Orange County Prep Baseball : Capo Valley Rolling With 4-0 Victory Over Mater Dei

Although it’s only the second week of the season, Capistrano Valley High School is in championship form.

Brett Snyder pitched a two-hitter and the Cougars had 11 hits Saturday as Capistrano Valley defeated Mater Dei, 4-0, in the Santa Ana/Tustin/Newport tournament final at Rancho Santiago College.

“That was a midseason ball game,” said Bob Zamora, Capistrano Valley coach.

Capistrano Valley (5-1), playing its sixth game in eight days, had four extra-base hits and didn’t make an error.

Snyder struck out seven and kept the Monarchs off balance by mixing sliders and curves with a deceptive fastball.

“Every one of my pitches was working today,” Snyder said. “I threw a lot of breaking pitches because these guys are fastball hitters. It worked on the first couple of hitters I faced, so I stuck with it.”

Mater Dei’s leadoff batter, Kevin O’Connor, beat out a dribbler down the third base line in the first inning for the Monarchs’ first hit. O’Connor was thrown out trying to steal second, and Snyder retired 10 consecutive batters before Jim Zaccori hit a double to left field that diving Brad Neglia barely missed.

Snyder’s only loss of control was in the fifth when he walked Joe Ciccarella on four pitches. Then, however, he retired the game’s final eight batters.

Snyder’s was the second strong pitching performance for Capistrano Valley in as many days. Friday, three Cougars combined for a four-hit, 2-1 semifinal victory over Santa Ana.

Brian Walker led Capistrano Valley Saturday with a triple, double, single and two RBIs. Marcel Durand had a triple and double and scored twice.

“It’s a seasoned crew,” Zamora said. “We played sloppily the first part of the week, but yesterday (Friday) against Santa Ana we put our game together. Today, it carried over.”

In the third-place game:

Santa Ana 2, El Modena 1 (eight innings)--Jason Harned doubled with two outs in the bottom of the eighth to lead the Saints to the victory at Woodbridge. Julio Vargas, who had doubled with one out, scored the winning run for Santa Ana (3-1). Three Santa Ana pitchers held El Modena (2-4) to five hits and one unearned run.

In the seventh-place game:

Tustin 4, Woodbridge 3--The Tillers scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to defeat the Warriors (1-3) at Mater Dei. Woodbridge took a 3-2 lead in the fifth on George Allen’s RBI double.

In the consolation championship:

Orange 6, Corona del Mar 2--Jim Vlcek was 3 for 4 with two RBIs and Jose Mendoza 2 for 4 with one RBI to lead a nine-hit Panthers attack at Tustin. Aaron Vanderaa (2-1) pitched the last four innings, struck out six and gave up one hit to earn the victory for Orange (4-2). Chad Thompson went 3 for 4 with two RBIs for Corona del Mar (2-2).

In consolation games:

Santa Ana Valley 11, Costa Mesa 8--The Falcons (2-2) scored nine runs in the third inning at Tustin High School. Adolfo Reyes, Eugene Novella, Tony Vargas and freshman Scott Crosby, who pitched three innings for the victory, all had RBI hits in the inning. Costa Mesa is 1-3.

Foothill 8, Rancho Alamitos 2--The Knights’ Mike Horton had a triple, home run and four RBIs at Foothill. Tom Adams pitched five innings for the victory. Foothill is 2-2.

In nonleague games:

Garden Grove 6-8, Hesperia 0-3--Mark Lung struck out 12 in the first game for a shutout at Garden Grove. In the second game, Garden Grove (2-0) scored four runs in the third inning and had 11 hits. Todd Wassman pitched two innings for the victory.

Sunny Hills 3-4, California 2-0--Jerry Hood hit a three-run home run to lead the Lancers at home in the first game. Joel Pulver pitched 6 innings to earn the victory and Jeremy Nicodemus got the save.

In the second game, Carlos Mirmontes (2-0) threw a shutout. Tim Imperiali went 2 for 2 with a bases-empty home run and two RBIs for the Lancers (4-4).

Mission Viejo 7-6, Newport Harbor 0-2--Jack Bailey (2-0) threw a two-hit shutout and struck out seven in the first game for the Diablos at home. Bailey also was 1 for 3 with three RBIs with a two-run single in the third inning and a sacrifice fly in the sixth. In the second game, Phil Houston threw a three-hitter and struck out 12 and was 2 for 3 with a home run and two RBIs to lead Mission Viejo (4-0). Newport Harbor is 2-3.

Dana Hills 8-9, Laguna Beach 6-1--The Dolphins had only five hits but took advantage of five walks and four Artist errors for the victory at Dana Hills. In the second game, Bryan Hatch threw a four-hitter and struck out six, with no walks, to lead Dana Hills (4-2). Laguna Beach is 0-4.

Santiago 5-9, Buena Park 1-2--The Cavaliers (2-0) swept a doubleheader at Buena Park (0-4). In the first game, Carlos Leon struck out nine in a complete-game victory. Catcher Raphael Rodriguez hit a home run and shortstop Ricardo Gallardo was 2 for 4 with an RBI.

In the second game, Santiago first baseman Steve Larson was 3 for 4 with four RBIs and Willie Hernandez pitched four innings for the victory.

Riverside Poly 9-12, Brea-Olinda 2-6--The Bears hit two home runs in the first game at Riverside Poly. The Bears had 10 hits in each game. Jim Murray hit a home run for Brea in the second game.

In the Serra tournament:

Providence 4, Capistrano Valley Christian 1--Jeff Ciriuo pitched a one-hitter to lead Providence of Burbank in a first-round game in Alondra Park at Lawndale.