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La Mirada baseball hands Aliso Niguel its second loss in a row

March 20, 2026

ALISO VIEJO — The Aliso Niguel baseball team was undefeated entering this week and was one of the hottest teams in Orange County.

Aliso Niguel did not play like one of the best teams in the county Thursday in a 7-1 loss to La Mirada in an Anaheim Lions Tournament game at Aliso Niguel High.

It was the second consecutive loss for the Wolverines (8-2-1), who suffered their first loss of the season Tuesday against Servite, 6-2.

“We got off to a good start but this was a real test with some really solid teams and we just haven’t played very good baseball,” said Aliso Niguel coach Craig Hanson, whose team is ranked No. 10 in Orange County. “We haven’t executed situationally and we haven’t pitched as well as we did earlier. We’re going to have to figure it out in a hurry because we start league next week.”

La Mirada (8-2) lost a lot of its big hitters from last season and has put an emphasis on simply putting the ball in play more frequently. The Matadors did just that Thursday and that contributed to Aliso Niguel’s defense committing three errors.

“When you put balls in play, things happen in high school baseball,” La Mirada coach Jimmy Zurn said. “I thought we did a good job competing, putting the ball in play with two strikes, sacrifice flies, that kind of stuff.”

“We’ve been playing really good defense up until this week and now I think guys are pressing a bit,” Hanson said. “When you play really good teams like this, you can’t afford to make mistakes. They forced us into a couple of bunt coverages that we have to be able to execute and play catch.”

La Mirada had a runner reach on an error in the first inning which led to a run. La Mirada also scored a run on a throwing error in the second inning.

Noah Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly in the second inning to give the Matadors an early 3-0 lead.

The early run support was plenty for sophomore pitcher Julian Pardinas, who has a 1.23 ERA this season after allowing no earned runs in five innings on Thursday. Pardinas allowed just three hits and struck out two with one unearned run.

“He’s one of our guys that we lean on,” Zurn said of Pardinas. “Aliso’s been off to a good start and we are setting up our rotation for league next week. We were happy knowing he would face these guys and one unearned run is a tribute to what he can do.”

Aliso Niguel scored its lone run in the third inning with the help of some defensive miscues by La Mirada.

Carson Etnire hit a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Hudson Covington hit a ground ball to first base and a fielding error allowed Etnire to score.

La Mirada blew the game open in the fifth inning with three runs. After two consecutive walks to open the inning, a sacrifice bunt advanced the runners and Ian Aguayo hit a sacrifice fly to score a run.

With the bases loaded, freshman Blake Barberena hit a two-run double to extend the lead to 6-1.

A third runner attempted to score on the play but there was a collision at the plate that led to La Mirada’s player being ejected from the game.

Noah Lee and Noah Dabela pitched two perfect innings of relief with a combined three strikeouts to finish the game for La Mirada.

Danzel Azuma and Trevor Alderman had singles for the Wolverines and Andrew Watson allowed no earned runs in three innings.

La Mirada opens Gateway League play with a three-game series against Gahr next week. The Matadors have won nine consecutive league championships dating back to 2015 when it was in the Suburban League.

Aliso Niguel hosts West Ranch in a tournament game Saturday before opening South Coast League play with a three-game series against Tesoro next week. The Wolverines won the South Coast League last season and won the Sea View League in 2023-24.

“They just need to get their confidence back. They play with a lot of confidence,” Hanson said. “We’ve beaten some good teams so these guys are definitely capable of doing it. They have to be able to flush these two games and start fresh on Saturday.”

Orange County Register

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La Mirada baseball hands Aliso Niguel its second loss in a row

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