SOUTHERN SECTION 5-A PLAYOFFS : Roundup : El Dorado Can’t Hold 5-0 Lead, Loses to Beverly Hills, 13-11

El Dorado High School learned how the other half lives Tuesday.

The top-seeded Golden Hawks, who had come from seven runs behind to win their Southern Section 5-A playoff opener Friday, blew a 5-0 first-inning lead on Tuesday before losing to Beverly Hills, 13-11.

“That’s not uncharacteristic of us,” Coach Steve Gullotti said. “We’ve been getting leads and letting the other teams chip away all year because we just haven’t had a stopper.”

Starter Pete Janicki (7-2) looked as if he fit that role from the end of the first until there was one out in the fifth, retiring 11 consecutive batters. But the junior right-hander was roughed up before and after that stretch.

Janicki was charged with six runs in the fifth after three infield hits, two walks and an error as the host Normans (17-8) overcame a 6-4 deficit.

“I thought he was pitching pretty well,” Gullotti said. “He wasn’t getting hit hard. He made some great pitches, but they’d hit it off the end of the bat between the infielders or we wouldn’t make the plays.”

El Dorado (23-4) did manage a comeback of its own, scoring once in the sixth on Chris Olsen’s steal of home and four times in the seventh. However, Rene Ayala grounded out with runners on first and third to end the game.

El Dorado started fast, with seven of its first nine batters reaching base. Scott Tomko’s bases-loaded triple was the big blow during the five-run first inning.

Ryan Karp’s three-run home run in the first helped Beverly Hills cut El Dorado’s lead to 5-4.

“This is going to leave a sour taste in our mouths for a while,” said Gullotti. “The problem with the playoffs is that there is one happy team and 31 miserable teams, and we’re one of the miserable teams a little bit sooner than we wanted to be.”