Prep baseball: Wong ends battle with home run

Steve Virgen

NEWPORT BEACH - The words of Newport Harbor High senior Donovan

Wong seemed to describe what his baseball teammates displayed Tuesday in

a 13th-place semifinal of the Pride of the Coast Tournament.

Wong smashed a two-run homer deep over the right-field fence in the

bottom of the sixth inning, giving the Sailors the lead and a 7-5

come-from-behind win over visiting Santa Ana.

“I prefer not to do cartwheels or get too excited,” Wong said of his

reaction to his first home run of the season. “You know, act like you’ve

been there before.”

In a game that featured three lead changes, the Tars (6-12), as

Newport Coach Jim Kiefer said, “showed some character,” and acted as they

had been in the pressure situation before.

“I was worried,” Kiefer said. “When (Santa Ana turned a 3-2 deficit

into a 5-3 lead), I thought (Harbor players) would throw their hands up

and call it in. But we showed some character and that was a positive.”

Newport Harbor junior Cody Forsythe, a left-handed pitcher, went 5 1/3

innings and recorded four strikeouts, including one that ended the second

inning with runners on the corners. At the plate, he went 2 for 3 with

two RBIs. Wong and catcher Garrett Brant also went 2 for 3.

The Sailors tied the game, 2-2, in the fifth inning when Mike Jones’

single gave a Santa Ana outfielder fits and allowed Wong, who led off

with a base hit, to score. Senior Alan Lane then sent a sharp grounder to

the shortstop, who hurled a wild throw past first, allowing Jones to

score to give the Tars their first lead.

Santa Ana (6-14-1) came back with three runs in the sixth, which set

the stage for Newport’s four-run, five-hit answer. Brant led off with a

single, then Jon Vandersloot cracked a base hit. Forsythe brought them in

to tie the score, 5-5, when he smacked a screaming line drive over the

second baseman.

Newport senior Chris Ward relieved Forsythe in the sixth inning to

improve his pitching record to 2-3. Ward induced a double play to end the

sixth, then worked a perfect seventh.

The Sailors will host Saddleback at 2 p.m. in today’s 13th-place game.

PRIDE OF THE COAST TOURNAMENT

13th-place semifinal

Newport Harbor 7, Santa Ana 5

Santa Ana 002 003 0 - 5 10 2

Newport Harbor 001 024 x - 7 10 3

Buenorostro and Gomez; Forsythe, Ward (6) and Brant. W - Ward, 2-3. L

- Buenorostro. 2B - Buenorostro (SA), Villegas (SA), Forsythe (NH),

Castillo (NH). HR - Wong (NH).