Empire League Baseball : Esperanza Takes Advantage of Los Alamitos

All year long, Mike Gibson, Los Alamitos High School’s ever-optimistic baseball coach, has been saying this is the year his team would challenge perennial powers Esperanza and El Dorado for the Empire League baseball title.

The Griffins opened play in the six-team league with three consecutive victories, including a one-run decision over El Dorado, but the first big test figured to come Wednesday, when they played host to Esperanza for the league lead.

Esperanza, struggling with an uncharacteristic 8-4 record through the first month of the season, showed how it has advanced to the Southern Section’s 4-A division championship game the past two seasons in a 5-4 victory.

The Aztecs (9-4, 3-1) took advantage of some shabby play by Los Alamitos in the second inning to score four unearned runs. They had a great defensive play by right fielder Dwight Neade with the game on the line in the sixth and then called on relief ace Doug Saunders to save the game for starter Roger Weems (3-2).

Los Alamitos (12-3, 3-1) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by right fielder Max Moore. But the Griffins fell apart in the second inning.

Esperanza scored two runs on a wild pitch and a throwing error after leadoff hitter Dan Mondragion struck out for what should have been the inning’s second out.

Instead, Mondragion was safe at first on a wild pitch and advanced to third when Winnie Wolf (4-1) retrieved the pitch that had bounced off catcher Greg Pirkl and threw wildly down the right-field line.

Esperanza added another run when third baseman Kevin Webb had an RBI double for a 4-1 lead. The Aztecs scored what proved to be the winning run when center fielder Craig O’Connor scored in the fourth inning after he reached base safely on an error by third baseman Darren Sugiyama.

Los Alamitos scored two runs on three consecutive hits in the third inning to cut Esperanza’s lead to 5-3, and then added another run in the seventh on a single by designated Mike Scott.

But the Griffins’ best scoring opportunity ended in the sixth inning when Neade made a diving catch of a long fly ball by Todd Gragnano with two runners on base to end the inning.

Esperanza’s victory threw first place into a three-way deadlock among the Aztecs, Los Alamitos and El Dorado. Esperanza meets El Dorado (12-2, 3-1) Friday.

Loara 4, Cypress 3--Joey Pactwa’s bases-loaded hit in the seventh scored the winning run for host Loara (7-5, 2-2). Matt Drager hit a two-run ground-rule double in the third to tie the score for Loara.

El Dorado 10, Katella 1--El Dorado’s Kevin Schula struck out four and threw a complete game at Boysen Park in Anaheim. Ed Keller hit a three-run home run in the second inning to lead El Dorado. Katella is 7-7, 1-3