Carter Kimberly was, as John Fogerty sang it, a-roundin’ third and headed for home.
Then he stumbled.
Kimberly righted himself to sprint the final 85 feet and score the winning run for Yorba Linda on Brent Schuber’s two-out hit in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Mustangs beat Valencia, 4-3, on Tuesday in a semifinal of the Ryan Lemmon Invitational baseball tournament at Windrow Park in Irvine.
Yorba Linda will play Trabuco Hills in the tournament championship game today at 7 p.m. at Windrow Park. Trabuco Hills beat San Juan Hills, 5-0, in the other semifinal.
Yorba Linda’s Robbie Espinosa was 3 for 3 with two RBI. Sam Eggenburg pitched a complete game for the Mustangs to even his record at 3-3.
Valencia’s winning streak ended at 12 games.
Yorba Linda (8-11-1) and Valencia (16-3) are Empire League teams. Last week, Valencia beat Yorba Linda twice to improve its league-leading mark to 6-1. The Mustangs are in fourth place with a 2-3 league record.
It would have been a more satisfying win for Yorba Linda on Tuesday if it had been a league game. But still …
“This is kind of a little bit of payback,” Kimberly said.
Kimberly hit a one-out single in the bottom of the seventh and stole second base. One out later and on a full count, Schuber sent a hard-hit ground ball between the Valencia shortstop and third baseman.
Left fielder Anthony Larrasquitu made a bullet of a throw that was on time but a couple of feet up the first-base line, enabling Kimberly to slide across the plate with the winning run after he regained his balance.
Kimberly gave no consideration to remaining at third base.
“I stumbled a little,” Kimberly said, “but I had my mind set on scoring and ending the game. I was going full throttle.”
Matt Ruff had two hits for Valencia and drove in a run. Andrew Natividad had a pinch-hit single to drive in a run to tie the score, 3-3, for the Tigers in the fifth inning.
Also in the Ryan Lemmon Invitational:
Woodbridge 4, Tustin 3: Kai Abe’s two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning advanced the Warriors (9-5-1) to today’s consolation championship at 4 p.m. at Windrow Park.
In the Hard 9 National Classic:
No. 1 Huntington Beach 2, No. 9 Santa Margarita 1: The Oilers (14-2) scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to beat the Eagles (9-6) and advance to today’s semifinal at Cal State Fullerton.
Jake Bodt had the winning two-run double for Huntington Beach. JD Carr had a solo home run for Santa Margarita.
In the Sea View League:
No. 3 Dana Hills 3, No. 6 Aliso Niguel 2: With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, Luke Williams doubled and scored on Zach Wolf‘s base hit for the Dolphins (15-4, 5-0).
In the Academy League:
Crean Lutheran 8, Oxford Academy 1: The Saints (14-3, 5-0) took over sole possession of first place.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com