Orange League Baseball : Savanna Clinches Playoff Berth With 5-4 Win

Everything went as expected Friday night as Savanna High School clinched a Southern Section 3-A playoff spot with a 5-4 Orange League win over Magnolia on Glover Field.

The Rebels (6-9 in league, 7-12 overall) advance to the playoffs because they have beaten Anaheim--also 6-9 in league--twice in three meetings.

Savanna hasn’t hit well this season--it has just a .211 team average--and the Rebel defense has been even worse. In one game, Savanna committed eight errors.

But, the Rebels do have good pitching and sometimes get some timely hitting, as they proved again Friday.

The Rebels trailed Magnolia, 4-2 going into the top of the sixth inning. Rodney DeYoung led off with single, moved to second on a wild pitch, go to third on a passed ball and scored on an infield error.

Then came the seventh. Roy Dimsey led off with a single to center that rolled past Sentinel center fielder Carl Holmes. Dimsey made it to third.

He scored on a double to left field by Brian Nelson to tie the score, 4-4. The next two batters made outs, but shortstop DeYoung walked.

Right fielder Jason Paulus then hit a soft ground ball to the gap in the right side of the infield. First baseman Duke Low dove for the ball but missed. Second baseman Vic Banuelos fielded the ball, but his throw to pitcher Tom Woodburn was just late as Paulus dove head first into the base.

“We have four or five guys who will dive into first base if they think it will get a run,” said Mike Quigley, Savanna coach. “We’ve had to struggle to get runs. We have to manufacture them anyway we can.”

Paulus’ slide loaded the bases, and set the stage for Kehoe, who walked on four pitches.

But the Rebels weren’t the only ones take advantage of mistakes. Magnolia took a 2-0 first-inning lead thanks to three Savanna errors.

Though Magolia starting pitcher Brian Taylor managed to strike out the side in the second inning, the Rebels did score a run on a bloop double by DeYoung and an error on Banuelos.

Banuelos had more troubles in the third inning as he overthrew first base on a double play attempt. That allowed Dimsey to score and tie the score at 2-2. Magnolia came back to score two runs in the fifth, thanks to an error and a wild pitch, but that only set the stage for Savanna’s late inning heroics.

Winning pitcher Robert Lee (4-6), threw a complete game. He struck out the side in the seventh.

In other Orange League action:

Anaheim 2, Valencia 1 (eight innings)--Despite an record-tying home run by senior Andy Ruscitto, Anaheim defeated the second-place Tigers (9-6, 12-9) at Anaheim. The Colonists, however, lost a playoff bid when Savanna defeated Magnolia Friday night.

Senior shortstop Ron Pluma drove in both runs for Anaheim. Pluma squeezed in the winning run with none out in the bottom of the eighth. Joey Young had singled to open the inning and, after two walks by losing pitcher Dennis Burbank, Pluma bunted successfully.

Anthony Martinez (5-1) replaced starting pitcher Will Barber in the sixth and walked Ruscitto to load the bases with none out for Anaheim (6-9, 9-15).

Western 8, Brea-Olinda 3--Senior right-hander David Tellers (9-1) pitched the third-ranked Pioneers past the Wildcats at Brea. Rich Lodding had three hits for Orange League-champion Western (14-1, 22-4).