Brea Olinda Upsets Foothill, 6-4

Upsets are common during playoffs, especially in the first round. But they don’t come any bigger that Brea Olinda’s 6-4 victory Friday over host Foothill.

The Wildcats (12-15) bounced the third-seeded Knights from the Division III scene thanks to a three-run home run by Mike Ausman in the fifth off Jeff Lara, who came in to relieve starter Tyler Lang.

Brea Olinda advances to play Laguna Hills on Tuesday. Foothill finished 19-7.

“In this setting, it’s one of the biggest wins I’ve had,” Brea Olinda Coach Steve Hiskey said. “Especially when you come in with the record we have against a team like Foothill, which is an excellent club.

“But strange things can happen in the playoffs.”

The Wildcats know something about upsets. They were the only team to beat Magnolia this season, and did it twice in league play.

But rarely have they been as opportunistic as on Friday. Brea had only four hits off Lang (7-3) and relievers Lara and Clint Blevins. But two of them were homers; a two-run shot by Andrew Drapkowski in the third, boosting Brea’s lead to 3-0, and Ausman’s shot in the fifth, which was the game-winner.

“We had a hit-and-run play on,” said Ausman, who turns 17 today. “Normally we’re supposed to hit the ball on the ground. But [Lara] got the ball up and I was able to get it out.”

Among the things that will haunt the Knights until next season was the four walks Lang issued in 4 1/3 innings. Each runner scored.

“Four runs on walks,” said Foothill Coach Vince Brown, shaking his head. “You can’t walk that many people in a playoff game and expect to win. You can’t give those kind of opportunities.”

Foothill did manage eight hits off Brea starter Scott Davis (4-3). But they scored in only one inning, scoring only four runs in the third on a two-run single by Lang, an RBI hit to left by Austen Verst, and a run-scoring infield grounder by Jon Stephens.

Davis, who struck out five and walked one, also had to weather the Foothill seventh. The Knights had the tying runs in scoring position with two outs, but Verst flew out to left to end the game.

“A loss like this always hurts when you have to say goodbye to a great group of seniors like we had,” Brown said. “But we’ll have 15 players returning; we’ll start building for next year.”

Hiskey may say the same thing soon, but at least not until next week.

“Most of the year we’ve been thinking ‘we’ll be good next year,” Ausman said. “But a couple of weeks ago we decided to play for this year and see what happens.”

In other Division III games:

Buena Park 11, Santa Margarita 7--Ernie Jaime was three for four with a home run, two RBIs and two runs scored and Cesar Carrillo had three hits, including a home run, and drove in five runs in the upset for Buena Park (14-11). Richie Pohle had three hits, including two doubles, and four RBIs and Chris Perry had a home run and two RBIs for the Coyotes, which will play Lakewood Artesia in the second round.

Santa Margarita (19-8) loaded the bases in the sixth, but starting pitcher Daniel Flores (8-3) struck out Randall Shelley to end the threat. Flores struck out six in 6 2/3 innings for Buena Park.

Canyon 13, Phelan Serrano 0--Jeff Leuenberger allowed one hit through six scoreless innings and struck out 11 for Canyon (21-6).

Brandon Smith and Leuenberger each doubled twice and drove in seven runs between them for Canyon, which will play Wildomar Elsinore in the second round.

El Monte Mountain View 7, La Habra 6--Mountain View scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth to rally past La Habra (17-7).

David Cosato was four for four with two doubles for La Habra.

David Correa drove in two runs on two hits to raise his RBI total to 34 for the season for La Habra.

Laguna Hills 8, Pacifica 2--Jared Novak had two hits and three RBIs in a victory for Laguna Hills (15-10-1). Kevin McCaffrey also had two hits and two RBIs for the Hawks.

Sonora 16, Rosemead Don Bosco 1--Randy Medina was three for four with two RBIs in a victory for Sonora (23-3). The Raiders play El Monte Mountain View.