High School Baseball: Teams keep moving

Rain has delayed a few games this week, but local prep baseball teams have continued onward in both nonleague and tournament play.

Edison is one of three local teams competing at the Loara Tournament. The Chargers split their first two games.

In a tournament opener March 2, the Chargers (2-2) downed Downey, 4-2. Junior Vince Inman (1-0) threw six innings and didn’t allow an earned run, and the save went to senior Kaz Akamatsu. Junior Kyler Arenado went two for three with a triple and run scored.

In their second tourney game, the Chargers lost, 3-0, to Lakewood.

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•Fountain Valley dropped its first two games at the Loara Tournament. The Barons (3-2) fell 6-2 to Servite in an opener March 3. Junior Travis Aversa went two for two.

In their second game, the Barons were edged, 4-3, by El Modena. Senior Wyatt McGinnis homered and senior Michael Murphy went one for two with an RBI in the loss.

“Definitely was not our best effort,” Fountain Valley Coach Deric Yanagisawa said. “We made too many mistakes and El Modena capitalized on them.”

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•Huntington Beach split a pair of nonleague road games last week.

The Oilers, No. 1 preseason in CIF Southern Section Division 1, was upended by then-No. 2 Orange Lutheran, 5-3, Feb. 29 at Hart Park in Orange. Senior Dominic Abbadessa had two hits and senior Logan Pouelsen drove in two runs for the Oilers who suffered two losses in the game: Oilers Coach Benji Medure said that Pouelsen is “lost for the year” with a “torn UCL (Ulnar Collateral Ligament) in his elbow.”

Pouelsen, starting third baseman and a right-hander pitcher, is a returning All-Sunset League and All-CIF Division 1 player.

Huntington, ranked No. 4 this week, bounced back from the setback to defeat Riverside Poly March 2, 10-6. Junior Hagen Danner homered in going two for four, and juniors Cory Moore, Dylan Palmer and Trevor Windisch each had two hits for the Oilers (2-2). Moore started on the mound and allowed two hits, a walk and two runs, and struck out six in three innings. Mitchell Kovary earned the win in relief. The senior didn’t allow a hit or run and struck out three in moving to 2-0.

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•Marina, the third local team in the Loara Tournament, also split its first two games.

In their opener, the Vikings (2-2) fell 6-1 to San Clemente. They came back Saturday to defeat Long Beach Millikan, the sixth-ranked team in CIF-SS Division 1, 4-3. Freshman Cory Lewis doubled, hit a sacrifice fly and had three RBIs, senior Tyler Abend doubled with an RBI, and senior Matt Clark threw 4 2/3 innings in relief and took the win improving to 2-0.

“Proud of our guys staying competitive and holding on to the victory,” Marina Coach Bob Marshall said. “Cory Lewis had a big day, and Matt Clark came in relief of Jared Minor and threw outstanding, again.”

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•Ocean View was a 9-4 winner at San Juan Hills in a nonleague game Saturday. Senior Grant Rockefeller went three for five with a double and two RBIs, senior Braydon Salzman two for four with a walk and four RBIs, senior Jake Legg two for three with a double, sophomore James Williams singled, walked twice and had two RBIs, and junior Joseph Romero had two hits for the Seahawks. Romero (1-0) also earned his first pitching win of the season.

Ocean View had opened its season Feb. 27 with a nonleague doubleheader at Cypress. The Centurions swept two games by scores of 10-4 and 8-1. Rockefeller went three for seven with a pair of doubles and three RBIs on the day.

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•Brethren Christian was edged in its Newport Elks Tournament game Saturday by Santa Ana, 5-4. The Warriors put the tying and go-ahead runs on base in the final inning but the Saints preserved their lead and the win with a key infield defensive stop. Sophomore Eric Alexander had a two-RBI double and didn’t allow an earned run in six innings.

“We struggled early in the game but kept fighting until the end with four runs in the last two innings,” BC Coach Mike Thompson said. “A few inches to the right, and we win the ballgame. Hopefully, this is a turning point for us, knowing that we can hang with higher division teams. All of these games hopefully will have us better prepared when league rolls around.”

In a nonleague game March 1, BC was blanked 5-0 by visiting Estancia.

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CIF Weekly Rankings (released Monday): Huntington Beach (No. 4, Division 1).