CENTURY LEAGUE BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Orange Ends Skid in a Big Way

David Matranga stepped to the plate Friday, determined to get himself and the Orange baseball team out of a rut. By the end of the day it was Foothill that was deep in a hole.

The Panthers shook themselves out of the doldrums by pasting the Knights, 17-2, in a Century League game at Foothill. It ended a two-game losing streak and swung the team’s batting average upward for the first time in weeks.

In fact, Orange’s 16 hits matched its total from the previous three games.

“We wanted to find the magic again,” Matranga said.

It was Matranga, the Panthers’ leadoff batter, who waved the wand.

He had two hits, including a home run, and had two runs batted in. He also walked three times and scored three runs.

“If we were going to break out of our slump, I had to get it started,” Matranga said.

He did, leading off the game with a double. It started a three-run inning that seemed to shake the Panthers loose.

Orange’s first five batters got hits. Saul Archuleta and Sean Simpson had RBI singles and Marshall Maresh had a run-scoring double.

“That’s the way this team can hit,” Coach Ed Howard said.

It came as a relief to Howard, who had watched his team’s batting average drop from .436 to .395 since league play began. The Panthers, considered a favorite to win the league title, took extra batting practice Wednesday and even went back to using self-hypnosis, which they’d used earlier in the season, to relax at the plate.

The results were mesmerizing.

Orange (11-6, 4-3) had seven extra-base hits. Everyone in the starting lineup had at least one hit, except for catcher Jacob Garza, who walked twice and scored two runs.

The Panthers had 10 players get at least one RBI and they scored in every inning but the fifth.

Even the bounces started going the Panthers’ way. They got two bad-hop singles.

They also got some help. William Reinsch, Foothill’s starting pitcher, wild-pitched in two runs and balked home two more.

The Knights (9-8, 5-2) also made four errors, leading to four unearned runs.

It became overwhelming.

“When we got up 4-0, that was it,” pitcher Gil Gonzales said. “Give me four runs and I can do my thing.”

Gonzales retired 14 of the first 16 batters. He struck out five and gave up only five hits.

But, Friday, he was merely the sideshow.

“Gil pitched well, but our strength is hitting,” Howard said. “We did that today.”

In other league games:

Canyon 5, Santa Ana Valley 1--Casey Wilson hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning for Canyon (12-4, 5-1). Scott Redfox pitched a complete game, giving up five hits and striking out five, and walking none.

Villa Park 7, El Modena 2--Matt Parker had two hits and an RBI and gave up two earned runs to earn the complete game victory for Villa Park. Sean McMahon had two hits and an RBI for Villa Park (9-8, 3-4).