Fahs Starts Game on the Bench in Fountain Valley’s Loss

Did Fountain Valley High School Coach Ron LaRuffa make a mistake by electing not to start ace pitcher Derek Fahs in the quarterfinals of the Southern Section 5-A baseball playoffs?

It’s a question that a veteran coach could be asking himself for some time after Long Beach Millikan built a 2-0 lead and defeated Fountain Valley, 3-1, Friday night at Blair Field.

Millikan (20-5) will return to the same facility at 4 p.m. Tuesday to meet top-seeded Esperanza (26-2) in the semifinals. Esperanza advanced with a 9-8 victory over Baldwin Park.

LaRuffa had to make a decision whether to start Fahs, perhaps the county’s best pitcher, who had pitched 4 2/3 innings against Katella on Tuesday, or save him for later in the game. Fahs (13-2) could only pitch 5 1/3 innings against Millikan because section rules limit pitchers to 30 outs a week.

“I wanted to start Fahs,” LaRuffa said. “It was my idea to get him in early and settle us down. But I got talked out of starting him by the players and the two pitchers.”

So instead, LaRuffa started Brian Fisher and saved Fahs for the finish. But the strategy backfired when Fisher allowed two runs in 1 1/3 innings before he was replaced by Fahs.

Millikan catcher Pat Thacker drilled a 390-foot double to left-center field that scored Scott Allen in the first inning for a 1-0 lead. When Fisher allowed a walk and two singles in the second and fell behind, 2-0, LaRuffa went to Fahs.

“You’re always going to second guess yourself in that situation, but it all comes down to getting a 6-1 lead against Katella and then having to bring Derek back into the game to save it on Tuesday,” LaRuffa said. “That should never have happened.”

So while Fahs had the distinction of winning and saving Fountain Valley’s 6-4 victory over Katella on Tuesday, he was forced to wait Friday.

Fahs was effective, striking out seven of the 13 batters he faced, but he also allowed a run in the fifth when Millikan’s Dante Powell bunted, went to second on a poor pickoff throw by Fahs, stole third and then scored on a single by Allen.

Fountain Valley (24-6) got only two hits out of the infield off winner Brian Keller (6-1). The Barons scored their only run in the fifth on a throwing error after Joe Penaflor was hit by a pitch.