Prep baseball: Mesa bonds with CdM

Barry Faulkner

COSTA MESA - Since most of the athletes that comprise the Costa

Mesa and Corona del Mar High baseball teams have been summer league

teammates, perhaps it’s fitting they now share a kinship in the Pacific

Coast League standings.

By virtue of Mesa’s 5-2 victory Tuesday night at TeWinkle Park, the

Mustangs and Sea Kings are deadlocked in fourth place, one game behind

third-place Laguna Beach with three games remaining to decide the

league’s third guaranteed CIF Southern Section playoff berth.

The first of those three remaining games will, once again, pit the two

friendly rivals against one another -- Friday at CdM -- with the winner

gaining a huge boost heading into the final week.

“We really like playing those guys, because we have a lot of respect

for their players and their coaches,” Costa Mesa Coach Kirk Bauermeister

said. “It’s real easy for our guys to get up to play, because they want

(the Sea Kings) to know we have good players, too.”

Perhaps the best Mesa (11-12, 5-7 in league) has to offer is senior

Nick Cabico, who sparkled under the lights by earning his second straight

complete-game victory. Cabico, a four-year varsity performer, struck out

nine, yielded just five hits and clutched up to strand nine Sea King

runners.

“When you can throw three pitches at any given time like (Cabico) can

and does, it puts the hitter at a disadvantage,” CdM Coach John Emme

said. “(Cabico) made it very tough to hit tonight. He stepped up and made

the pitches when he had to, so you have to tip your cap to him.”

CdM junior left-hander Nick Rhodes also posed problems for Mesa

hitters, fanning 11 and working four scoreless innings.

But, the bottom third of Mesa’s order went a collective 6 for 8 to

account for nearly all the Mustangs’ offense.

Junior first baseman Dan Bitler, hitting in the No. 9 spot, was 2 for

2 with a double, the game’s only extra-base hit, and drove in three runs

to give Cabico all he would need.

Bitler’s RBI single in the third was the third of four straight hits

for the hosts.

Adam Jorgenson and A.J. Perkins singled to open the third and senior

Michael McGuire finalized the four-hit flurry with an RBI single, on

which Bitler (who advanced to second on a double steal) hustled home when

the ball was bobbled by the left fielder.

After Jorgenson and Perkins singled with two outs in the fourth,

Bitler, who had just three RBIs in his 43 at-bats before Tuesday, drove

home two insurance runs with a liner over shortstop that carried into the

gap for a double.

“Over the course of a season, everyone is going to have to contribute

and the bottom of the order did it for us tonight,” Bauermeister said.

“The funny part about that is, the bottom part of the other teams’ order

has really killed us this year.”

Mesa killed CdM’s bid to join Laguna Beach, a loser to league-leading

Northwood Tuesday, in third place, while breathing life into its own

postseason hopes.

Emme is hopeful his team (10-12, 5-7) will be ready Friday.

“Every time we’ve had a game we absolutely had to win, we’ve come

through,” Emme said. “Hopefully, we can do that again Friday.”

CdM broke Cabico’s 12-inning scoreless streak by scoring twice in the

sixth. After Billy Eagle and Keith Long singled and advanced on a wild

pitch, Eagle scored on Josh Bradbury’s one-out groundout. The second run

scored on an error, but Cabico got the third out on a fly to center.

Cabico also singled and stole his team-leading 16th base, while Brandon Lewis, Jeritt Thayer and Nick Karpe added singles for the

visitors.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUECorona del Mar 000 002 0 - 2 5 1

Costa Mesa 003 200 x - 5 8 4

N. Rhodes and Karpe; Cabico and Hunter. W - Cabico, 6-4. L - N.

Rhodes, 4-6. 2B - Bitler (CM).