7-1) past the Griffins at Loara High. J.T. Snow had three hits and three RBIs for Los Alamitos (6-3).

In South Coast League action:

El Toro 7, Capistrano Valley 2--Senior lefty Richard Faulks (3-1) went the distance on a three-hitter and struck out five to lead the Chargers at Capistrano Valley High.

Mission Viejo 6, San Clemente 1--Jack Bailey, a junior transfer from Westminster, pitched a complete-game, two-hitter and struck out six to lead the Diablos at San Clemente High.

Irvine 5, Laguna Hills 0--Brian Snoddy, a senior right-hander, threw a one-hitter and Bobby Hamelin hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning to lead the Vaqueros at Irvine High. In Sea View League action:

Estancia 3, Costa Mesa 2--Pinch-runner Javier Gomez scored the winning run on an error in the bottom of the seventh inning to help the Eagles (3-3) defeat the Mustangs at Tewinkle Park.

Newport Harbor 8, Woodbridge 1--John Mahoney, a senior left-hander, had a no-hitter heading into the sixth inning until Matt Evans broke it up with a one-out single, but he finished with a three-hitter and struck out 12 to lead the Sailors at Newport Harbor High.

Laguna Beach 5, Corona del Mar 0--Senior left-hander Coby Naess threw a six-hitter with 12 strikeouts and also had three hits and an RBI to lead the Artists (4-2) past the Sea Kings (4-5) in the league opener at Corona del Mar High.

Saddleback 4, University 1--Jeff Rowe went all the way on an eight-hitter and struck out eight as the Roadrunners (4-4) defeated the Trojans (2-6) at Saddleback High.

In Sunset League action:

Fountain VallEy 5, Marina 3--Junior right-hander Rob Flinn pitched a complete-game, two-hitter, and Mark Williamson hit a solo home run in the third inning to help the Barons.

Westminster 5, Huntington Beach 2--Mike Skjonsby and Al Rodriguez each had two hits and scored two runs to lead the Lions (2-0 in league, 7-1 overall) past the Oilers (1-1, 6-3) at Mile Square Park.

In Olympic League action:

Ontario Christian 6, Orange Lutheran 5--Dan Tazzelgar’s RBI single in the sixth inning broke a 5-5 tie for the Knights.