HUNTINGTON BEACH – With two of the Sunset League’s teams ranked in the Orange County top 10, Marina coach Toby Hess knows it is too early to elevate his team to elite status.
But being undefeated in the league, even at this early juncture, is a notable accomplishment.
After a 5-1 victory over Edison on Friday at Edison, the Vikings are 4-0 in league and in a first-place tie with Huntington Beach, the No.1 team in the county.
Marina (9-5 overall) already has a victory over 10th-ranked Los Alamitos and will play the Oilers for the first time on Thursday at Marina.
“This league, year in and year out, and game in and game out, is tough,” Hess said. “It’s like the NFL. If you can get a win in this league, it’s a legitimate win. We’ll take them.”
The Vikings’ victory over the Chargers (7-8, 0-5) can be attributed, in large part, to pitcher Cory Lewis.
The sophomore right-hander entered the game in the third and pitched five shutout innings, allowing three hits and striking out six en route to the victory.
In the fifth, Edison had the bases loaded with one out when Lewis pitched out of trouble by striking out Chase Hanson and retiring John Thomas on a fly out to right.
Lewis struck out four of the final two innings.
“We’ve asked him to come in at any time,” Hess said of Lewis. “Whenever he does, he has shut down whoever we’ve played.”
Lewis also had an RBI single in the fourth to give the Vikings a 2-1 lead.
Eric Anderson drove in the Vikings’ third run with a sacrifice fly, and Troy Kent singled home two more runs in the seventh.
Kyler Arenado hit in RBI triple in the first for Edison’s run.
