SUNSET LEAGUE BASEBALL : Fountain Valley Rips Edison’s Pitchers

Rich Montgomery, fresh from his biggest game of the season and Fountain Valley’s biggest to date, summed things up in few words after the Barons’ 17-10 victory over Edison.

“I think their pitcher was a little rattled,” he said.

Which one?

“All of them,” said Montgomery, who drove in six runs with a double and home run.

Harsh, but true.

Of all the games for Edison’s pitching staff to go south, Friday’s Sunset League showdown was probably the worst one possible.

The Chargers, ranked fifth in Orange County, had a chance to put two games between themselves and the fourth-ranked Barons. That plan was a pipe dream after the second inning. By then, Fountain Valley had a 16-1 lead and was on its way to tying Edison for first place with four games remaining.

“It got ugly real quick,” Edison Coach Paul Harrell said. “It gave you kind of a hopeless feeling.”

The Chargers (17-4, 9-1) started Chris Kurz, their ace. He had pitched a three-hitter, striking out 10, in a 5-1 victory over the Barons a month ago. Friday, he didn’t make it out of the second inning.

Kurz (5-2) gave up six runs. He walked three and hit one batter. It was only the beginning.

Todd Belitz followed and faced five batters, walking three and hitting two. In came Alan Meyer, who balked on his first pitch, allowing a run to score. He walked three batters in the inning.

In all, the Barons (18-4, 9-1) scored 13 runs. In all, the Chargers walked seven batters, hit two others and forced in five runs.

“I was wondering if the inning was ever going to end,” Harrell said.

It got worse as it went on.

“When pitchers are struggling like that, you can just sit back and pick a spot,” Montgomery said. “You can hit your pitch.”

Montgomery did, twice. He doubled home two runs in the first inning, helping the Barons get out to a 3-0 lead. In the second, he crushed a 1-2 pitch far over the left-center field fence for a grand slam.

The home run didn’t break Edison’s back, but it made for too much of a load. The Chargers pecked away, mainly because of Adam Cancelleri. He had four hits, including a three-run homer, and four runs batted in. But it was too much to overcome.

Fountain Valley had 23 base runners, nine on walks. Chris Ponchak, who had three RBIs, and Chuck Harcar both had two-run singles.

In another league game:

Marina 9, Santa Ana 3--David Titov had three hits and two RBIs for visiting Marina (13-10, 5-5).