Prep baseball: Newport runs out of gas

Steve Virgen

NEWPORT BEACH - After losing a 16-8 Sea View League baseball game

to visiting Irvine High Friday, Newport Harbor Coach Joel Desguin aptly

described his team’s plight thus far this season.

“Right now, it’s just baby steps for us,” the Sailors’ first-year

coach said.

Newport (2-4, 0-2 in league) appeared to make huge strides when the

Sailors were faced with a 10-1 deficit before they went to bat in the

bottom of the fourth inning. The Tars came back and pulled to within,

12-8 after five innings, but their hole, which included six errors, was

too deep to crawl out of.

“We’ve improved every game and to come back like that was a positive

also,” Desguin said. “In the past, we would get down and we would just

quit.”

The Sailors made the Vaqueros (2-5, 1-1) sweat a bit in the fifth

inning, when Newport scored five runs. Irvine committed five errors in

the frame, leading to four unearned runs. Newport junior second baseman

Ryan Heenan chipped a base hit to center field that scored senior Mike

Jones, who was hit by a pitch to reach base. Heenan’s single also led to

an error in the outfield and that brought in senior Adam Cherry.

Cherry started at shortstop and closed on the mound. He went 2 for 4

with a run scored. Newport designated hitter Ryan Rowe, a junior, led the

Sailors with two hits, including a double, and three runs scored.

“We finally started hitting the ball,” Desguin said of the Sailors,

who had seven hits. “We were putting it in play a little more. That’s the

thing we’re working on. We had only one strikeout. The last game we had

11. We’re improving and we’re getting better. We have 14 more league

games. Hopefully we can put everything together and we’ll be all right.”

Irvine grabbed control of the game with a pair of five-run innings in

the second and fourth. Kiel Lovington, who was the Vaqueros’ starting

pitcher, went 4 for 5 with a walk. He smacked a home run and a double,

scored four runs and had four RBIs.

In the second inning with one out, the Sailors committed two errors

that put two runners on. Then Lovington blasted a ball to center field

and the wind carried it over the fence.

After the Vaqueros scored another five runs in the fourth inning for a

10-1 lead, the Sailors tallied a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame.

Rowe belted a double deep to center field, that scored catcher Cameron

Pemstein. Rowe later scored after senior Jon Vandersloot sent a hard-hit

ball toward first base for a single.

When Newport came within, 12-8, the Vaqueros secured the win with four

runs over the final two innings. The Sailors collected two hits, but no

runs in the last two innings.

Senior Cody Forsythe, Newport’s starting pitcher, put in 3 2/3 innings

of work, that included 92 pitches. His complete game performance, which

included 102 pitches, helped the Tars to a 7-6 win over Brentwood

Saturday.

Newport’s game today against Northwood, which was the final game of

the Newport Elks Tournament, has been canceled. The Sailors return to

action Monday at 3:15 p.m., playing at Sea View League foe Laguna Hills.

SEA VIEW LEAGUE

Irvine 16, Newport Harbor 8

Irvine 150 511 3 - 16 14 6 Newport Harbor 010 250 0 - 8 7 6

Lovington, E. Oliver (5) and Angel; Forsythe, Glenn (4), Cherry (6)

and Pemstein.

W - Lovington. L - Forsythe, 1-1. 2B - Ryan (I), Houle (I), Lovington

(I), Justus (I), Rowe (NH). 3B - Angel (I). HR - Lovington (I).