Orange County Prep Baseball : Richards, Papadados Lift Fullerton

Center fielder T.J. Richards had five hits and drove in five runs Wednesday to lead Fullerton High School to a 16-2 romp over La Habra in Freeway League game at Fullerton.

Richards hit safely in his first five appearances before the Highlanders finally got him out on a grounder to short in the seventh inning. He had gone hitless in the Indians’ three previous games.

“When T.J. hits, the team seems to hit,” said Dave Torres, Fullerton coach. “This is the way we can hit. We’ve been in a slump in three of our last four games, and now I hope it’s over.”

Richards said he ended his slump by moving farther back in the batter’s box. It was the first time that he had collected five hits in a game.

“It took me six games to figure out I was standing too far up in the box,” he said. “I was scooping up at the ball instead of hitting it solidly.”

Every Fullerton starter, with the exception of designated hitter Brett Renter, had at least one hit against three La Habra pitchers. Catcher John Mele capped the big day with a towering home run over the left-field fence for the Indians’ final run.

The victory helped the Indians (7-5) remain tied for second place. La Habra (5-7) fell out of playoff contention.

Almost lost amid the Indians’ offensive display was a fine pitching performance by Stathy Papadados, who allowed only five hits and two unearned runs to improve to 5-1.

“Stathy has been our best pitcher since the Anaheim Tournament,” Torres said. “He’s only allowed six runs in his last three games and has won four in a row.”

Fullerton sent most of the partisan crowd home early by scoring seven runs in the fifth inning as 11 batters came to the plate. Richards had two hits in the inning to give him five for the game, matching La Habra’s entire output.

It was a forgettable day for Chuck Weatherspoon, La Habra’s center fielder who came into the game with a .413 batting average. Weatherspoon had one hit, and was thrown out by Mele trying to steal second. He also committed three errors.

In other Freeway League games:

Sonora 5, Buena Park 0--Brian Needham, Scott Rajcic and David Strieter combined on a three-hitter as the Raiders extended their winning streak to 19 with the victory at Sonora. Needham worked five innings to get the victory, allowing two hits and striking out six. Tom Cruz had a two-run single as the Raiders (12-0, 21-1) rallied for three runs in the fifth inning.

Sunny Hills 12, Troy 8--The Lancers scored seven runs in the sixth to record the come-from-behind victory at Troy. Rod Pash and Mike McQuire each had two-run singles to spark the rally. Richard Cruz was 3 for 3 with 3 RBIs, including his seventh home run of the season, and David Wackerman was 3 for 4 and scored 4 runs for Sunny Hills (6-6, 8-12).

In the Angelus League:

Mater Dei 5, Servite 2--Senior left-hander Steve Watson pitched a four-hitter and struck out 14 to lead the Monarchs at Mater Dei. Watson (6-3) has 26 strikeouts in his last two outings. Mater Dei (6-6, 12-8) took a 3-0 lead in the first inning on RBI singles by Mike Kelly, Dave Randell and Jim Oldham. Kelly and Jim Zaccari added solo home runs for the Monarchs.

Servite (9-3, 13-6) got its runs in the seventh inning on home runs by Jim Sanford and Corey Wentz.

In Garden Grove League games:

Bolsa Grande 6, Rancho Alamitos 5--The Matadors nearly let a 6-0 lead slip away in the last two innings but hung on for the victory at Bolsa Grande. Mike Valdez pitched five scoreless innings for Bolsa Grande (7-5, 10-9) before tiring in the sixth. Lino Martinez came on in relief to get his first save.

Roger Carter had a two-run triple in the sixth and a two-run homer in the seventh to spark Rancho Alamitos’ comeback. Rick Steele was 2 for 2 with one RBI, one run and one stolen base for the Matadors. Losing pitcher Steve Collier went 2 for 3 for Rancho Alamitos (5-7, 9-11-1).

Garden Grove 5, Los Amigos 0--Senior right-hander Mark Kiefer pitched a two-hitter and struck out 12 to lead the Argonauts at Garden Grove. The Argonauts scored four runs in the fourth, two on a single by Steve Freuh and another on a base hit by Greg Lorenz.

La Quinta 7, Santiago 1--Catcher Mark Dion went 3 for 4 with four RBIs and shortstop Troy Paulsen went 2 for 3 with a triple and one RBI to lead the Aztecs at Santiago. La Quinta pitcher Mike Wilson allowed seven hits and one walk as he pitched a complete game. Tim Reynolds had three of the hits off of Wilson for the Cavaliers.

In Orange League games:

Valencia 16, Magnolia 3--The Tigers exploded for six runs in both the first and fifth innings to rout the Sentinels at Placentia. Tim Churchill homered twice and was 4 for 5 to pace Valencia. He hit a three-run homer in the first inning and a two-run homer in the sixth. Dennis Burbank had a two-run homer in the first.

Jeff Martinez, Mike Edwards and Andy Ruscitto also got in on the act for the Tigers (8-4, 12-6). Martinez was 3 for 5 with three RBIs; Edwards was 3 for 4 with one RBI, and Ruscitto was 2 for 3 with one RBI.

Western 7, Anaheim 3--David Tellers ran his pitching record to 8-1 as the Pioneers improved to 11-1 and 19-4. Mark Tranberg led Western with a double, a home run and three RBIs and Rich Lodding added a triple and two RBIs.

Savanna 4, Brea Olinda 1--Robert Lee allowed two hits and held the Wildcats scoreless for the last six innings to lead Savanna at Brookhurst Park. Brea Olinda’s only run came when Fred Camarena scored on a passed ball in the first inning.

In Sea View League games:

Estancia 7, Newport Harbor 6 (8 innings)--Conrad Colby and Tommy Campeau had RBI singles in the top of the eighth and the Eagles (8-3, 10-10) held off a Sailor rally in the bottom of the inning to move into first place with the victory at Newport Harbor.

Pat Norville recorded his third save of the season as Newport Harbor left the tying run at second base in the bottom of the eighth after Kenny Shelton’s RBI single pulled the Sailors to within one.

Estancia scored two runs in the sixth inning to tie the game at 5-5 and send it into an extra inning.

Corona del Mar 4, University 3--Andy MacMillan came in to pitch with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the seventh and retired the last two hitters on a strikeout and a groundout to preserve the upset for the Sea Kings at Corona del Mar. MacMillan also had the game-winning hit, a bases-loaded single to drive in two runs in the bottom of the fifth.

Kevin McLaughlin was 3 for 3 with one RBI and one run for Corona del Mar (4-6-1, 8-10-1). Todd Krueger was 3 for 3 and Jeff Baker hit a solo home run in the sixth for University (7-4, 9-9).

Saddleback 8, Laguna Beach 1--The Roadrunners worked Artist pitcher Coby Naess, who went into the game with the county’s best earned-run average (0.49), for seven earned runs in six innings. Naess had six strikeouts in three innings but gave up four runs, including a leadoff homer by Myron Butler, in the fourth.