THE PREPS : Baseball : Garcia’s Homers Lift Foothill Past Don Lugo

Eric Garcia hit two home runs, including a two-run shot in the top of the seventh, to lead Foothill High School to a 6-5 victory over Don Lugo Friday at Hart Park in the semifinals of the Newport Elks baseball tournament.

Foothill will play Mater Dei today at 3 p.m. in the championship game at Hart Park.

Don Lugo led, 4-3, after six. In the seventh, Adam Chambers singled with one out and Garcia followed with his two-run homer down the left-field line for a one-run lead. Tom Hawkins followed with a triple and Kent Madole’s sacrifice gave Foothill (3-0) a 6-4 lead.

Paul Thorton (1-0) pitched 1 innings in relief for the victory.

Garcia gave Foothill a 2-0 lead in the third when he followed a walk to Chambers with a home run to center.

In the fifth-place semifinal:

Capistrano Valley 13, El Modena 9--Matt Spence drove in four runs on two hits to lead the Cougars (2-3) at Foothill High School. Robby Pratt pitched 3 shutout innings in relief for the victory. Pratt (1-0) struck out five.

In the seventh-place semifinal:

Saddleback 16, Corona del Mar 3--The Sea Kings (1-3) had a 2-0 lead in the second inning, but Saddleback’s Frank Larriva hit a two-run home run to tie the score, and Corona del Mar was never close again. The visiting Roadrunners (3-2) scored six runs in the fourth, and a three-run home run by Sean Pherien paced a five-run sixth. Winning pitcher Mike Arroyos (1-0) had six strikeouts in five innings.

In the consolation bracket:

Costa Mesa 9, Newport Harbor 6--Justin Reyes hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning to give the Mustangs a 4-1 lead. Costa Mesa (4-1) added five runs in the fifth, two on a single by Mike McAleer. Mike Cutler pitched 6 innings, striking out five, for the victory. Cutler (2-0) gave up five runs, but only one was earned. Tony Wren went 2 for 4 with two RBIs for Newport Harbor (1-4).

In the El Segundo tournament:

Hart 5, Westminster 3--Hart scored five runs on six hits, all in the fourth inning, to beat the Lions in the championship semifinals at Hart. Ryan Klesko went 3 for 4 with a pair of RBIs for Westminster (3-1).

In consolation games:

Edison 8, El Segundo 2--Josh Bammer hit a solo home run in the second inning to lead the Chargers (2-1-1) at El Segundo. Bammer has 5 home runs and 11 RBIs on the season. Frank Vidales (2-0) pitched six innings for the victory.

Long Beach Jordan 4, Esperanza 3--Long Beach Jordan (3-1) scored four unearned runs, and they were enough to withstand a seventh-inning two-run rally by the Aztecs (3-2). Jason Moler (1-1) took the loss and Jim Burchit hit a solo home run for Esperanza.

Palos Verdes 10, Brea-Olinda 4--Aaron Charlton went 2 for 4 with an RBI for host Brea-Olinda (0-5).

In the Loara tournament;

Sunny Hills 15, Diamond Bar 5--Jeff White went 3 for 5 with four RBIs to lead the Lancers in a consolation game at Diamond Bar. Mike McGuire and Jason Sugarman each drove in three runs for Sunny Hills (3-4).