Chargers riding high

All along, Edison baseball coach Steve Lambright has said his young squad needed a boost in the confidence department.

His team got that shot in a big way March 20.

Los Alamitos, not only the top-ranked team in CIF Division I and Orange County but also the state, came to Edison sporting a 9-1 record and four-game winning streak that took them to the title of the prestigious Loara Tournament and a 2-0 start in Sunset League play. That streak came to an end, though, when the visiting Griffins were handed a 4-0 shutout loss by the Chargers.

It was the first shutout loss of the season for a Los Al team that had scored no fewer than three runs in each of its previous 10 games.

“We shocked the world,” Lambright said of the big victory, which put an inexperienced but talented Edison team at 3-0 in league entering spring break. “When you play a club as good as Los Al, when Kurt [Heyer] pitched the way he did against a team of their caliber, that says a lot about what he’s got.

“This definitely was a big shot to our confidence, without a doubt.”

Heyer held the potent Griffins to just three hits. The junior, the rookie of the year last year in the Sunset League, struck out seven and didn’t allow a walk in, notching his second-straight shutout win.

“He was terrific,” Lambright said. “Kurt was on and with Kyle’s home run, well, those things pumped a lot of confidence into our ball club.”

That home run belonged to senior Kyle Higashioka and his big first-inning blast, a two-run shot, gave Edison what turned out to be the only runs they would need.

But the Chargers added two more runs in the third inning when sophomore designated hitter Josh Lesinski singled up the middle to make it 4-0.

The home run was the fifth of the season for Higashioka.

Edison has defeated Los Alamitos, Marina and Newport Harbor — teams that figure to be serious challengers to the Sunset title — in the first week of the league season.

Yet the Chargers couldn’t sustain the momentum gained from the Los Al win when they began pool play Saturday in the Anaheim Lions Tournament. First, Paramount mustered just two hits yet managed to pull out a 3-2 victory in the seventh inning. On Monday Calabasas was a 7-5 winner over the Chargers.

Edison, though, got back on the winning track Tuesday by routing visiting Long Beach Millikan, 18-1.

Lesinski continued his hot hitting by clubbing a pair of doubles and a three-run home run in the sixth to account for four RBI.

Freshman Eric Snyder went three for six, sophomore Kyle Jones had two doubles and drove in four runs and senior Nick Torres had two hits.

Heyer picked up his third win of the season.

“It was one of those fun games for us where everyone got to play,” Lambright said.

“It was nice to get back to winning but the roller coaster that we’ve been on this season goes back to our youth. Our season has been an ebb and flow but if we can match our energy and intensity every game, then we are a team that is tough to contend with. But we’re young, and the younger kids haven’t consistently brought that energy and intensity each time out.”

Edison will attempt to go to 4-0 in Sunset play when they visit Esperanza as league action resumes Wednesday.