FREEWAY LEAGUE BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Olsen Still Chasing Record as Fullerton Falls to Troy

D.C. Olsen would like to put the No. 13 in the back of his mind--if anyone would let him.

Olsen, Fullerton High School’s catcher, is tied with Andy Ruscitto for the Orange County single-season home run record with 12.

“I’m getting kind of tense about it,” Olsen said after failing to get a home run Tuesday in Fullerton’s 4-2 loss to visiting Troy. “Even when I’m swinging the bat on deck, somebody comes up behind me to tell me to go for the record.”

Troy left-hander Guy Pinelli couldn’t keep Olsen from extending his season-long hitting streak to 24 games, but he did keep Olsen’s drives inside Fullerton’s cozy ballpark. In doing so, Pinelli helped Troy clinch at least a tie for the Freeway League title.

“Everybody came out to the game today to see D.C. get the record,” Troy Coach Dane Ilertsen said. “But they saw Pinelli instead.”

Pinelli (8-2) used fastballs and sliders against Olsen, jamming them inside on the Fullerton junior. It was only the second time in 24 games that Olsen has failed to drive in a run.

Olsen was one for three, getting a sharp single through the left side of the infield. He lined into a double play in the first inning and flied to deep right field in the sixth.

The single gave Olsen 49 hits on the season--only two behind Robbie Katzaroff’s 1985 county single-season mark of 51. Olsen’s batting average dropped to .613, still higher than the 10-year-old county record of .585 set by Anaheim’s Steve Evans.

But Olsen will have to wait until Thursday to break any of the three records, when Fullerton travels to Troy for the Freeway League finale.

“I’d like to see him get the record,” Ilertsen said. “As long as we win anyway. These things don’t happen too often.”

Troy, led by Matt Carter’s two-run homer in the first and Steve Friedrich’s solo shot in the fifth, improved to 14-8, 11-3 in league. Troy has won 10 consecutive games.

Fullerton dropped to 12-11-1, 6-8.

In other league games:

Sonora 5, Sunny Hills 2--Marcos Pando was two for four with two runs scored and Tracy Kaufman was one for three with two RBIs for Sonora (12-11, 7-7) at Sunny Hills (14-11, 9-5). Scott Oxarart (6-6) gave up two unearned runs in the fourth and earned the complete-game victory.

La Habra 2, Buena Park 0--Scott Veeder (4-6) allowed four hits and struck out five in the complete-game victory at Buena Park. Marc Patterson and Wendell Wickersham each had two hits for La Habra.