SOUTH COAST LEAGUE BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Mission Viejo Jumps to Early Lead; Holds Off El Toro

Rob Johnson, El Toro’s three-sport star, has enjoyed his share of glory during his prep career, but Friday afternoon’s pitching performance against Mission Viejo is one he would like to forget.

Mission Viejo jumped on Johnson for eight runs in the first three innings en route to a 9-8 South Coast League victory at Mission Viejo.

Johnson, bound for USC on a football scholarship, yielded eight runs and eight hits, walked five and balked in a run during his brief stint as the Chargers (9-6, 3-1 in league) fell behind, 8-4.

Jeff Carr, a sophomore catcher, paced the Diablos’ 12-hit attack with three hits in three at-bats, including a two-run home run in the second inning and a two-run single that highlighted a five-run third.

“First off, we hit the ball better than we’ve been hitting in a long time,” Mission Viejo Coach Ron Drake said. “Second, we played (hard) all seven innings, which you have to do against a good hitting team like El Toro. Carr also had a tremendous game.”

Johnson’s two walks and tentative play on Kurt Neuhausen’s bunt allowed the Diablos (7-5, 2-2) to load the bases with none out in the third. After Lee Williams scored on a balk, Carr singled in two runs and reached third on a throwing error and interference call on El Toro first baseman Brian Haas.

Carr scored on Jon Gugel’s single, and Gugel, who reached second on a wild pitch, scored on Neal Caldwell’s single.

El Toro closed the gap to 8-6 on center fielder Danny Jacobs’ two-run home run in the fourth inning, but Mission Viejo padded its lead to 9-6 on Tim Snowden’s run-scoring double to left in the bottom of the fifth.

The Chargers came within a run in the seventh on bases-empty home runs by Sal Schacter and Chad Hoelker, but Diablo relief pitcher Jason Bedrosian managed to get Jason Santoro to pop up and Johnson to ground out to Snowden at shortstop.