LA HABRA – Sonora had six infield singles Friday.
As Sonora baseball coach Rich Lodding said with a wry smile, “Tomorrow they’re line drives.”
Those ground ball base hits that never left the infield were as effective for the Raiders as line drives to the outfield in their 13-4 win over Fullerton in a Freeway League game at Sonora High.
It was the final Fullerton-Sonora game of the season. Fullerton won the first two games, 1-0 in eight innings in early March and 9-7 on Wednesday.
Fullerton remains in first place but now is tied for the league’s top spot with Sunny Hills. Both are 5-2 in league. Defending league champion Sonora is one game behind with a 4-3 league record.
Sonora scored six runs in the bottom of the first inning in which the Raiders had three infield singles and Fullerton made two errors.
That first inning started with leadoff batter Sebastian Zamorano sending a ground ball into the third base-shortstop gap that Fullerton shortstop Matt Kim backhanded too deep into the hole to make a throw.
Kirk Felikian followed for the Raiders and did exactly the same, hitting a grounder that Kim backhanded deep in the hole for another infield single. Jack Meek’s bunt was misplayed for an error to load the bases with no outs.
Izaak Fernandez hit a grounder and again it was Kim making a backhanded grab deep in the hole for another infield single that sent home Zamorano for the first Sonora run. Adrian Robles sent a sharp single to center field to drive in Felikian for a 2-0 lead. Morgan McCall singled to center to knock in Meek and Fernandez to make it 4-0.
After Marcus Hernandez’ sacrifice bunt for the first out moved Robles to third and McCall to second, Juan Mendoza walked to load the bases. Joshua Oh’s ground ball led to a force out at second base but an attempt at an inning-ending double play ended in another error to allow Robles and McCall to score for a 6-0 lead.
Sonora senior right fielder Morgan McCall had two hits and two RBIs in the Raiders’ 13-4 win over Freeway League-leading Fullerton @ocvarsity @mikehuntley63 pic.twitter.com/u3o2pa19iP
— Steve Fryer (@SteveFryer) April 2, 2022
Sonora scored three runs in the third inning, with another Felikian infield single involved and Zamorano driving in one run with a sacrifice fly and a Fernandez sending in another.
Fullerton got its two runs in the fourth inning that included a George Papadatos RBI single.
Two Fullerton errors and a run-scoring single by Oh produced two more Raiders runs in the fourth inning and pinch-hitter Anthony Garcia hit a two-run double in the sixth to complete their scoring.
McCall said that after that 1-0 loss back in early March and the two-run loss Wednesday, the Raiders needed the sort of lift they got Friday.
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“To finally come back and beat them by a lot, actually,” McCall said. “It feels really good, really good.”
Sonora plays Troy next week in a two-game league series starting Wednesday at Troy. Fullerton plays La Habra in two leagued games next week starting Wednesday at La Habra.