PREP ROUNDUP : Momentum Builds as Magnolia Routs Valencia

After whisking through the first half of the Orange League season, Magnolia’s baseball team could no longer sneak up on opponents. But the Sentinels aren’t showing any signs of slowing down.

Accustomed primarily to one- and two-run games this season, Magnolia enjoyed a rare blowout at the expense of Valencia, 9-1, Wednesday at Magnolia.

The Sentinels (10-4, 7-1), who were playing the first of five consecutive home games, piled up a season-high 13 hits against three pitchers, insuring they will carry at least a two-game lead into Friday’s showdown with Brea, one of the preseason favorites to win the league.

“We needed this today,” Magnolia Coach Manny Rodriguez said. “We’ve been playing so many tight games, averaging just 3-4 hits a game. But we started swinging the bats in the (Anaheim) Lions tournament last week, and I hope it will carry over.”

Magnolia swung the bats from the first inning. Valencia starter Matt Hutchinson was dispatched after giving up three runs and five hits--and getting no outs--on his first 11 pitches.

Derek Lee, who struck out six batters, held the Sentinels to one run over four innings before tiring and allowing two runs in the fifth and three in the sixth.

Sentinel starter Josh Reding didn’t exactly breeze through the windy afternoon, but still managed to win his sixth game without a loss. The Tigers received five walks and stole five bases, but scored only once, on Justin Averitt’s first-inning single.

Otherwise, Reding just frustrated the visitors, striking out seven and stranding 10 runners.

“When we scored those three runs in the first I thought we might be in for a big day,” Reding said.

Reding did more than just throw the ball, getting two hits, an RBI and scoring three times. George Silva had three hits for Magnolia, leadoff hitter Ryan Hiemen doubled and tripled--each time sparking a three-run inning--and Colt Martin had a two-run pinch-hit double in the fifth, breaking the game open.

Magnolia has convinced Valencia Coach Mike Scheetz of its worthiness.

“They’re for real,” said Scheetz, after his club dropped to 6-8, 4-4 in league. “They sure gave us our lumps today. You can see with every game they’ve gotten more confident.”

In South Coast League baseball:

Capistrano Valley 9, Mission Viejo 3--The Cougars scored seven runs in the sixth inning and moved within a game of first-place Mater Dei. Dan Davis was two for three, Matt Pope and Sam Petke two for two and Adam Petke hit his fifth home run for the Cougars (10-7, 5-3).

In the Empire League:

Century 3, El Dorado 2--Richard Cevallos hit a home run in the third inning and teammate Art Tapia had a run-scoring double to lead Century (4-13, 1-7) in the upset. For fourth-ranked El Dorado (15-4, 7-1), Don Jaimeson suffered his first loss in 10 decisions.

In the Garden Grove League:

Bolsa Grande 6, Rancho Alamitos 2--Josh Price was two for three with two RBIs, Alex Navarro was two for three--including a run-scoring double--and Lo Ngo drove in two runs for Bolsa Grande (5-12, 2-4).

In the Golden West League:

Tustin 9, Santa Ana 5--Casey Chop went two for three, including a three-run homer in the fourth, and David Hjorth was three for five with two RBIs for ninth-ranked Tustin (13-4-1, 7-1).

In the Sea View League:

Santa Margarita 3, El Toro 2--Paul Nicotra and Lou Manera each had two hits for Santa Margarita (11-7, 6-2), which scored single runs in the first, second and third innings.

In Pacific Coast League softball:

Costa Mesa 8, Estancia 6--Jennifer Long went two for four with 2 RBIs and Niki Montgomery went two for four, drove in one run and score one to lead Costa Mesa (13-4, 3-0) back from a 5-0 deficit. Montgomery (10-4) started slowly on the mound, but held on to win.

In Sea View League softball:

Irvine 2, El Toro 1 (8)--Debbie Tomaguchi doubled in the tying run in the fifth and Katy Morrison singled in the winning run in the eighth for Irvine (9-6, 2-1).

In the South Coast League:

Mission Viejo 2, Dana Hills 0--Jodee Favello had a run-scoring double and Treva Whitaker tripled and scored on a fielder’s choice by Danelle Behnken for host Mission Viejo (10-9-1, 1-2). Laura Meith (7-7) allowed two hits and struck out seven to earn the victory.