Baseball: Daniel Patzlaff hits home runs in four consecutive at-bats

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There are great weeks for a baseball player, and then there was the performance of junior shortstop Daniel Patzlaff of No. 2-ranked Fountain Valley (18-1).

He hit four consecutive home runs in four at-bats over two games against Huntington Beach to lead the Barons to victories of 12-11 and 9-8.

Ron LaRuffa, who has been coaching for 42 years and is now an assistant coach with Fountain Valley, said, ‘I’ve never seen four in a row. He hit .470 as a freshman. He’s one of the best freshman I’ve seen. He hit .350 last year. As he’s getting stronger, he’s getting more pop, but four in a row is amazing.’

He hit home runs in his last two at-bats on Wednesday, including the game-winner in the seventh, then hit home runs in his first two at-bats on Friday. He’s 5 feet 9, 170 pounds. He had hit one home run all season.

‘It was pretty exciting,’ Patzlaff said.

Patzlaff is committed to Oregon.

-- Eric Sondheimer