Fryer on baseball: Los Alamitos heating up
Los Alamitos was 2-3 in the Sunset League after the first round of league games.
Today, the Griffins are 8-3 in the Sunset League and are tied for first place with Marina.
What happened?
"Just a bunch of great young men willing to work hard and learn," Los Alamitos first-year coach Matt Nuez said. "It's been all about their attitude and effort, on top of their natural ability."
Los Alamitos, 15-6 overall and No. 8 in this week's Orange County rankings, beat Newport Harbor in league games twice last week, by a cumulative score of 16-2, after a pair of close victories, 2-0 and 2-1, over Sunset rival Huntington Beach the week before. Three weeks ago, the Griffins beat Marina in back-to-back league games and overall have won eight of their last nine.
The Griffins play Fountain Valley in two league games this week, then conclude the regular season next week with two league games against defending league champion Edison.
Nuez likes the direction the Griffins are taking. However ...
"We're not close to being done yet," said Nuez, an assistant coach at Lakewood for 14 years before taking the Los Alamitos job late this past summer. "We're just trying to get better every day."
THE TOP 25
Going beyond the results of this week's top-10 poll, if a top 25 poll was taken this is how this voter would rank teams 11-25:11. Marina (14-8); 12. Mission Viejo (14-12); 13. Capistrano Valley (14-8-1); 14. Aliso Niguel (16-10); 15. JSerra (12-11); 16. Edison (9-12); 17. Beckman (16-6); 18. Trabuco Hills (12-10); 19. El Modena (13-8); 20. Dana Hills (11-14); 21. San Clemente (13-10); 22. San Juan Hills (16-7); 23. Servite (14-9); 24. La Habra (13-9); 25. University (16-5).
NOTES
•The final day of the regular season is May 11. Playoff brackets will be available at ocvarsity.com on May 14. The playoffs begin with wild-card round games May 15, followed by first-round games May 17 in CIF-SS divisions 2, 4 and 6 and on May 18 in divisions 1, 3, 5 and 7.
•It's all about league games now, with two weeks remaining, including this one, in the regular season. A notable nonleague result Saturday: Cypress 2, Lakewood 1. Lakewood was No. 1 in the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 rankings last week. Tyler Alamo, the junior catcher who recently committed to Cal State Fullerton, had two hits and drove in a run and pitcher Jake Lyons got the victory.
•Calvary Chapel's eight-game winning streak ended last Tuesday in a 4-2 loss to Laguna Beach. The Eagles beat Laguna Beach, 2-1, on Friday and are in first place in the Orange Coast League with a 9-2 record, one game ahead of Estancia (8-3).
•Oxford Academy has won six in a row in the Academy League, is 10-1 in league with a three-game lead over second-place St. Margaret's. Oxford and St. Margaret's play each other twice in the final week of the regular season.
•Mater Dei senior pitcher/outfielder Ty Moore had a good week last week. He pitched a shutout and scored the game's run in the No. 2 Monarchs' 1-0 victory over No. 1 Orange Lutheran on Wednesday, and had two hits including a double in an 8-3 loss to Lutheran on Friday. Lutheran scored all of its eight runs in the fourth inning Friday, including a two-run single by Cody Nulph, and senior pitcher Brent Wheatley threw a complete game to improve his record to 5-2.
•La Habra's Aaron Porter was Orange County football defensive player of the year this past fall, and he is quite a baseball player, too. Porter, a senior pitcher/outfielder who signed with UCLA for football but has been told he will be able to play baseball there too, was 3 for 3 with four RBIs in a Freeway league victory over Buena Park last week. He has five home runs and 21 RBIs, both team highs for the league-leading Highlanders.
•The hottest team in Orange County is University, which has won nine in a row to force itself into a tie for first place with Beckman in the Pacific Coast League (both are 8-3 in league). Beckman and University play each other twice this week, today at University and Friday at Beckman. (Cox3 will tape Friday's game for telecasts at 11:30 p.m. that evening and 7:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday.) Beckman has All-County senior James Kaprielian on the mound today, and with his 7-0 record and 0.85 ERA, there is a fair chance University's streak could end.
•Westminster pitcher Tyler Mahle threw a three-hitter, struck out 10 and scored the only run in the Lions' 1-0 victory over Segerstrom last Tuesday. There is a four-way tie for first place in the Golden West League, with Loara, Ocean View, Segerstrom and Westminster all at 7-4 in league. Loara and Segerstrom play each other twice this week.
•Ocean View's Timmy Robinson hit two home runs and drove in five runs in the Seahawks' 13-10 victory over Loara on Friday. Robinson was MVP in the Golden West League in football this past fall, and this week was named to the South team for the county all-star football game. Earlier last week, Robinson and the Seahawks were shut out by Loara's Nick Garcia in a 1-0 Saxons victory.
•Trabuco Hills junior Adam Vargas was 5 for 7 over a two-game series split with San Juan Hills last week.
•Eric Peters of La Quinta pitched a no-hitter last week in the Aztecs' 8-0 victory over Bolsa Grande. Peters struck out six, doubled and scored twice.
