Orange County Prep Baseball : El Dorado Wins on Offense, Loses on Defense

El Dorado High School, powered by four home runs, defeated Troy, 11-4, in the first game of a nonconference baseball doubleheader Saturday at El Dorado, but the Golden Hawks, commiting six errors, dropped the second game, 5-4.

In the first game, El Dorado (9-3) took a 3-0 lead in the first inning. With one out, shortstop Shawn Blankenship (2 for 4 with two RBIs) drew a walk and second baseman Bret Boone (2 for 4, two RBIs) followed with a home run. With two out, right fielder Rob Sporrer (2 for 4) doubled and was driven in by Doug Yates’ single.

Golden Hawk left fielder Jim Buck hit a two-run homer in the second, Jeff Petredes added a solo home run in the third, and catcher Doug Sipple (3 for 3, three RBIs) hit a solo home run in the fourth. El Dorado touched up Troy pitching for 14 hits and led, 11-0, at the end of six.

Scott Holcomb (5-0) pitched four innings for the win, allowing one hit and no runs and striking out five.

Troy (4-5), limited to four hits, was led by David Shirota’s two-run home run in the three-run sixth inning and first baseman Chris Robinson’s 2-for-4 day. Steve Robinson took the loss for the Warriors.

In the second game, Troy rallied from a 2-1 deficit with two runs in the fourth inning. Mike Case opened the Warrior fourth with a single. Starting pitcher Mike Greer reached first on a fielding error by Boone, and both Troy runners advanced on Boone’s throwing error on the same play.

David St. Clair followed with a double to left to score Case, but Greer was thrown out at the plate. Cited for running into the El Dorado catcher on the play, Greer was ejected from the game. Mike Pawlawski then grounded out to second, advancing St. Clair to third. Steve Shirley followed with a single to right to score St. Clair, and the Warriors had the lead for good.

Troy’s Darren Flath replaced Greer in the fourth and pitched one inning for the victory.

The Warriors scored one earned run in the win. Their eight-hit attack was paced by Case (2 for 4) and Chris Robinson (2 for 4).

Petredes (1-2) pitched five innings for El Dorado, giving up four runs on seven hits.

The Golden Hawks, limited to four hits in the nightcap, got three more home runs. First baseman Scott Holcomb hit a two-run shot in the second inning, Boone had a solo homer in the fourth, and relief pitcher Steve Gill added a home run with none on in the seventh.

In other nonleague action:

Capistrano Valley 8, Tustin 2--With six runs in the second inning, the Cougars (8-4) handed the Tillers (9-1) their first loss of the season. Third baseman Brett Snyder keyed the inning with a two-out, two-run double to give Capistrano Valley a 4-1 lead. Bill Bardens followed with a bases-loaded single that drove in two more runs.

Winning pitcher Scott Stark (3-0) went four innings and allowed five hits and two runs. This was Stark’s third pitching win this week. Right fielder Tommy Adams went 1 for 3. Adams, a sophomore, is 10 for 15 (.667) with nine runs scored for the week. Adams, who batted .309 last season, has a .444 batting average and has stolen 10 bases.

Anaheim 4, Sunny Hills 2--The Colonists (4-8) broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fifth with two runs. Pat Wilson and Mike Kelly singled to open the inning and were sacrificed along. Wilson scored on a wild pitch and Kelly was squeezed home by Mike Parker. Wilson and Kelly were both 2 for 3. Anthony Martinez (1-2) picked up the win. The Lancers fell to 3-6.

Newport Harbor 7-6, Torrance 0-9--Sailors’ pitcher Jon Mahoney (2-3) went five strong innings, allowing one hit and striking out five. Catcher Wes Torrell opened the Newport Harbor scoring with a solo homer in the second inning. Torrell was 2 for 4 with three RBIs. Tony Wren and Stu Hatch each went 2 for 2.

In the second game, Newport Harbor starter Scott Craig allowed seven hits, seven runs as the Sailors lost. Craig didn’t receive much support from his defense, which committed five errors.

Valencia 5-6, Edison 3-9--Edison starting pitcher Mike Guccione walked the first three batters he faced in the first inning, and Valencia went on to score five runs in the inning. Guccione allowed only three hits in five innings of work.

In the second game, Jeff Kent led the Chargers with two, two-run home runs in the first and fifth innings. Edison’s Jeff Brouelette was 4 for 4 with two doubles and three RBIs.

Esperanza 11-9 Rancho Alamitos 4-9--Emmett Colick and Steve Morales each hit solo homers in the fourth inning to lead the Aztecs to a win in the first game. Esperanza got its runs in bunches scoring two in the fourth, five in the fifth and four in the seventh.

In the second game, the Vaqueros (6-5-1) had a 9-6 lead going into the seventh inning. Rancho Alamitos got RBI hits from Craig Paquette, Roger Carter and Tim Ryker to build its lead. But Esperana’s Larry Nix had a RBI single to left to score Mike Johnson and tie the score at 9-9. Rancho Alamitos had runners on third base in the eighth and ninth innings but could not score.