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Irvine baseball knocks off Portola on a memorable day for Roshan Patel

April 9, 2026

IRVINE – Roshan Patel had a day on Wednesday that he will remember the rest of his life. On his 18th birthday, the senior on the Irvine baseball team celebrated adulthood in glorious high school style.

In a battle for first place in the Pacific Coast League, Patel drove in five runs and scored a run to lead Irvine to an 8-2 victory over Portola.

The visiting Bulldogs entered the game alone atop the Sea View League standings. Not anymore.

Not after Patel damaged them with his bat and Matthew Sandoval – in only his second start as a varsity pitcher – handcuffed the Bulldogs for six innings.

Portola missed an opportunity to put some distance between it and a rival. Instead, Irvine improved to 8-10 overall and 5-2 in league, while Portola dropped to 6-6, 5-2.

The teams will play again Friday at Portola, where the Bulldogs will try to be the team they weren’t on Wednesday.

And Irvine? It will rely on Patel to take the mound and try to make it a sweep, which would secure this as the most unforgettable week of his life.

“This game means a lot for me personally, but also for the whole team, because it’s for first place,” Patel said. “First game as an 18-year-old, five RBIs, it’s a great day.”

Ryan Novak’s RBI single in the second inning gave Portola a 1-0 lead, but Irvine answered in the bottom of the third inning. Jack Dressendorfer singled, and Owen Song tripled to tie the score. Smith Spivey was hit, Nico Macalino was walked, and then Patel strode to the plate. The left-handed hitting first baseman/pitcher cleared the bases with a double to left field to make it 4-1.

At that point, Sandoval said, “I felt very confident because I trust my stuff and know I can get outs. After we got four more runs, I was thinking, just got out throw strikes and not walk anyone. If we score eight runs, I don’t think we’re ever going to lose.”

After an approximate 25-minute delay by umpires who didn’t know a substitution rule and needed to seek help from the umpire association, Portola added another run against Sandoval. A leadoff single and stolen base by Aiden Kim preceded losing pitcher Yoshi Tsuge’s RBI single to left field. Though Jack Wang followed with a single, the rally went no further.

But Irvine’s lead did.

In the bottom of the fifth, Dressendorfer and Song singled, Spivey bunted them into scoring position. Macalino was hit by a pitch, and then Patel chopped a single over first base that scored two runs. Macalino eventually scored on a passed ball, and Patel scored on Caleb Rogers’ RBI single.

That was more than enough for Sandoval (2-0), who allowed only four hits – three of them after the delay in the fifth inning – with no walks and two strikeouts in six innings. Jason Alderson pitched the seventh for the Vaqueros.

Portola will try to regain the league lead on Friday at home.

“We weren’t attacking the way we normally do,” Portola first-year coach Brody Osborne said. “We rolled over too many times and chased balls we should never chase. One hundred percent, that was not the baseball we normally play. We came out flat.”

Confidence won’t be lacking on either side Friday..

“Friday, I’m excited to compete,” Patel said. “Portola can bring as much energy as they want, but I know my stuff’s going to beat them at the end of the day.”

It will take quite an effort to beat the day he had Wednesday.

Orange County Register

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Irvine baseball knocks off Portola on a memorable day for Roshan Patel

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