ORANGE LEAGUE BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Fernandez, Castro Lead the Way as Anaheim Shuts Down Western, 6-0

Anaheim and Western high schools continued moving in opposite directions in Orange League play Wednesday at Anaheim.

Robert Fernandez pitched a complete-game shutout and Anaheim gained its ninth victory in its past 10 games with a 6-0 triumph over Western. The loss was Western’s eighth in a row.

With two outs in the fifth, Anaheim (11-6-1 and 5-2-1 in league) scored four runs. First baseman Danny Castro, who was 10 for 14 in the Anaheim Lions tournament last week, had a two-run single in the fifth to key the inning.

The potential for a big inning appeared to be over when Anaheim’s Cesar Rojo was picked off third with one out. But Western third baseman Eric Dowell threw wildly on a routine grounder to keep the inning alive.

Luis Palomares, Anaheim’s leadoff batter, drove in the first run of the game with a line single to left. Castro then lined a single up the middle to give Anaheim a 3-0 lead. David Geary drove in two more runs with a double in the seventh inning as Anaheim collected nine hits off losing pitcher Robert Legendre (2-3).

“I’ll take the win, but we didn’t play very smart,” said Dave Torres, Anaheim’s coach. “We must have missed 10 signals today. I gave the kids four days off last week and it showed.”

Western (5-11-1, 3-5) left 11 runners on base against Fernandez and stranded runners on second and third in the fourth and fifth innings. Coach Hack Mitchell said the loss was typical of Western’s play the past three weeks.

“We’ve opened with three-run leads or better in our last seven games and have managed to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory in every game,” he said.

Fernandez (2-4) gave up six hits in his final four innings of work. The right-hander worked his way out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the fifth and then left Dowell stranded at second after he opened the sixth with a double.

“Robert has been our guy,” Torres said. “His record is deceiving. His earned-run average is probably 1.80. We scored only three runs in his first four starts, but our hitting is finally coming around.”

Geary, Palomares, Rojo and Zeke Barrios each had two hits for Anaheim, and Barrios scored two runs. Dowell had two hits for Western.

In other league games:

Brea-Olinda 11, Savanna 2--Brian Travaglia went three for five and scored two runs and Matt Seeland went two for two with three RBIs for visiting Brea-Olinda, which scored four in each of the third and fourth innings and had 15 hits in the game. Brea is 11-6-1 and 5-2-1.

Magnolia 2, Valencia 1 (9 innings)--Brice Hoy singled and scored on Kevin Schlect’s double in the top of the ninth inning to lead Magnolia (7-8, 5-3). It was Schlect’s first at-bat after an ankle injury in February. John Straits pitched all nine innings, allowed one run and five hits and had five strikeouts.