THE PREPS : BASEBALL / FREEWAY LEAGUE : Lancers Get Past Fullerton

A weary and relieved Doug Elliott was just happy to be done with it.

Sure, Sunny Hills had held on for a 14-10 victory over Fullerton Friday at Sunny Hills. But the effort was excruciating for the Lancers’ coach.

The victory kept the Lancers 1 1/2 games behind Sonora in the Freeway League race. It also removed some of the sting from Wednesday’s 9-7 loss to Fullerton, in which the Lancers blew a 6-1 lead.

But it did take its toll.

“That was a big game,” Elliott said. “We’ve been struggling lately. It was a big thing for us to win.”

It was, but it could have been a lot easier.

This time, it was Fullerton (5-4, 10-7) that blew the lead. The Indians wasted a 6-2, second-inning lead, then Sunny Hills (15-5, 6-3) nearly returned the favor.

The Lancers scored 11 runs in the third to erase the four-run deficit. Josh Hochgesang and Scott Mason each had two-run singles in the inning. They also got help, as Fullerton pitchers walked four and the Indians committed an error.

Hochgesang, considered one of the top seniors in the nation, prodded the Lancers all game. Indian starter Gabriel Almonza was cautious with Hochgesang, walking him the first two times up. But Hochgesang had the two-run single and a fifth-inning triple. He scored four runs and knocked in two.

“We expect Josh to have the big hits,” Elliott said.

Greg Garand, hitting behind Hochgesang, got a few as well. He finished with three runs batted in.

All that offense gave the Lancers a 13-6 after three innings. It was enough, but barely.

Fullerton finished with 17 hits. Chris Young had three hits, including a bases-loaded triple in the second, and four RBIs. Tyler Brickell had three hits and two RBIs.

The Indians had runners in scoring position in every inning. They had the bases loaded, with the tying run at the plate in the sixth. But reliever Scott Warkentin got Mario Ramirez to ground into a force play to end the inning.

Warkentin then wobbled through the seventh, giving up two hits, for the save.

Said Elliott: “When you beat a team that swings the stick as well as they do, it’s a big win.”

In other Freeway League games:

Sonora 16, Buena Park 4--Marc Patino went three for five with a home run, five RBIs and four runs scored for host Sonora (15-2-2, 7-1-1). David Miller added four hits in four at-bats and four RBIs for the Raiders.

La Habra 13, Troy 9--Visiting La Habra (4-13-1, 1-8) started the seventh trailing, 9-8, but rallied for five runs. Troy (6-10-2, 3-4-2) made nine errors.