Empire League Prep Baseball : El Dorado Has Number of Esperanza Again, 2-1

Steve Halweg, Esperanza High School’s ace pitcher, suffered his first defeat of the season Friday in the Aztecs’ 2-1 loss to El Dorado, but there is some consolation in that it happened against the only team to beat the Aztecs this season.

The two schools entered the Empire League game at El Dorado having beaten each other once--El Dorado won in the Loara tournament and Esperanza returned the favor in the teams’ first league matchup--and now the Golden Hawks have handed the Aztecs (9-1 in league, 17-2-1 overall) their only two defeats this year.

Halweg pitched a four-hitter, but El Dorado’s Scott Holcomb was equal to the task, meaning that one of these two previously unbeaten pitchers would suffer their first defeat of the season.

This time, it was Halweg (10-1), who was throwing a one-hit, one-run shutout going into the bottom of the fifth before the Golden Hawks rallied for the win.

The scorebook shows that Halweg actually retired the first three batters he faced in the fifth, but this being baseball, there’s always, well, a catch.

Or, in this case, a miss.

Halweg struck out Rob Sporrer, the third batter in the inning, but the wild pitch got by Esperanza catcher Eric Cox. The ball rolled to the backstop and Sporrer advanced to first base, just ahead of Cox’s throw.

Giving the Golden Hawks new life proved fatal for the Aztecs. Two pitches later, Doug Sipple golfed a fastball well over the 345-foot marker in left-center field, and El Dorado was ahead for good, 2-1.

Meanwhile, Holcomb (8-0) proved to be even more confounding to Esperanza batters, throwing a five-hitter and giving up his only run on a fielder’s choice in the fourth inning.

Holcomb displayed great control throughout and even got a pat on the back after the game from the home plate umpire, who had a front row seat for Holcomb’s handiwork.

All of which pleased El Dorado Coach Steve Gullotti.

“He (Holcomb) threw just a great game,” Gullotti said. “Esperanza hasn’t been stopped all year. He threw strikes, changed speeds and got the strikeout when he had to have it.”

With the win, El Dorado improved its record to 7-3 and 15-6.

In other Empire League action:

Los Alamitos 6, Kennedy 3--Senior Kevin Jeanotte’s two-run double keyed a three-run seventh inning as the Griffins (4-6, 14-9) won in Brookhurst Park. Teammate Brooks Peters added two hits and an RBI, and Randy Hacker (5-4) pitched 1 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win.

Mike Shipley had an RBI triple to lead the Irish (4-6, 7-12). Greg Hansell (2-2) went the distance but took the loss.

Loara 11, Katella 8--Brian Malaveri singled, moved to second on a ground out, to third on a wild pitched and scored on a single by Curt Henson to break a 8-8 tie in the fifth at Loara. The Saxons (6-3-1, 15-7-1) scored two more runs on Mike Golia’s fifth home run of the season. Wade Clester also homered for Loara, with a runner on. Golia replaced winning pitcher Jeff Patterson (3-4) in the sixth to get the save. Todd Lloyd hit a three-run home run in the second for the Knights (5-5, 13-9).

Pacifica 13, Cypress 7--The Centurions lost at Cypress in spite of a three-run homer by John Gerringer. Pacifica improved its record to 3-6-1 and 8-13-1. Cypress fell to 1-9 and 10-12. Cypress is at Los Alamitos Tuesday.