FOUNTAIN VALLEY – Fountain Valley has a rich baseball history.
Major league pitchers C.J. Wilson, Chris Tillman and Casey Janssen are a testament to the talent that has come through the Barons’ program.
This year, Fountain Valley’s roster is limited in its varsity experience, but that doesn’t mean the Barons aren’t going to fight for everything they can get.
The Barons came from behind twice Friday to thwart No. 10 Los Alamitos, 5-4, in a Sunset League game at Fountain Valley High.
With the score tied at 4 in the bottom of the seventh, JT Navarro led off with a double that landed inside the right-field line. Los Alamitos (7-4, 1-1) walked Pierson Loska to set up a double play. A wild pick-off throw advanced the runners, forcing the Griffins to issue a second intentional pass to load the bases with nobody out.
Dalton Davenport got Michael Murphy to fly out to center, but the threat of a suicide squeeze posed a problem when Justin Yang came to the plate. Davenport elevated an 0-1 fastball. It missed Yang’s bat, going off Andrew Coleman’s glove and to the backstop.
Fountain Valley (7-5, 1-2) celebrated at home as Navarro crossed the plate to give the Barons their first Sunset League victory.
“(Davenport) made a good pitch. Sometimes, it’s just the way baseball works,” Navarro said of his double. “I was able to get it to fall in, get a double, and start us off.”
Josh Agnew gave Los Alamitos a 3-0 lead in the first with a bases-clearing double.
Willie Aguilar tied it in the second with a two-RBI single, and Stephen Fedele’s hit knotted it at 4 in the sixth.
“These kids are going to have to grow up a little bit,” Barons coach Deric Yanagisawa said of his team’s inexperience. “They’re learning how to stay in games. It’s a fist fight every one of these games in the Sunset League.”
