La Habra players (from left) Patrick Castaneda, Jordan Hammond, Bobby Brooks and Austin Stoa led the Highlanders to a win Friday. (PHOTOS: Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone).
La Habra’s baseball team jumped out to an 5-0 lead but had to hold on before defeating El Dorado 5-4 in a Crestview League game Friday afternoon at La Habra.
After dropping four of their last six games, the Highlanders (8-7-1, 1-1) rebounded to capture a key league win, much to the delight of Coach Jack Brooks.
“I’m really proud of these kids,” said Brooks. “We had a few tough losses against good teams in Las Vegas but these guys kept fighting hard. This is a huge league win for us. Today, we got great relief pitching from Patrick Castaneda. He’s a junior and it’s his first year on varsity. His changeup and curveball were very effective.”
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La Habra sent 10 batters to the plate in the second inning, pounded out six hits and scored five runs to build a 5-0 lead.
Nico DeCorte and Fernado Alatorre started the bottom of the second inning with back-to-back singles. One out later, Anthony Escamilla singled to load the bases. Austin Stoa then worked a walk, giving the Highlanders a 1-0 lead.
Jordan Hammond followed by laying down a perfect bunt single, upping La Habra’s lead to 2-0. Bobby Fierro then followed with a RBI single and Angelo Patino added a RBI sacrifice fly. Bobby Brooks capped the inning with a RBI single, increasing La Habra’s lead to 5-0.
“We stayed together today and it was definitley a team win; everybody contributed,” said Brooks, who was the Highlanders starter and pitched four innings before finishing the game at shortstop. He also collected two hits.
Brooks was cruising along until the the Golden Hawks (8-6, 1-2) erupted for three runs on five hits in the fourth inning. Sam Orozco and Justin Karg smacked RBI singles to trim the lead to 5-3. Later in the inning, El Dorado had the bases loaded with one out when La Habra left fielder Jordan Hammond made a diving catch for the second out of the inning, saving an extra base hit and several runs.
“I got a good first step when the ball was hit and I came up on it and was able to make the catch,” said Hammond, who was holding an ice pack on his head. The senior outfielder was hit by a pitch on the side of the head in the third inning, but remained in the game.
“Every league win is a huge win and we have the attitude, ‘Why not us.’ Hammond finished with two hits and was on base three times in the game.
Brooks then retired Brady Abner on a grounder to shortstop to end the Golden Hawks’ fourth inning rally.
Xavi Cadena led off the Golden Hawks’ fifth inning with a home run to right, cutting the lead to 5-4.
Castaneda then relieved Brooks and survived a pair of Highlander errors before striking out Orozco to end El Dorado’s rally.
Castaneda pitched the final two innings and saved the game for the the Highlanders.
“I wasn’t nervous when I came in to pitch; I expected to pitch today,” said Castaneda. “We need to keep our momentum moving forward and get ready for the next game.”
First basemen Austin Stoa had an outstanding game for the Highlanders. Stoa had a hit, an RBI, scored a run, was on base twice and played well defensively.
“This win gives us momentum; we fought hard and kept battling,” said Stoa, who made a pair of outstanding defensive plays at first base. “Today, we had a lot of good swings but we weren’t rewarded. It’s a great league win for us.”
El Dorado Coach Matt Lucas was disappointed.
“When you don’t show up to play until the fourth inning, you’re not going to win games,” said Lucas. “We did good things by coming back and we had a chance to win, but we have to show up to play when the game starts.”
Karg, Cadena, and Orozco each had two hits and an RBI for El Dorado. Cadena also scored two runs for the Golden Hawks.
Notes:
—-Every batter in La Habra’s starting lineup reached base in the game.
—-Six consecutive outs were recorded in the game with the shortstops involved. In the bottom of the fifth inning, El Dorado shortstop Christian Rojas retired each of the La Habra’s batters on a grounder to shortstop. In the top of the sixth inning, Highlander’s shortstop Bobby Brooks threw out the first two Golden Hawks batters on grounders to shortstop. Brooks then caught a popup to end the inning.
—-El Dorado coach Matt Lucas is in his 14th year as head coach of the Golden Hawks.
—-Justin Karg entered the game hitting.447. He increased his average with two hits on Friday.
—In the La Habra dugout a picture of Philadelphia Phillies reliever Tug McGraw is displayed that provides inspiration to the Highlanders. “We tell the kids, ‘I can, We will,’” said Coach Jack Brooks, who said Tug McGraw is an inspiration to his players. “We’ve had some tough losses but we tell the kids the last six weeks of the season is going to be a dog fight. We started 0-2 in league last year, but we made the playoffs. We have to play seven innings and finish games and always believe we can do it.”
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