Beckman center fielder Ricky Teel scored twice and reached base four times Tuesday against Irvine. (Photo: Courtesy Rosalene Ledendecker, For OC Sports Zone)
An early season Pacific Coast League baseball showdown between Beckman and Irvine Tuesday was filled with lots of big hits, plenty of scoring and some great relief pitching by the Patriots’ Niklas Krutiak.
Beckman (7-2, 2-0) broke open a 5-5 tie with two runs in the fifth inning and went on to capture an 8-5 victory to take over sole possession of first place. (Please click here for a game story and photos)
Sean McLain, Ricky Teel (two hits, two walks and two runs scored), Alec Gomez, C.J. Burnette and Nick McLain led Beckman’s nine-hit attack.
Casey Kudell, who had two RBI and Marc Filia, Grant Lockwood and Elliot Jun, who each had an RBI, led the Vaqueros (6-2, 1-1). Patrick Hackworth had a double and scored two runs for Irvine.
Irvine, which earned a Top 10 ranking in Division 4 this week, showed it will put up a battle.
“It’s going to be fun,” said Beckman Coach Kevin Lavalle. “The Pacific Coast League is a wild league anyways. Irvine’s revival is what’s going to make it fun for 15 games.”
Beckman is out to win its second consecutive Pacific Coast League title in a race which is without Corona del Mar, who usually battled for the top spot. CdM is in the Sunset League and was replaced by Portola, which is in its first varsity season.
Beckman appears to have the talent to repeat as champion, but there is still a lot of competition for starting spots, Lavalle said.
“We’ve got a lot of guys who are still competing for spots and I think that’s a factor of the season starting so much earlier and some guys aren’t hot and some guys are,” Lavalle said. “It certainly makes practice a competitive environment.
“We don’t have guys who are on our bench who look at themselves as back-ups. That makes it hard on me to make the lineup but it’s a great thing that you can unveil the curtains and you got nine guys and their last names kind of don’t matter. The only thing that matters is the Beckman on the front of their chest and running the offense, throwing strikes and playing defense.”
Beckman will try to win its third straight league game of the year on Friday when it hosts Woodbridge (4-5, 0-2) at 3 p.m.
Also on Friday, Irvine will take on University at Uni.
“We know they’re going to be a competitive team and we know they have a couple good arms out there and if we can show the fight that we showed today and be a little more effective out on the mound, I like our chances as long as we continue to fight and have a great two days of practice,” said Irvine Coach Gabriel Cota.
Cota, like Beckman’s Lavalle, expects a battle for the top spot in the PCL this season.
“I think everyone can beat everybody up a little bit,” Cota said. “And that’s what you love, that’s how our league should be. That’s what our guys are built for. We’re ready for the race. Our leadership is right on. I’m really happy where we are. Games like this in the past may have been quite a bit different so I’m really glad with the way they competed.”
Portola (4-4, 1-1) plays at Northwood (1-4-1, 1-1) in the other PCL game Friday at 3 p.m.
-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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