Orange County Prep Baseball Roundup : Top-Ranked Sonora Defeats Sunny Hills, 4-3

Scott Einhorn singled home the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning Friday to give top-ranked Sonora High School a 4-3 victory over Sunny Hills in a Freeway League game played on the Lancers’ field. The win assures the Raiders (11-0, 20-1) of at least a tie for first place.

Einhorn went 2 for 4 with three RBIs, and Brian Needham (6-1) pitched a complete game and struck out six. David Wackerman (5-4) allowed just six hits and had 10 strikeouts for the Lancers (5-6, 7-12).

In other Freeway League action:

Troy 7, Fullerton 1--Third baseman Mike Case and first baseman Jeff Ferren hit home runs, and pitcher Mike Greer (4-4) went the distance for the Warriors. Case went 3 for 4 with four RBIs, and Ferren hit a two-run homer. Greer struck out five, walked two and allowed only five hits. Troy (6-5) moved into a second-place tie with Fullerton.

La Habra 15, Buena Park 3--Chuck Weatherspoon had a single, triple and two RBIs to lead a 13-hit Highlander attack, as La Habra beat the Coyotes at La Habra High.

In Century League action:

Canyon 6, Santa Ana Valley 1--Wayne Elmore (4-1) struck out seven and walked one. Center fielder Chuck Zacour went 2 for 4 with a triple and scored a run, and designated hitter Ralph Pacheco had two RBIs. Canyon (8-2, 13-6) gained sole possession of first place as a result of Foothill’s loss to El Modena.

El Modena 7, Foothill 0--The Vanguards (6-4, 9-8) knocked Foothill out of first place as Dave Black shut out the Knights over five innings. Catcher Steve Sewell’s two-run double in the fifth inning drove in the only runs El Modena needed. Doug Kopcha went 3 for 3 for Foothill.

Tustin 11, Santa Ana 7--Steve Surico hit a two-run homer and Matt Lundin had three hits to lead the Tillers at Tustin High. Hector Olivares hit a three-run homer for Santa Ana.

Villa Park 8, Orange 5--The Spartans scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to defeat the Panthers at Orange High. Pat Glenn had an RBI double, and Steve Patino had an RBI single, stole second and third and scored on an overthrow in the seventh. Richie Simmons went all the way on a six-hitter to earn the win.

In Sea View League action:

Estancia 5, Corona Del Mar 3--The Eagles rallied for three runs in the sixth inning without a hit to pull out the victory at home and remain in a first-place tie with University.

Estancia (7-3, 9-10) started the inning with three walks. An error on a ground ball, a walk and a sacrifice fly scored all of Estancia’s runs. Pat Norville scored the winning run and went 3 for 4. Norville (5-1) was the winning pitcher, striking out 10.

Corona del Mar’s Robert Heff went 2 for 4 with a home run.

University 9, Newport Harbor 7--Senior Todd Krueger tripled in two runs and pinch-hitter Will Ferrell singled in two more during a five-run fourth. Krueger also entered the game as a pitcher in the sixth and finished for his first save. Casey Simpson added three hits for the Trojans, and Pat Maynard had three hits for the Sailors.

Saddleback 6, Woodbridge 2--Jeff Rowe went the distance for the Roadrunners, who scored two runs in the second, two in the fourth and two in the sixth. George Saldana was 2 for 3 and scored three runs, and teammate Chris Silva added two hits and two RBIs for Saddleback.

Laguna Beach 3, Costa Mesa 1 (eight innings)--Sophomore shortstop Danny Lane hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning to lead the Artists at Laguna Beach. Todd Fortune pitched six innings and was relieved by Coby Naess, who picked up his second win of the week and his seventh of the season.

In Sunset League action:

Ocean View 3, Fountain Valley 0--Craig Anderson and Brett Johnson combined for a four-hitter and struck out five for the Seahawks (8-2-1). Right fielder Phil Chess scored the only run Ocean View needed and had two hits.

Edison 9, Westminster 2--Chris Powell went 2 for 2 with four RBIs, and Bernie Colacchio added two hits and two RBIs for the Chargers at Westminster High. Frank Vidales and Mike Tunstall combined to throw a seven-hitter for Edison.

In the South Coast League:

Irvine 1, San Clemente 0--The Vaqueros, who suffered their first league loss at the hands of El Toro Wednesday, struggled to defeat the last-place Tritons at Irvine High. Ed Laipple, Mike Stewart and Brian Snoddy combined to pitch a three-hitter for the first-place Vaqueros.

Losing pitcher Andy Greek went all the way on a two-hitter. Irvine scored in the fourth inning when Greek walked two and freshman shortstop Terry Rahmatulla singled to score Rick Smetanka.

Capistrano Valley 7, Dana Hills 1--Nathan Call went 2 for 2, hit a home run, walked twice, scored two runs and stole three bases for the Cougars (6-3, 14-6). Brett Snyder (5-2) went the distance and had three hits.

Laguna Hills 4, El Toro 0--Senior Wayne Helm (6-2) threw a two-hitter, and Jeff Hendrickson and Paul Peters each hit run-scoring singles as the Hawks scored all of their runs in the fourth inning.

In Orange League action:

Anaheim 11, Brea-Olinda 6--The Colonists took advantage of eight Wildcat errors and seven walks. Winning pitcher Anthony Martinez struck out nine batters and catcher Mike Parker went 2 for 3 with three RBIs.

In Olympic League action:

Orange Lutheran 4, Valley Christian 3--Matt Zaun scored on a throwing error in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Lancers the win. Zaun was caught in a rundown after a failed squeeze bunt attempt, but scored on the subsequent error.

Zaun had three hits for Orange Lutheran, which is 5-5 in league play. Valley Christian is 6-4.

In Academy League action:

Newport Christian 3, Heritage 2--Kevin Henrie’s infield single with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning led the Conquerors (5-4, 6-6) past the Patriots (3-6, 5-7) at Costa Mesa. Joe Alson (5-3) pitched a five-hitter and struck out 10. Losing pitcher Lonnie Page (3-5) went the distance and struck out 11. Page accounted for both Heritage runs with a two-run home run in the fourth.