Ocean View baseball beats Santa Ana, clinches playoff spot

Before Ocean View High’s baseball game at Santa Ana on Tuesday, coach Tanner VanMaanen remarked that his team needed only one victory in the final four Golden West League games to be assured a spot in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs.

Mission accomplished as the Seahawks started quickly and cruised to a 10-3 victory over the Saints to nail down a guaranteed postseason spot as one of the top three teams in the league, along with Segerstrom and Loara.

The Seahawks are 9-3 in league play, a half game back of first-place Segerstrom, which is 9-2. Ocean View looks to sweep the three-game series with 4-8 Santa Ana on Friday.

Ocean View scored three runs in each of the first two innings, starting out playing some small ball before erupting for 12 hits.

Leadoff hitter James Williams walked and Gavin Kennedy successfully bunted for the game’s first hit. After a strikeout, the runners advanced on a passed ball and both scored when first baseman Michael Fernandez doubled to the gap in left field. He moved to third on another passed ball and scored on a fielder’s choice to give the Seahawks a 3-0 lead.

“We were really swinging the bat well today,” VanMaanen said. “We had six runs in the first two innings, which got us off to a good start.”

Three more runs were added in the second inning when shortstop Jake Volo opened with a double, moved to third on a sacrifice, and scored on a single by left fielder Sean Muirhead. Kennedy’s sacrifice fly scored Muirhead.

The six-run lead made it easy for starting pitcher Adam Meyer. The 6-foot-5 right-hander recorded seven outs before Santa Ana freshman Kaleb Jimenez got the first hit. With two outs, second baseman Jose Verduzco added a single and both runners scored on a double by Arturo Ponce, cutting Ocean View’s lead to 6-2 after three innings.

“Adam did a good job out there,” VanMaanen said of the pitcher who moved his record to 3-1. “He threw a lot of strikes and had them hitting a lot of ground balls.”

The Seahawks continued to get to Santa Ana starting pitcher Josue Sanchez. They added two runs each in the fourth and sixth innings to make it 10-2 before Santa Ana rallied for one run in the sixth off relief pitcher Nolan Guidry.

Four Seahawks — Williams, Kennedy, Volo and Muirhead — collected two hits apiece. Kennedy had three runs batted in, while Muirhead and first baseman Michael Fernandez each had two RBIs.

The Saints, who have only a 12-man roster, collected five hits, with Verduzco getting two of them.

On Saturday, Ocean View hosts Gardena Serra in the third-place game of the Redondo Tournament and figures to start No. 1 pitcher Kennedy in that game.

“Kennedy has been our most consistent pitcher so far this year and already has received offers from Oregon, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal State Fullerton,” VanMaanen said. “He will be making his decision soon.”

DAVE DANIEL is a contributor to Times Community News.