IRVINE – – Northwood’s baseball team cashed in some breaks and rallied from a three-run deficit to defeat Woodbridge, 5-3, in a Pacific Coast League game Friday afternoon at Ryan Lemmon Stadium.
“It was a game where two teams competed well and the ball went our way a few times,” Northwood coach Rob Stuart said. “Kids make errors and kids make plays, and we made enough to win the ball game and we competed extremely well.
“I have no complaints about our competitiveness in that game.”
The Timberwolves (6-4, 2-1) trailed, 3-0, going into the top of the fifth inning.
But Nino Kim and Garrett O’Connor were hit by pitches leading off. Kevin Okuda then moved the runners over on a sacrifice, and Kevin Lee followed with a two-run single. He advanced to second on the throw home.
With two outs, Josh Lopez doubled to drive in another run and tie the game.
In the sixth inning, Kim reached on an error and O’Connor tripled. Okuda then drove in another run with a single to make it 5-3.
Okuda blanked Woodbridge (4-6, 2-1) the rest of the way. Okuda (3-1) allowed seven hits and struck out three.
“Kevin Okuda was great. He’s been great for three years,” Stuart said.
O’Connor led the Timberwolves’ attack, going 2 for 2 with two runs scored.
Woodbridge jumped out to a lead in the first inning. Aharon Modlin doubled and came around to score when Jack Martine reached on an error.
The Warriors added two runs in the fourth inning on RBI singles by Adam Weiner and Ryan Santa Cruz to make it 3-0.
But the Warriors could not hold the lead.
“I tip my hat to their offense; they stayed with the approach and they really took advantage of our mistakes,” Woodbridge coach Tim Murray said. “We’ve got to do a better job of not making mistakes.”
Contact the writer: tburt@ocregister.com
