At Best, Griffins Still No Match for Bruins

When Los Alamitos lost an early season doubleheader to Long Beach Wilson by identical 9-3 scores, the Griffins were playing without two starters and didn’t use their best pitcher.

So when the Griffins hosted Wilson Friday in the section Division I quarterfinals with a full squad and their top starter pitching, they figured to be a better team.

But they were still no match for the Bruins, who slugged seven home runs and routed the Griffins, 14-4, in a game shortened to six innings because of the mercy rule.

Wilson (25-4) returns to the semifinals and will play Rialto, which defeated El Toro on Friday. Last year the Bruins lost to Esperanza in the semifinals.

“I was afraid we’d have trouble getting them out, and that’s what happened,” said Griffins Coach Rob Wigod, whose team finished 19-10.

The Bruins’ bashing began early. Wilson left fielder Kevin Miller slammed a two-run homer in the first off Griffin starter Greg Schwenn (7-3). But in the bottom of the inning, Los Alamitos, taking advantage of errors by Bruins starter Jeremy Hess (11-1) and Kevin Miller, scored three unearned runs on one hit.

“I thought we would be out there until 7 p.m. after that first inning,” said Wilson Coach Mark Clabough, whose teams have won five Moore League titles, including three in a row.

But Hess settled down, giving up only three more hits and one run the rest of the way to pitch his 10th complete game in 12 starts.

The victory brought Hess a measure of revenge. He had pitched for Wilson against Los Alamitos three years ago in a first-round game. Hess left with a 4-1 lead, but Los Alamitos came back to win, 5-4.

“The last time, when I was a freshman, I had the feeling they were supposed to win,” Hess said. “This time I felt that, as a senior, I was supposed to win.”

It was not a problem after the second inning.

Wilson scored five runs on a three-run homer by designated hitter Brady Werner and a two-run shot by Casey Miller, the center fielder and Kevin’s twin brother.

Wilson kept pouring it on with homers by first baseman Billy Swinn in the third and catcher Greg Wasick in the fourth. David Reyna replaced Schwenn, who gave up nine runs on nine hits, in the fifth, but he could not stop the Bruins. Werner drove in his fourth run with a sacrifice fly, and Wilson scored four runs in the sixth on a three-run homer by right fielder Joey Pace and Swinn’s second homer.

“That’s a very good team over there, so what they did today was no big surprise,” Wigod said. “We had our best pitchers out there and they did their best. Our one chance was to try and score a lot of runs but Hess bore down and put us away.”

In other Division I games:

Mater Dei 7, Fontana A.B. Miller 1--Patrick Manning hit a three-run home run in the first inning to tie Edison’s Tony Cappuccilli for the county career home run record with 32. Unseeded Mater Dei (21-6) advanced to play second-seeded Riverside Arlington in the semifinals.

Senior Nick Lovato (12-1) struck out three and gave up one walk to earn the win. Mater Dei last won a title in 1980 and was eliminated in the second round last year.

The Monarchs scored three runs in the sixth and one in the seventh on Steve Henderson’s seventh home run.

Riverside Arlington 8, San Clemente 2--Winning pitcher Bill Murphy (12-1) struck out 13 for Arlington. Jason Fransz hit two home runs and had three RBIs for Arlington. Mike Corder led off the game with a home run for San Clemente (19-11).

Rialto 13, El Toro 1 (5, mercy)--Rialto (23-3-1) had 13 hits, with every starter getting at least one. Eric Walsh doubled and scored the lone run on an error in the fifth for visiting El Toro (18-12), which had four hits.