BASEBALL / DIVISION I : Ortega’s Rare Hit Lifts Fountain Valley

Not even Fountain Valley Coach Ron La Ruffa, a man who doesn’t take a step without figuring the percentages, could have foreseen this.

Victor Ortega was asked to bunt and did just that. By the time he finished his task, the Barons had a 2-1 victory over Fontana and a spot in the Southern Section Division I title game for the second consecutive season.

Fountain Valley (25-3-1), the defending champion, will face La Puente Bishop Amat Saturday at Anaheim Stadium. The Barons are there because of pitching, poise and a guy who hadn’t had a hit all season.

Ortega, a senior infielder, normally plays only when shortstop Dan Keller pitches. Even then, he rarely bats, as the Barons use their designated hitter in his spot.

But there was Ortega at the plate, as a pinch-hitter, with the score tied, 1-1, and Joey Rozek at second. Ortega bunted to the right of the mound and pitcher Mike Torres’ throw sailed into right field. Rozek, who had walked and reached second on a wild pitch, sprinted home.

“I hadn’t sacrificed all season,” Ortega said.

Said La Ruffa: “He just forgets. He has three or four this season. That’s one of the best things he does. He was up there to move the runner over.”

La Ruffa, and the Barons, got that and more.

This was the second consecutive scratch-and-claw victory for the Barons. Fountain Valley edged Capistrano Valley, 3-2, Tuesday. A passed ball allowed the winning run to score in that game.

“I guess I’ll go to Vegas tonight,” La Ruffa said.

He would find no better bet, though, than the Barons in a tight game.

Fountain Valley seniors have been through this and worse many times before. The core of this team reached the Pony World Series as 14-year-olds and won the Colt World Series two years later.

Even in winning the Division I title a year ago, the Barons had to work at it. Fountain Valley defeated Lakewood, 3-2, in the title game, but only after center fielder Matt Roman threw out the tying run at the plate with two outs in the seventh.

“We’ve been through this so many times,” Keller said. “We have a lot of confidence in big games.”

Pitcher Luke Hudson made such faith easy. He struggled through the first, then took command.

Fontana (25-3) had the bases loaded with one out in the first. But Hudson got out of it by getting Ramon Villalvazo to hit into a force play, then striking out Ralph Sierra on a 3-2 pitch.

“I always had bad first innings,” Hudson said. “When I got out of that one without giving up a run, I knew it it was going to get better.”

It did. Hudson (7-1) struck out seven and walked one. He gave up four hits, but none after the fourth inning.

The Barons gave him the lead with an unearned run in the third. With two outs, Matt Roman singled and stole second. Craig Ritter then grounded to third, but the ball went under Gabe Martinez’s glove, allowing Roman to score.

The Barons gave the run back in the top of the seventh, when Ritter made back-to-back two-out errors.

It gave Fontana a glimmer of hope. Ortega then snuffed it out.

Said Ortega: “All I did was bunt and run like crazy.”