Los Alamitos baseball battles back to beat Fountain Valley after rough start – Orange County Register

LOS ALAMITOS — The Los Alamitos baseball team’s winning streak and second place in the standings appeared in jeopardy early in the Griffins’ Surf League game against Fountain Valley on Wednesday at Los Alamitos High School.

After trailing four runs from the Barons in the first inning, the Griffins came back to tie the score in the fifth, then won 6-5 thanks to Devin Porch’s tiebreaker and solo home run in the sixth.

The Griffins (20-5, 4-2), ranked No. 6 in Orange County, extended their winning streak to nine and are alone in second place with three league games remaining.

No. 15 Fountain Valley (14-9, 3-3) sits in third place and also has three league matches remaining.

After facing the Barons again on Friday, the Griffins close out the regular season with two games against No. 5 Huntington Beach, the Surf League’s premier team. The Barons end the regular season with a pair of games against Edison (9-14, 0-6).

Only the top two teams in four-team leagues receive automatic playoff bids.

The Barons scored four runs with two outs in the first inning.

The big blow was Tyler Peshke’s two-run triple.

Gibson Rath then singled home off Peshke and Jacob De Maria singled off Rath later in the inning.

Griffins starter Jack Lorenz calmed down afterward and didn’t allow another run until there were two outs in the fifth inning.

“He settled in and kept us in the game and gave us a chance,” Los Alamitos coach Tony Fusco said. “We didn’t need to get into the bullpen. We have a lot of confidence in him. I don’t think he was super sharp. He was a little more tired than usual. It’s the end of the year. But he’s a competitor and he competed for us today.

A disastrous third inning by the Barons allowed the Griffins to come back into the game with three unearned runs.

The Barons committed three errors, as well as a passed ball, a wild pitch and a hit batter during the inning.

In the fifth inning, a serious collision in the outfield occurred between Fountain Valley left fielder Isaac Lomeli and center fielder Gibson Rath on a deep ball hit into space by Jake Evans.

Despite the collision, Lomeli made the catch but remained on the ground for several minutes before being taken off the field on a golf cart.

The base runners were able to advance from second and third on the play to make the score 5-5.

Porch started the sixth and hit the first pitch he saw over the wall in left-center field for a home run that ended up being the game-winner.

“I just went over there to try to see one of my locations,” Porch said. “I ended up getting the first pitch and just took it out. The game was kind of on the line and I had to put my boys in the lead.

Logan Hunt pitched in relief for the Griffins and retired the team in order in the sixth and seventh innings.