Cerritos Gets Thrown Off by Yamaoka

Since school started in the fall, Valley College baseball Coach Chris Johnson has been touting the talents of pitcher Taiki Yamaoka.

With good reason.

Yamaoka (1-1), a right-hander from Japan with a semi-Hideo Nomo delivery, went the distance Friday in an 8-4 victory over Cerritos in the Western State Conference Invitational at Valley.

The freshman, who played high school ball in his country, scattered nine hits, struck out seven and walked one.

He threw 115 pitches and was seldom behind on the count against the highly regarded Falcons, the state runners-up last year to Rancho Santiago.

“Normally we are not going to go that long with him but he got stronger at the end,” Johnson said. “He’s used to pitching like that. . . . It wasn’t unreasonable. He’s not going to pitch again until next weekend.”

Yamaoka, 5 feet 9 and 165 pounds, combined a good fastball with a biting curve to frustrate Cerritos (3-1).

He allowed a run in the third, two in the fourth and one more in the eighth.

“I’m happy but I’m already thinking about my next victory,” Yamaoka said through an interpreter.

If he gets more of the support his teammates gave him Friday, Yamaoka could end up a big winner for the Monarchs.

Sophomore second baseman Javier Dorado, at 5-5 the shortest Monarch, provided the punch and ignited every rally.

Dorado, a left-handed hitter who bats leadoff, was four for four with a walk and two runs batted in. He was three for four in Valley’s 16-9 loss to Los Angeles City in the tournament opener in the morning.

The Monarchs (2-2), playing as the visiting team, took a 1-0 lead in the first when Dorado led off with a single to left field and scored from second base on a wild pitch by right-hander Armando Gonzales (0-1).

They padded the lead to 4-0 with three runs in the second with the help of two errors.

Gonzales settled down in the middle innings before leaving in the seventh after Valley got to him for two more runs.

“We are Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde right now,” Johnson said. “We lose to L.A. City and we defeat the state runners-up.”

Valley designated hitter Jason Makahon had two hits and an RBI.

The Falcons got two hits each from left fielder Tyrus Acoba and center fielder Mike Garcia, who finished the game on the mound.

In other WSC Invitational games:

L.A. City 16, Valley 9--Four Valley errors led to seven unearned runs for the Cubs. Pitcher Richard Lucero went the distance, withstanding 11 hits. The Monarchs left nine runners on base. Valley leadoff batter Javier Dorado was three for four, scoring two runs. Nathan Wrought (triple) and Ron Pirayoff (double) each had two hits and drove in a run for the Monarchs.

Pierce 11, Harbor 7--David Supple’s based-loaded single drove in a run to break a 7-7 tie in the ninth inning as the Brahmas (2-2) rallied from a 7-1 sixth-inning deficit at Harbor College.

Matt Hernandez, Rick Staves (1-0) and Harry Kenoi combined for 5 1/3 innings of scoreless relief after starter Josh Morgan yielded all seven Seahawk runs. Kenoi picked up his first save.

Earlier in the day, Kirk Mayer paced the Brahmas to an 8-3 victory over East L.A. College at Pierce by going four for four with a double and three RBIs.

Harbor 12, Moorpark 2--The Seahawks had 15 hits off three Raider pitchers, including left-hander Mike Vasquez, who gave up four runs after relieving in the fifth. Harbor scored in all but two innings. The Raiders, despite eight hits, scored only single runs in the first and eighth.

East L.A. 5, Moorpark 2--Keith Loitz gave up the decisive three runs in the seventh and eighth innings, after the Raiders (0-5) had built a 2-0 lead after a double by David Martinez in the top of the second. But they couldn’t score after that. Martinez had two of Moorpark’s six hits.

Canyons 7, L.A. City 3--Brandon Hernandez gave up five hits, struck out five and allowed one earned run in seven innings in the game at Canyons to help the Cougars to their first victory of the season.

Canyons had lost, 5-4, to Cerritos in its first game of the tournament, but Ricky Nadeau’s two-run home in the second inning gave the Cougars a 4-1 lead over L.A. City.

Nadeau and Ricky Sanchez (two RBIs) each had two hits for Canyons.

Justin Bunch had a double in each game for Canyons, giving him four doubles in four games this season.