SEA VIEW LEAGUE BASEBALL : Rout Gives Irvine Upper Hand in Race

Irvine broke ahead of the rest of the field in the Sea View League baseball race Friday night, pounding Woodbridge into submission, 16-7, in front of an overflow crowd at Windrow Park in Irvine.

The Vaqueros (17-6, 8-2) had 13 hits and took advantage of the Warriors’ defensive lapses in the late innings to drop Woodbridge (19-4, 7-3) into second. The Vaqueros seem to be stuck on 16 against Woodbridge; they won, 16-0, in the first round of league games.

Irvine’s Erick Sobek led the Vaqueros’ offense, going three for four with four runs batted in. Sobek also came in to pitch in the top of the fifth inning and shut out the Warriors over the last three innings while his teammates were relentlessly adding to the lead.

The Vaqueros chipped away at Woodbridge starting pitcher Chris Talbott to take a 7-2 lead in the fourth inning. Sobek’s bloop single to right drove in two runs, and another single to right by Ryan O’Toole gave Irvine a 5-2 lead in the third. Ryan Jones singled in two runs with a line drive to center in the fourth.

Woodbridge rallied to tie the score, 7-7, in bottom of the fourth; Gabel Gifford’s leadoff home run ignited the rally. A bases-loaded walk, a two-run single by Shane Tase and an error on a throw to the plate allowed the Warriors to tie.

Irvine took advantage of four walks, a couple of Woodbridge errors and a two-run double by Tommie Louie to take an 11-7 lead in the top of the fifth, and the Vaqueros were ahead the rest of the way.

Leading, 12-7, going into the top of the seventh, Irvine padded its lead on a run-scoring singles by Sobek, Todd Thomas and Loc Tran. Scott Seal, who had a double and three walks in four trips to the plate, scored the fourth run on a wild pitch.

In other league games:

Corona del Mar 7, Saddleback 1--David Angeloni had two hits, including his ninth home run, and three RBIs for Corona Del Mar (11-9, 3-7).

University 8, Tustin 1--Eric Wei, who went three for four, hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning to help University to the upset victory. Stephan Hagins scored two runs and had a RBI for the Trojans, who are 14-7-1, 5-4-1. Tustin dropped to 14-8, 6-4.