COMMUNITY COLLEGE BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Saddleback Makes Hodges’ Debut a Winning One

Saddleback College, in the debut of Coach Jack Hodges, rallied for seven runs in the last two innings to defeat Moorpark, 8-7, in a nonconference baseball game Friday at Moorpark.

Hodges, after nine seasons at Laguna Hills High School, took the job at Saddleback last summer.

Saddleback broke a 7-7 tie in the ninth, when Jason Kirrer scored on a wild pitch with two outs.

Neil Carter had a pinch-hit RBI single, Jason Thompson had an RBI single and Buster Nietzke had a sacrifice fly in the eighth as Saddleback scored six runs to tie it at 7-7.

Pat Norville allowed one hit and no runs over the final two innings for the victory.

In the San Diego Mesa tournament:

Fullerton 14, Butte 10--Jim Short, a transfer from Cypress, had three hits, including two doubles and a home run, and six RBIs for Fullerton (1-0). Teammate Gary Mota had two hits, including a home run.

In the College of the Desert tournament:

Cypress 10, Mt. San Jacinto 8--Terry Tewell had three hits and two RBIs, Jim Berry had two hits and two RBIs, and Troy Babbitt had a hit a two RBIs for Cypress, which had 11 hits.