PREP BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Stronger Mater Dei Disarms Tustin, 10-5

Pit a young Tustin baseball team with some tired arms against a solid Mater Dei lineup, and you get what happened in the championship game of the Newport Elks tournament Saturday.

Flexing its muscles when it had to, Mater Dei came away with a 10-5 victory at Tustin.

“We didn’t let down, but we had some mental lapses,” said Mater Dei Coach Bob Ickes, whose team is 4-0. “It’s good to start out with some wins.”

Mater Dei set the game’s tone early when stocky Toby Sanchez hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning off Tustin left-hander Brian Helsper.

“I’ve been wanting to hit one,” Sanchez said. “I’ve just been waiting for my pitch. I got it.”

The Tillers (4-2), who looked tired after playing in the weeklong tournament, came back with two runs in the top of the third inning on run-scoring singles by Justin Lloyd and Derek Baker. But Mater Dei answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning, the big blow a two-run double by Chris Woody.

Mater Dei extended its lead to 9-1 before kicking the ball around in the sixth inning, committing two errors and giving up three runs.

Tustin Coach Tim O’Donohue, who was an assistant at Mater Dei last season, was pleased his Tillers had a chance to play for the title.

“We’re an up-and-coming team,” O’Donohue said. “We have a lot of inexperienced guys. We stayed in it for a while. Give Mater Dei credit. They played well.”

--BRAD FALDUTO

In other Newport Elks tournament games:

Capistrano Valley 8, Esperanza 5--Dominick Lombardi and Levi Roquemore each had two hits for Capistrano Valley (3-1) in the third-place game.

Estancia 7, Foothill 5--Victor Martinez had three hits pitched the final three innings to earn the victory for host Estancia (3-1) in the consolation final. Foothill is 2-2.

In consolation games:

Corona del Mar 9, Santa Ana Valley 6--Jim Houston had three RBIs for Corona del Mar (2-2).

Newport Harbor 9, Santa Ana 3--Tom Urbina had three hits and four RBIs and Mike Buist and Ryan Anderson combined to pitch a one-hitter with 11 strikeouts for visiting Newport Harbor (1-3).

In the Duarte tournament championship game:

Rancho Alamitos 8, Santa Barbara Bishop Diego 1--To help win the championship, Rancho Alamitos’ Tony Luce, the tournament MVP, had two hits and an RBI and winning pitcher Marshall Brown gathered three hits, stole two bases and drove a run.

In the Glendora tournament championship game:

Canyon 18, Glendora 3--Jeff Kerr had four hits and three runs scored for Canyon (4-0). In the El Segundo tournament:

Brea-Olinda 5, Paramount 0--Josh Egan pitched a three-hitter for Brea-Olinda in the seventh-place game.

Westminster 4, Edison 0--Keith Cowley pitched a six-hitter, striking out 12 and walking none for Westminster (4-1).

In nonleague baseball:

Century 1-1, Downey Warren 0-0--Christian Duran and Tommy Reimers each threw shutouts for Century (3-1).

Orange Lutheran 6-16, Cerritos Whitney 3-4--Dave Willett had two home runs and three RBIs and Dale Huss had four hits and six stolen bases, including a steal of home, for visiting Orange Lutheran (3-2) in the doubleheader.

Troy 6-5, Santa Margarita 2-3--Brad Downing hit a three-run home run in the second game and had four hits and four RBIs in the doubleheader for visiting Troy (4-0).