THE PREPS : BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Katella Sweeps Kennedy With Miranda’s Help

Katella completed a three-game sweep of Kennedy with a 9-5 victory Thursday at Kennedy.

The Knights, who are tied with El Dorado for the Empire League baseball lead, defeated the Fighting Irish, 9-1, on Tuesday. They have outscored Kennedy, 31-5, in three games.

Marcelo Miranda broke open Thursday’s game with a two-run home run that capped a five-run fourth inning. It gave the Knights (9-5, 6-1) a 7-1 lead.

Things went so well or Katella that even mistakes were turned into runs. Damon Schrotberger missed a bunt sign in the fifth, but hit a two-run homer on the pitch to give the Knights a 9-1 lead.

Kennedy (8-6, 3-4) was in trouble from the start. Pitcher Brad Sabol (3-2) had control problems and walked seven batters and hit another in four innings.

Katella’s Jason Stockstill (5-1) pitched six innings for the victory.

In other Empire League games:

El Dorado 10, Cypress 4--Chris Beck and Trent Cuevas each had home runs, two RBIs and were three for four for El Dorado (12-2, 6-1). Pitcher Don Jamieson is still unbeaten at 8-0. Catcher Bob Brito had three homers for Cypress.

Loara 6, Century 1--Art Ortiz had a home run and two RBIs for Loara (9-4, 4-3).

In the Express League:

Heritage Christian 5, Pioneer Baptist 4--In the seventh inning, Dave Acheson doubled to drive in two, tying the score, 4-4, and one batter later, Jay Williams’ line-drive single over short drove in Rosendo Bordeaux from third to win the game for Heritage Christian (5-7, 2-1).

In the Pacific Coast League:

Estancia 6, Costa Mesa 5--Able Flores was four for four with three RBIs for Estancia (5-7, 3-4). Josh Cant had two hits, including a fifth-inning grand slam, for Costa Mesa.

Laguna Hills 4, Laguna Beach 3--Chris Vanderwiel, who was pinch running for Tony Milo, scored on a walk in the top of the seventh inning to lead Laguna Hills (9-3, 5-1).

In the Sea View League:

Corona del Mar 7, El Toro 5--Myles Davis hit a three-run homer during a six-run inning for Corona del Mar (7-4-1, 4-3), and teammate Kevin Stuart went two for four with a double and an RBI. For El Toro (7-7, 4-3), Joe Smith went two for four with a two-run homer.

Irvine 3, Newport Harbor 2--Irvine took advantage of Newport Harbor’s mistakes and scored on a bases-loaded hit-batsman and a wild pitch to take the lead for good. Matt Ward (7-1) came in the fifth inning to pick up the victory.

Santa Margarita 3, Woodbridge 2 (8)--Chris Markey’s eighth-inning single drove in Michael Penny to lead Santa Margarita (7-6, 5-2). Penny also hit his third home run of the year.

In the South Coast League:

Capistrano Valley 13, San Clemente 6--Adam Petke was three for three, including two home runs and five runs batted in, for host Capistrano Valley (7-5, 4-3).

Mater Dei 14, Trabuco Hills 8--Mike Hessman went two for four with six runs batted in, including a grand slam and a two-run home run and Ed Marquez went two for four with two RBIs to lead third-ranked Mater Dei (10-2, 6-1).

Mission Viejo 8, Dana Hills 5--Designated hitter Brian Sepulveda was two for three with three RBIs for visiting Mission Viejo (3-7-1, 1-6).

In the Sunset League:

Edison 8, Esperanza 7--With two outs in the seventh, Ryan Fial hit a one-hopper through the gap, over the fence to score Andy Lambert and give Edison its first league victory.