Golden West Is No Relief for Ailing Santa Ana

There was a time when Golden West would have been the perfect solution for Santa Ana’s struggling baseball team.

But not Thursday, as the Rustlers heaped more trouble on the Dons by rallying for an 8-7 victory in an Orange Empire Conference game in Santa Ana.

It was the third loss in a row for defending conference champion Santa Ana (19-6, 6-5).

It was also the second time Golden West, which hasn’t made the playoffs since 1990, has beaten Santa Ana this season.

Sophomore Kevin Stuart hit a home run, his fifth, with one out in the ninth to break a 7-7 tie for Golden West (12-9, 5-6), which already has reached last year’s victory total in conference.

The homer also capped an impressive series of rallies in the final three innings for Golden West. The Rustlers scored three times in the seventh to take a 6-5 lead that was lost in the bottom of the inning.

Golden West tied it, 7-7, in the eighth when Jarrad Jones, who started the seventh with a home run, singled with two outs and scored on a double off the center-field fence by Eric Albright.

“They didn’t give up,” Golden West Coach Bert Villarreal said about his team. “They get excited in the late innings. They are just so much fun to be around.”

Reliever Eric Maurer was another late-inning hero for Golden West, although he didn’t start out as one.

Maurer entered with runners on second and third and two outs but his first pitch was driven up the middle by Christian Popoff for a two-run single and a 7-6 lead for Santa Ana.

But Maurer (2-2) retired the next seven to close out the victory.

Golden West also benefited greatly from poor defensive play by Santa Ana, which made four errors.

Josh Roberts hit a two-run homer after an error in the fourth and Santa Ana made two more errors that led to two unearned runs in the seventh.

Michael Vinto had a homer, his sixth, and a double and Cory Williams also had a homer for Santa Ana, which was defeated by Saddleback Saturday and Tuesday.

“We’re fighting a lot of negative momentum right now,” Santa Ana Coach Don Sneddon said. “Plus, every error we made killed us.”

In other conference games:

Riverside 11, Cypress 6--Visiting Riverside scored four times in the ninth to break open a close game that featured two of the best pitchers in Southern California.

Cypress’ Steve Smyth, who entered with a 6-0 record, gave up seven runs, four earned, and eight hits in 7 1/3 innings to take the loss for Cypress (13-11, 6-5). Smyth struck out eight but walked three and two runs scored on wild pitches.

Riverside starter Cody Trask wasn’t sharp either, giving up six runs (five earned) and walking five in eight-plus innings. But he got the victory to improve to 7-1.

Jason Clements and Jaeme Leal each had two hits and drove in three runs for first-place Riverside (17-4, 7-2).

Richard Pohle had two hits and drove in two runs and Gabe Gerhardt had a home run for Cypress. Gerhardt’s homer came in the eighth and cut Riverside’s lead to 7-6.

Saddleback 11, Fullerton 4--Saddleback third baseman Kirk Bolling had two home runs and two doubles for host Saddleback (16-6, 6-5). Bolling has 10 homers this season. Bill Brundige also had three hits for the Gauchos, who join Cypress and Santa Ana in a three-way tie for second place.

Bo Bryant hit his fifth home run for Fullerton (10-11-1, 3-6).