Ocean View Has to Suffer a Familiar Fate With Loss

Bill Gibbons, Ocean View High School’s baseball coach, can’t explain why his team has so much trouble in the quarterfinal round of the Southern Section baseball playoffs.

For the fourth time in five years, Ocean View was eliminated as Diamond Bar won, 7-5, Friday in a 5-A quarterfinal at Diamond Bar.

“No, I don’t think we’re jinxed, “ Gibbons said. “You have to play good defense at this stage to win, and we didn’t. Diamond Bar took advantage of our mistakes.”

Ocean View committed four errors and left nine runners on base as Diamond Bar scored three runs in the fifth and one in the sixth to erase a 5-3 deficit.

Diamond Bar advances to the semifinals Tuesday against Riverside Poly, which beat Millikan, 6-5. The Seahawks, who finished second in the Sunset League, end the season 16-11-1.

Right-hander Manny Lopez, who started for Ocean View, pitched two innings before being replaced. Dan Naulty, a senior right-hander who picked up victories in playoff games against Thousand Oaks and Mater Dei, didn’t look sharp.

Naulty (7-1) gave up four runs on five hits in four innings. Diamond Bar starter Paul Spere also had his problems, giving up four runs on five hits before being replaced in the fifth by left-hander Jim Edmonds.

Edmonds, who started the game hitting .528 as the Brahmas’ center fielder, gave up only one hit in the final three innings to earn the victory.

Edmonds (4-1) had to work out out of a tough jam in the sixth. With the bases loaded and one out, Matt Bertram hit a grounder to third that turned into a double play.

Third baseman Kyle Shuler stepped on third base for a forceout, and then fired home to get Steve Hernandez on a tag play to end the threat.

In the seventh, Ocean View went out in order as Edmonds--who figured to be the ace of the staff until he had arm problems earlier in the season--struck out John Beaubien to end the game.