Sunset stars fall at showcase

IRVINE — Most of the time, the atmosphere is so tense at a Sunset League baseball game.

Easy to understand why as Edison High and Marina were ranked No. 3 and No. 24, respectively, in the final state baseball rankings by calhisports.com.

On Saturday, however, the combatants were teammates, as the Sunset League fell to the Trinity League, 13-6, in a Ryan Lemmon Foundation Showcase game at Ryan Lemmon Stadium.

Ten locals participated, including the Chargers’ Kurt Heyer, Donald Sneed and Ryan Little, as well as Ryan Manzon, Loren Robb and Kevin Osaki of Fountain Valley and Jason Aden, Slater Davis, J.J. Baccari and Austin Hill of Marina.

“It’s a good chance to play with guys you’ve played against all season,” said Baccari, who went one for two and scored twice. “It’s a lot of fun. Obviously, things didn’t go our way, but it’s all in good fun. I’ve been playing against half of these guys my whole life. To sit down and be in the same dugout and have a great time with each other, it’s a great experience.”

Edison’s Heyer opened the game on the mound for the Sunset League, giving up one run on three hits in his two innings of work. In the second inning, the University of Arizona-bound Heyer struck out the side.

“They hit me pretty well the first inning,” he said with a laugh. “Then I settled down a little bit. It was a great honor to pitch in this thing.”

Sneed had an RBI single in the first, while Osaki and Hill both pitched in relief for the Sunset League.

The Trinity League broke the game open with nine runs in the third inning, including a two-run bomb from Robert Kelly of Santa Margarita.

Many of the players in the game may be bound for greatness, although Fountain Valley’s Robb said he isn’t sure he’ll keep playing competitively. He said he may try to walk on at the University of San Diego, but he also had a great time Saturday.

“There’s a lot of great guys going a lot of different places,” Robb said. “We might seem them on TV in a couple years.”