PREP BASEBALL ROUNDUP : No. 1 Ocean View Wilting in Sunset

It may be the top-ranked baseball team in the county, but Ocean View is scraping the bottom of the Sunset League these days.

The Seahawks did lots of things wrong as they fell to visiting Fountain Valley, 7-5, Saturday to drop to 0-2 in league play.

Fountain Valley, which lost to Ocean View earlier this season in the Loara Tournament, moved to 2-0 in the Sunset and 7-3 overall.

“We were a bad team today,” said Ocean View Coach Steve Barrett, whose team dropped to 7-3 overall. “We’re in trouble, deep trouble. We’re going to have to struggle now to even make the playoffs. We’re too good of a team for that. We should be contending for the league title.”

Ocean View pitchers yielded nine walks and, with the game on the line, the Seahawk batters failed to come through in the sixth inning after loading the bases with no outs.

No. 3 hitter Justin Brunette chopped a grounder to second baseman Chuck Hacar, who threw to catcher Derek Yanagisawa for a force out. Yanagisawa then bluffed a throw to first, prompting Seahawk Steve Rivera to break for home. Rivera was caught between third and home and eventually tagged out by Yanagisawa for a double play.

“It didn’t work the first time we tried (the bluff throw in a previous game),” Yanagisawa said. “I couldn’t believe it worked.

“It feels great beating them. No other way you can feel.”

Fountain Valley had several standout performers in the game. Yanagisawa exhibited solid defensive play. Bill Perkins shut out Ocean View in 3 2/3 innings of relief of Ara Petrosian. Right fielder Brian Ponchak had two RBI singles. And left fielder Joe Hudson hit a solo home run in the sixth inning.

“We had a good club last year, and everyone is back,” Fountain Valley Coach Ron La Ruffa said. “We feel we can beat anybody. But this league is something. It’s a five-team race. It’s ridiculous.”

In another Sunset League game:

Marina 12, Servite 6--Nick Damato had two hits and three RBIs and Brad Smith hit a three-run home run for host Marina (6-5, 1-1). Servite is 3-5, 0-2.

Westminster 2, Huntington Beach 0--Matt Murphy pitched a three-hitter, striking out eight, and also had two hits for the host Lions (7-3, 2-0).

In the Freeway League:

Sunny Hills 2, Sonora 1--Brian Volpp, who hit a solo home run in the sixth, earned the victory for Sunny Hills (7-3, 2-1). Junior Rodriguez doubled in the fifth to drive in the only run for Sonora (5-4, 1-2).

In the Sea View League:

Irvine 2, Saddleback 1--Tommy Louie hit an RBI triple and Eric Sobek pitched 6 1/3 innings to earn the victory for host Irvine. Tony Zuniga pitched a three-hitter for Saddleback allowing only one earned run.