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Players from Crean Lutheran and Irvine meet after Tuesday’s game. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
Irvine High School’s baseball team fell behind early, but got even against Crean Lutheran one inning later and then went on to capture a 6-2 victory Tuesday in a match-up of two Irvine rivals on day three of the Ryan Lemmon Invitational at the Great Park.
It was a true team effort for Irvine, which notched its first win in the tournament after two losses on a chilly and windy day in Irvine. The Vaqueros (8-10 overall), snapped a three-game losing streak.
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Senior Drake Brito pitched the first 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs and four hits, striking out nine for the Vaquueros. Adam Valencia worked out of a one out, bases loaded jam in the sixth inning striking out two and then blanked the Saints in the bottom of the seventh with two more strikeouts to earn the save.
Brito also contributed offensively with a two run double in the second inning. Matthew Sandoval had two doubles and scored two runs and Smith Spivey had two hits, scored a run and drove in another with a double.
“Drake has been pretty steady for us all year,” said Irvine Coach Gabriel Cota. “The kid is extremely talented so whenever we can give him some run support, we have a good chance to at least be in the game and have a chance to win it, we’re super lucky to have him and on top of that, he’s just a great kid and one of those guys who has worked harder than anyone else and gets rewarded because of it.”
Brito was happy to help the Vaqueros get a victory.
“It feels good, it’s nice to finally get a win,” Brito said. “We’ve been kind of struggling and our bats kind of came alive today, so it felt good and our defense is playing good, so I think we’re trending in the right direction right now. It’s really important, this sets us up, I think we’re playing Woodbridge (next week), have some momentum going into that series, we just have to carry it over into that series.”
Crean Lutheran (11-5) jumped out to an early lead with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Dylan Maez doubled with one out and scored on an RBI triple by Griffin Theetge. After a walk Brito was able to strike out the two batters to work out of the jam.
In the second inning, Irvine got even. Spivey had a leadoff single and Sandoval reached on a double after the Saints right fielder lost the ball in the sun. Brito drove home both runners with a double to help Irvine tie the game 2-2.
Then the Vaqueros took the lead in the fifth inning. Alex Cho and Hudson Hall walked. The two runners advanced on a wild pitch. Evan Tamayo then walked to load the bases with no outs.
Valencia then came up and Choi was thrown out at home on a fielder’s choice. Valencia was safe at first base on an error and Hall came around to score on the overthrow to put Irvine ahead 3-2.
Crean Lutheran reliever Max Adams retired the next two hitters to keep the Saints close.
But in the top of the sixth, Sandoval doubled and scored on an RBI single by Cho to put Irvine ahead 4-2.
In the bottom of the inning, Maez singled and went to second on an error. Theetge reached on a bunt single on a close play at first base. Cota argued the call and appealed but the call stood.
Ian McDermott then walked to load the bases. Brito struck out Davis Rutten, then Valencia came on to strike out the next two batters.
Irvine added insurance runs in the seventh inning. Pinch-hitter Brandon Figueroa singled and scored on a double by Owen Featherson. Featherston then scored on double by Spivey.
Maez and Theetge each had two hits for Crean Lutheran, which stranded six runners while suffering its third straight loss in the tournament.
“It was a game of a lot of missed opportunities on both sides of it, opportunities to put up a lot more runs and opportunities to get out of innings sooner, we just kind of didn’t do either,” said Crean Lutheran Coach Jake Haney. “We were competing, really tough at bats, their guy on the mound is really good, it was a really big strike zone to deal with in a varsity baseball game, but they dealt with it too. It’s not an excuse, it’s just one of the reasons that made it tough on us today.
“We got to be better. We just have to try and find the right mix that’s going to get it done. We needed a key hit, they made some big pitches at big times. We don’t put together an easy schedule, our goal is not to go 28-0 going into the playoffs, our goal is to grow throughout the season and you learn a lot about yourself as an athlete and as a person when you face tough times.
“Just like difficult challenges in life, if we make excuses and we feel sorry for ourselves, life is going to be really hard for us. We got to grow up and face these challenges as men and find a way to tough our way through it rather than making excuses and pointing fingers.”
Both teams wrap up the tournament with a game on Wednesday.
—-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com