CENTURY LEAGUE BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Foothill Overcomes Rain, Santa Ana Valley to Win

Foothill’s baseball team, a noncombatant in the Century League title fight a year ago, has come out swinging this season.

The Knights weathered the weather and Santa Ana Valley Friday to continue their hold on first place. A 4-2 victory at Foothill left them looking down on the rest of the league.

A year ago, five of the league’s teams finished within two games of each other. The lone patsy was Foothill, which finished last with a 5-10 record. The Knights have nearly matched that victory total already in 1994.

With Friday’s victory, Foothill (5-4, 3-0) has already beaten last season’s co-champions--Orange and Santa Ana Valley.

The Knights wasted little time against the Falcons (4-5, 1-2). Kevin Daft ripped a two-run double in the bottom of the first, then scored on a single by Mike Ford, for a 3-0 lead.

David Milton and Joe Torrez made that stand up, but it took some time.

Milton (2-2) went five innings--which included a 45-minute rain delay in the second inning--for the victory. It wasn’t a masterpiece. Milton walked seven and threw two wild pitches. But he also picked off two runners and gave up only a bunt single.

The Falcons had the bases loaded with two outs in the second when rain halted play. When Milton took the mound again, he got Jesse Garcia to foul out.

Milton was pulled after walking the first two batters in the sixth. Torrez retired the first five he faced, three on strike outs, then gave up three hits and two runs before getting the final out.

Robert Serrano went the distance for the Falcons. He struggled through the first three innings, then retired the last 11 batters. Serrano (0-1) struck out four and walked three.