Baseball: Newport gets tripped up, 10-4

JOSEPH BOO

MISSION VIEJO - The way Trabuco Canyon’s Little League Majors

All-Star team played, its opponent had to play a virtually flawless game

to win. But Newport Beach Little League didn’t, and that cost the team in

a 10-4 loss Thursday night in a District 55 baseball tournament

elimination game at Youth Baseball Center in Mission Viejo.

After three wins, NBLL ended its run into the tournament two games

from the District finals.

“We had a good run,” NBLL manager Jim Ferguson said. “We won three

games, and we beat some pretty good teams. We’re very proud of

ourselves.”

NBLL allowed two unearned runs in a four-run first inning. For the

game, Trabuco Canyon only had seven hits, benefiting from four walks and

three hit batsmen by Newport Beach.

“Our team is based on solid defense and pitching,” Ferguson said. “But

we made too many errors, and we threw too many balls. We dug ourselves

too big of a hole.”

Trabuco Canyon took a 6-1 lead in the top of the second before Newport

Beach sliced into it. Sean Mohler tripled Michael Orozco home, who

reached on an error. Mohler then scored when Trabuco shortstop Stephen

Cochrane robbed Ryan Lance of a single on a fly ball, which was good for

the sacrifice.

After Trabuco Canyon added another run in the fifth before Orozco

provided Newport Beach’s big highlight. He crushed a 1-2 pitch for a home

run that caromed off the scoreboard in right field.

That cut Trabuco’s lead to 7-4, but it scored three runs in the sixth,

thanks to three Newport Beach walks and a hit-batsman, all with two outs.

“We tried to rally, but we gave up five runs with two outs in the

game,” Ferguson said. “We just couldn’t climb out of the hole.”