HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL / SOUTHERN SECTION CHAMPIONSHIPS : Fountain Valley’s Ritter to Rescue

Fountain Valley High’s pitching depth was never more evident or more needed than Saturday night.

The Barons went deep into their staff to outlast La Puente Bishop Amat, 14-7, before 6,200 at Anaheim Stadium to win their second consecutive Southern Section Division I baseball championship.

It was the most runs by a winning team in a Division I title game since Chaffey scored 15 in 1958. It was the most runs scored by a losing team in a Division I final since 1937, when San Diego defeated Excelsior, 16-8.

Fountain Valley (26-3-1) used three pitchers before finally bringing in Craig Ritter, normally the team’s starting second baseman. Ritter, who had pitched only 12 innings this season, got the Barons out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the sixth by getting Casey Flanigan to hit into an home-to-first double play. Ritter was not overpowering, but he was effective, retiring the last five batters and worked a scoreless seventh for his third save.

Until Ritter entered the game, the Baron pitchers had been hammered. The Lancers (27-4) had nine hits.

Abel Montanez had three hits and two runs batted in. Bobby Alcaraz and Flanigan also had two RBIs.

La Habra Sonora 7, San Luis Obispo 2--Ryan Owens had two doubles, scored three runs, and drove in two as Sonora (24-4-2) won the Division II title game at Anaheim Stadium. David Miller, a junior right-hander, pitched a six-hitter with six strikeouts for the victory.

Garden Grove La Quinta 8, Santa Margarita 4--In the Division III title game at Anaheim, throwing errors by Santa Margarita catcher Paul Nicotra and right fielder Chris Maskery allowed two runs to score, breaking a 4-4 tie in the top of the eighth. C.J. Livernois drove in three runs and Corey Fox two for La Quinta (28-3-1), which won its second consecutive title.

San Marino 4, Rialto 0--In the Division IV game, Josh Doud pitched a five-hitter for San Marino, which won its third title in six years. The Titans (26-1) were runners-up last year. Doud (9-0) struck out two and walked only one. The Titans scored three runs in the fourth inning.