02 03 SoCal High School Baseball: OC Top 10 04 05 15 16 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 31 32 33

OC Top 10

34

This weeks Orange County Top 10 didn’t see any movement among the top five teams. Although JSerra lost at Palm Desert, it’s tough to penalize a team that traveled two hours and lost in walk-off fashion. Huntington Beach also lost a game; it was to number one JSerra.

There was however some movement at the bottom of the list.  Cypress dropped out of the top ten after going 1-1 with their win coming in a one run game against Loara, and their loss to Long Beach Wilson.

Esperanza checks into the Top 10 at number eight after a 2-0 week that included a 10-6 win over Mater Dei where the Aztecs scored 9 runs over the final four innings.

Below is the Top 10. List and records only reflect games played from 3/3/14 – 3/9/14.

Previous rank in parentheses.

1. JSerra 1-1 (1): The Lions lost at Palm Desert before winning a wild game against Huntington Beach. HB had a 5-0 lead before JSerra ultimately won 11-8. Brady Shockey had a big week for the Lions who are still looking for more consistency from their pitching staff.

This Week: Foothill; Newport Elks Tournament

2. Huntington Beach 1-1 (2): The Oilers took care of Foothill with relative ease winning 7-2 before dropping the aforementioned game to JSerra on Saturday.  Senior Jesse Kuet and junior Tyler Murray are off to good starts for the Oilers, as is junior pitcher Noah Davis.

This Week: Palm Desert; Newport Elks Tournament

3. Los Alamitos 2-0 (3): The Griffins have yet to play a team that’s presented any serious competition, which makes their 3-2 win over Downey a bit surprising. It’s surprising because of how close the game was and because Jacob Nix started on the mound. Los Al pounded El Modena 14-5 later in the week.

This Week: Loara Tournament

4. Aliso Niguel 2-0 (4): The Wolverines got off to a hot start with the bats in a season opening 7-5 victory over Edison. In game two, Kyle Molnar went five strong innings allowing zero runs before ceding to the bullpen in a 2-1 win over Long Beach Millikan. Molnar is also hitting .500 on the season.

This Week: Vista Murrieta; Loara Tournament

5. San Clemente 3-1 (5): The Tritons won their season opener in big fashion over Covina 11-0 before dropping a game at Long Beach Wilson 4-1. San Clemente bounced back with a solid 1-0 win against a tough Sonora team before getting a big 4-3 win over Santa Margarita and their ace, Griffin Canning. The Tritons need more consistent offensive production if they’re going to hang around the top of the rankings. 

This Week: Norwalk; Loara Tournament

6. El Dorado 2-0 (9): The Golden Hawks got a dominating performance out of junior, Nick Sprengel, en route to a 5-0 win over Woodbridge, but it was the performance from their number two pitcher that has people taking. Austin Fresquez shut down a powerful Marina lineup and got enough offense to secure a 1-0 win for El Dorado.

This Week: Long Beach Wilson; Loara Tournament

7. Fountain Valley 3-1 (10): The Barons split a double header with Sonora before pounding El Toro 10-4 and sneaking past a gritty and improved Pacifica team, 3-2. Pitching was a big question mark for Fountain Valley coming into the season and so far it’s held up.

This Week: Loara Tournament

8. Esperanza 2-0 (NR): The Aztecs are the surprise of the early season starting with their 5-1 win over a good Trabuco Hills team. If that wasn’t enough, the Aztecs made some noise with a 10-6 win over Mater Dei. Esperanza was trailing after the third inning before scoring 9 runs over the last four innings en route to the win. The Aztecs are getting it done with pitching and hot hitting, lead by senior Tristan Hildebrandt.

This Week: Bishop Amat; Newport Elks Tournament

9. Orange Lutheran 1-1 (7): The Lancers got a gem of a pitching performance from Garret King in a 2-1 extra-inning win over Capo Valley in the season opener. In game two against Gahr, the Lancers couldn’t buy a break in a 3-2 loss. The depth of the pitching staff was a question coming into the season and it’s being tested early.

This Week: Corona; Newport Elks Tournament

10. Mater Dei 1-1 (8): The Monarchs got a nice 2-1 win in their season opener against Bishop Amat. Senior Charlie Vorschek showed his improved delivery which has added velocity to his fastball and more effective offspeed stuff. Mater Dei took one on the chin against Esperanza in game two, dropping a 10-6 game. Pitching depth has to be a concern for Mater Dei, but if the bats can get hot, they’ll score enough runs to ease that concern.

This Week: Trabuco Hills; Newport Elks Tournament

Others: Santa Margarita (1-1); Mission Viejo (2-2); Trabuco Hills (2-1); Tesoro (4-0); Laguna Beach (2-0); Edison (2-2); Capo Valley (3-1-1); Canyon (1-1)

--Les Lukach
35 36 37 38