Baseball : Santa Ana Rolls, Gains Tie for Title

Otavio Medina had four hits, helping Santa Ana High School clinch at least a tie for the Century League baseball championship with a 15-1 victory over El Modena Tuesday at El Modena.

Santa Ana (15-9, 10-4) has a one-game lead over Foothill and Canyon with one game remaining in the regular season. Santa Ana will finish league play on Friday at home against El Modena.

Medina had two runs scored and a run batted in. Teammate Julio Vargas hit a solo home run, his fourth of the season. Santa Ana had 15 hits.

Winner George Carachure (5-1) pitched six innings, striking out four. He also had two hits and an RBI.

El Modena is 7-14 and 5-9.

In other Century League games:

Canyon 19, Santa Ana Valley 2--Joe Furukawa had four hits and three RBIs and Mike Williams had three RBIs to lead host Canyon (16-8, 9-5). Winner Scott Myers (6-1) went the distance, striking out five. He also had four hits. Mickey Ramirez had three hits for Santa Ana Valley (3-19, 2-12).

Foothill 8, Villa Park 6 (9 innings)--In the top of the ninth, Adam Chambers drove in one run with a ground out and Corey Parker singled in another for Foothill (14-10, 9-5). Parker had three hits and three RBIs. Tony Inga had two RBIs for Villa Park (13-12, 7-7).

In the Olympic League:

Orange Lutheran 8, Whittier Christian 4--Dave Elliott hit a three-run home run in the first inning for host Orange Lutheran (19-7, 9-3). Elliott was 3 for 4, scored twice and had three RBIs. Matt Wilson was 2 for 3 with an RBI and Tim McCann was 2 for 4 and scored twice for Orange Lutheran. Winner Ward Lookabuagh (10-2) gave up seven hits.

In the Pacific Coast League:

Laguna Hills 10, Laguna Beach 3--Mike Smedes pitched a five-hitter, striking out 11, as visiting Laguna Hills (15-8, 12-2) won its 12th straight game. Jun Honda and Jason Thompson each drove in two runs, and Chris Sheff had four hits for Laguna Hills. Ted Savage had two hits for Laguna Beach (5-14, 3-11).

Orange 9, Costa Mesa 7--Rich Prater was 4 for 4, scored twice and had four RBIs for visiting Orange (14-10, 10-4). Paul Maund had three hits, including a double and a home run, and Jesus Romo hit a solo home run for Orange. Winner Brian Smith (8-3) pitched a complete game. Costa Mesa is 9-15 and 3-11.

Woodbridge 11, Trabuco Hills 5--Mark Howard and Jim Burke each had two RBIs to lead Woodbridge (9-13, 6-8) at Trabuco Hills. Winner Doug Pryor (2-0) went the distance. Nick Lowery had a two-run homer for Trabuco Hills (12-9, 8-6).

In the Sea View League:

Estancia 3, University 0--Conrad Colby (6-3) threw a five-hitter, striking out four, as Estancia (15-9, 8-6) clinched third place. Frank Herman had two RBIs for Estancia. University is 10-15 and 6-8.

Saddleback 4, Corona del Mar 2--Sean Simon pitched five innings for the victory and Paul O’Hearn pitched the final two innings for his fourth save for host Saddleback (19-5, 13-1). Jeff Blanco was 2 for 3 with two RBIs for Saddleback. Corona del Mar is 7-12 and 5-9.

Tustin 5, Newport Harbor 0--Danny Baker (4-3) pitched a four-hitter and had eight strikeouts for host Tustin (15-9, 9-5), which clinched second place. Newport Harbor is 4-20 and 1-13

In the South Coast League:

Dana Hills 4, El Toro 2--Todd Rochford hit a two-run homer and Jeff Mote and Dan Greaney each hit a run-scoring single to lead Dana Hills (13-12, 7-7) at El Toro. Darren Deffenbaugh (5-0) got the victory. El Toro is 13-12 and 8-6.

San Clemente 2, Irvine 0--Jason Hartanove threw a three-hitter, striking out seven, for San Clemente (9-14, 5-9) at Irvine. San Clemente scored an unearned run in the third and Cameron Brown singled in a run in the sixth. Jim Huntsberger (3-2) went 5 innings, giving up four hits, but took the loss for Irvine (16-8, 9-5).

Capistrano Valley 5, Mission Viejo 4--Bill Bardens had a two-out RBI single in top of the seventh to score Matt Spence, who had walked, to break a 4-4 tie for Capistrano Valley (9-15, 6-8). Mission Viejo is 16-7 and 7-7.

In the Express League:

Pioneer Baptist 8, Claremont 4--James Silva (8-1) had 16 strikeouts and gave up three hits as visiting Pioneer Baptist (16-2, 4-0) clinched the league title at Brookhurst Park. Claremont’s Tom Patraw gave up eight runs, but five were unearned. Derek Evans had two hits and an RBI for Claremont (7-5-1, 2-2).