Orange Coast’s Reuss Hits Two Grand Slams

Jason Reuss hit two grand slams and finished with three home runs and nine runs batted in as host Orange Coast beat first-place Cypress, 11-5, in an Orange Empire Conference baseball game Saturday.

Reuss, who became the first OCC player to hit three grand slams in a season, hit his first home run to tie it, 2-2, in the second.

He hit his first grand slam in the bottom of the seventh to give the Pirates the lead for good, 6-5.

His second grand slam came in the eighth. He has 10 home runs this season.

Reuss, a freshman designated hitter from Canyon High, is son of former major league pitcher Jerry Reuss. He has hit four home runs in the last three games for OCC (19-14, 6-7), which has won seven of eight.

His three home runs and nine RBIs in a game ties the OCC single-game records set by Derek Dehdashtian in 1988.

Steve Hindman hit a home run for Cypress (23-8-1, 10-3).

In other conference games:

Santa Ana 12, Saddleback 7--Santa Ana Coach Don Sneddon continued to tinker with his lineup and this time got great results.

Albert Rodgers, making his first start in left field, hit a three-run home run to give the Dons, who have won five in a row, a 12-6 lead in the eighth inning.

Oginga Aaron, hitting leadoff for the first time, had two hits and scored three runs.

Michael Natale, a sophomore right-hander, has also made some changes. He has gone from trying to get strikeouts to just getting outs, which has improved his effectiveness a great deal according to Sneddon.

Injuries have cost the Dons five of their top seven pitchers so Natale (6-4) also helped by going 8 1/3 innings. He gave up seven runs, five earned, and 10 hits in 8 1/3 innings. He was strongest from the fourth to the seventh when he gave up two hits and no runs.

“We’re still searching [for the right lineup],” Sneddon said. “I really had no idea what to expect today.”

Jason Marian had a two-run home run, his 10th, and a run-scoring single for Saddleback (23-11, 8-7).