Ocean View players celebrate a victory over Fullerton Friday. (PHOTOS: Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone).
Perhaps some teams out of the CIF playoff baseball playoff race may be just going through the motions over the last final games of the season.
However, Ocean View isn’t one of them.
The Seahawks pounded out 11 hits and scored seven runs over the final three innings to rally and defeat Fullerton 7-4 in an Empire League game Friday at Fullerton.
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The loss by Fullerton (15-9, 7-4) prevents the Indians from claiming their fifth consecutive league title. Costa Mesa defeated Laguna Hills 7-2 on Friday to capture the league title. Fullerton and Katella will play each other on Tuesday with the winner earning second place and the loser taking third place in league.
Logan Thien blasted a solo homer over the right center field field fence – his third round tripper of the season – to give Fullerton a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. Coner Baird evened the score for Ocean View at 1-1 with an RBI single in the top of the fifth inning.
In the sixth inning, the Seahawks (8-18, 2-9) extended their lead to 4-1.
Jaxon Mayebo and Blake Von Eps lead off the inning with back-to-back singles, Austin Aldous laid down a sacrifice bunt down the third base line. However, the throw to first was wide, allowing Mayebo to score and Von Eps and Allous to advance to second and third. Nate Fetherson then smacked a two-run single, upping the Seahawks lead to 4-1.
For good measure, Ocean View added three more runs in the top of the seventh, highlighted by Aiden Bonds two-run homer and Carson Sulsona’s RBI single, giving the Seahawks a commanding 7-1 lead.
“I hit a fastball on the home run and I wanted to beat that team (Fullerton) so bad; they really got under my skin,” said Bond. “They had beaten us twice this season and they beat us last year as well and they were still talking loud to our pitcher after their guy hit the home run in the seventh inning. It was payback to beat them.”
Aldous, who had pitched six innings and limited the Indians to one run, cruised into the seventh inning but Fullerton still showed some fight.
After the first two Indians batters singled to reach base in the bottom of the seventh, Caleb Brown launched a high towering three-run homer over the center field fence, cutting the lead to 7-4.
Aldous walked Luke Gonzalez and then was relieved by Adrian Lara. Lara got Thien to ground out into a fielders choice for the first out of the inning. He then got Calin Williams to hit an infield grounder that the shortstop fielded and threw to the second baseman for the force out at second.
However, on the play, pitch runner Andy Zuniga was called out at second for sliding past the bag and interfering with the fielder. In addition, the umpire called out the Wiliams out at first base, ending the game.
“I didn’t have my best stuff today; I think I only had one strikeout, but I was throwing my changeup and fastballs for strikes.,” said Aldous, who who also reached base twice and scored a run as a batter.
Aldous’ battery mate, Conor Baird, said his pitcher kept competing.
“He didn’t have his best stuff today, but he was battling and he had total trust in his defense,” said Baird. “We worked together like a true battery should, and we go through it.”
Seahawks Coach Tanner Van Maanen was thrilled with his team’s effort and victory.
“Austin gave us a good chance to win and he kept us in the game,” said Van Maanen. “We have a young team and today we finished and they got a taste of a win. We’ve been competitive all season but it’s been the last few innings of every game where we’ve struggled. It’s a learning process and these young guys have been getting some valuable experience. Today, they did it. They went out and finished it.”
Jonathan Vandagriff, a transfer from Fountain Valley, had an outstanding game for Ocean View with three hits. Two of his teammates also had three hits a piece. Von Eps had three hits, and scored two runs and Fetherston cracked three hits, scored a run, and had two RBI. Devon Mendez had two hits and scored a run for Fullerton.
“It was hard sitting out the first half of this season, but I’m so happy to be a part of this team,” said Vandagriff. “We got the job done today.”
Fullerton Coach Shaun Hill credited Ocean VIew.
“They’ve been down this season but they are well coached and when you have that going for you, anything can happen,” said Hill. “I tip my cap to them. We got the lead early and had opportunities to extend the lead but we didn’t do it. It looks like we’ll play Katella on Tuesday with the winner taking second place and the loser third place in league.”
Notes:
—-Twelve Fullerton seniors (Matthew Martin Tobares, Martin Resendiz, Evan Terrazas, Garrett Wightman, Luke Gonzalez, Ronnie Martinez, Noah Wise, Caleb Brown, Zayyir Martinez, Caden Wise, Declan Fitzgerald, and Jacob Mariani) were honored in a brief ceremony following the game by their coaches and fans.
—-Ocean View lost 13 games this season by three or less runs. They only have five seniors on their roster and have many of their starters back next season. “We have a young team and we’ve lost a bunch of games in the late innings, but our young guys are learning quickly and we’re already looking forward to next season,” said Seahawks Coach Tanner Van Maamen.
—-In the top of the fifth inning, Indians third basemen Luke Gonzalez, made a spectacular diving backhanded catch of a line drive at third base for the final out of the inning, preventing two more Ocean View run from scoring.
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