Looney’s Slow Stuff Lets Sunny Hills Win Quickly

Sunny Hills High School pitcher Chris Looney is the first admit that he throws only two speeds--slow and slower.

But Looney went through Santa Ana Valley’s batting lineup quickly Friday, allowing two hits in a 3-0 victory in the opening round of the Southern Section 4-A playoffs.

Looney (8-2) allowed a bloop single in the third inning and a line single in the seventh in a game that was over in 1 hour 47 minutes. Fourth-seeded Sunny Hills (20-6) will meet Savanna in the second round Tuesday.

Santa Ana Valley (10-16) threatened only in the first inning when Sunny Hills shortstop Brent Howes made two errors and Looney walked a batter to load the bases with one out.

But Looney struck out Jose Arroyo and Cesar Ruiz to end the inning. He dominated the Falcons the rest of the game with an effective curveball and a split-finger fastball.

“The split-finger was working well and I was spotting my fastball pretty good,” Looney said. “I guess you could say my pitches go slow and slower. Whatever screws them (opposing hitters) up most.”

Sunny Hills scored the only run Looney needed in the fifth inning when third baseman Jose Sandoval fielded a bunt but threw wildly, allowing Steve Ashton to score.

“We made one mental error that hurt us,” Santa Ana Valley Coach Herschel Musick said. “Our bunt defense is one of our strengths. It was too bad we couldn’t score in the first inning, or it might have been a different game.”

Santa Ana Valley was making its first playoff appearance in nine years and has shown remarkable improvement since Musick left as an assistant at Santa Ana to take over the struggling program two years ago.

Sunny Hills is expected to contend for the division title with an offense that averages nine runs per game.

Sunny Hills got four hits and scored twice in the sixth. Ashton’s second hit drove in Rich Orr with the final run of the game.

“It’s nice to know we can beat a team with good pitching or hitting,” Sunny Hills Coach Doug Elliott said. “We can’t do it all the time with the bats. Arroyo was sneaky fast today and I think we were a little tight for a playoff opener.

“This was Chris Looney’s game. He was in control from start to finish. He was ahead of the count to most of their batters and was spotting his pitches real well.”