Santa Ana Elks Baseball Tournament : Mission Viejo Rallies for Second Straight Title

Battling from behind has become a habit for Mission Viejo High School when it comes to the final of the Santa Ana Elks baseball tournament.

For the second straight year, the Diablos have won the tournament. Mission Viejo defeated South Coast League rival Irvine, 12-9, Tuesday at Rancho Santiago College.

Last year, Mission Viejo rallied from a 9-1 deficit to beat Banning, 10-9.

The Diablos (12-4) scored seven runs in the fourth inning Tuesday for a 9-8 lead. They scored again in the fifth and twice in the sixth.

Tom Sizgrich, a junior right-hander, won his first game this season. He came on in relief in the third and gave up one run in 1 innings. Sophomore starter Kevin Obergfell (2-3), who gave up nine runs in four innings, took the loss for Irvine (9-8).

Irvine scored seven runs in the third inning; Mission Viejo matched that in the fourth.

Irvine, trailing 10-8, loaded the bases with one out in the sixth. Shortstop Terry Rahmatulla singled to right to score Brian Brocoff, but Jeff Walters was tagged out by catcher Tony Arnone on a perfect throw from right fielder Jack Bailey.

Senior Phil Houston was 3 for 5 with three RBIs for Mission Viejo.

In the third-place game:

El Toro 7, Millikan 6 (8 innings)--The Rams scored two runs in the top of the eighth to take a 6-4 lead, but the Chargers came back with three at Rancho Santiago College. Mack Powell had a two-run single to tie the score for El Toro, and Donnie Harrell won it with an RBI single.

In the fifth-place game:

Villa Park 7, Fontana 6--John Genova’s sixth-inning single scored Tom Roth to break a 6-6 tie and give the Spartans (10-8) the victory at Santa Ana High. Genova had two hits and three RBIs; and Roth went 2 for 4.

In the seventh-place game:

Orange 5, Foothill 4--Trailing, 4-0, the Panthers (11-6) scored five runs on six hits in the fifth at Villa Park. Mike Holloway had two hits, including the game-winning RBI, and Aaron Van Der Aa was the winning pitcher.

In the consolation championship:

Saddleback 5, Laguna Hills 2--Jeff Blanco’s two-run single in the fourth helped the Roadrunners at Santa Ana High. Winning pitcher Victor Rossano (5-2) threw a six-hitter, striking out four. Laguna Hills (9-8) was led by Aaron Arredondo, who went 2 for 4 with one RBI.