It’s time for baseball

The 2016 prep baseball season got underway Saturday for local teams who were involved in nonleague doubleheaders. Fountain Valley earned a sweep while Edison, Huntington Beach, Marina and Brethren Christian split their games.

Edison won its first game against Long Beach Millikan by defeating the visiting Rams, 7-4. Senior right-hander Kaz Akamatsu (5 2/3 innings) gave up five hits and struck out four and recorded the win. Junior lefty Vince Inman (1 1/3 innings) got the save. Akamatsu also led the Edison offense with a three for four performance that included a double and three RBIs.

The Rams, who came into the opening weekend with a No. 6 preseason ranking in CIF Southern Section Division 1, won the second game, 2-1.

“I was pleased with the way our guys competed for 14 innings against a quality opponent like Millikan,” Edison Coach Cameron Chinn said. “We have to find a way to make in-game adjustments against a pitcher who is one like the Millikan pitcher was [Michael Killeen].

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•Fountain Valley went to Sonora and swept the Raiders by scores of 10-3 and 8-4.

In the opener, junior Travis Aversa and senior Michael Murphy both went two for three with three RBIs, and junior right-hander Jared Brand gave up one earned run in four innings for the win.

In Game 2, sophomore right-hander Nathan Wilson didn’t give up an earned run in five innings pitched and took the win. Aversa, Murphy and sophomore Conrad Villafuerte (two RBIs) each went two for three.

“We played well enough to win,” Fountain Valley Coach Deric Yanagisawa said. “We were very good offensively and running the bases. The offense did a good job of keeping the ball out of the air and forcing the defense into mistakes. We did a good job of running the bases aggressively.

“We need to improve defensively and throwing strikes. These guys work so hard and I know we will continue to get better.”

The Barons went to USC Monday for a nonleague game against Long Beach Poly, and scored a 1-0 victory over the Jackrabbits at Dedeaux Field. Junior right-hander Travis Burleson threw only 85 pitches in seven innings, struck out nine and “was outstanding,” Yanagisawa said. Junior Justin Yang went two for three and junior Justin Mazzone had a hit to account for the Barons’ offensive output.

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•Huntington Beach, preseason No. 1 in CIF-SS Division 1, took on Aliso Niguel at Irvine Valley College and won the opener between the teams, 8-5. Senior right-hander Mitch Kovary gave up three earned runs and got the win, and senior right-hander Logan Pouelsen got the save. Senior Landon Silver went three for three with a double and two RBIs, and junior Ben McConnell and senior Dom Abbadessa both had two hits.

In the second game, Huntington made two, key errors and gave up six unearned runs, and the Wolverines took a 7-3 win.

“Aliso is no joke — they can flat-out hit and play defense,” Huntington Coach Benji Medure said. “We are lucky to come out of the DH with a split. They are well-coached and play the game the right way. They make us better.

“I felt our guys played loose and hard, but two mistakes cost us the [second] game. I guess that is what preseason is for. We need to iron out the kinks and figure out who can slow the game down enough to handle the pressure.”

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•Marina traveled to play Garden Grove Pacifica and came back from a 3-2 defeat in the first game, to down the Mariners, 4-2, in the second game.

In the 4-2 win, senior Tyler Abend and junior Chris Reynolds led the Vikings attack with two hits each, junior Jason Arita scored twice, and senior right-hander Matt Clark threw two shutout innings in relief and got the win.

In Game 1, senior Will Hoyer-Pingle went three for four, drove in a run and scored once, in a 3-2 Marina loss.

“I was pleased with some of the adjustments our hitters had been making over the past few weeks,” Marina Coach Bob Marshall said. “We out-hit [Pacifica] (16-6) and our pitchers did a very good job attacking the strike zone.

“We had a few mental mistakes on defense that cost us the first ballgame. We need to finish strong in each game. In the first game, those two mental mistakes gave Pacifica two runs to beat us. We came back and played solid in the second game and executed situational baseball.”

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•Brethren Christian won the first of two games with visiting Winchester Temecula Prep, 5-1, and lost the second game to the Patriots, 9-5.

In the first game, junior Jordan Leonard doubled, sophomore Eric Alexander and freshman Jack Patcheak both singled and scored a run, and junior Kieran Reynolds got the pitching win.

Leonard went two for two, stole two bases and scored three runs and Reynolds and sophomore Brendan Hughes both had two RBIs in BC’s 9-5 loss.

“We came out of the gate strong with a solid start from Kieran Reynolds and great defense,” first-year BC Coach Mike Thompson said. “It was a very positive start for us.”