ORANGE LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Bottom of the Order on Top of Its Game as Magnolia Wins
Orange League pitchers beware: Don’t underestimate the bottom of Magnolia High School’s batting order.
The lower half of the Sentinels’ lineup gave them all the runs they needed in an 8-2 victory over Western Friday night at Glover Stadium.
Chad Phillips, the Sentinels’ pitcher and No. 6 hitter, was two for three with a double and two runs batted in. John Straits, who bats seventh, was two for two with a triple and scored two runs. And No. 8 batter Mike Compean singled, drove in a run and scored another.
“We’re a fairly good hitting team,” Magnolia Coach John Sharp said. “We don’t have a lot of power, but we watch the strike zone and don’t swing at bad pitches. That’s half the battle right there.”
Phillips, meanwhile, was winning the other half. He gave up four hits, all in the first two innings, and improved his record to 3-1. He struck out 13 and walked four before he was relieved by Jesse Carrow in the top of the seventh.
“Chad has a lot of colleges looking at him,” Sharp said. “Stanford and the Air Force Academy have seen him play and the Cleveland Indians were out here tonight.”
The victory kept Magnolia (5-6, 4-2 in league play) in the chase for the league lead. Robert LeGendre (2-1) took the loss for Western (5-5, 3-3).
Western took a 1-0 lead in the first when Erik Dowell singled to right field, moved to second on a base hit to left by Ed Serrano and scored on Jeff Livingston’s single to left-center.
The Pioneers’ lead held until the third inning, when Magnolia struck for two runs.
Straits led off with a triple to right over Livingston’s head. LeGendre then walked Compean.
Rob Sandoval sacrificed to center, scoring Straits and moving Compean to second. Compean took third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch.
The Sentinels added two runs in the fourth on RBI singles by Straits and Compean and four more in the fifth for their second victory over Western this season.
In another Orange League game:
Brea-Olinda 4, Anaheim 1--Pat Simec (3-2) pitched a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts and four walks for host Brea (8-5-1, 3-2-1). David Geary had a single in the fifth for Anaheim’s only hit. Brian Travaglia had three hits and scored three runs and Matt Selinske added two hits for Brea.