Loara coaches talk to their players after Wednesday’s Garden Grove League game. (Photos Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone)
Loara’s baseball team is gearing up for a regular-season ending series with Rancho Alamitos, which is battling the first place Saxons for the Garden Grove League title.
To see the slide show, please click on the first photo
But Coach Shaun Hill has reminded his team that it needs to take care of business before that.
Wednesday afternoon, Loara (12-8, 10-0) did just that, exploding for 10 runs in the fourth inning on its way to a 13-2 victory over Los Amigos at Los Amigos.
“I felt like we coasted a little bit today, we had a big lead today and we kind of relaxed on our heels,” said Hill. “There is definitely a bunch of little stuff we can work on. There were some base-running mistakes and mental mistakes and not having our signs down as pitchers and infielders not positioned correctly.
“You can’t rest on your heels and when you play Rancho the last week of the season (in two games) you’re not just going to be able to turn the light switch on, so it’s got to be competitive every day for us.”
Loara is in first place in the league ahead of second place Rancho Alamitos (12-6, 9-1). The Saxons finished third in league last year.
Matt Blackney started on the mound for Loara and did not give up a hit through four innings.
“He struggled his last two outings with command and today he was throwing nothing but strikes,” Hill said. “He likes to work fast and throw strikes and he did an excellent job today. Nathan Gutierrez has only thrown a couple innings for us all year and he came in throwing strikes and it was awesome to see that.”
Blackney also had a bases clearing triple in the 10-run fourth inning. Patrick Monroe also had an RBI single, his second of the game.
Jacob Mendoza continued his torrid hitting with three hits, two RBI and two runs scored for Loara.
“He’s been batting around .500 all year long, so it doesn’t seem to matter who we’re playing or where we’re playing, he is consistently putting the bat on the ball, he’s our catcher and one of our leaders,” Hill said of Mendoza. “He’a also a leader on the football team.”
Los Amigos (4-14, 2-8) broke the shutout in the sixth inning when Javier Blanco delivered an RBI single. Juan Contreras, who singled, came around to score the other run on a single by Joseph Mena.
“We played a great team, Loara has done really well this season,” said Los Amigos Coach Adam LaMendola. “I’m proud of my boys. They don’t quit, they kept fighting. We’re trying to get some guys an opportunity to get some ABs and they took advantage of it. They were able to put the ball in play and they swung the bat.
“But it’s always frustrating to lose and it’s always hard for these guys because I know they’re better than they’ve shown.”
-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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