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Sonora baseball wins battle with Yorba Linda to keep North Hills race close

April 30, 2026

YORBA LINDA — Sonora pitcher Robby Blaine battled hard for seven innings in the Raiders’ 2-1 victory over Yorba Linda in a North Hills League baseball game Wednesday at Yorba Linda High School.

The senior left-hander gave up six hits and stranded runners in scoring position during five of the seven innings.

The Raiders (15-9, 6-3) are in second place behind the Mustangs (17-7-1, 7-2) in the league standings. The two teams meet again Friday at Sonora.

“He is our leader on the mound and what we do,” Sonora coach Rich Lodding said of Blaine. “It’s a blessing to have him. He likes to battle.”

Blaine, a Cal signee, stranded runners on first and third in the first inning and stranded a runner on second in the second inning.

Isaiah Rodriguez and Ryan Lietzau singled home runs in the second inning to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead.

Vaughn Sharp hit an RBI double in the third for the Mustangs but Sharp was left stranded on third when Blaine retired the next two batters.

The Mustangs hit back-to-back singles with one out in the sixth, but once again Blaine got the next two batters to get out of the jam.

Yorba Linda had two runners on again in the seventh with two outs, when Blaine got the final out on a ground out to second.

Sonora pitcher Robby Blaine delivers a pitch during the Raiders' 2-1 victory over Yorba Linda on Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (Photo by Lou Ponsi) — Sonora pitcher Robby Blaine delivers a pitch during the Raiders’ 2-1 victory over Yorba Linda on Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (Photo by Lou Ponsi)

“In the stressful moments, the only thing I was thinking was how happy I am doing what I love to do,” said Blaine, who improved to 5-2. “I love to pitch, so I was up there thinking I’m blessed to have this opportunity to be in a stressful situation and work on what I need to work on to come through.”

With the victory, the Raiders snapped the Mustangs’ five-game winning streak.

After Friday’s game against the Raiders, the Mustangs close out the regular season with two league games against Sunny Hills (6-4 in league). They need to win two of their final three games to clinch the league title.

“We control our own destiny, which is a good thing,” Yorba Linda coach Marcus Jones said. “That is all it comes down to. We need to win baseball games.”

Sonora final two games of the regular season are league matchups with Esperanza.

The Mustangs, Raiders and Lancers are all in contention for the league title.

The Raiders avenged their loss to the Mustangs in their first matchup on April 8 at Sonora.

In that contest, the Mustangs trailed by a run going into the seventh inning and scored twice for a 5-4 come-from-behind victory.

“He threw better today than the last time against us,” Jones said of Blaine. “He’s really good with runners in scoring position. In tough ball games like this, you got to come through with a clutch hit. We couldn’t do that today.”

Sonora baseball wins battle with Yorba Linda to keep North Hills race close Orange County Register

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Sonora baseball wins battle with Yorba Linda to keep North Hills race close

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