Brea Olinda Errs, Loses to Valencia

Brea Olinda baseball Coach Steve Hiskey was nailed in the back by an errant throw during pregame warmups, and that was far from the last Wildcat miscue on Tuesday.

Brea Olinda committed six errors--three by center fielder Nick Stagnaro--to gift-wrap a 13-6 victory Orange League victory for host Valencia.

It was the third consecutive league loss for the defending league champions, who are two games behind the first-place Tigers.

“Six errors? That’s being generous,” Hiskey said, after rebuking his team. “We didn’t play much defense out there. If we had played a little defense, we might have stayed in the game.”

Brea Olinda (8-7, 3-3) did stay in the game in spite of itself. The Wildcats led, 4-2, in the top of the fifth, but gave up four unearned runs in the bottom of the inning. Brea Olinda tied the score in the top of the sixth, but two more miscues, along with some other dubious fielding, smoothed the way for Valencia (10-6-1, 5-1) to score seven runs.

Freshman Hector Ambriz (1-1), who relieved Tiger starter Jason Annis in the sixth, could not hold the lead. But his two-run single through a drawn-in infield in the sixth--his third hit--gave Valencia the lead for good.

“It was good to beat them,” Ambriz said. “They’re our rivals, and they had popped off pretty good when they beat us the first time.”

Although the Tigers are the surprise league leaders, they haven’t won an Orange League championship since 1994 and Brea Olinda has been a major reason.

“They were a test to see if we’re contenders or pretenders,” Valencia Coach Mike Scheetz said. “One thing, we didn’t have to face their outstanding junior, Mike Davern, today. When he’s out there, they’re a different team.”

In the Century League:

Canyon 9, Santa Ana Valley 7--Jason Corapci hit two doubles with three RBIs and two runs scored for Cypress (14-4, 7-1), which won its eighth in a row.

Villa Park 13, Foothill 5--Pitcher Jeff Tuttle struck out seven and was three for three, including two home runs and a triple for host Villa Park (9-8, 6-2). Foothill is 8-8, 6-2.

Orange 4, El Modena 1--Ray Torres pitched a four hitter, giving up no earned runs for Orange (4-12, 1-7).

In the Pacific Coast League:

Costa Mesa 10, University 7--Ruben Mancilla hit a grand slam in the first inning for Costa Mesa (10-4-1, 6-1-1). Mancilla struck out five to pick up his seventh victory of the season.