Prep baseball: CdM bids for upset

Barry Faulkner

SANTA FE SPRINGS - When last Corona del Mar High and St. Paul met

in the CIF Southern Section Division IV baseball playoffs, the No.

4-seeded Sea Kings earned an 8-4 first-round victory over the Swordsmen,

who finished third in their league that spring of 1999.

In today’s CIF Division IV first-round clash, set for 3 p.m. at St.

Paul, it’s Coach Patrick Fitzsimons’ squad (21-8) which owns the more

impressive credentials, as the No. 3 seed.

CdM (12-13) comes in as the underdog, having won a Pacific Coast

League tiebreaker with fellow third-place finishers Costa Mesa and Laguna

Beach to advance.

CdM Coach John Emme acknowledges the shoe is on the other foot this

time, but he’s hoping that shoe will metaphorically resemble a glass

slipper.

“Multiply (the unpredictability) you see in the NCAA basketball

tournament by 10 and you get high school baseball,” Emme said. “On any

one day, anyone can beat another team. Last year, we came in as a league

champion and faced a really solid left-handed pitcher from Ocean View who

basically shut us down (in a 4-3 loss in 12 innings). This year, we could

be the ones to walk away with the upset.”

If the upset does occur, junior left-handed pitcher Nick Rhodes will

have a big part in it. He will take the ball for the Sea Kings, hoping to

even his 5-6 record. He compiled a 3.80 ERA in the regular season.

Rhodes, however, has won 10 of his 18 varsity decisions and finished

the regular season by allowing just three hits and no earned runs in a

victorious six-inning stint May 8 against Laguna Beach.

St. Paul will start sophomore Steve Salas, who carried a 6-1 record

and a 1.76 ERA into the final stretch of the regular season. The

5-foot-10, 160-pounder is also the team’s leading hitter (an estimated

.500 average with four homers and 38 RBIs) and typifies the competitive

drive that has made Fitzsimons’ job easier.

“What this team lacks in talent, it more than makes up for in attitude

and effort,” said Fitzsimons, who has guided the Swordsmen to the

postseason each of his seven seasons at the helm.

There is plenty of talent, however, including senior pitcher and

infielder Houston Hernandez, who was hitting .456 with one homer and 19

RBIs late in the season at which time he had also posted a 5-2 record

with a 3.60 ERA. The Swordsmen won 14 of their final 18 games, with three

of those losses coming to Del Rey League champion Bishop Amat (23-2), the

top seed in Division IV and the No. 1 team in the Cal-Hi Sports Division

II state rankings.

The game will feature several first-time varsity postseason starters,

though making the playoffs has become routine for both programs.

CdM is making its fifth straight trip to the CIF Playoffs, coinciding

with Emme’s arrival as coach. Including two previous stops, Emme has been

to the playoffs each of his 13 seasons of prep coaching.

Emme said his players appear focused on making the most of their

second season. But, the outcome may come down to how well the Sea Kings

are able to avoid costly mistakes.

“We’ve been a victim of ourselves this season,” Emme said. “When we go

out and play solid defense and our pitchers throw strikes, we’re tough to

beat. We’ve beaten some good teams this year, like Mission Viejo and

Foothill. (Friday) could be a matter of whether our kids come to play.”

CdM is among five teams in the 32-team bracket without a winning

record.

The game will start 15 minutes earlier than originally scheduled, a

concession to St. Paul players attending the school’s prom Friday night.

But Fitzsimons isn’t worried about any of his guys itching to get into

their tuxedos.

“Our kids don’t really care about the prom, they really don’t,” said

Fitzsimons, who applied for the then-vacant CdM head coaching position in

1995, before electing to remain at St. Paul as an assistant. “Their total

focus will be on baseball.”

The CdM offense has been led by UCLA-bound senior Billy Eagle, a

two-time All-CIF honoree who hit .377 with four homers and 21 RBIs during

his final prep regular season.

Junior catcher Nick Karpe (.372 with one homer and 29 RBIs), freshman

outfielder Wess Presson (.356 with 16 RBIs), sophomore outfielder Danny

Whitaker (.333), and junior third baseman Josh Bradbury (.324 with 11

RBIs) have been consistent threats.

Junior shortstop Keith Long has driven in 15 runs, while sophomore

outfielder Todd Macklin has knocked in 13.

Today’s winner will advance to face either San Jacinto (16-6) or

Bonita (14-10) in Tuesday’s second round.