PREP BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Bounce Favors Villa Park in 8-6 Victory Over Canyon

Canyon High School second baseman Bob Thompson knows only one direction--straight ahead.

And Tuesday afternoon, Thompson went straight ahead when he probably should have taken a step back.

Thompson charged James Hong’s high chopper in the sixth inning, and the ball took a short hop under his glove and into right field, allowing the go-ahead run to score in Villa Park’s 8-6 victory.

“This game can be unforgiving,” Canyon Coach Hi Lavalle said. “He probably should have laid back on that one. It was an easy play, but it turned into a hard one.”

The tricky bounce also made Villa Park Coach Dave Ochoa happy. With the victory, his Spartans (14-7-1, 7-5 in the Century League) pulled within 1 1/2 games of league-leading Canyon (10-11-1, 8-3-1).

“I’m going to go home and kiss my wife,” Ochoa said. “And the dog’s gonna wag his tail at me because I’m not going to kick him.”

Villa Park right-hander Todd Blyleven (7-2) allowed 10 hits, outlasting Mike Casagranda, Canyon’s left-handed ace, and Comanche reliever Jeff Brunswig (0-3), who took the loss.

The Spartans went ahead 6-3, on four consecutive singles off Casagranda in the third.

But the Comanches battled back behind Thompson’s baserunning and Greg Tippin’s timely hitting.

In the fifth, Thompson walked, stole second and scored on Tippin’s RBI single. The Comanches then pulled within a run when Brunswig drove home Tippin with a single to right.

An inning later, Thompson (two for two, two walks, three runs scored) singled and scored on Tippin’s two-out triple to tie it, 6-6.

Hong, Villa Park’s third baseman, played a vital role in the victory. He saved a run with a diving stop of Chris Snitko’s sharp grounder in the first, and added a two-run single in the bottom of the inning.

In the third, Hong beat out a high bouncer similar to one he hit three innings later. On the first play, Hong narrowly beat Thompson’s throw by sliding head-first into first base.

In other Century League games:

Santa Ana 4, Santa Ana Valley 3--Jesse Rosas (7-3) pitched a six-hitter and Santiago Lopez scored the winning run on a squeeze play in the fourth inning for host Santa Ana.

El Modena 7, Foothill 6--Aaron Aguirre singled to drive in Gavin Brown to break a 6-6 tie in the seventh for host El Modena. Graham Brown and Gavin Brown had two hits each for El Modena (11-9, 6-5). In the Arrowhead League:

Southern California Christian 14, Leffingwell Christian 13--Jose Arce and Jason Ondrack each went four for four with four RBIs for host SCC (10-2, 7-1).

In the Pacific Coast League:

Orange 10, Laguna Beach 5--Ruben Hernandez struck out 10 and got a complete-game victory, allowing four runs in the seventh inning for host Orange (12-9, 8-4).

In the Sunset League:

Ocean View 4, Westminster 1--Duane Page (9-1) allowed five hits and an unearned run as host Ocean View (17-6, 11-1) became the first county school to clinch a league championship.

Edison 11, Fountain Valley 6--Rocky Balch had three hits and three RBIs including a two-run home run in the third inning that gave Edison (16-6, 7-5) a 6-5 lead.

Marina 8, Huntington Beach 1--Sean Patterson (3-2) pitched six innings for the victory and Robin Lindsey had three hits including two doubles and a home run, and four RBIs for Marina (11-10-2, 7-5).

In the Olympic League:

Whittier Christian 2, Brethren 0--Todd Wilson (10-0) pitched a one-hitter for his fourth shutout of the season for host Whittier Christian (17-2, 11-0).

Santa Margarita 14, Whitney 13--Jeff Bradley went three for five with a double and an RBI for host Santa Margarita (7-10, 4-7).

Orange Lutheran 3, Capistrano Valley Christian 2--Mic Buehler singled to score Matt Laurent with one out in the seventh for host Orange Lutheran (15-6, 9-2). Kent Dowding (7-2) pitched the final 2 1/3 innings for the victory.