Pacifica teams are chasing two league titles

In Major League Baseball, the pennant races are just getting started. In West Orange County high school and softball, the stretch run is just about to unwind.

In the Empire League, the baseball crown is almost certainly to be decided in two games between Pacifica (19-2 overall and 7-0 in league) and Cypress (198 and 7–0).

Those teams will clash on Tuesday at the Centurion field and Thursday at the Mariners’ diamond.

The Pacifica softball team is also in a battle for a league title. Despite a 3-0 non-league loss to Los Alamitos on Friday, the M’s have a chance – although a long one – to be co-champs of the Empire League.

Cypress (18-2-1 and 8-0) locked up no worse than a tie for the EL crown with Thursday’s 4-3 win over Kennedy. But if Crean Lutheran could knock off the Cents on Tuesday, Pacifica would be in position to tie up the league crown with a win if it could follow that up by defeating Cypress on Tuesday on the M’s home field.

It’s possible: Cypress squeezed by Crean by the score of 9-8 when they played on April 6.

In Sunset Surf baseball, Huntington Beach (18-8, 5-2) locked up at least a tie for the crown with a 4-2 win over Fountain Valley.

Edison (13-9, 7-0) is champion of Sunset Wave baseball after blanking Newport Harbor on Friday.

For baseball, the Garden Grove League is a tangle going into the final week, with Loara and Los Amigos at the top, and Bolsa Grande and Santiago still within striking distance.

The GGL’s softball chase is also close, with Santiago closely followed by La Quinta and Loara.

In the Golden West League, Katella beat Garden Grove 1-0 and Ocean View defeated Westminster 9-0 to set up two games next week between the Knights and Seahawks for the baseball championship.

Segerstrom (11-14, 8-1) has won the GWL softball title, with Westminster and Ocean View battling for second and third place.

Prep Sports Scores

Friday, April 21 (baseball)

Hunt. Beach 4, F. Valley 2

Edison 4, Newport Harbor 0

Laguna Beach 2, Marina 0

Katella 1, Garden Grove 0

Ocean View 9, Westminster 0

Bolsa Grande 6, La Quinta 5

Friday, April 21 (softball)

Los Alamitos 3, Pacifica 0

Hunt. Beach 7, Edison 1

Segerstrom 5, Garden Grove 2

Ocean View 7, Godinez 5

Loara 7, La Quinta 5

Thursday, April 20 (baseball)

Tesoro 6, Ocean View 2

Whittier 5, Garden Grove 3

Westminster 3, Century 2

Blue Friday for Dodgers

Comtinued from page 8 ous infield hit when Smyly and catcher Yan Gomes collided trying to field the ball.

The Dodgers have lost a fair amount of talent to free agency: where have you gone, Justin Turner (Mets) and Cody Bellinger (Cubs)?

In fact, Bellinger homered against his own team.

It’s still early but 13 is an unlucky number; Dodger fans will hope 2023 isn’t unlucky either.

Honoring catchers in the wry

Comtinued from page 8 intended) for the Blue Crew since becoming a regular in 2019.

He is an above-average hitter with some pop in his bat, batting .263 in his career, with 75 homers. But like many catchers he is beat-up a lot, and – as of this writing – is on the sevenday injured list. Bad timing, because he was batting .333 with three homers and 12 RBIs before suffering a concussion. Logan O’Hoppe (great baseball name, right?) plays for the Angels and looks like the team’s catcher for a while. But on Thursday, after getting his third hit against the Yankees he suffered a shoulder injury that sidelined him.

A tough loss for the Halos, as he was batting .283 when sidelined, with a team-leading four home runs and 13 RBIs. Like most good catchers, he’s 50 percent talent and 50 percent effort.

“He works his butt off,” said Angel pitcher Aaron Loup of O’Hoppe. True of all great catchers, even if they don’t enjoy the spotlight of the Trouts, Judges and Ohtani’s of the sports world.

But that’s the breaks, the bruises and the smashed fingers of the catching profession.