THE PREPS : Mater Dei Rallies to Beat Estancia, 20-15

Mater Dei High School scored 15 runs in the fifth inning to overcome a 6-2 deficit and then held on to defeat Estancia, 20-15, in the semifinals of the Newport Elks baseball tournament Friday at Rancho Santiago College.

Jim Austin, who had three hits, paced the Monarchs’ fifth-inning attack with two triples to drive in five runs. Joe Ciccarella, who hit his second homer of the game, a two-run shot, in the fifth, finished the game with three hits and four RBIs.

Mater Dei (5-0), which was also aided by six walks and four Estancia errors in the fifth, will play Foothill in today’s championship game at 3 p.m. at Hart Park in Orange.

Estancia (4-1) took advantage of Mater Dei starter Tony Pena’s wildness to take a 1-0 lead in the first. After Dan Dougherty led off with a walk, Jayson White advanced him to third with a single. Frank Herman walked to load the bases, and Pena’s wild pitch scored Dougherty.

After Ciccarella tied the score with an inside-the-park homer in the second, he gave Mater Dei a 2-1 lead in the fourth with a run-scoring single. The hit came after Austin singled with one out and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Eagle starter Tony Mendoza.

Estancia took advantage of three walks and two wild pitches to score five runs in the fifth to take its ill-fated lead. White and Herman led Estancia’s attack with run-scoring singles, with White’s hit driving home two runs.