PREP BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Fullerton Gets Some Respect

Senior center fielder Craig Freeman wasn’t satisfied with the sort of respect the Fullerton High baseball team was getting this season.

It wasn’t that the Indians were being ignored. They are ranked seventh in Orange County. Freeman just felt there were other, shall we say, less deserving teams in the spotlight.

Wednesday’s 7-3 Freeway League victory over third-ranked Troy at Troy ought to have eased his mind a little.

“We don’t belong below Troy,” said Freeman, who had two hits and two runs batted in. “We knew we were better.”

The Indians (12-2, 4-0), who won only three league games a year ago, proved it.

It was a game of give and take. The Warriors (9-4, 2-2) did most of the giving and the Indians were more than happy to do the taking.

Troy, defending league champion, committed four errors that led to four unearned runs. It was the type of help the Indians don’t normally need, not with five guys hitting .370 or better.

The most costly mistake was Brad Downing’s misplay of a bases-loaded single by Freeman in the second inning. Downing, the Warrior right fielder, let the ball get under his glove. It was a three-run disaster that gave the Indians a 5-2 lead.

“We’re just going through a bad time right now,” Troy Coach Dane Ilertsen said. “It happens to every team. Sometimes you can fight through it.”

And sometimes you can’t. Troy, which was ranked No. 1 a little more than a week ago, has lost four of its last six games.

Besides their problems in the field, the Warriors could not get settled at the plate. Fullerton’s Ryan Golisano was hardly masterful, but he was more than a match for the Troy hitters.

“I had no curveball today, but the fastball was right,” Golisano said.

Golisano (7-0) struck out six and gave up only one earned run. He is tied for the county lead in victories.

Keith Ginter pitched the final inning.

“We’ve been waiting for this game,” Golisano said. “Troy was the defending league champs. We wanted to kill them.”

They did, that is, when the Warriors weren’t killing themselves.

In other Freeway League games:

Buena Park 4, La Habra 3--Mike Davis had two hits and one RBI for Buena Park (7-5, 3-1). Danny Baca came in the seventh inning to pick up his first save.

Sunny Hills 5, Sonora 2--Andy Volpp had a two-run double for Sunny Hills (7-7-1, 3-1).

In the Century League:

Canyon 15, Foothill 14--Greg Jacobs doubled home Todd Wyatt in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Canyon (9-4, 2-1) the victory. Wyatt was three for four with four RBIs and Casey Wilson had two hits and two RBIs for Comanches.

Jeff Pickler and Mike Ford each had three hits for Foothill. Pickler also scored three runs.

In the Empire League:

El Dorado 5, Loara 0--Don Jamieson improved his record to 7-0, as he struck out eight in a three-hit shutout for El Dorado (11-4, 3-1).

Ryan Reyes had two doubles and scored two runs for El Dorado.

Katella 7, Los Alamitos 4--Bill Blackledge had three hits and Josh Taylor had a home run for Katella (8-6-1, 2-2). Jaret Wight pitched a complete game, striking out eight.

Marcello Miranda had two hits and two RBI for Los Alamitos (3-1 in league).

In the Orange League:

Brea-Olinda 11, Savanna 2--Marc Anspach was two for three with two RBIs and John Stoddard drove in two runs for sixth-ranked Brea-Olinda (12-2, 2-2).

Magnolia 3, Valencia 2--Magnolia’s Josh Reding singled home George Silva in the bottom of the seventh inning to break a 2-2 tie. Reding was two for four, drove in all three runs and improved his record to 3-1 for the Sentinels (5-6, 2-2).

In the Pacific Coast League:

Century 8, Laguna Beach 4--Justin Berti had three hits and two RBIs for Laguna Beach.

In the Sea View League:

Saddleback 4, Newport Harbor 3--Tony Zuniga’s two-run home run in the top of the seventh was the difference for Saddleback (8-6-1, 2-1).

Erasmo Ramirez pitched a complete-game three-hitter with 11 strikeouts for Saddleback.

Santa Margarita 6, Corona del Mar 4--Brian Griffin led off the game with a home run and Mike Penney hit a grand slam in the third inning for Santa Margarita (6-7, 2-1).

In nonleague baseball:

Capistrano Valley JV 11, Aliso Niguel 9--Greg Paquin went two for four with two RBIs and Matt Pope had a two-run double for Capistrano Valley JV (11-4).

Orange Lutheran 4, Rancho Alamitos 2--Phil Lebrecht, Dan Young, Jim Brown, Nick Odenath each drove in a run in the top of the sixth inning for Orange Lutheran (4-8).