Fourth-Ranked El Dorado Calmly Defeats Kennedy

The final week of a season, no matter the sport, can be a nerve-racking time for teams fighting for a league championship or playoff slots.

But fourth-ranked El Dorado, sitting atop the Empire League by one game, looked quite relaxed and confident in dispatching Kennedy, 7-1, Wednesday at El Dorado.

The victory kept El Dorado an arm’s length ahead of fast-closing Cypress. And the Hawks basically control their destiny. If Cypress loses to Loara today or El Dorado defeats Kennedy again on Friday, El Dorado wins the league title outright.

El Dorado Coach Steve Gullotti said he was not surprised the race went down to the last week.

“At the beginning of the season I honestly thought there were five Empire teams that had a legitimate chance of winning [the league],” Gullotti said. “I figured the team that was the most consistent, and found a good No. 2 starter, would do it.”

El Dorado (21-4, 11-3) certainly has shown consistency. As Gullotti noted, the Hawks have not lost two consecutive games all season. And if there was a fear his team would approach the Division I playoffs overconfident, the loss to last-place Century two weeks ago took care of that.

“That loss woke us up,” Gullotti said. “It showed the kids the game of baseball could beat them any time.”

There was little chance Hawks’ right-hander Jordan DeJong (8-1) was going to let the visiting Irish sneak out with a win. Kennedy (14-11, 7-7) scratched out a run in the first on two singles and a sacrifice fly by Jack Tucker, but after that DeJong shut them down, striking out seven and walking none in a five-hitter.

“That was the best game Jordan’s thrown all season,” Gullotti said.

Meanwhile, the Hawks had nine hits against Kennedy starter Gabe Roman (7-2) and reliever Ryan Robertson. Designated hitter Ryan Ralph led the assault with two hits, including his third home run, driving in three runs.

The loss kept Kennedy (14-11, 7-7) tied with Loara for third.

In the Golden West League:

Tustin 12, Santa Ana 0--Chris Gary homered for the third consecutive game, his fifth of the season, and also doubled for second-place Tustin (18-5, 11-3). Gary finished with four RBIs and scored twice. Winning pitcher Elmer Roldan (7-0) had two hits, three RBIs and scored once. Like Gary, Richard Lane homered in Tustin’s five-run third inning.

In the Orange League:

Brea Olinda 9, Western 8 (11)--Garran Hein hit a two-run home run, his first of the year, in a four-run 11th inning for Brea (10-6, 8-6). Brea’s Mike Eatherton pitched nine innings, giving up five unearned runs on four hits. The Wildcats collected 15 hits and committed eight errors.

Brandon Herbert struck out 18 in 10 innings for Western (10-14, 5-9), which battled back from a 5-0 deficit with three runs in the fourth inning and two in the fifth. The Pioneers also scored three runs in the 11th before Brea’s Jason Julius could stop the rally for his first save.

In nonleague baseball:

Liberty Christian 16, Redondo Beach Gateway Christian 4 (6, mercy)--Jon Stephens had two hits, including a home run, and drove in four runs for Liberty Christian (10-11). Chris Hill was four for five with three RBIs for the Minutemen.