Prep Baseball : Sunset League Roundup : Home Is Where Title’s Clinched With Fountain Valley’s Victory

Pinch-runner Bryan Kojima of Fountain Valley High School made a daring dash to get home with the winning run that gave his team a league championship.

Coach Ron LaRuffa, who teaches at Edison and coaches at Fountain Valley, will find a home if he’s transferred to Fountain Valley in the fall. “I feel like a guest over here,” he said.

Kojima and LaRuffa were the principal figures Friday in Fountain Valley’s 2-1 victory over visiting Huntington Beach that gave Fountain Valley (17-9, 10-5) its first league title in 10 years and the Sunset League’s No. 1 entry into the Southern Section 5-A division playoffs that begin next week.

Fountain Valley’s two runs in the sixth inning were enough for pitcher Steve Montgomery (7-3), who allowed two hits and struck out eight.

Kojima, inserted as a pinch-runner after Mark Dodd opened the sixth with a walk, quickly moved to third on a balk and a wild pitch.

One out later, with runners at first and third, LaRuffa masterminded the play of the game. With Huntington Beach left-handed reliever Kenny Mays pitching from the stretch, LaRuffa had Mike Walcott take a big lead from first.

Mays, who had his back to Kojima, threw to first in an effort to pick off Walcott. As soon as Mays made his move, Kojima took off for home and scored when first baseman Jayson Gonsalves’ throw was slightly off target.

“The runner was taking off for home as soon as the pitcher lifted his foot,” LaRuffa said. “It was a gamble because Mike (Dodd, Huntington Beach coach) has seen me do it before. The throw beats him (Kojima) if the catcher holds on to the ball.”

Fountain Valley added another run in the inning when Steve Lancaster doubled to right, but Kojima’s steal of home was pivotal because Huntington Beach’s Gerad Cawhorn hit a home run off Montgomery in the seventh.

“I’m still not sure what happened at the plate or even if I touched the plate,” Kojima said. Asked if he thought he was going to be thrown out, Kojima said, “I’m not sure about that either. It was a pretty bad throw.”

Fountain Valley had only three hits and LaRuffa estimated that his team hit only .200 in league play. But Montgomery has been virtually unbeatable in the final round of league play; he has three victories in the past two weeks and has allowed three earned runs in his past 26 innings.

“Montgomery was the epitome of a pitcher today,” LaRuffa said. “He didn’t have his best stuff, but he mixed up his pitches well and hit the spots. Pitching got us this title.”

The next step for Fountain Valley will be the announcement of the playoff pairings on Monday at the Southern Section office. On that day, LaRuffa will finish his classes at Edison and then make the routine drive to Fountain Valley for practice.

“The baseball part of the job has been fine, but as a coach, you need the every-day contact with your players off the field,” said LaRuffa, in his first season at Fountain Valley. “I’ll sure feel a lot better come Sept. 9 if I’m teaching here.”

Westminster 7, Edison 0--Mark Murphy (4-3) pitched the first 4 1/3 innings to get the victory as host Westminster (18-7-1) gained a share of the league title for the first time since 1981. Brett Grebe pitched 2 2/3 innings, allowing no hits with five strikeouts. He has 95 strikeouts in 80 innings this season.

Grebe also had a key two-run double during a six-run third for Westminster. Brent Heredia had two hits for Westminster. Edison ends the season 8-12-2, 6-9.

Ocean View 6, Marina 5--Ocean View rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh to win at home. Mike Burns led off the inning with a single, Cory Colbert walked, and after a fielder’s choice advanced the runners, D.J. Murray drove in Burns with a two-out infield single to tie the score, 5-5. Kevin Mullens then doubled in Colbert. Reliever Brent Woken (7-3) got the victory. Back-to-back homers by Robin Lindsay and Mark Newfield in the first inning put Marina ahead, 2-0. Daniel Hernandez made it 5-1 with a three-run home run in the fifth. Ocean View (17-9-1, 9-6) third in league. Marina finished 12-14, 5-10.