PRIDE OF THE COAST BASEBALL TOURNAMENT : Brea’s Offense Gets Help in Title Victory

Brea-Olinda continued its assault on the scoreboard Wednesday by defeating Santa Margarita, 10-3, to win the Pride of the Coast baseball tournament at Corona del Mar High.

Brea scored 39 runs in its first three tournament games, including 19 in a victory over Orange Lutheran Tuesday.But the Wildcats didn’t need to flex their hitting power against Santa Margarita, instead taking advantage of six walks and four hit batters.

Santa Margarita (5-7) took a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Brian Griffin beat out an infield single and scored on Mike Penney’s home run, his third of the season. Craig Harrison doubled and scored on Paul Nicotra’s single before Brea-Olinda pitcher Steve Trombly settled down to record his fifth consecutive victory.

Brea-Olinda (10-2) tied the game in the bottom of the first. Trevor Lords was hit by a pitch, Jason Theis’ checked swing produced a single to right and John Stoddard, unable to bunt, singled to load the bases. Mike Brambilla walked on four pitches to score Lords and a double play and an error scored Theis and Stoddard.

The Wildcats took the lead in the third on two runs without the benefit of a hit. Stoddard and Brambilla walked and Marc Anspach and Matt Weyant both were hit by pitches. Ryan Knuth’s sacrifice fly scored Brambilla for a 5-3 Brea lead.

Stoddard put the game out of reach in the following inning with a three-run double. The Wildcats added single runs in the fifth on a hit batter, two sacrifices and a single by Dan Anderson and in the sixth on a double by Theis and single by Brambilla.

In the third-place game:

Corona del Mar 11, Costa Mesa 3--Jim Houston had three hits for the Sea Kings in a consolation game, breaking a scoreless tie with seven runs in the fourth. Matt Friend earned the victory, pitching four innings, allowing no runs and two hits for host Corona del Mar (10-2).

In consolation games:

Century 1, Estancia 0--Century got its only hit off the Eagles’ Jose Cabrera in the bottom of the second when Jorge Frausto doubled. Frausto moved to third on a wild pitch and scored the only run of the game on Jose Romero’s sacrifice fly. Cabrera struck out five in pitching a complete game. James Gomez pitched four innings, allowing two hits, to earn his first victory for Century (8-3), and Christian Duran recorded his second save.

El Modena 18, Newport Harbor 10--Rudy Maldonado had two hits and three RBIs for the Vanguards, who scored nine runs in the fourth to break a 6-6 tie. Brett Hlista and Mike Freeman hit home runs for host Newport Harbor (3-9).

Orange Lutheran 6, Rancho Alamitos 5--Paul Peterson had four RBIs for Orange Lutheran (3-8), including a game-winning two-run double in the bottom of the seventh. Peterson also hit a bases-empty home run in the fourth.

Victor Valley 8, Bolsa Grande 6--Tom Uribe and Jeff Munney each had two hits and drove in a run for Victor Valley (10-4). Bryan Baughman had three RBIs for Bolsa Grande (5-6).