The Preps : Pacific Coast League Baseball : Orange Comes Back to Beat Trabuco Hills

John Rodriguez struggled to get batters out from the mound, but was more than capable at the plate, hitting a three-run homer in the sixth inning to give Orange High School an 11-9 Pacific Coast League victory over Trabuco Hills Friday at Orange.

Orange (9-11, 4-3) erased a 9-5 deficit by sending 10 batters to the plate in the sixth and getting seven hits off losing pitcher John Goodman (2-1).

Orange scored in bunches, opening with five runs in the first inning and then ending the game with the big outburst to defeat Trabuco Hills (9-4, 6-1).

Rodriguez gave up five hits and allowed four runs in the first inning and then allowed three more runs in the second inning before moving to shortstop. But there was no finding fault with his hitting.

Rodriguez entered the week batting .460 and had a single, double, home run and four runs batted in. Orange pounded three pitchers for 13 hits, including five consecutive in the first inning off Trabuco Hills’ best pitcher, David Lowery.

Only a week ago, Lowery pitched a six-hitter and struck out 10 in a 1-0 victory over Laguna Hills. He hit two homers and a triple in a 10-9 victory over Orange this week, but the senior right-hander managed to get only three outs against Orange.

Lowery’s usually lively fastball was flat, and he had problems controlling his off-speed pitches.

Trabuco Hills built a 9-5 lead after four innings of play, chasing Rodriguez in the second inning and his successor, Shawn Sutton, in the third. But Orange’s third pitcher, Bob Ford (2-1), limited Trabuco Hills to only one run and four hits the remainder of the game.

“Rodriguez got the big hit, but you have to credit Bob Ford for shutting down the league leaders,” said Ed Howard, Orange’s first-year coach. “Ford started the season as a senior who wasn’t to play much. He came to me and said, ‘Give me the ball, I’ll do whatever it takes to help the team.’

“It was about time we won one like this. Every game we’ve lost in league has come when an opponent has rallied in the last inning. We were snake-bit. Today, we finally won one.”

Trabuco Hills relief pitcher John Goodman (2-1) had allowed only one hit through four innings when he opened the sixth by walking Orange’s leadoff hitter, John Emigh. The Panthers proceeded to get six hits, including a double by Rich Prater and homers by Rodriguez and Jesus Romo to turn the game around.

Both homers by Rodriguez and Romo cleared the 30-foot fence in left field, about 310 feet away. Both pitches appeared to be fastballs.

“All you have to do is hit it high enough, and it’s out of here,” Howard said. But Rodriguez said he had his doubts initially.

“I knew I hit it solid, but I didn’t know it was gone until I looked up rounding first,” he said. “We were pumped up hitting against Lowery. He’s a big-name player, and our goal was to knock him out of the game.”

Orange needed all of its 13 hits to beat Trabuco Hills. Every player in Trabuco Hills’ starting lineup had at least one hit. Designated hitter Jeff Carrao paced the 15-hit attack with three singles.

Costa Mesa 7, Laguna Beach 6--Brad Porter had an infield single to break a 6-6 tie for host Costa Mesa, which rallied for three runs in the seventh. David Crain had three hits and scored three runs for Laguna Beach (4-10, 1-6). Costa Mesa is 2-5 in league.

Laguna Hills 14, Woodbridge 2--Ron Kortman (6-1) pitched a two-hitter, striking out three, walking one and not allowing an earned run. Mike Helm was two for three with three RBIs to lead the Hawks (14-4, 6-1).