SOUTHERN SECTION BASEBALL PLAYOFFS : 2-A : Macias Slams Laguna Hills Out of Playoffs, 5-2

Laguna Hills High School’s baseball team was not in the best of situations in the seventh inning of its Southern Section 2-A playoff game Friday against Mountain View.

With two out and the bases loaded and leading by only one run, Laguna Hills reliever Ron Kortman had to pitch to catcher Danny Macias, who had homered in the sixth.

“It was a tough situation to bring Kortman into,” said Jack Hodges, Laguna Hills coach. “We definitely didn’t want Macias hitting with the game on the line.”

Hodges’ fears were well-founded, as Kortman gave up a grand slam to Macias to give Mountain View a 5-2 victory.

Mountain View (16-8), which finished second in the Mission Valley League, will advance to the semifinals and play La Serna Tuesday.

Macias’ sixth-inning home run off starter Jon Willard gave the Vikings a 1-0 lead.

“I wasn’t planning on hitting one out,” said Macias. “He (Kortman) got the ball in on me. I made an adjustment by backing off the plate a bite and tried to hit it hard somewhere.”

Willard had a 2-1 lead going into the seventh inning, and retired the first two hitters in the inning. But second baseman Alan Short let a ground ball by Steve Olavarria get by him to start the rally. The next hitter, Hank Gonzales, singled Olavarria to second and then Willard hit Jeff Rubio to load the bases.

Hodges brought in Kortman, a right-hander, to face Macias, a right-handed hitter, a situation that Mountain View Coach Joe Dankert wanted to see.

“We had the right man up at the plate in Macias,” Dankert said. “He lives for those situations when the game’s on the line.”

Aaron Arredondo gave Laguna Hills a 2-1 lead with a two-run home run in the sixth. Arredondo, a senior transfer from Whittier Christian, had a big hand in the Hawks’ come-from-behind victory over Barstow on Tuesday. His two-run single capped a four-run seventh inning that lifted the Hawks to a 5-4 victory over Barstow to advance to the quarterfinals.

Armen Perez (5-1) pitched a complete game for the Vikings, yielding nine hits and striking out five. Willard took the loss for Laguna Hills (9-4), striking out nine in 6 innings.

“This is a tough loss to take,” said Hodges. “I’ve seen this kind of thing happen before, but it will take a while to forget.”

Laguna Hills finishes the season 18-10 after finishing second in the first-year Pacific Coast League.