Santa Ana Elks Tournament : Saldana Leads Saddleback to 5-3 Win

George Saldana had 2 hits, drove in 3 runs and shut down the opposing batters for the last 2 innings to lead Saddleback High School to a 5-3 victory over Los Alamitos in a first round game of the Santa Ana Elks tournament Saturday at Villa Park High.

One of Saldana’s hits, a two-run, bases-loaded double, tied the score, 3-3, in the sixth inning. Sean Therien was then caught in a rundown between third and home on a fielder’s choice, advancing Saldana to third and Paul O’Hearn to second. Designated hitter Jeff Blanco struck out, but Frank Larriva followed with a two-run double to left to score Saldana and O’Hearn and give the Roadrunners (8-2) the lead for good.

Saldana (2-0), who relieved starter Sean Simon in the fifth, balked home the Griffins’ second run of that inning--and third of the game--but surrendered nothing after that to earn the win.

Bob Calloway (3-2), who was replaced on the mound by Tony Muser after Saldana’s double, was charged with the loss.

Saddleback will play the Villa Park-Fontana winner in a second-round game Monday at noon at Villa Park High. Los Alamitos (9-2) will play the Villa Park-Fontana loser in a losers’ bracket contest Monday at 9:30 a.m. at Saddleback High.

“We told the team (before the start of the sixth inning) that all we had to do was to get runners on base, and after that, the run-scoring hits would come,” said Bob Mangram, Saddleback coach. “What else could you ask for from a guy (Saldana) besides for him to hit the way he did and then for him to wind up being the winning pitcher?”

Saldana gave Saddleback a 1-0 lead in the first by driving home Ky Phan with a two-out line-drive single to left. Phan, who led off the game with a walk, was sacrificed to second by Brad Zenter.

Los Alamitos tied the score, 1-1, in the fourth when Mike Kelly came home from third on Mike Scott’s infield out. Kelly, who started the inning by reaching first when Roadrunner catcher Chris Silva was unable to handle a third strike for a passed ball, advanced to third on Sal Mancuso’s double.

Mark Wasikowski gave Los Alamitos a 2-1 lead in the fifth with a leadoff homer to left. After Muser flied to center, Greg Pirkl singled to center and was advanced to third by Mike Kelly’s double. Saldana then replaced Simon, and followed with a balk before his first pitch.

Orange 10, Foothill 3--Aaron VanDerAa (1-1) got his first win of the season, giving up five hits, one run and striking out four in five innings for the Panthers (5-5) at Rancho Santiago. Paul Maund was 3 for 3 with 2 RBIs; Emilio Avila went 3 for 4 with a home run, and Mark Dannenbring hit a home run and had two RBIs for Orange.

Diamond Bar 17, El Toro 2--Vince Garcia gave up seven hits and struck out five for the victory at Rancho Santiago. Tito Quiles went 4 for 4 with 3 runs scored and Eddie Mylett hit a bases-loaded triple for Diamond Bar.

Banning 9, Santa Ana 7--Banning (7-2) scored four runs in the seventh, keyed by Ricardo Bernal’s bases-loaded double which drove in three runs, to come from behind and defeat host Santa Ana (6-4). Santa Ana was leading, 7-5, going into the seventh.