Prep baseball: Torrey shows true colors

Barry Faulkner

NEWPORT BEACH - It was Patriots Day at Fenway Park, but a Tory,

make that sophomore right-hander Ryan Torrey, was creating a potential

mound revolution Monday at Newport Harbor High.

Torrey, with only one previous varsity pitching performance under his

belt, worked four strong innings of relief in the Sailors’ 8-4 baseball

loss to Santa Ana Valley in the consolation quarterfinals of the Pride of

the Coast Tournament on the Sailors’ diamond.

Displaying slow and slower variations of a sweeping curveball and

mixing in his fastball for effect, Torrey retired 11 of the 17 hitters he

faced, yielding four hits and only one run. He struck out two, walked

one, let his defense work for him and thoroughly impressed his coach, Jim

Kiefer.

“He did a nice job,” Kiefer said. “He was our one highlight.”

Was this the type of performance that might earn Torrey a few more

pitching assignments the rest of the way?

“Definitely,” Kiefer said. “The key thing we’re looking for from Ryan

is the ability to change speeds and throw strikes. When he does that, he

can be effective.”

Unfortunately for the Sailors (5-12), Torrey’s heroics came after the

Falcons (3-14) had built a 7-0 lead, bashing eight hits, including four

doubles and a Gus Navarro home run, in the first three innings.

If, as Kiefer has said, the Tars are snake bit during their current

swoon (losing nine of their last 10), the Falcons were also wondering

when the Baseball gods were going to smile on them.

“We’ve lost nine one-run games,” Valley Coach Leon Smith said.

Valley starting pitcher Juan Garcia entered with an 0-1 record, but he is among the team’s top hurlers, according to Smith.

“His arm has been hurting, so we haven’t pitched him a lot,” Smith

said. “But he showed today what kind of pitcher he can be.”

Garcia scattered six hits through five innings, but appeared to tire

in the fifth, when Harbor posted its second two-run inning to pull to

within 8-4.

Angel Reyes worked two scoreless innings of relief to help the Falcons

advance to today’s 11 a.m. consolation semifinal at Costa Mesa, which

defeated Santa Ana, 2-1, Monday.

Newport hosts Santa Ana (6-13-1) today at 2 p.m. in a 13th-place

semifinal.

Down by seven, Cody Forsythe put the hosts on the board in the third

by pulling a solo home run over the right-field fence. Mike Jones

followed with a double and, after the second strikeout of the inning,

Alan Lane lined an RBI single to left to make it 7-2.

After Jose Rodriguez homered in the fifth for the visitors, Forsythe

sparked another Sailor rally with a line-drive single. Jones and Donovan

Wong followed with walks to load the bases and Forsythe scored on the

ensuing double play, the second of the game for the Falcons. Jones

hustled home on a wild pitch to cap the Harbor scoring.

Jones, playing shortstop, also made a difficult catch on a pop to

shallow left. He retreated and spun completely around, seemingly

corkscrewing himself into the ground to stab the would-be bloop single.

Jones was 2 for 2, while Forsythe was 2 for 3 to spark the Sailors’

offense. Jon Vandersloot, Chris Ward and Cameron Pemstein also had

singles for the hosts, while senior catcher Garrett Brant had a stolen

base and nailed a would-be Valley base stealer at second.

Garcia went 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles to help his own cause,

while Robert Padilla was also 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles for the

winners.

PRIDE OF THE COAST TOURNAMENT

Consolation quarterfinal

Santa Ana Valley 8, Newport Harbor 4

Santa Ana Valley 403 010 0 - 8 12 0

Newport Harbor 002 020 0 - 4 8 3

Garcia, Ang. Reyes and Navarro; Lane, Torrey (4) and Brant. W -

Garcia, 1-1. L - Lane, 0-1. 2B - De La Riva (SAV), Garcia (SAV) 2,

Padilla (SAV) 2, Jones (NH). HR - Navarro (SAV), Forsythe (NH), Rodriguez

(SAV).