Brea Beats Western for Second Place

The last time Brea Olinda and Western met on Brea’s home field, before spring break, the two teams were fighting for first place in the Orange League.

On Friday, they battled for second and a potential home opener in the Division II playoffs. Western, which had defeated Brea in the previous two meetings, needed to win to overtake Brea for the runner-up spot.

But Mike Ausman’s two-out double in the 13th inning drove in Brian Valverde, who had walked, and the Wildcats (14-11, 10-5) came from behind to win, 9-8, and earn a week’s rest.

“We’ve been trying to keep it together all season; no doubt this will give us a big boost for the playoffs,” Ausman said.

Brea Olinda Coach Steve Hiskey agreed. “We haven’t played that well since the Easter break, struggling on offense. Now we have the chance to get some people healthy. A win like this could not have come at a better time; it was something we badly needed.”

Western (15-12, 8-7), which, like Brea, went through four pitchers in the nearly four-hour game, now has to ready itself to play a wild-card game on the road Tuesday. The playoff pairings will be announced Monday.

Western can only blame itself for its fate. The Pioneers led 7-2 after three innings, and had an 8-5 lead with two outs and none on in the bottom of the seventh, but Brea tied the score and forced extra innings.

Two of the runs scored on an error by left fielder Bret Halbert, who had been the designated hitter but played in the field in the seventh to bolster the defense.

“This game sums up our season,” Western Coach Robert Harrison said. “No one has really beaten up on us except Magnolia; we took the season series from everyone else. But we find a way to beat ourselves. Thank goodness everyone starts out 0-0 on Tuesday. If we win on Tuesday, no one will remember today.”

Considering what was at stake, it’s doubtful that Western will forget this game for a while.

In other league games:

Valencia 4, Anaheim 0--Bryan Sanchez went three for three with an RBI for Valencia (9-15, 6-9). Brad Morikawa picked up his first save in relief of Matt Hutchinson who pitched 5 1/3 innings, striking out five and giving up six hits.

Magnolia 7, Savanna 2--Magnolia took a 7-0 lead before Savanna (4-16, 3-12) scored two runs off Magnolia pitcher Greg Young in the bottom of the fifth.