Sea View League Baseball : Todd Fortune Shines on Laguna Beach : He Walks 8 but Throws a 1-Hitter in 9-2 Victory Over Estancia

Laguna Beach High School had the good fortune of having a good Fortune on the mound Friday afternoon.

That would be pitcher Todd Fortune, who, despite allowing 12 baserunners, threw a one-hitter against Estancia in the Artists’ 9-2 Sea View League victory at Estancia.

Estancia managed to capitalize only in the third inning, when it scored twice to cut the lead to 4-2.

Fortune and the Artists gave the Eagles (8-4 in league, 10-4 overall) every opportunity to make it a close game, giving up eight walks, two catcher-interference plays, and an error to go along with the single, but Estancia’s bats remained largely silent.

As Laguna Beach Coach Tom Trager said afterward, “How can you walk eight guys and almost throw a shutout?”

Apparently, it’s easier than it might seem, especially when the opposing team cooperates by taking itself out of potential rallies by not moving the runners around the bases. Estancia put runners on base in six of the seven innings but managed to score only in the third.

Throughout the game, Fortune kept the ball around the Estancia batters’ knees--or below, considering all of the walks he allowed--causing the Eagles to either beat the ball into the ground for easy infield outs or to golf popups.

Only Eagle center fielder Ed Caron managed a clean hit, lining a single to right field during the Eagles’ third-inning rally.

Said Trager: “Fortune’s been unlucky so far this season--it’s been up and down for him. He was ahead of Saddleback, 2-1, in the the seventh inning and we still lost that game. Today, he didn’t let Estancia get the hits in the right spots.”

Fortune went the distance, raising his record to 1-2 in league and 2-4 overall.

Laguna Beach hitters, meanwhile, touched two Estancia pitchers for 11 hits, including doubles by Danny Lane, Coby Naess and Kent Chesley.

Chesley went 2 for 3 with an RBI, Naess 2 for 4 with two RBIs, and Ted Savage 3 for 3.

The Artists were ahead, 4-0, after 2 1/2 innings, saw the lead whittled to 4-2, but scored three runs in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh for the final margin.

Laguna Beach (7-5, 11-7) is in fourth place and pushing Saddleback, University and Estancia for a playoff spot.

In other Sea View League games:

Saddleback 3, Newport Harbor 2--The Roadrunners (8-3-1, 12-10-1) scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth and moved into first place, a half-game ahead of Estancia.

In the sixth, Victor Rossano walked, Danny Ontiveros singled, Jeff Rowe singled and Myron Butler hit a sacrifice fly to tie the score at 1-1. George Saldana singled in the go-ahead run and Frank Larriva singled in the third run. Joey Medoza (3-3) got the win. Wes Torell homered in the second for Newport Harbor (5-7, 8-15).

Corona del Mar 15, Woodbridge 9--The Sea Kings scored eight runs in the third inning to built a 12-1 lead. Craig Nixon hit a three-run home run in the third and was 3 for 4. Eric Luesebrink was 3 for 6 with three RBIs and led off the game with a home run for Corona del Mar. Kurt Ehmann was 3 for 4 with three RBIs, and Andy MacMillan pitched five innings for the win for the Sea Kings (5-6-1, 9-10-1). Woodbridge is 4-8, 8-12-2.

University 6, Costa Mesa 3--Todd Krueger completed a fine week with three hits and drove in two runs to lead the Trojans. Krueger was 6 for 6 in two games. University starting pitcher Darrell Sawicki (4-1) allowed only five hits and struck out seven.