South Coast League Baseball : Whipple’s Pitching Keeps Irvine Slumping as Dana Hills Wins, 2-1

Only two weeks ago, Irvine High School was threatening to run away with the South Coast League baseball championship after the Vaqueros opened play with six consecutive victories.

Irvine was hitting as well as any team in Orange County and enjoyed a comfortable three-game lead after its quick start. The Vaqueros looked like a sure bet to win their first league title since 1986.

But in the past two weeks, the Vaqueros have been in a hitting slump. On Friday, the downward trend continued as Irvine lost for the fourth time in its last five games, falling to Dana Hills, 2-1, at Irvine.

The loss dropped the Vaqueros (14-7, 7-4) into second place. Dana Hills (12-10, 6-5), in third, remained in contention for a Southern Section playoff berth.

Irvine managed only two infield hits through five innings before scoring its only run in the sixth off winning pitcher Ricky Whipple (3-3).

Irvine had three hits in the sixth and added a single and double in the seventh inning, but Whipple ended the game by getting Marlon Bringas to fly out to right field with the bases loaded.

“I wish I knew what the problem is,” said Bob Flint, Irvine coach. “I don’t know what the answer is. We got five hits today and four in each of our last two games. And a lot of those hits were scratch hits, just like what you saw today.”

Dana Hills scored its only runs in the first inning against losing pitcher John Bretza (5-4). Leadoff hitter Craig Lombardi singled and went to third on a hit-and-run single to right by Mike Oetinger.

First baseman Lance Marks hit a sacrifice fly to score the first run, and Chris Delfs drove in Oetinger with a ground out to first. The Dolphins managed only two more hits off Bretza, but they made some fine defensive plays behind Whipple.

“I was really proud of the way we played defense,” said Bob Canary, Dana Hills coach. “If you can just make the routine plays in high school and not the spectacular ones, you’re going to win ballgames.

“I thought Whipple pitched a great game. That’s two games in a row that he’s pitched well for us.”

El Toro 4, Capistrano Valley 1 (11 innings)--Jeff Stark (4-2) threw a six-hitter and only allowed an uneared run for visiting El Toro (13-9, 9-3), which moves into first place.

In the 11th, Chris McCarthy and Brian McNamara singled and advanced on a balk. Adam Brass walked and Sean Drinkwater singled to drive in the first run. Tim Jurkowski then hit a ground ball to third that resulted in a two-run throwing error. Capistrano Valley is 8-13 and 4-7.

San Clemente 4, Mission Viejo 2--Brett Ferguson had two hits and two RBIs for host San Clemente (7-12, 3-8).