Prep Baseball : Savanna Upsets Western in Orange League Play, but It’s Not a Laugher

That Miguel Salas. What a kidder. Savanna High School’s top relief pitcher may be in the midst of a five-team scramble for Orange League playoff spots, but he hasn’t lost his sense of humor. And Tuesday at Glover Stadium, the joke was nearly on him.

Savanna moved into second place in the league standings with a 8-7 win over Western, but not before Salas nearly saw a bit of light-hearted, dugout humor turn sour.

The Rebels scored an unearned run in the top of the sixth inning to take an 8-6 lead. In the seventh, Salas began kidding with teammates about how he was going to load the bases in the bottom of the inning, give up a run, then get three outs to end it. Just to make it interesting, he said.

Moments later, Salas was on the mound with the bases loaded and no outs, and an upset over league-leading Western seemed very much in jeopardy.

“It was interesting,” Salas said afterward, laughing.

Salas was able to laugh because he got Mike Frabotta, Western’s No. 4 hitter, to hit a tapper back to the mound that Salas returned to the plate to force John Tellers, then got Paul Boucher to fly out to center field. Tellers’ fly ball scored Rich Lodding to make it 8-7, with Chris Chase taking third on the throw to home. That brought up John Ortiz, who, an inning before, had an RBI single off Salas. Ortiz worked the count to 3-1 before flying out to center field to end the game.

It was all a little too close to Salas’ tongue-in-cheek plan, but the left-hander said he wasn’t about to panic.

“I really wasn’t too concerned,” he said. “I’ve faced these guys before. I know how that guy (Ortiz) hits.

“I just decided to throw him fastballs, especially when I went 3-1 with him. I was just going to throw it up there and give our fielders a chance. If he hits it out, he hits it out.”

Western Coach Dave Bowman wasn’t nearly as carefree about the game as Salas. “I don’t have any comment on this game,” he said after the Pioneers were handed their third league loss.

Bowman saw Savanna send 10 batters to the plate in the second inning to take a 4-0 lead against Western ace David Tellers, who came into the game with an 8-1 record and a 0.95 earned run average. Tony Ibarra had a bloop single that drove in two runs and Tim Pittman had an RBI double to key the rally. The inning ended with Robert Brocki flying out to the wall in center field, narrowly missing a grand slam.

Savanna (6-4, 10-6) added three runs in the fourth to take a 7-0 lead, but allowed Western to walk its way back into the game. Pittman, the Rebels’ starter, and Salas combined to walk 11 hitters, and five of those scored. Western (7-3, 13-6) scored four runs in the fourth, and needed only one hit--a two-run double by Boucher--to do it.

“There’s no way you can defend (against) a walk,” said Mike Quigley, Savanna coach. “For the most part, our pitching has been pretty sound. It just seemed like, all of the sudden, the kids couldn’t find a strike.”

The Pioneers added two runs in the sixth to cut Savanna’s lead to 7-6, but Savanna got the extra run it needed in the sixth when Ibarra reached on an error by Tellers at second base, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on Tim Wickell’s single to right.

In other Orange League action:

Valencia 20, Brea-Olinda 11--Jeff Martinez sparked a 12-run fifth inning for Valencia with a leadoff home run as the Tigers won easily at home. Valencia sent 16 batters to the plate in the fifth. Martinez (2 for 3, three RBIs) also hit a home run in the fourth. Jim Campanis was 2 for 4 with a double and five RBIs.

Magnolia 13, Anaheim 5--The Sentinels (6-4, 8-7) scored eight runs in the first inning, two coming on a bases loaded single by Carl Holmes. Winning pitcher Carlos Gonzales (7-3) struck out four batters in four innings of work. Manual Rodriguez was 2 for 4 with two RBIs.