The Newport Elks and Loara tournaments have produced a couple of upsets here and supported preseason rankings there.
In the Elks’ Frank Lerner Division, the elite division of the four-division, 78-team tournament, Damien of La Verne beat Orange Lutheran, 8-7. Orange Lutheran was No. 2 in the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 preseason rankings. Damien was No. 7 in Division 2.
Unranked Foothill beat Division 1 No. 9 J.W. North of Riverside, 8-3, on Saturday.
Among the Elks games Tuesday are Esperanza vs. Orange Lutheran at Hart Park at 3 p.m. Also in the Elks tournament, on Wednesday, Capistrano Valley plays at Foothill at 3 p.m.
The Loara Tournament’s championship quarterfinals, Tuesday at 3 p.m.: Bishop Amat of La Puente at Lakewood; Servite at Aliso Niguel; San Clemente at El Toro; and Woodbridge vs. Cypress at Glover Stadium’s Dee Fee Field, 7 p.m.
Around the horn in county baseball:
• Woodbridge senior pitcher/infielder Jake Larson pitched a two-hit shutout Friday when the Warriors beat Savanna, 2-0, in the first round of the Loara Tournament. Larson is 2-0 with 11 strikeouts in 12 innings. He has six hits in 14 at-bats.
• Cypress senior pitcher James Acuna had 10 strikeouts in the Centurions’ 4-0 win over Villa Park in the Loara Tournament. He signed with Oregon.
• The CIF-Southern Section rankings underwent some significant changes, from preseason to this week. JSerra is No. 1 in Division 1 this week, up from No. 4 in the preseason poll.
• Also in the Division 1 poll, Orange Lutheran is No. 3 and preseason No. 1 Huntington Beach, which opened the season 2-2 after also being No. 1 in the county and in some national rankings, is No. 4. Unranked in the Division 1 preseason poll but in there this week are No. 6 Cypress, No. 7 Servite and No. 10 Capistrano Valley.
• In Division 3, Beckman moved up from No. 7 in the preseason poll to No. 3 this week.
• The Register will have its first update for the O.C. top 10 next week. The new top 10 will be online in the afternoon on March 14.
