Prep Baseball Roundup : Irvine Makes the Right Moves to Beat El Toro

If the designated hitter usually takes the place of a weak hitter, what was Irvine High School Coach Bob Flint thinking Thursday when he put Jeff Pincus and his .214 batting average into the DH spot?

“He’s struck out only once all year,” Flint said. “The way we’ve been hitting, that’s a plus. We have not played great baseball.”

Flint’s faith paid off when Pincus blooped a two-out single into left field that scored two runs in the sixth inning, giving Irvine a 4-2 South Coast League victory over host El Toro.

The victory moves Irvine (13-12 overall, 8-7 in league play), into the Southern Section 4-A division playoffs as the league’s No. 3 team. El Toro (15-11, 7-8) ends its season after advancing to the 3-A division championship game last season.

Pincus, a left-handed hitter batting ninth in the order, managed to send a soft fly ball that barely eluded El Toro shortstop Sean Drinkwater. Teammates Mike Booker and Bowen Ota, who had both walked off losing pitcher Brad Hulse (2-4), scored to break a 2-2 tie.

Hulse had control problems and flirted with trouble most of the afternoon, but he had a 2-1 lead going into the sixth when he walked the bases loaded. Hulse was replacedby Johnson, who promptly walked Randy Martin to tie the score, 2-2.

Johnson had pitched a complete game in a 3-2 victory over Irvine on Tuesday, but El Toro Coach Dan DeLeon didn’t hesitate to come back with the sophomore after only two days rest.

“He wanted the ball and I told him to challenge their hitters,” DeLeon said. “Unfortunately, he tried to overpower the first hitter and walked him. Then, we got beat on a bleeder.”

El Toro, needing a victory to reach the playoffs in its last game, had been in a similar situation the past two years. In 1987, the Chargers lost and finished 16-10.

“We’ve averaged 16 wins over the last three years and missed the playoffs twice,” he said. “For the whole season to focus on a final game is unfortunate. This was a do-or-die game, and we didn’t perform.”

Irvine has advanced to postseason play in eight of 10 seasons under Flint, including the past four years, but Flint marveled at this year’s team for qualifying.

“When you consider we only have one player (catcher Scott Vollmer) batting over .300, one player (Mike Seals) with more than three stolen bases and one player (Vollmer) with more than two homers, I’m very pleased,” he said.

In other South Coast League games:

Capistrano Valley 3, San Clemente 2 (9 innings)--T.J. Chase scored on a balk with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give Capistrano Valley (16-9, 9-6) the victory.

Mission Viejo 6, Dana Hills 1--Troy Kopp pitched a four-hitter with five strikeouts for Mission Viejo (18-6, 11-4) at Dana Hills. He walked four. Lance Marks homered for Dana Hills (8-17-1, 4-11).

In the Empire League:

El Dorado 5, Esperanza 0--Host El Dorado (18-8, 7-5) finished second in league play. El Dorado had a four-run first inning as leadoff hitter Dave Swearingen hit the first pitch for a home run. Loara 9, Katella 7--The Saxons (14-11, 11-4) scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth to clinch the league title. Chris Hoffman scored on an error to break a 7-7 tie.

Los Alamitos 7, Cypress 2--The victory qualifies Los Alamitos for the Southern Section playoffs. The Griffins (13-13, 8-7) finished tied with Katella for third and advance to the playoffs because of their two victories over the Knights.

In the Freeway League:

La Habra 7, Fullerton 4 (8 innings)--David Stevens’ three-run homer gave host La Habra the victory. Stevens was two for three and also had a triple. Nick Sciacca was one for three with an RBI for La Habra (13-8, 9-6). D.C. Olson was one for four with two RBIs for Fullerton (10-12, 8-7).

Troy 10, Sunny Hills 4--Shawn Mangano’s two-run single in the fourth sparked a four-run inning for Troy (11-4, 16-17) at home. Troy will enter as the Freeway’s No. 2 team. Despite the loss, Sunny Hills (12-3, 18-8), won the league championship.

In the Garden Grove League:

Kennedy 13, Bolsa Grande 1--Pete Montera (9-2) pitched a three-hitter at Kennedy, allowing only an unearned run in the seventh, as the Fighting Irish (21-5, 12-2), clinched their first title in 20 years. Steve Rath had two hits to set a single-season school record with 37 hits.

La Quinta 5, Rancho Alamitos 0--Junior left-hander John Korzen pitched a one-hitter with six strikeouts for host La Quinta. Korzen (6-1) had a no-hitter David Green singled in the fifth.

In the Pacific Coast League:

Laguna Hills 10, Trabuco Hills 0--Ron Kortman had a two-run homer and pitched a five-hitter for host Laguna Hills. Kortman is 10-1. Rob Milo had a solo homer in the first inning and Mark Wells was three for four with an RBI for Laguna Hills.

Orange 8, Laguna Beach 3--Scott McMahon had two hits and four RBIs for the Panthers (15-11, 10-5) at Orange.

In the Sea View League:

Estancia 6, University 3--Sean Hartley and Lenny Herman each had two RBIs for Estancia (19-6, 12-3) at University. The Eagles finished tied for first with Tustin.

Saddleback 5, Newport Harbor 1--Frank Fonseca (1-1) allowed only one hit in four innings as the Roadrunners (13-12, 9-6) clinched third place at Newport Harbor. Jeff Blanco had three hits and scored three runs.

Tustin 4, Corona del Mar 1--Tustin finished tied for first place with Estancia, but will advance to the 3-A playoffs as the No. 1 team because it was 2-1 against Estancia this season. Monty Jones had 11 strikeouts in a four-hitter for Tustin (17-8, 12-3).

In the Academy League:

Liberty Christian 9, St. Michael’s 1--Bryan James had two hits and four RBIs for Liberty Christian (20-2, 10-0) at TeWinkle Park in Costa Mesa.