Baseball: Tritons end CdM’s streak

Richard Dunn

COSTA MESA - Despite the verdict in Wednesday night’s championship

game, Corona del Mar High’s baseball team found itself this week in the

Pride of the Coast Tournament.

“This is by far the best spring break we’ve had since I’ve been here,

so I’m not the least bit disappointed,” CdM Coach John Emme, in his fifth

year, said after San Clemente defeated his Sea Kings, 8-1, to win the

tournament title at TeWinkle Park.

“Since we started this tournament, we’ve become a better baseball team

and we’ll be ready when we come back to open (Pacific Coast) league on

Tuesday (at home against Northwood).”

Something had to budge, though, as CdM and San Clemente entered the

title game with five- and four-game winning streaks, respectively, and

identical 7-7 records.

“In tournament play like this, you need a lot of luck,” said San

Clemente Coach Dave Gellatly, whose squad took some knocks in the

perennially tough South Coast League, before having a team meeting and

beating Trabuco Hills, 2-0, the next day to trigger the winning streak.

San Clemente starter Andrew Bovich, a sophomore left-hander, improved

to 3-1 with six quality innings.

Bovich, who gave up five hits, struck out seven and walked two, lost

his shutout bid in the sixth inning, when CdM cleanup hitter Keith Long

doubled down the right-field line, moved to third on Matt Gugliuzza’s

ground out and scored on a wild pitch. Bovich fanned the final two

hitters to end the inning.

“(Bovich) did a good job. He moved the ball around the plate and

changed speeds,” Emme said.

Corona del Mar, which defeated highly regarded Mission Viejo on Monday

behind the pitching of Josh Bradbury and used its ace (Nick Rhodes) in

beating Mountain View Tuesday, turned to sophomore left-hander Blake

Contant under the lights in the championship game.

But the Sea Kings left their best baseball behind them in the

tournament as they committed four errors, allowed a run to score on a

balk and another one to score on a passed ball.

“They had multiple opportunities to break the game wide open,” Emme

said of the Tritons, who left the bases loaded in the seventh and had a

runner thrown out at the plate in the fourth. “Blake didn’t get much

help. He pitched well, but I think playing at night and on somewhat

foreign soil definitely showed. We rarely play here at night ... and the

lights are always something new.”

CdM freshman right fielder Wess Presson (3 for 3) was the only hitter

to solve Bovich, who received a two-run cushion in the second inning.

San Clemente rallied with two outs in the second, ignited by Michael

Swain’s triple and followed by singles from Justin Meisnes and Mike

Elkerson (3 for 4), the bottom three hitters in the Tritons’ lineup.

PRIDE OF THE COAST TOURNAMENT

Championship

San Clemente 8, Corona del Mar 1

Score by Innings

San Clemente 021 102 2 - 8 8 1 Corona del Mar 000 001 0 - 1 5 4

Bovich, Rusinkovich (7) and Meisnes; Contant, Pham (6), Dunzer (7) and

Karpe. W - Bovich, 3-1. L - Contant. 2B - Elkerson (SC), Springman (SC),

Stroupe (SC), Presson (CdM), Long (CdM). 3B - Swain (SC).