Prep Baseball Roundup : Disputed Homer Gives Edison 1-0 Victory

Ocean View High School pitcher Mike Karpel gave up only one hit Tuesday, but the hit--Jason Serafin’s disputed home run--was all Edison needed to score a 1-0 Sunset League baseball victory at Edison.

With two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning, Serafin lined a pitch off a tree branch that hangs over the left-center field fence near the 375-foot sign. After first deciding that Serafin’s hit was a ground-rule double (the ball bounced back onto the field), the umpire changed his mind and ruled the hit a homer.

The umpire’s reversal angered Ocean View Coach Steve Barrett, who was ejected from the game for disputing the call.

“The ball hit a tree branch that hangs 15 feet over the fence, and that prevented my center fielder (John Arnold) from being able to play the ball,” Barrett said. “(Edison Coach Paul Harrell) didn’t bring up what happens when balls hit that tree during the pregame meeting, and the umpire was going to rule that hit a double before (Harrell) pressured him into giving (Serafin) a home run.

“It was a mistake for Paul Harrell not to bring up the tree before the game, and you would have thought that they were going to bring it up during the pregame discussions because of it hanging over the field.”

Said Harrell: “I didn’t bring up the tree before the game, but still, there was no way anyone was going to catch that ball because it was a line shot that was going over the fence when it hit the tree.”

Serafin’s hit supported the four-hit pitching of J.J. Thobe (2-1), who survived a sixth-inning scare to record the victory.

With the bases loaded and two outs, Edison left fielder Brian Higgins made a lunging, backhanded catch of Mike Burns’ sinking line drive to deny Ocean View (11-4, 3-1) a chance to take the lead.

Before Serafin’s homer, Edison (5-6-2, 2-2) could get only one baserunner off Karpel (1-2)--when Higgins reached second on shortstop Daniel Hernandez’s throwing error in the first. After the homer, Karpel retired the last seven batters.

“J.J. didn’t have his best stuff today, but he was able to get the ball in good positions, and the kids made some good defensive plays to back him up,” Harrell said.

“(Higgins’ catch) was the play of the game,” Barrett said. “Without that catch, we would have won the game. We had other situations when we had guys in scoring positions, but we couldn’t cash them in, and you can’t win games unless you cash in on your opportunities.”

In other Sunset League games:

Fountain Valley 7, Marina 5--Fountain Valley trailed, 5-1, but scored six runs in the top of the sixth for the victory. Steve Grack had a two-run single in the inning, but Fountain Valley (8-4, 3-1) also benefited from three Marina errors. Grack had two hits and three RBIs. Don Cossett (2-0) pitched one inning in relief for the victory. Mark Newfield had a two-run homer in the fourth for Marina (2-2 in league play).

Westminster 7, Huntington Beach 3--The Lions took advantage of nine walks and five Huntington Beach errors for the victory at Huntington Beach. Ryan Klesko had a two-run homer for Westminster. He also walked three times, stole two bases and scored three runs. Brent Heredia went two for three with an RBI for the Lions.

In the Century League:

El Modena 4, Santa Ana 2--The Vanguards broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the fifth. Consecutive singles by Matt Newbrand and Jason Wakefield and a walk to Marcus Esposito loaded the bases. Graham Brown then grounded out, scoring Newbrand to give El Modena (5-6, 3-1) a 3-2 lead. Mike Vermillion hit a solo home run in the sixth to give the Vanguards a 4-2 lead. Bobby Reimers had three hits and two RBIs for Santa Ana (7-7, 2-2).

Villa Park 4, Foothill 3--Gary Stephens walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh to force in the winning run for Villa Park (7-7, 2-2). Villa Park took a 1-0 lead in the second on an RBI single by Gary Bladow. Foothill (9-5, 3-1) scored three runs in the third, two on a double by Kent Donnelly. Stephens hit a solo home run in the third to pull the Spartans within one run, 3-2. Villa Park tied the score in the fifth on an error. Todd Blyleven (2-2) pitched to one batter in the seventh to earn the victory.

Canyon 8, Santa Ana Valley 5--The Comanches (7-2, 2-2) scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth for an 8-3 lead. Mike Casagranda relieved winning pitcher Marty Little and got the final two outs to earn the save. Canyon’s Dan Puskas went three for three, scoring three runs.

In the Pacific Coast League:

Laguna Hills 9, Laguna Beach 5--Laguna Hills scored five runs in the fourth inning to take a 6-4 lead at Laguna Beach. Chris Sheff and Mike Helm each had RBI singles in the inning. Ron Kortman went three for four with a home run for Laguna Hills (12-3, 4-0). Gary Hitzler went two for four for Laguna Beach.

Orange 11, Costa Mesa 5--Mike Herrera had three hits and three RBIs and John Rodriguez had three hits and two RBIs for Orange (6-6, 2-2) at Costa Mesa.

Trabuco Hills 8, Woodbridge 6--The Mustangs (7-3, 4-0) scored three runs in the second inning to take a 3-1 lead and never trailed again. Jeff Lokey had a two-run double in the second. Jim Skidmore, Blayne Parks and Steve Pepper each drove in two runs for Trabuco Hills.