Baseball: Eagles fall to University

Tony Altobelli

IRVINE - With the kind of offensive weapons the University High

baseball team has, any defensive miscues or inaccurate pitching can spell

disaster for the opposing team. Just ask the Estancia Eagles.

The visiting Eagles were bitten not only by the Trojans’ big boppers,

but they shot themselves in the foot during Monday’s 9-5 Pacific Coast

League loss.

“We were behind on their hitters all day long,” Estancia Coach Doug

Deats said. “We tried to battle back, but it was too much to overcome.”

University (10-3-1 in league) remains a half-game behind front-runner

Corona del Mar. The Sea Kings (11-3 in league) defeated Costa Mesa, 7-2.

“We’ve beaten CdM and we’ve beaten Mesa,” Deats said. “Now, we want to

beat Uni so we can say we beat all the playoff-bound teams.”

The Trojans jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Adam Horner

and USC-bound Jay Nichols each scored on RBI hits from UCLA-bound Kevin

Conlin and Zach Sherwood. Two walks and two Eagles’ errors also played a

part in the scoring equation.

Estancia pitcher Jordan Hart had some early control problems, which

led to early trouble.

Two walks in the second inning were followed by a three-run home run

to center field by Conlin. Back-to-back doubles by Nichols and Jay Smith

capped off Uni’s four-run inning for a 6-0 lead. Four of those runs

reached base by way of walks.

After Uni made it 7-0 after three innings, the Eagles (3-11 in league)

found some offensive of their own.

Armando Ortiz and Brent Davis each came through with base hits to open

the fourth inning. After a strikeout, Justin Lund ripped a triple into

left-center, clearing the bases. Casey Gates drove in Lund with an RBI

ground ball and cut the Trojans’ lead to 7-3.

An unearned run extended Uni’s lead to 8-3 before Estancia answered

with two more runs. With one out and A.J. Perkins on first, J.B Goff

drove a triple over the center fielder’s head for an RBI. Goff would

score on a sacrifice fly by Ortiz.

“One thing we don’t do and that’s give up,” Deats said. “We scrapped

all day. Uni threw some hard fastballs and we were able to turn on a

couple.

While the Eagles’ bats found some life, Hart managed to limit the

success of the Trojans’ hitters. After walking four in the first two

innings, the lefty walked only one the rest of the way to go along with

three strikeouts.

Estancia tried to move closer in the sixth. A hit batsman and a

Trojans’ error had runners on first and second with only one out, but Uni

wiggled out of the jam with a strikeout and a pop out.

In the bottom of the sixth, Hart retired the first two batters and

gave up a routine grounder to shortstop, but Matt Stone hustled down the

line and beat the throw to first.

Stone advanced to third when an errant pickoff throw by Hart went into

shallow right field. The next batter, Sherwood, walked and when he

attempted to steal second, Estancia tried to catch Stone napping at

third, but that throw sailed over the third baseman’s head and Stone

scored easily.

Davis went 2 for 3 to pace the Eagles’ five-hit attack.

Conlin had four RBIs, while Nichols went 2 for 4 with three runs

scored for the Trojans.

The Eagles and Trojans will close out their regular seasons on

Wednesday, at Estancia. Game time is 3:15 p.m.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

University 9, Estancia 5

Estancia 000 320 0 - 5 5 5

University 241 101 x - 9 11 1

Hart and Davis; Stoneking, Gomez (5), Horner (5) and Conlin, Edmond

(4), Conlin (6). W - Stoneking. L - Hart, 3-4. 2B - Nichols (U), Stone

(U). 3B - Goff (E), Lund (E). HR - Conlin (U).