PREP BASEBALL : UPPER DECK TOURNAMENT : Wilson’s Success for Tustin Is No Surprise

Tim Wilson has been a dominating pitcher since Little League, so it was no surprise that he had an impressive debut as a starter for Tustin Tuesday in the second round of the Upper Deck baseball tournament.

Wilson, a sophomore who had pitched only two innings of relief all season, allowed two earned runs in the last inning and five hits as host Tustin rolled to its 10th consecutive victory, 9-3, over Fountain Valley.

Tustin (11-3) advanced to the semifinals of the 16-team tournament for the second year in a row by giving Wilson a five-run lead in the first inning. Wilson was efficient, getting nine one-pitch outs before tiring in the last inning.

Fountain Valley (10-8) had only two hits going into the ninth, when the Barons bunched three hits, a walk and a balk for two runs. Wilson labored in the final inning when he abandoned an effective changeup.

Fountain Valley starter Brian Ponchak had a forgettable day, walking four batters, hitting two more and throwing four wild pitches. Ponchak also gave up home runs to Zach Elliott and Adam Schulenburg.

But despite the one-sided victory, Tustin Coach Vince Brown was unhappy with his team’s effort.

“We were too flat today,” he said. “We played like spring break today. Yesterday, we had our best pregame workout of the season and the kids were excited to play. But today, there was no emotion during infield.”

Tustin opened the tournament with a 3-1 victory over Midwest City of Oklahoma. Midwest City came into the game as Collegiate Baseball’s 11th-ranked team in the nation. Brown was not even discouraged after the Tillers opened their season with three losses in four games.

“I intentionally held back our pitchers in January because I wanted to start slowly, then we have the heavy rains and we couldn’t throw for about 10 days in February,” Brown said. “When the season started, we couldn’t throw strikes.

“But in the last two weeks, a lot of players throughout the lineup have come through and the pitching is coming around. A lot of those kids have been champions on lower levels. Tim Wilson has won on every level, and he showed today he can continue to win on the varsity level.”

Every player in Tustin’s starting lineup reached base safely. Elliott had a single and homer, Wilson got two singles, and third baseman Derek Baker contributed a single, drove in two runs and stole a base.

In other Upper Deck games:

Cherry Hill (N.J.) West 3, El Dorado 0--Tom Bianco’s single drove in Jeremy Sunkett with the first run for West (8-0), which will meet Tustin in tonight’s 7 p.m. semifinal at Amerige Park. Andy Osborne had two hits for El Dorado (10-5).

Miami Westminster Christian 7, Ocean View 0--Dan Perkins allowed two hits and struck out eight in gaining his ninth victory at El Dorado High. Outfielder Luis Lanz had two hits and made two diving catches in left to rob Ocean View of base hits.

Westminster Christian (26-1) sent nine batters to the plate in the second inning, scoring four runs off losing pitcher Matieu Royer. Westminster Christian will meet Turlock in the other semifinal game at 3 p.m. today at Amerige Park. Ocean View fell to 10-5.

Turlock 5, Esperanza 4 (13 innings)--David Hartvickson drove a single over Esperanza’s drawn-in field in the bottom of the 13th inning to score teammate Tony Corbin with the winning run for visiting Turlock (7-10-1). Jeff Quinn pitched 10 innings for Esperanza (7-8) and also hit a home run.