ORANGE LEAGUE BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Lorge Settles Down, Helps Valencia Defeat Western
With three Western runners on base and only one out in the second inning, Valencia relief pitcher Mike Lorge knew it was going to be a long day when he came in for starter Jason Secoda.
After yielding a two-out, two-run bloop single to left by Jeff Stodgel, the senior right-hander dug in and pitched Valencia to a 7-4 Orange League victory Friday at Western High School.
Lorge (2-2) went the rest of the way, striking out eight, walking two and yielding four hits as the Tigers beat the host Pioneers (3-9, 1-6 in league). The victory left Valencia (9-3, 6-1) tied with Brea-Olinda for first place in the league standings.
“He’s one of our top guys,” Valencia Coach Mike Scheetz said. “He did battle them out there today. He has pitched well for us all season.”
Valencia gave Lorge plenty of support by supplying 11 hits and taking advantage of several Western mistakes to take a 7-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning.
Western’s 2-0 lead was short-lived when Chris Draft drove in two runs with a single to left-center in the top of the third. Harold Ceron put the Tigers ahead to stay with a run-scoring single in the top of the fourth to give Valencia a 3-2 lead.
After Mike Mebane’s run-scoring single to center gave the Tigers a 4-2 lead in the fifth inning, Western had a chance to tie the score when Lorge walked Stodgel and Isaiah Cadena to lead off the bottom of the fifth. Both runners advanced to scoring position when he threw the ball into center field on an errant pickoff attempt.
After striking out Albert Porter, Lorge got Matt Montgomery to ground to shortstop Craig Irion. Irion’s throw to first was wide, but Mebane made the tag and threw to third, where the runner had overrun the bag. Mebane’s throw caught the runner returning to third in a hotly disputed call, but not before Stodgel had scored to make it 4-3.
An error with runners at second and third by Western reliever Montgomery on Mike West’s bouncer to the mound allowed another Tiger run. Draft came through again with a hard liner to first baseman Sean Verne that was knocked down, but Valencia padded its lead to 6-3 with Brad Bilhartz scoring from third while Verne made the play to Montgomery at first.
Mebane scored the final Tiger run in the seventh inning after singling to left and moving to third on a pair of sacrifices. He came home when Ceron struck out and took first base when the third strike got away from the catcher. Gonzalez scored the final run for Western, after he doubled down the left-field line, took third on Stodgel’s base hit and came home on a wild pitch.
In Orange League games:
Brea-Olinda 8, Magnolia 2--Matt Selinske had a three-run home run in the third for Brea (10-3, 6-1). Bryan Noyes (4-1) struck out nine and walked four for Brea.
Savanna 9, Anaheim 7--Pitcher Steve Lindop had an RBI triple during a six-run sixth inning as the Rebels (5-7, 4-3) won at Brookhurst Park.
Lindop (3-3) struck out seven. Tony Rios had three singles, scored a run and drove in a run for Savanna.