FREEWAY LEAGUE BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Sunny Hills Routs La Habra to Clinch Share of Championship

Sunny Hills left little doubt about which is the best baseball team in the Freeway League. That issue was settled rather easily Wednesday.

The Lancers hammered second-place La Habra, 12-1, at Sunny Hills to clinch at least a share of the league championship. It is the second title in the past three years for Sunny Hills and the third since Doug Elliott took over the program in 1985.

For three innings, the Highlanders (10-6, 8-5 in league) made a game of it, but everything fell apart quickly. Sunny Hills scored four runs in the fourth to break a 1-1 tie, then added seven in the fifth.

“When we get things rolling, it’s tough to stay with us,” Elliott said.

And the Lancers (16-6, 11-1) were certainly rolling Wednesday.

After a slow start, Sunny Hills pounded out 12 hits. Tony Martinez’s third-inning triple, one of his four hits, tied the score, 1-1. An inning later, with the Lancers leading, 2-1, Martinez lined a 2-2 pitch over the left-center field fence for a three-run home run.

Martinez also had a two-run single in the fifth.

“Tony’s been hitting the heck out of the ball for us,” Elliott said. “He’s been our most consistent player.”

Martinez wasn’t the only hitting star for the Lancers. Mark Veronda had two hits, including a two-run double, and scored three runs.

The Highlanders also helped out with three errors, one passed ball and one wild pitch. The passed ball and wild pitch each allowed a run to score.

La Habra also made a few mental mistakes. After Sunny Hills’ Erren O’Leary reached on an error to start the fifth, the Lancers had three successive bunt singles, all of which seemed to catch the Highlanders off guard.

One even turned into a homicide squeeze--something that could lead a coach to contemplate murder.

With runners on first and second, Steve Mellano bunted down the third-base line. Pitcher Rusty Volkert, third baseman Mark Picco and catcher Bryan Reed converged on the ball, waiting for it to roll foul. It didn’t and pinch-runner Brian Dewispelaere was able to score from second when no one covered home.

“That’s when I knew things were going our way,” Elliott said. “We hadn’t hit the ball out of the infield and had a run home.”

Pitcher Rick Orr benefited from the Lancers’ hitting and the Highlanders’ mistakes. He got off to a shaky start, allowing three hits and a run in the first inning, but settled down in the third.

Orr (5-2) allowed six baserunners in the first two innings, but retired nine of the last 11 batters. He had eight strikeouts.

In other league games:

Buena Park 3, Fullerton 2--Alfredo Garcia (4-2) gave up six hits and struck out six for Buena Park (9-9, 6-6). Jason Cabral drove in the winning run with a single in the fourth inning.

Troy 12, Sonora 0--Guy Pinelli (7-2) pitched a six-hitter with 10 strikeouts for visiting Troy (13-7, 7-5). Steve Friedrich had two hits and three RBIs and Haruhiko Oda had three hits and drove in two runs for Troy.