Fullerton takes control early and rolls to Freeway League win over Sunny Hills

Fullerton players (from left) Miguel Velasquez, George Papadatos, Connor Sunderland and Kyle Kim contributed to Friday’s win. (Photo: Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone).

Four Fullerton pitchers combined to toss a two-hit shutout and the Indians exploded for 10 runs in the first two innings and cruised to a 13-0 win over Sunny Hills in the Freeway League baseball opener for both teams Friday afternoon at Fullerton.

George Papadatos struck out five and yielded one hit over the first three innings to earn the win for the Indians (9-4, 1-0). Eddie Avita threw two scoreless innings, followed by Declan Fitzgerald and Logan Davis for Fullerton. The two teams shared the league title last year.

“I kept mostly with my fastball and my slider was also working well,” said Papadatos, who added an RBI and scored two runs. “The big bats pounded it hard early and that helped us build confidence and the dugout support was amazing.”

Indians Coach Shaun Hill said he liked what he saw from his team.

“We felt if we came out early and scored some runs it would put pressure on them,” said Hill. “I loved the energy from the start. These guys were like dogs on a tight leash; they couldn’t wait to play. We’re very competitive one through nine in the order.”

In the bottom of the first inning, after the first two Fullerton batters were retired, the next nine Indians hitters reached base.

Miguel Velasquez highlighted the rally as he drilled a three-run double to give Fullerton a 5-0 lead. Velasquez then scored on Niko Savage’s RBI single to put the Indians ahead 6-0 after one inning.

“It feels great to get a big hit and help the team win; we’re pumped up,” said Velasquez, who also scored two runs.

Fullerton went right back to work in the second inning with four more runs. Papadatos smashed an RBI double and Kyle Kim followed with a two-run double giving the Indians a 10-0 lead after two innings.

“We came out strong in the first two innings and kept our foot on the gas,” said Kim, who finished with three RBI and a run scored and reached base three times.

Fullerton added two more runs in the fourth and Connor Sunderland blasted a towering homer to right – his fourth of the season- to complete the Indians scoring.

“Tensions were running a little high coming into this game because they shared the league title with us last year, so we really wanted to get after them,” said Sunderland.

Cameron Loh and Mateo Ramirez managed the only two hits for Sunny Hills (7-4-1, 0-1).

The Lancers best scoring opportunity came in the second inning. With two on and one out, Papadatos struck out Caleb Brown and Ramirez looking to end the Lancers scoring threat.

“It’s hard to open league play like this but everybody’s in the same boat,” said Sunny Hills’ first-year coach Chris Vogt. “I know these schools are rivals and a lot of these kids on both teams know each other but it comes down to executing and playing the game.”

Sunny Hills had its three-game winning streak snapped. The two teams play again on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Sunny Hills.