Prep baseball: Eagle’s home run ends it

Barry Faulkner

NEWPORT BEACH - Corona del Mar High baseball coach John Emme’s

early-inning pep talk may have been too spirited for his own good Friday.

After Emme verbally lit into his troops, who led, 2-0, after two

innings, about their hitting approach against visiting Estancia, the Sea

Kings produced a five-run third. They continued to build the lead until

invoking the 10-run mercy rule in the fifth, claiming a 10-0 triumph to

remain atop the Pacific Coast League standings.

“But I’m not sure I really wanted (the shortened game),” Emme said. “I

would have liked for Eric (Snell) to pitch another inning and I would

have liked to have gotten Dave Knecht an inning on the mound.”

Instead, Emme and his team started their weekend early, before

beginning a pivotal three-game week Monday.

After visiting Garden Grove Monday for an at-large game of the

Foothill-Costa Mesa Tournament, CdM (6-2, 3-0 in league) hosts University

Tuesday and visits Costa Mesa Friday. Uni and Mesa are both 2-0-1 in

league, having tied one another Tuesday.

The Sea Kings used their now typical combination of pitching, defense

and hitting to dispatch the Eagles (3-6, 0-3). CdM has now outscored

three PCL foes, 34-10, including back-to-back mercy-rule verdicts (it

beat Northwood, 11-1, Tuesday).

“You can’t let any league games get away from you,” Emme said. “I

thought we came out a little lethargic and we were playing into their

pitcher’s hands. He was throwing the curveball low and out of the zone

and we were swinging at it. I took our guys down the line and talked

about our hitting approach.”

Singles by Knecht, Keith Long and Andrew Johns produced the

first-inning lead, before a two-run single by Jason Savopolos proved the

key blow in the third-inning outburst, which included RBIs by Snell and

Long.

Snell, Andrew Johns and Wes Hockinson opened the CdM fourth with a

single, double and RBI single, respectively, and Johns scored on a

fielder’s choice off the bat of Derrick Lewis to make it 9-0.

Eagle, who hit two home runs in the March 16 PCL opener at Laguna

Beach, then launched a two-out blast well over the left-field fence in

the fifth to bring an early end to the proceedings.

Johns, who also made two sparking scoops of low throws at first base,

went 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run, while Hockinson and Long were also 2

for 3. Long also drove in two runs, stole a base and scored twice. He was

robbed of a third hit when Armando Ortiz stabbed his screaming line drive

at third base in the fifth.

Eagle finished 2 for 4, stole a base, and also scored twice to help

back a quality start by winning pitcher Cavan Cuyler.

Though less than at his best, according to Emme, Cuyler allowed just

one hit in four innings to improve to 2-1.

A.J. Perkins’ bunt single to lead off the third was the Eagles’ lone

hit. And Emme thought Cuyler’s underhand lob throw to first beat Perkins

on the play. Emme ran out of the dugout to express this viewpoint to the

umpire after the bang-bang call.

Cuyler struck out three and walked two and allowed only one ball to be

hit out of the infield.

Snell finished off the shutout with one inning of relief. He also went

1 for 3 with an RBI and two runs.

Estancia committed four errors, but all of CdM’s runs were earned.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Corona del Mar 10, Estancia 0

Estancia 000 00 - 0 1 4

Corona del Mar 205 21 - 10 11 1

Florie, Gates (4) and Lund; Cuyler, Snell (5) and McKeever. W -

Cuyler, 2-1. L - Florie. 2B - Johns (CdM). HR - Eagle (CdM).