PREP BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Orange Defeats Laguna Hills, 4-3, to Tighten Pacific Coast League Race

Rick Foster’s run-scoring single in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Orange High School a 4-3 victory over Laguna Hills Tuesday, and gave the five teams chasing Laguna Hills in the Pacific Coast League a glimmer of hope.

Foster’s single to right allowed Jeff Peterson to barely elude Laguna Hills’ catcher Matt Maffei’s tag with the winning run for Laguna Hills (12-7, 7-1).

Starting pitcher Kevin Lovingier suffered his first loss of the season after nine victories. Lovingier allowed only four hits, but Orange got three hits in the final two innings to score two runs.

Laguna Hills took a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning when pinch-runner Rick Mazer scored on a wild pitch, but Orange tied the score in the bottom of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Ruben Hernandez.

John Martinolich (4-2) pitched six innings in relief and allowed only one run to earn the victory. Orange (9-8, 5-3) will need some help catching Laguna Hills for first place, but Coach Ed Howard says his team is beginning to peak.

“We’re finally putting it all together,” Howard said. “We’ve played pretty good defense and hit the ball, now, our pitching is starting to come around.

“Our first goal was to win the Pacific Coast League title, but that might be unrealistic now. We want to finish in the top three, make the playoffs and then see what happens.”

Orange scored two unearned runs in the first inning when Laguna Hills committed two errors. Orange didn’t get its first hit until Peterson doubled in the fourth.

Shortstop Mike Wells hit a leadoff homer over the 305-foot sign in right field to cut Orange’s lead to 2-1 and then Tom Lloyd’s double to left-center field scored Ted Wilkes, who had also doubled.

Laguna Hills blew a good opportunity in the seventh inning when Al Saldana failed to sacrifice pinch-runner John Hendrickson to second. Wilkes singled one out later.

“We had many critical execution mistakes all through the game,” said Pete Tereschuk, Laguna Hills coach. “The missed bunt hurt, and we wasted some great pitching by Lovingier.

“We’ve got a lead for first place, but I’ve always felt there’s still a race for the title. I’ve never looked at it any other way.”

In other Pacific Coast League games:

Laguna Beach 12, Woodbridge 3--Alex Mann had four hits with three RBIs, and Jason Levinson had two hits and two stolen bases for host Laguna Beach (5-11, 4-4).

Trabuco Hills 9, Costa Mesa 2--Steve Height (3-0) pitched a three-hitter for host Trabuco Hills (11-5, 4-4). He also had two hits and two stolen bases.

In the Olympic League:

Santa Margarita 3, Ontario 0--Marc Mosman pitched a one-hitter, allowing a single to the first batter in the fifth inning. Mosman (4-2), a right-handed junior, struck out 12. Sergio Muniz went two for two and stole home for visiting Santa Margarita (6-7, 3-4).

Whittier Christian 4, Orange Lutheran 0--Todd Wilson (7-0) pitched a four-hitter, striking out five for host Whittier Christian (13-2, 7-0).

Brethren 4, Capistrano Valley Christian 2--Darren West had an RBI double and Brian Biegert followed with an RBI in the third inning for visiting Capistrano Valley Christian (7-8, 1-7).

In the Sunset League:

Ocean View 4, Huntington Beach 1--Duane Page (7-1) pitched a five-hitter for host Ocean View (14-5, 8-0). Micah Edwardson had two hits with two RBIs, Kevin Bill had two hits and an RBI, and John Arnold had an RBI triple for Ocean View.

Edison 7, Marina 2--Jim Futami pitched a two-hitter with nine strikeouts for host Edison. Futami (3-2) allowed only two unearned runs. Josh Gingrich had two hits, including a three-run double in the third inning for Edison (13-5, 4-4).

Fountain Valley 2, Westminster 1--Host Fountain Valley (8-11, 3-5) scored in the second on an RBI triple by Eric Sirgusa and an RBI single by Joe Penaflor.

In the St. Paul tournament:

Servite 4, Mater Dei 1--Eric Grisotti (3-2) pitched a two-hitter, striking out four and walking none in a semifinal game at Cal State Los Angeles. The Friars (14-5) scored four in the second inning as Whit Haydon’s single drove in two runs and Ed Crippen’s single drove in one. Servite will play St. John Bosco, a 10-1 victor over St. Paul, for the championship May 5.

In nonleague play:

Garden Grove Claremont 14, Redlands Calvary Chapel 5--Brian Wetsch had four hits, including a double, scored two runs and drove in two for visiting Claremont (10-1).