SUNSET LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Ocean View’s Karliner Gets Biggest Hit

When all else failed, Ocean View High School’s Randy Karliner took matters into his own hands Friday.

Karliner led off the ninth inning with a towering home run over the left-field fence that gave Ocean View a 4-3 victory over Fountain Valley in a Sunset League game.

Pitcher Derek Fahs hit Ocean View’s next batter, Matt Musselmann, on the helmet with a fastball, prompting a bench-clearing brawl that lasted nearly five minutes.

Fountain Valley catcher Joe Penaflor and Ocean View third baseman Ryan Martin had to be separated after exchanging punches. No players were ejected, however.

Ocean View Coach Steve Barrett said he thought Fahs was retaliating for Karliner’s homer when he hit Musselmann.

“The guy has pinpoint control, doesn’t walk a batter all afternoon and then hits my guy in the head,” Barrett said. “He did nearly the same thing to us earlier this year when he threw two pitches behind one of our hitters.”

Ocean View (11-7, 5-2) won its eighth consecutive game despite some shabby baserunning. Ocean View had two runners thrown out at the plate and wasted two more scoring opportunities when it failed to get a sacrifice bunt.

But Ocean View did manage to take advantage of Fountain Valley’s five errors, scoring unearned runs in the second and fifth innings and then tying the score, 3-3, in the sixth on a single by left fielder Micah Edwardson.

Fountain Valley (18-4, 6-1) took a 2-1 lead in the third inning on Derek Brown’s two-run double. Brown also drove in Fountain Valley’s third run in the fifth, but the Barons wasted opportunities by scoring only once after loading the bases.

Karliner (5-2) replaced starter Seth Bartels with the bases loaded and one out in the fifth and allowed one run in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out two of the last three batters he faced after hitting his third homer of the season.

“We cranked the pitching machine up this week anticipating Fahs,” Karliner said. “The last two times up, he threw me fastballs, so I was looking for a fastball to drive in the ninth.”

Barrett said he wasn’t surprised to see Karliner win the game.

“The bigger the game, the better he plays,” Barrett said. “He simply rises to the occasion.”

In other league games:

Marina 4, Santa Ana 0--Junior left-hander Nick St. George (4-0) pitched a three-hitter, striking out five and walking none for host Marina (10-9, 2-5). Justin Middlekauff had two hits and two RBIs for Marina.

Edison 11, Huntington Beach 8--Josh Gingrich had a two-run home run in the first inning and an RBI single in the sixth to make the score 10-7 at Edison (10-10, 2-5).