Prep baseball: CdM bench brigade shines

Barry Faulkner

CORONA DEL MAR - One team’s nightmare can be another team’s dream,

especially for those on the upside of an 18-1 victory who have waited

hopefully for an opportunity to shine on the varsity baseball diamond.

Corona del Mar High’s lopsided Pacific Coast League triumph over

visiting Estancia provided a little quality time for a handful of

reserves Tuesday. And they were more than willing to take full advantage.

Junior Matt Warsaw lashed his first varsity hit, an RBI single in the

sixth, then repeated the feat in the same inning, as the Sea Kings (8-9,

3-5 in league) batted around twice to break things open.

CdM freshman Andy Frenkiel doubled in two runs in the sixth to make

the most of his first varsity at-bat. Freshman Tyler Lance, like Frenkiel

spending a day with the varsity because Estancia has no freshman team,

walked to drive in a run in his first varsity plate appearance, also in

the sixth.

In addition, senior Matt Gugliuzza, who had no hits this season

through April 8, doubled, reached on an error and scored twice during the

12-run sixth for the Sea Kings.

“My first at-bat, I was a little nervous,” Warsaw said. “But once I

saw the first pitch, I just tried to stay back and drive the ball. My

second at-bat, I wasn’t nervous at all. It felt great (to contribute).

You only get so many opportunities (three previous at-bats this year), so

you have to take advantage.”

Frenkiel’s base hit and Warsaw’s pair of singles propelled both to the

top of the team batting-average leaders.

Several Sea Kings padded their averages against four Eagle pitchers,

though senior starter Paul Flory surrendered just one earned run through

five innings, as a pair of Estancia double plays helped keep things

scoreless heading to the fourth.

Estancia (3-12-1, 1-7) broke the scoreless tie by stringing three

singles together in its fourth inning. Jermaine Snell’s two-out RBI

single followed singles by Justin Lund and Casey Gates.

But Lund proved to be the only Estancia runner to pass second base as

CdM starter Nick Rhodes struck out eight and yielded just five hits to

earn his third victory in as many weeks.

“He had a good low-ball umpire and, when Nick is successful, he’s

keeping the ball down, like he did today,” CdM Coach John Emme said.

Rhodes threw strikes, CdM played errorless defense, and the Sea Kings’

offense finally broke through in the fourth.

After Keith Long reached on the second of seven Estancia errors, Todd

Macklin cleared the left-center-field fence with a two-run blast. With

two runners on and two outs, Billy Eagle yanked an inside pitch well

beyond the left-field fence for a three-run homer. The two fourth-inning

home runs equaled CdM’s total its first 16 games.

Josh Bradbury and Nick Karpe paced the Sea Kings’ 16 hit attack with

two apiece, while Wess Presson and Long each had one RBI.

Beau Stockstill (RBI single) and Blake Contant (RBI walk) also

contributed to the pinch-hitting barrage in the CdM sixth.

CdM senior right-hander Taylor Pham worked a scoreless seventh inning

of relief to take advantage of his opportunity.

“I wish we could have saved a few runs to take with us Friday, because

we know Estancia is going to come back and battle,” said Emme, who saw

Estancia rally for an 8-7 victory March 19.

Mitch Valdes went 2 for 3 to pace Estancia, which also received a

single from J.B. Goff. Snell made a diving catch in center field for

another Estancia highlight.

The two teams will play the deciding game of the series Friday at

Estancia at 3:15 p.m.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUECorona del Mar 18, Estancia 1

Estancia 000 10 0 0 - 1 5 7

Corona del Mar 000 51(12) 0 - 18 16 0 Flory, Lund (6), Gleason (6), Hauser (6) and Lund, Crom (6), Lund (6);

N. Rhodes, Pham (6) and Karpe. W - N. Rhodes, 3-5. L - Flory. 2B -

Gugliuzza (CdM), Frenkiel (CdM). HR - Macklin (CdM), Eagle (CdM).