Wild Sunset League begins
The Sunset League baseball season is only in its opening week but within its early stages, there have been some tight games with big performances and big finishes.
Edison, Marina and Fountain Valley were involved in league play Tuesday, but only Edison was able to emerge victorious.
Edison and Marina were locked in a 1-1 tie game through seven innings, and it took a two-run double in the top of the ninth by junior Vince Inman to put the Chargers into the lead and lift them to an eventual, 3-1 victory.
Inman also pitched eight innings, allowing one run with five strikeouts. Senior Kaz Akamatsu pitched a scoreless ninth for the save.
The win was the first in league play for Edison which squared its league mark at 1-1 and took its overall record to 3-7-1.
“Inman provided us with a tremendous effort in a gut-check game for us,” Edison Coach Cameron Chinn said. “Spring break will allow us an opportunity to start limiting our mistakes.”
In its league opener Friday, Edison lost, 3-1, to visiting Los Alamitos. Senior Leo Hyodo drove in Edison’s only run with a single, and Akamatsu suffered the loss despite allowing four hits and no earned runs to go with four strikeouts.
“While getting another well-pitched game from Akamatsu, our defense let us down and we found another way to lose a close game,” Chinn said. “We need to keep grinding games out until we find our rhythm.”
The Chargers start play Saturday with two games in the Anaheim Lions Tournament, hosting Glendora at 11 a.m. and San Dimas at 3 p.m.
In its Sunset League opener at home Friday against Huntington Beach, Marina rode the one-hit, nine-strikeout pitching gem by senior right-hander and University of Nevada commit Riley Ohl to a 4-0 shutout of the Oilers. The Vikings had seven hits in the win led by freshman first baseman Cory Lewis, who went two for three with two RBIs (one a two-run double in the bottom of the fourth), senior catcher Tommy Verdugo with an RBI single, and senior Joe Waked (second inning) and freshman Steven Casas (fourth inning) each had a lead-off double.
“Phenomenal,” is how Marina Coach Bob Marshall described Ohl’s performance. “He was attacking the zone throughout the game, he got his fastball over the plate, and he allowed us to get our offense going. Riley was terrific.”
Marina played its second Sunset game a day later when it took on Newport Harbor Saturday at Angel Stadium. The Sailors (1-1 in league) wiped out a 2-0 Marina lead by scoring seven runs in the bottom of the sixth and went on to defeat the Vikings, 7-3.
The Vikings (1-2 league, 5-6 overall) play a 3:15 p.m. Sunset League game Thursday at Fountain Valley, and take on Paramount at 9:15 a.m. Saturday in a first-round game of the Ryan Lemmon Tournament.
—
•Fountain Valley was on the road Tuesday at Los Alamitos, and the Barons held a 2-1 lead through 4 1/2 innings but were tripped up by the Griffins who scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth and went on to take a 5-2 win.
Juniors Trevor Staffieri and Trent Sievers both had an RBI double for the Barons who fell to 1-1 in league and 6-5 overall.
Los Alamitos improved to 2-0 in league.
“I’m proud of my guys for competing [Tuesday],” Fountain Valley Coach Deric Yanagisawa said. “We played well, just not well enough to win. Los Al did a great job of capitalizing on a lead-off walk and a hit batter to open the bottom of the fifth. They came through with runners in scoring position. They deserved to win.
“We have to understand that we have to play great baseball to win in this league. Mistakes are magnified in league games and our young guys will learn from today.”
Fountain Valley had opened its Sunset League campaign Friday at Newport Harbor and defeated the Sailors, 4-1. Pitcher Travis Burleson went the distance and registered the win, allowing three hits without a walk to go with four strikeouts on only 71 pitches. On offense, Justin Mazzone got the Barons off to a solid start with a first-inning RBI single that scored Sievers (who doubled twice), and Justin Yang had a two-run double that increased the Barons’ lead.
“Getting the first league win is very important to us,” Yanagisawa said. “We played a very good Newport Harbor team and [pitcher Jake] Genova (six innings, four hits, four runs) was tough. I thought Justin Mazzone’s at-bat in the first inning was huge because we have had a hard time scoring first and he came up big to drive home Trent Sievers.
“Travis Burleson was pretty darn good on Friday. He was very efficient and threw a bunch of strikes. He did a great job of getting the lead-off hitter out in six of seven innings. He has to be good in this league for us to have a chance to make the playoffs.
The Barons on Saturday played a nonleague doubleheader at Capistrano Valley, and split with the Cougars. They bounced back from a 5-1 defeat in Game 1 to win Game 2, 4-3. Riley Hanson’s RBI double in the top of the seventh inning of the second game broke a 4-4 tie and lifted the Barons to victory.
Fountain Valley plays host to Marina in a 3:15 p.m. Sunset League game Thursday. The Barons start play next Monday in the Palm Springs Tournament, opening with a 1 p.m. game at Coachella Valley.
—
•Huntington Beach left Tuesday for Cary, N.C. where the Oilers will compete at the National High School Invitational. They opened the tournament against Poly Prep Country Day School (Brooklyn, N.Y.) Wednesday at the USA Baseball National Training Complex. The score wasn’t available at press time. The four-day tournament runs through Saturday.
Huntington began its Sunset League season on the road Friday at Marina and were shutout by the Vikings, 4-0. The Oilers managed only one hit off Marina ace Riley Ohl, a one-out single to the left-side of the infield by sophomore catcher Nick Lopez in the top of the third inning.
“He was dominant,” Huntington Coach Benji Medure said of Ohl. “He was continually ahead of us all game. He was great, and they are good. We’ll have to keep an eye out for him next time.
“This is the Sunset League where everyone is tough. We didn’t execute today and we weren’t ready, and that’s totally on me. I take blame for not having us ready today.”
The loss put the Oilers, who tumbled out of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 rankings this week, at 3-4 overall.
—
•Ocean View played at Angel Stadium Saturday and the Seahawks were edged by Redondo Union, 3-2, in nonleague action. Devon Villanueva went one for three and drove in both Seahawks runs.
Prior to its trip to Anaheim Saturday, Ocean View had started its Golden West League season and collected two victories in its first two games. On March 16, the Seahawks went to Westminster and rolled to a 9-2 win over the Lions. Brian Schlosser went four for four with four RBIs and Adam Carles got the pitching win.
In a league game Friday at Segerstrom, the Seahawks edged the Jaguars, 5-4. Winning pitcher Joseph Romero threw a complete game (six strikeouts) and went one for three with two RBIs, and James Williams went two for four and also drove in a pair of runs.
The Seahawks return to Golden West League play at 3:15 p.m. Thursday and will attempt to run their league record to 3-0 when they play host to Santa Ana, their final game before heading into spring break.
—
•Brethren Christian started its Academy League season Tuesday against Crean Lutheran, the second-ranked team in CIF Southern Section Division 6, and lost to the visiting Saints, 18-1. The teams meet again Thursday in a 3 p.m. game at Crean Lutheran.
In a nonleague game March 17, BC went to Irvine Tarbut V’ Torah and handled the Lions, 13-1, in five innings. Jake Mann homered among two hits and had two RBIs, Brendan Hughes went three for four, and Tyler Ubl, George Miller, Jack Patcheak and Kieran Reynolds each had two hits, Reynolds (one hit, five strikeouts) also took the pitching win and ran his record to 3-1.
BC starts play Saturday in the Anaheim Lions Tournament. The Warriors will play twice and face Burney at 10 a.m., followed by a 3 p.m. game against Magnolia. Both games are at Magnolia High.
