Santa Ana Elks Tournament : Two Unlikely Heroes Lead Mission Viejo Past Banning, 10-9

The title game of the Santa Ana Elks tournament took some strange twists and turns Tuesday at Rancho Santiago College.

It was the sort of game that should have been finished under a full moon--and nearly was.

But a couple unlikely heroes--nicknamed Hoho and Toothpick--stepped forward to help Mission Viejo High School baseball team beat Banning, 10-9, in eight innings to earn the championship.

Hoho is the handle used by substitute third baseman Tom Howhannesian. Nobody envied him when he came to the plate in the seventh inning with the Diablos (10-3) trailing 9-7 and two outs.

The No. 9 batter, a bench-warmer who had just three hits all season, promptly doubled to right field, driving in two runs and tying the game at 9-9.

With “HOHO” emblazoned on the back of his uniform, it might have looked to Banning (7-3) like Howhannesian was laughing at them. But he wasn’t.

In fact, he had a chance to score the winning run when Banning outfielder Anthony Acosta committed a throwing error on the double, but he injured a twice-dislocated shoulder sliding into second base and could only manage to get up and drag himself as far as third.

“I’ll take it,” said Howhannesian, a .400 hitter on the junior varsity last season. “There’s no complaints here.”

In the bottom of the eighth, Mission Viejo’s Jack Bailey stroked a single into a gap in center field to score Bob Doran and complete the comeback. Bailey was 2 for 3 with two RBIs in the game, and Doran was 3 for 5 with three runs scored.

But none of that could have happened without “Pic,” Robert DeMarino.

In the fifth inning, with the Diablos trailing, 8-4, he traded the safety of first base for a position on the pitching mound. DeMarino, a slight left-hander, had not pitched all season.

The Diablos’ problem was their supply of regular pitchers ran dry after Monday’s two games. So John Ohman, who had pitched one inning this season, got the call to start the title game. His debut was rocky, to put it mildly.

In the first inning, he walked the leadoff man, hit two batters, and gave up four singles and eight runs. Somehow, the Diablos were not discouraged.

“Any baseball game, you never write off because you never know what’s liable to happen,” said Ron Drake, Diablo coach.

All together the Pilots got 13 hits, six walks and four hit batsmen off three Diablo pitchers.

DeMarino (1-0) had the distinction of being the only one who didn’t hit anybody or allow an earned run in his four innings. Meanwhile, he struck out eight, retired three straight Pilots in the eighth inning. He also singled and doubled.

“He was the last guy we had left (to pitch) and he did a fantastic job,” Drake said. “He has not thrown in the bullpen, he has not pitched an inning all season, and he comes in and pitches like that. Unbelievable.”

Irvine 10, Santa Ana 8--The Vaqueros broke a 6-6 tie with four runs in the top of the seventh inning on a hit, four walks and two Saint errors in the third-place game at Rancho Santiago College. The Vaqueros’ Bobby Hamelin went 3 for 3 with two RBIs. For the Saints, Shawn Sterling went 3 for 4 with two RBIs.

In other Santa Ana tournament action:

El Toro 7, Katella 3--Eric and Adam Brass combined for five hits and five RBIs to lead the Chargers to the win in the fifth-place game at Santa Ana High. Mike Hoelker got the victory in relief of Rich Saulks.

Los Alamitos 11, Millikan 9--J.T. Snow had an RBI single in the sixth inning and Robbie Katzaroff drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh to provide the margin of victory in the consolation championship at Santa Ana High. Kevin Jeanette was 3 for 4 with two RBIs for the Griffins.

Garden Grove 5, Saddleback 4--Mark Kiefer struck out a Saddleback batter with runners on second and third with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to give the Argonauts the win in the seventh-place game at Santa Ana Valley High. Eric Means and John Webber had two hits each for Garden Grove. Danny Ontiveros homered and tripled for Saddleback.

Foothill 13, El Modena 5--John McTaggart had a home run, triple and double and drove in five runs to lead the Knights to the consolation win at Saddleback High. Foothill had a 10-0 lead after three innings and held on behind the pitching of starter Mike Grahovic and Dave Fox.

Long Beach Jordan 12, Santa Ana Valley 3--The Panthers’ Ole Koehmstedt hit two home runs and had five RBIs in the consolation game at Saddleback. The Falcons’ Braulio Ramos and Frank Contreras each drove in a run.