Sunset League race heats up
Entering the final week of the Sunset League baseball season, it’s just about anybody’s guess as to which team — or teams — will emerge as champion.
That race did become less crowded at the top as Edison was knocked off a share of the perch, while Marina and Los Alamitos held on to their respective grip.
Marina (14-8 overall, 8-3 league) maintained its piece of the lead by taking two games from Fountain Valley in the past week. The most recent was a 1-0 road win Friday. Junior Jack Westermeyer pitched a shutout and in the process lowered his earned-run average to 0.64. Senior Trevor Zeller scored the only run of the game in the third inning.
“Fountain Valley is a very tough team and they battle from top to bottom of their lineup,” Marina Coach Bob Marshall said. “Jack (Westermeyer) got some help from balls hit at our players and kept some of the Fountain Valley players off balance.”
Junior Monty Plattner also pitched a complete game and allowed two hits, no walks and one unearned run for the Barons.
“We had our chances but couldn’t get a clutch hit when we needed it,” said Fountain Valley Coach Ron LaRuffa, whose Barons, (13-9, 3-8) again suffered a one-run loss.
The teams also played April 23, with Marina scoring an 11-5 home win. Marina also played a nonleague doubleheader Saturday against Capistrano Valley. The teams split, with the Vikings dropping the first game, 5-2, but bouncing back for a 3-2 win in the second game.
Marina has three Sunset League games left in the regular season.
“We control our own destiny,” Marshall said. “This team never gives up. I can’t be prouder for this group of boys and how they have come together. However, we still need to finish strong and stay hungry and humble as we approach the end of the season.
“It is going to be an exciting finish in the Sunset League, with four teams battling for the championship and for playoff spots. It is going to be a wild finish.”
Edison has come on strong in Sunset play, but the Chargers lost their share of first place Friday after a 7-4 loss at Huntington Beach. The Oilers led the entire way to stay in the title hunt. It was a big win for Huntington, which improved to 6-5 in league with the win. Two days earlier, Edison (7-4 league) had scored a 2-1 win in a tense game that went 12 innings April 25.
“I told the kids how proud I was of them, the way they bounced back from (Wednesday’s) loss,” Oilers Coach Benji Medure said. “That loss was a tough one, a super-tough one. But we came out ready to play (Friday). So did Edison, They are a team that gets after you and even though they got down early, they continued to battle to the end.”
Huntington erupted for five runs in the first inning to set the tone.
Senior Adam Daymude’s two-run double highlighted the Oilers’ five-run first inning that included Daymude stealing home. Marcus Mayorga, Brett Urabe, Clint Jack and LJ Brewster all had two hits for the Oilers. Mayorga, Urabe and Brewster each had an RBI.
Huntington also played two games Saturday in the San Luis Obispo Tournament, an event that was originally scheduled for last month but was rained out. The Oilers played both games at home and opened with a 5-2 win over Aliso Niguel. Senior Derek Weiser went three for three with two RBIs and sophomore Andrew Arledge (2-0) pitched six innings to get the win.
In their second game Saturday, the Oilers (15-6) had taken a 4-1 lead on a three-run home run in the fourth inning by senior Brett Urabe, but Long Beach Poly posted four runs in the top of the fifth and went on to take a 5-4 victory.
Sunset League teams played league games Wednesday, but scores weren’t available at press time. Friday’s league schedule has Edison at Marina, Fountain Valley at Los Alamitos and Huntington travels to face Newport Harbor. All games start at 3:15 p.m.
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Ocean View split two games with Loara in Golden West League action. In the first meeting April 25, Ocean View junior pitcher Luke Fell allowed just three hits and struck out five in a complete game, but Loara was able to squeeze out a 1-0 victory.
Ocean View climbed back into the league race Friday by scoring a wild, 13-10 win over the Saxons. The Seahawks scored five runs in the opening inning, three of which came in on a bases-clearing, two-out double by senior Chad Hackworth. They took a 10-5 advantage into the seventh but Loara rallied for five runs to tie the score.
With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Hackworth was hit by a pitch and junior Jared Goodman reached base on a fielding error. That brought up Timmy Robinson, who had already homered in his previous at-bat. The senior took the first pitch for a home run over the fence in left field, the three-run shot giving the Seahawks the win.
Robinson had five RBIs in the game and hit his eighth home run of the season, Ocean View Coach Shane Borowski said.
“Wow, what can I say about Timmy Robinson?,” Borowski said. “I think the secret is out now. There’s about 12 major league scouts a game here to watch him, and usually a couple of big colleges, as well. I’m really happy for him, he is a special player. When we’ve needed the big hits, he always seems to deliver.
Ocean View (7-4 league, 10-12 overall) played Santa Ana on Wednesday, but the score wasn’t available at press time. The Seahawks and Saints play for a final time this season at 3 p.m. Friday at Ocean View.
Twitter: @MikeSciacca