El Toro, El Dorado reach Hard 9 National Classic final

FULLERTON - Visions of an all-host championship game at the Hard 9 National Classic were quickly dashed by a hail of basehits in the final game of the night at Cal State Fullerton's Goodwin Field on Wednesday.

Co-hosts El Dorado (Placentia, Calif.) and Esperanza (Anaheim, Calif.) both advanced to the semifinal round and had a chance to play in the championship game for only the third time in the event's history.

El Dorado (11-5) did its part to make the matchup come true, defeating IMG Academies (Bradenton, Fla.) 7-1 in the early game Wednesday.

However El Toro (Lake Forest, Calif.) ended Esperanza's 11-game winning streak by striking for five runs on five hits in the first inning of the late game, en route to a 9-6 win.

Esperanza and IMG Academies will play for third place at 5 p.m. at Fullerton with El Toro and El Dorado to follow in the championship game at 7:30 p.m.

El Dorado got to the semifinal round in exciting fashion. Following a 7-0 win over Galena on a no-hitter by Kyle Twomey, the Golden Hawks beat Valley Vista 6-5 on the walkoff home run by Chris Rivera on Tuesday.

IMG Academies (16-8), meanwhile, was coming off an upset 7-5 win over No. 11-ranked Spanish Fork in its quarterfinal matchup.

The Golden Hawks took an early 2-0 lead on four straight basehits by Jason Moll, Nate Alam, Austin Logas and Drew Winter in the second inning. After IMG Academies cut the lead in half with a run in the third, El Dorado put the game away with a five-run fourth inning.

Winter and PJ Conlon had the big hits of the inning as Winter had a two-run single and Conlon had a two-run triple to right field. Conlon scored the final run of the rally on Scott Serigstad's basehit down the leftfield line.

"Winter is getting hot right now," said El Dorado coach Dave Moore about his leadoff hitter who was 2-for-3 on the day. "That's why we put him back at the top of the lineup."

Meanwhile Cameron Yen kept IMG Academies off the basepaths. He gave up one run on four hits with six strikeouts.

Winners of five straight games, El Dorado goes into the championship game with its hottest run of the season. But Moore prefers not to look at it that way.

"We're just 0-0 and right now," he said. "We are just taking it one game at a time."

Also winners of five in a row, the El Toro Chargers went put on a hitting display in their 9-6 win over Esperanza. Coach Mike Gonzalez says it's hard to predict when that type of offensive outburst may occur.

"Those things are cyclical," he said. "The other night we play one of the top pitchers in the country (James River's Nathan Kirby) and he holds us hitless for almost six innings. Today we hit the ball really well. So you never know. I am happy with the bottom of our lineup, though. They've been hitting the ball real well lately."

The bottom of the lineup sparked the rally in the first inning against Esperanza as Logan Roberts, Jonah Arenado and Jayson Yano all singled in the frame to keep the rally alive. Roberts had two RBI with his basehit while Yano knocked in one. Nick Villar, who had an RBI double, and Daniel Conmy, who had an RBI triple, drove in the other runs during the inning.

The Chargers (19-2) added three more runs in the third on a walk, singles by Villar and Gavin Collins, a two-run double by Conmy and a fielder's choice.

Esperanza (13-3) stayed in the game, however, by scoring twice in the third and fifth innings and once each in the sixth and seventh.

Brad Anderson drove in a pair of runs in the third inning and then doubled home a run in the fifth. He also scored in that frame on Mitch Christensen's basehit.

Anderson led off the seventh inning with a double and also scored in that inning on Scott Mason's single.

Mark Tumlinson scored in the sixth inning when he singled and came home Nick Catalano's basehit.

Villar finished 3-for-4 to lead El Toro's 11-hit attack.

In the fifth place bracket, Bishop Amat (La Puente, Calif.) topped Carlsbad (Carlsbad, Calif.) 5-3 and Spanish Fork (Utah) beat Valley Vista (Surprise, Ariz.) 7-1. The Lancers and Dons play at 10 a.m. at El Dorado while Carlsbad and Valley Vista play at 10 a.m. at Esperanza.

In the consolation bracket, Pacifica (Garden Grove, Calif.) defeated Alemany (Mission Hills, Calif.) 6-0 to advance to the consolation championship. It will face Cypress (Calif.), a 4-0 winner over Galena (Reno, Nev.). Pacifica and Cypress play at 1 p.m. at El Dorado while Alemany and Galena play for 11th place at Esperanza at 1 p.m.

In the 13th place bracket, Sunrise Mountain (Peoria, Ariz.) topped James River (Midlothian, Va.) 16-2 and Ocean View (Huntington Beach, Calif.) knocked off Chaminade (West Hills, Calif.) 6-2. Sunrise Mountain and Ocean View meet at 4 p.m. at Esperanza while James River and Chaminade play at 4 p.m. at El Dorado.