Santa Ana tries to rally but comes up short against Torrance in regional tourney

Santa Ana Pony Mustang all-stars and coaches walk toward post-game handshakes with Torrance American. (Photo: OC Sports Zone, Tim Burt).

Santa Ana’s Mustang all-stars fell behind by four runs early and were unable to recover, losing to Torrance American 5-2 Friday night in the regional youth baseball tournament hosted by Irvine Pony at Hicks Canyon Park in Irvine.

“In these games it’s kind of tough to bounce back when they jump on you 2-0,” said Santa Ana Manager Jose Santiago. “We came out a little flat, all of us did, at the beginning. We tried to turn it on a little too late and it just didn’t work out.”

Torrance scored two runs in the first inning as Johnny McGuire, who walked and Bobby MacLeod, who singled, came around to score. Torrance added two runs in the second inning and an insurance run in the sixth and final inning.

Santa Ana tried to battled back in the bottom of the sixth. Adrian Jimenez singled with one out and scored on a single by Michael Cortes to cut the lead to 5-2. Ethan Mitre then singled and went to second with Cortes holding at third. But Torrance notched the final out to end the threat.

Mitre also had a a triple in the second inning and came around to score on a wild pitch.

“He’s one of our big bats,” said Santiago. “He contributes a lot.”

Josiah Vasquez, Nico Nava and Anthony Calvario pitched for Santa Ana.

Santa Ana returns to action on Saturday in the 10-and-under double elimination tournament that runs through Monday.

“Tomorrow is a must-win situation,” Santiago said. “We got to come out with a lot of energy.”

Other Mustang scores:

Thursday

Olive 14, South Bay 2

Placentia 19, East Long Beach 2

Friday

Placentia 18, Irvine 1

Bronco (12-and-under):

Thursday

Placentia 16, Cypress 0

South Bay 12, Irvine 2

Friday

Santa Ana 3, Olive 1

South Bay 9, Torrance 1

SATURDAY BRONCO COVERAGE: Placentia meets Santa Ana in second round (Photos).

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com