Gunner Santillo of Villa Park tags out Mason Souter (28) of Foothill after he attempted to extend his hit into a double in a Crestview League baseball game at Foothill High School in Santa Ana on Friday, April 19, 2024. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
SANTA ANA – The Crestview League is a four-team league for baseball.
Going into Friday’s games, all four teams were tied for first place with 3-3 league records.
Foothill took a big step toward finishing on top of the league standings Friday with a 7-2 home win over Villa Park.
Foothill senior first baseman Garrett Davidson hit a solo home run, led off the Knights’ four-run fourth inning with a single and scored. He also pitched in relief and had a 1-2-3 seventh inning with two strikeouts.
Knights senior Brian Harbour held Villa Park to three hits and two runs over six innings. Harbour, who signed with the University of San Diego, struck out seven and walked two to improve to 5-0.
The standings after Friday’s games: El Modena 4-3, Foothill 4-3, El Dorado 3-4, Villa Park 3-4.
“It’s just great,” said Foothill coach Chris Price. “Every team has tons of pitching, quality arms that get guys out. You’ve got to battle all the time.”
Next week is the final week of the regular season. El Modena (15-7-1 overall) and Foothill (19-6) play each other twice and El Dorado (14-11) and Villa Park (14-11) play each other twice.
All four teams are in the Orange County Top 25: Villa Park is No. 7, El Modena No. 14, Foothill No. 16 and El Dorado No. 17.
The top two teams in the Crestview League final standings are guaranteed CIF Southern Section playoff berths. The other two teams can get into the playoffs as at-large teams.
Villa Park beat Foothill in two of their three league meetings, including 1-0 win Wednesday, which could be an important standings tiebreaker when the regular season ends.
Davidson is excited about the challenge and the opportunity.
“It’s phenomenal,” said Davidson, who signed with UC San Diego. “Just to be in the running to win it all is all we can ask for.”
Defending league champion Villa Park took a 2-0 lead Friday in the top of the fourth inning. Sophomore right fielder Aidan Young lifted a fly ball over the fence in left to drive in Zach Mattern.
Foothill took the lead with its four-run bottom half of the fourth inning.
Davidson started the inning with a single, Noah Macalino was hit by a pitch, Tyler Hawkins’ sacrifice bunt moved Davidson to third base and Macalino to second and Gavin Lauridsen singled to drive in Davidson. Macolino scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-2 and Parker Sterton’s two-run single gave the Knights a 4-2 lead.
They added three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Davidson homered to right-center field for his team-leading 14th RBI. Run-scoring singles by Harbour and Mason Souter pushed the lead to 7-2.
Villa Park has scored 12 runs in its seven league games. Half of those came in a 6-1 win over El Modena.
Foothill has a 1.36 ERA. Pitching long has been a Knights strength. Price attributes that to the mentorship of longtime pitching coach Iran Novick, who also helped develop excellent pitchers during an earlier tenure at El Dorado.
“He gets the pitchers to believe in themselves,” Price said of Novick. “He helps them trust themselves. He’s the best pitching coach in Orange County, and I know there are a lot of great ones out there.”
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