Brea Errors Lead to Semifinal Loss

West Covina South Hills took advantage of four Brea Olinda errors in the sixth inning to score four runs in an 8-4 victory in a Southern Section Division III baseball semifinal Tuesday in West Covina.

The Huskies (24-4) will play Westlake Village Westlake, which defeated Phelan Serrano, 12-0, for the championship.

“It’s going to take a very good team to beat them,” Huskies Coach Jim Bastion said of his team.

The Wildcats (20-9-1) started the sixth inning with errors by first baseman Brandon Grajewski and right fielder Andy Drapkowski that enabled Isaac Jurado to reach second base on a dribbler. Mike Eatherton (4-3), who pitched 4 1/3 innings in relief, struck out the next batter, Jeff Stewart, but was then replaced by Scott Davis.

An intentional walk to Drew Rodriguez and a walk to Mike McMorrow loaded the bases for Chris DiBlasi, who hit a three-run double to left center to give the Huskies a 7-4 lead. DiBlasi reached third on an error and scored when Edgar Ortiz hit a grounder to shortstop Ron Benigno, whose throw was not in time.

“[The errors] made us take some chances and roll the dice a bit,” Brea Coach Steve Hiskey said.

Grajewski led off the second inning with a double down the left-field line and scored the game’s first run on Mike Ausman’s infield single.

In the bottom of the inning, starter Mike Davern gave up a single to Robbie Chavez, walked Ryan Smith and Kyle Cabana, and gave up a grand slam to Stewart, his fifth of the year, for a 4-1 lead.

In the fifth inning, Travis Blood singled and scored on Ausman’s third home run this season. Travis Vaughan scored from third base to tie the score, 4-4, when Andy Drapkowski was caught in a rundown between first and second. “We could have raised the white flag, but we clawed our way back in,” Hiskey said.