Beckman’s baseball team took advantage of its opportunities Tuesday in a 5-4 win over Northwood.
The Patriots capitalized on three Northwood errors to score three unearned runs in the Pacific Coast League game at Northwood.
Beckman remains in first place with a 5-1 league record. Woodbridge, which beat University on Tuesday, is in second at 4-2. Northwood and Corona del Mar are tied for third at 3-3.
The Patriots (11-6 overall) had only four hits but made them count. Beckman coach Kevin Lavalle said they had to against Northwood senior pitcher Kevin Okuda.
“When you face a pitcher like that and you get guys on base,” Lavalle said, “you’ve got to come through.”
Okuda was All-Pacific Coast League first team last year as a junior and was league player of the year in 2013 as a sophomore.
Northwood (10-7) rallied for three runs in the sixth inning. The Timberwolves had a runner at second base with one out but could advance him further.
The Timberwolves took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Brandon Kim’s RBI double. Beckman scored two in the second. Isaiah Bull walked, advanced to second base on Austin Schell’s sacrifice bunt, took third on Chase Ellett’s single and scored when Sam Harline grounded out. Jake Groves’ double drove in Ellett to give the Patriots a 2-1 lead.
The Patriots made it 3-1 in the third. Fidone reached first base on an error, stole second, was sacrificed to third by Matt McLain and scored when Tyler Geurts grounded out.
In the fourth inning, the Patriots had runners on first and second when Harline doubled and Groves walked. A Northwood infield throwing error allowed Harline to score from second base and sent Groves to third. Groves scored on Fidone’s sacrifice fly to make it 5-1.
Northwood’s sixth-inning rally started when Garrett O’Connor’s sharp liner to center field was misplayed for a three-base error. Carson Williams’ single drove in O’Connor. Williams went to third on Taylor Clancy’s double and scored on a wild pitch that moved Clancy to third. Clancy scored on Andrew Kim’s double.
The next two Wolverines grounded out, to second and to third, to end the threat.
Beckman won the league championship last year.
Also in the Pacific Coast League:
Woodbridge 10, University 4: Jamie Hardcastle was 4 for 4 with two RBI for the visiting Warriors (7-11, 4-2).
Irvine 4, Corona del Mar 3: Andrew Xiao delivered a two-run single in the eighth inning as the visiting Vaqueros (7-11, 1-5) got their first league win.
In the Garden Grove League:
Garden Grove 2, Rancho Alamitos 1 (8): Beto Vazquez hit a two-out double in the top of the eighth inning and eventually scored the winning run for the league-leading Argonauts (8-7, 5-1). Vazquez also pitched all eight innings and had two other hits.
In the Orange Coast League:
Calvary Chapel 5, Estancia 0: Daniel Morales pitched a no-hitter for the visiting Eagles (14-4, 5-1). Morales (3-2) had nine strikeouts with two walks.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
