Santa Ana pitcher Ivan Ramirez comes off the mound after a successful inning Friday. (Photos: OC Sports Zone, Tim Burt).
Santa Ana High School’s baseball team notched its fourth one-hit victory of the season Friday, defeating Costa Mesa 7-0 Friday afternoon in an Orange Coast League game at Santa Ana.
In the latest pitching gem, Ivan Ramirez hurled a 1-hitter. Ramirez had a no-hitter until one out in the fifth inning when Matt Anderson singled to break it up. Ramirez pitched a complete game, striking out 10. He completed the shutout getting out of a bases loaded one out jam in the seventh.
Costa Mesa (9-8, 3-5) loaded the bases on two hit batters and an error. But Ramirez was able to strike out the side.
“He was poised and he’s a great kid to have,” said Santa Ana Coach Dave Silva. “He’s a great student and the way he attacked the hitters today was amazing. He breezed through the lineup.”
To see the slide show, click on the first picture:
Ramirez, who did not allow a base-runner through four innings, was aware that something special could happen.
“I noticed it in the fourth inning, but you can’t be all tense, so I just relaxed,” the junior said. “(The goal is) to keep the team going and hopefully win it all.”
Santa Ana (11-7, 7-2) remained in striking distance of league leading Orange, which defeated Santa Ana 7-0 on March 19. The teams still have two more meetings.
Santa Ana wound up with 16 hits, led by leadoff hitter first baseman Emiliano Valadez, who was 4 for 4 with two runs scored, two doubles and a stolen base.
“I’ve been toying with the idea of starting him at leadoff,” Silva said. “Last night I put him there and look what happens, he gave me a great performance today.”
Santa Ana second baseman Nate Garcia also had a big day, going 3 for 4 with two RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base. Ramirez also had two hits and Victor DeLa Cruz had an RBI single.
“I do have a young team, but we’re in a good position to make a move,” Silva said. “The good thing about it is all the kids are good students and they all listen. They always have a good attitude and that says a lot about the school. They love the game of baseball.”
Santa Ana scored a run in the first and another in the second, then took a 4-0 lead with two runs in the third inning. The Saints added two insurance runs in the fourth inning and another in the fifth.
Chris Hall, on in relief of starter Michael Joyce, held Santa Ana to a run in the final 2 1/3 innings.
“Santa Ana came out swinging the bats really well and put together a good offensive performance,” said Costa Mesa Coach Jim Kiefer. “We weren’t able to recover so hats off to them. Our guys battled but their guy had a good day on the mound and changed speeds really well.
“It’s a very competitive league this year. We feel we’re very much in the thick of it and we’ve played some good baseball this year. This is the first game this year we really got our butts kicked a little bit, it’s going to happen time to time. I know our kids will be resilient and bounce back.”
Costa Mesa catcher Jordan Stucki battled all game. He was shook up on one play at home, but was able to recover and stay in the game and reached base in the seventh when he was hit by a pitch.
“He got tangled up with the fence there, but he’s done a great job all year,” Kiefer said.
Stucki had his ankle retaped by the Santa Ana trainer and completed the game.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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