Tustin Again Tops Saddleback in Baseball

Saddleback High School’s baseball team couldn’t get any relief Monday and consequently lost to host Tustin, 4-3, in a showdown for first place in the Sea View League.

Tustin (14-6, 10-1 in league) scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning on four walks, three of them against Saddleback relief pitcher Hector Blanchet. Blanchet replaced starter Tony Zuniga with no outs in the seventh after Zuniga had walked leadoff batter Derek Baker.

But Blanchet struggled, throwing two wild pitches and walking Nick Cantu and Adam Schulenburg to load the bases with one out. Tustin catcher Brian Igoe worked the count to 3-1 against Blanchet before taking a low fastball for ball four.

Saddleback (15-6, 8-3) had tied the score at 3-3 in the sixth when Blanchet walked, advanced to second on a groundout and scored when Tustin left fielder Mando Fonseca dropped a fly ball with two outs.

“We’re out of it,” Saddleback Coach Bobby Mangram said afterward. “We had a chance of tying them for the league today, but we made too many mistakes.”