EMPIRE LEAGUE BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Esperanza Completes Turnaround, Wins Title
Esperanza used four pitchers, some timely hitting and an outstanding defensive effort Wednesday to gain its fifth Empire League championship in the past seven years.
Esperanza (18-4, 12-0 in league) ended Katella’s nine-game winning streak with a 4-2 victory that clinched the title of the six-team league with three games remaining. The victory also completed Esperanza’s turnaround from last season, when it struggled to a 10-11-2 record.
“When Tustin beat us, 13-3, in our first game, I thought at best we had an even shot of making the playoffs,” said Mike Curran, Esperanza’s coach. “But pitching and defense has carried us all season.
“Last year hasn’t been discussed at all. I’ve blanked last year out of my mind. I told the kids all week that Boysen is a big park where hitters won’t dictate the game.”
Esperanza managed only six hits off losing pitcher Chris Drummond (6-1). Right fielder Brian Pickler drove in three of Esperanza’s four runs, hitting a two-run triple in the third inning and a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
Katella (17-5, 8-4) failed to score through five innings, wasting several good opportunities, and ended the game with the bases loaded against relief pitcher Dan Redington.
Katella left 11 runners on base and set the tone early for a frustrating afternoon when it loaded the bases in the first inning with two outs and failed to score.
Throwing errors by catcher Jess Evans and Drummond also hurt Katella, allowing Esperanza to score unearned runs in the first and sixth innings.
“They made the plays when they had to, give them all the credit,” said Tim McMenamin, Katella’s coach. “We couldn’t get a key hit early and then made a couple of mistakes and Esperanza capitalized.
“We’ve been playing pretty good defense during our winning streak. Today, Esperanza deserved to win. They deserve the league title.”
Joe Foss (6-0) pitched five strong innings for Esperanza. Redington gained his third save of the season.
In other league games:
El Dorado 9, Cypress 2--Andy Brazeel pitched a five-hitter, striking out two and walking one to lead visiting El Dorado over Cypress (4-19, 1-11).
Bruce Torkelson had a solo home run, a double, scored three times and had three RBIs for El Dorado. Abby Gomez hit a solo home run for Cypress.
Loara 7, Los Alamitos 5--Loara scored four runs in the fourth. Joey Gaudio drove in the first run with a double that put runners on second and third. Kyle Poffenberger and Charlie Gipson each hit run-scoring ground balls and Erich Munzner later singled in a run.
Czach Hallock went four for four, Gaudio went two for four with two RBIs and Poffenberger was two for four with two RBIs for visiting Loara (6-16, 4-8).