Orange County Prep Baseball : Loara Makes Its Tournament Final : Ocean View Gets a Skewed Look at an Intentional Walk

The best-laid plans of Bill Gibbons, Ocean View High School baseball coach, went askew Thursday night.

With the game tied, a runner on second and two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Gibbons chose to have Seahawk pitcher John Beaubien intentionally walk Loara’s Carlos Vargas in order to face Saxon right fielder Shae Askew.

Askew, who had walked and struck out in two previous at-bats, responded with a single to left field that scored pinch-runner Brian Malavar with the winning run, as Loara defeated Ocean View, 4-3, in the semifinals of the Loara Tournament in Anaheim’s Glover Stadium.

Saxon right-hander Jeff Patterson, facing the top of the Seahawk order in the seventh, struck out Mike Fyhrie and Beaubien and got Eric Christopherson to fly out to center field to end a showdown of Orange County’s No. 1- and No. 3-ranked teams.

The top-ranked Saxons (4-0) will play second-ranked Servite, a 1-0 winner over Diamond Bar Thursday, in Saturday night’s championship game in Glover. The Seahawks (3-1) will play Diamond Bar (3-1) at 3 p.m. for third place in the 32-team tournament.

Patterson went the distance on a five-hitter and struck out nine for Loara, and Beaubien, who started in right field and only pitched the sixth inning, took the loss.

The Saxons scored their first three runs off Fyhrie, Ocean View’s starting pitcher. Vargas and Askew each walked in the second, and Scott Wood then singled to right field.

Beaubien charged the hit and made a good throw to Christopherson at the plate, but Vargas dove around the attempted tag to score the game’s first run.

Christopherson then tried to pick Askew off at second after the play at the plate, but his throw bounced to the side of shortstop Todd Bailey and on to center field, which was vacant because Brent Knackert had moved over to right field on Wood’s hit. Askew scored to a 2-0 Loara lead.

The Saxons added another run in the third when Patterson singled to right field, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on Craig Clayton’s bloop single to right.

Ocean View trimmed the lead to 3-2 in the fourth on a walk, a Matt Bertram single, a balk and David Holdrige’s RBI fielder’s choice.

Gary Christopherson lined a two-out, RBI single to center field for the Seahawks’ second run, but Patterson struck out Simon Valenzuela with two runners on to end the inning.

Ocean View scored its final run in the fifth on Eric Christopherson’s RBI single. Knackert opened the sixth with a double off the fence in left field, but Holdridge failed on a sacrifice-bunt attempt and struck out, Gary Christopherson flied out and pinch-hitter Mike Danduran grounded out.

Bertram had two hits, a single and a double, for Ocean View, and Brian Roberts was the only Loara player with two hits, a triple and a single.

In the championship semifinals:

Servite 1, Diamond Bar 0--Tom Szymanski scored off a Mike Petko single to lead the Friars (4-0) in Glover Stadium. Craig Barkley (2-0) allowed one hit in five innings, and was relieved by Todd Cook for two innings. Diamond Bar got an infield hit in the fifth inning off Barkley.

Fifth-place semifinals:

Marina 2, Irvine 0--Robbie Carabba scored on a single by Ricky VanderRiet in the third for the Vikings (5-1) at Marina. Bruce Schmidt singled in the fifth and sacrificed to second by Carabba, and scored on a pitcher’s balk. Ricky VanderRiet allowed four hits, three walks and struck out three in seven innings for Marina.

La Quinta 8, Dana Hills 2--Mark Dion went 2 for 4 with three RBIs and three runs and Jerry Arneson went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and three runs for the Aztecs (3-1) at La Quinta. Dana Hills (2-2) was led by Denny Papp, who went 3 for 3.

Seventh-place semifinals:

El Toro 3, J.W. North 1--Chris McCarthy doubled and scored on a wild throw to first to lead the Chargers at El Toro. Ricky Bonner had a grounder with an RBI.

Lakewood 10, Los Alamitos 2--Damien Easley had home runs in the third, fourth and fifth with five RBIs and Fred Pena had a home run in the second for Lakewood (3-1) at Los Alamitos. Los Alamitos is 2-4.

Consolation games:

El Dorado 3, University 1--Steve Gil had a two-run home run in the fourth and a solo home run in the fifth to lead the Golden Hawks (3-1) at University. Pete Janicki allowed four hits, struck out two, and walked one in eight innings for El Dorado.

Magnolia 9, Sunny Hills 2--Mark Liljeros went 2 for 2 with three RBIs and Marty Neff had a home run for Magnolia (2-2) at Sunny Hills. The Lancers are 1-3.

Huntington Beach 8, Laguna Hills 7--Dominick Alvarez hit a home run with one on in the fifth and the game-winning home run in the eighth for the Oilers (3-1) at Huntington Beach. The Oilers also got a grand slam from Brian McCloud and a solo home run from Andy Lewin, both in the third.

Kennedy 3, Los Amigos 2--With the bases loaded in the fifth, Mark Roah scored the winning run for the Fighting Irish off an error by the catcher. Todd Bristow and Steve Rath each went 2 for 3 and had a run to lead Kennedy in Boysen Park at Anaheim. Pitcher Mark Roah (1-1) gave up six hits and struck out eight for Kennedy (1-3). Shane Rumney (0-2) took the loss for Los Amigos (0-3).

Newbury Park 6, Pacifica 5--Newbury Park (1-3), which was helped by Pacifica’s five errors, scored two in the fifth and three in the sixth to rally for the consolation-round victory in Brookhurst Park at Anaheim. Shelby Hart led Pacifica (1-3) with three RBIs, including a two-run home run in the third, to give Pacifica a 4-1 lead. Wes Castellano had a two-run single and two doubles.

Villa Park 9, Cypress 3--John Watrous went 2 for 4 and Trent Eye had a double and three RBIs to lead the Spartans (2-4) at Villa Park. Kyle Snailum (1-0) gave up two hits and a walk for Villa Park. Doug Lytle went 3 for 4 to lead Cypress.

Western 5, Fountain Valley 3--The Pioneers scored twice in the seventh inning at Fountain Valley. Bob Nelson gave up two hits in three innings for Western (2-2). Fountain Valley is 1-3.

In the El Segundo Tournament:

Westminster 4, Leuzinger 0--Pitchers John Gonzales (four innings) and Ryan Klesko (three) combined on a one-hit shutout for the Lions at Leuzinger. Senior catcher Dan Villegas went 2 for 4 with two RBIs for Westminster (4-0).

Edison 6, Banning 2--Tom Thobe (1-0) allowed six hits and struck out 11 in six innings for the Chargers (4-0) at Banning. Josh Bammer went 2 for 3 with two RBIs for Edison.

In the Colton Tournament:

Canyon 11, Chino 2--John Cummings went 3 for 3 with two runs and two RBIs to lead Canyon in a semifinal game at Chino. The Comanchees (4-0) were helped Joe Furukawa with two singles and a double.

Esperanza 15, Sonora 1--Tom Redington hit a three-run and a two-run home run and Jason Moler hit a grand slam home run in the fifth for the Aztecs (3-0) at Glendora. Moler (1-0) gave up four hits and struck out six in four innings for Esperanza.

In a nonleague game:

Newport Christian 21, Pacific Christian 2--Wayne Everett led the Conquerors (2-0) by going 3 for 5 with three RBIs and a double in Luke C. Davis Park at Costa Mesa. Teammate Scott Cooper went 2 for 3 with three runs and two RBIs and Joe Alston went 2 for 4 with three runs and two RBIs. Donavan Whitworth (1-0) allowed three hits and struck out seven in four innings for Newport Christian.