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Calvary Chapel’s Joe McElroy takes a lead Tuesday as Santa Ana first baseman Ivan Ramirez tries to hold him on. (Photos: OC Sports Zone, Tim Burt).
Calvary Chapel High School’s baseball team survived a seventh inning rally by Santa Ana to capture a 9-8 Orange Coast League victory Tuesday afternoon at the Great Park to remain tied for first place with Orange.
Orange (14-10-1, 9-3) defeated Costa Mesa 6-1 to stay tied with Calvary Chapel (16-8, 9-3).
“We’ve talked about it all season that we want to start peaking at this point,” said Calvary Chapel Coach Robert Marshall, who is trying to lead the Eagles to their second straight league title. “About two weeks ago we wanted to started peaking and we started going on a little roll. This was an ugly game on both sides, but we kept our heads in it and we won the game.
“That’s what matters, these guys stayed focused on everything they did, we bunted the ball well, we moved guys over, we sac’d (sacrificed) guys over, we bunted and run and we stole five bases, so that helped us out a lot.”
Tuesday’s game was a wild one from the start and took about three hours to finish.
Calvary Chapel held a 9-6 lead going to the top of the seventh.
To see additional photos, click on the first picture:
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Santa Ana’s Ivan Ramirez waits for a pitch along with Calvary Chapel catcher Chris Brown.
Reliever Sam Sharp throws a pitch for Calvary Chapel.
Santa Ana Coach Dave Silva and assistant Jeff McKee (right) talk with starting pitcher Emilian Valadez.Joshua Craig, who came on to pitch in the seventh, got the save for winning pitcher Aaron Neal, striking out Isaiah Robles with two outs and the tying runner, Emilian Valadez, on second base. Valadez doubled to drive in Victor De La Cruz, who singled. Luis Bruno doubled to open the inning and scored on a wild pitch.
Calvary Chapel banged out 11 hits and took advantage of six errors by Santa Ana (11-14, 7-5). The Saints had 10 hits.
“We got to catch the ball,” said Santa Ana Coach David Silva. “We didn’t catch the ball and we didn’t throw it right. It’s tough, but the kids battled. We’re going through a difficult time right now. We’re not really hitting as a team, we’re getting hits here and there but we’re not as we normally are. I’m glad the kids battled the way we did.
“We’re in it (the race for the CIF playoffs), we just got to keep battling.”
Calvary Chapel was led by first baseman Matthew Madrid, who was 3 for 4 with two RBI and a run scored.
“Our first baseman had some big hits today,” Marshall said. “He had some big, clutch two-out hits.”
Shortstop Logan Hamrick was 2 for 4 with two runs scored and left fielder Nathan Emma was 2 for 2 with a run scored and an RBI. Catcher Chris Brown reached twice on errors, scored two runs and had a single and a stolen base.
Brown has been hitting around .500 with four home runs, Marshall said.
“He’s tearing it up and has 22 stolen bases and hasn’t been caught,” the coach said.
The Eagles scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning, one coming on an RBI single by Madrid and another on a bases loaded walk to Waylon Pipia.
But Santa Ana charged back with five runs in the top of the second inning to move ahead 5-3. Ivan Ramirez drove home two runs with a single and Valadez drove home another with a single.
However, Calvary Chapel scored two runs in the third to tie it 5-5 and moved ahead 6-5 with a run in the fourth on Madrid’s RBI single.
Santa Ana tied the game with a run in the top of the fifth but Calvary Chapel countered with three runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 9-6 lead. Joe McElroy tripled to drive in one run and the Eagles took advantgage of three Saints errors.
Jordan Jimenez started on the mound for Calvary Chapel before being relieved by Sam Sharp in the second inning. Neal came on in the fifth and was credited with the win.
Valadez pitched the first five innings for Santa Ana. Josh Delgado pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
Valadez led Santa Ana offensively, going 3 for 4 with two RBI and a run scored and De La Cruz had two singles and scored two runs.
Calvary Chapel plays at Santa Ana Thursday and then has two games next week with Orange to finish the regular season.
“Last year, we went down to the final two games of the year battling for first and we swept Orange and were Orange Coast League champions,” Marshall said. “If we take care of business on Thursday, it’s going to come down to a showdown again. That’s why we play this game of baseball, it’s the greatest game in the world, coming out here and having fun and competing and teaching these guys to be young men.”
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
