Beckman and Loara stay atop their leagues; Santa Ana remains in CIF playoff hunt

Beckman’s Justin Goldstein, shown pitching in an earlier game, was solid on the mound Tuesday. (File photo courtesy Rosalene Ledendecker For OC Sports Zone)

Beckman’s baseball team remained atop the Pacific Coast League with an 11-0 victory over Woodbridge Tuesday afternoon at Ryan Lemmon Stadium.

“We played really well today,” said Beckman Coach Kevin Lavalle. “I was a little worried about how we would respond coming off playing tournament games in the National Classic, but that first inning certainly set the tone. I told my guys that whether they know it or not, we just won a big game.”

Beckman (16-4, 9-1) has a two-game lead over Northwood (9-8-1, 7-3) with five games remaining. Northwood defeated Portola 13-4 on Tuesday.

Justin Goldstein was solid on the mound for four innings for Beckman, allowing three hits and striking out seven.

“He made his best pitches when we had to,” Lavalle said.

Sean Ledendecker, who came on in relief for Beckman, had two strikeouts.

Logan Jackson led the Patriots offensively, going 3 for 3 with two RBI.

“It’s great to see so many seniors with smiles on their faces,” Lavalle said. “Today was a great day.”

In other games Tuesday:

Loara 21, Los Amigos 4: The Saxons improved their record to 9-0 in the Garden Grove League Pat Monroe was 3 for 4 with a home run, Matt Blackney was 3 for 3 with a home run and Jacob Mendoza was 4 for 5 with a triple and seven RBI to lead Loara.

Loara and Rancho Alamitos are batting for the league title.

Santa Ana 14, Saddleback 3: The Saints improved their record to 11-8 overall and 6-4 in league play to remain in the hunt for the CIF playoffs. Garrett Gonzales was 2 for 3 with four runs scored; Josue Sanches was 2 for 2 with three RBI, Kevin Gomez was 2 for 2 and senior Adrian Gonzalez got the victory on the mound.