Mustangs can’t keep up

Steve Virgen

The odds were stacked against Costa Mesa High before its Golden West

League baseball game at Westminster Wednesday. The Lions entered the

contest winners of their previous three and having scored eight and

10 runs, respectively, in their past two victories. It was obviously

essential that the Mustangs play error-free and upscale baseball. But

that was not the case.

The Lions (9-7, 5-1 in league) scored eight runs in the first

three innings to gain a 9-3 victory over a squad that was hardly

energized to face one of the top teams in the Golden West League,

according to Costa Mesa Coach Doug Deats.

“Overall, that might have been our worst effort of the year,”

Deats said. “We told the guys [after the game] that you have to look

yourself in the mirror and see what’s really staring back. But I take

my hat off to Westminster. [The Lions] played hard. They were

everything we hope we can be. They outplayed us.”

Deats also said the Mustangs (6-6, 2-2) had to adapt since one of

their players was out because of disciplinary reasons. Deats did not

name the player, yet mentioned the situation resulted in position

changes and he thought that put the Mustangs at a disadvantage.

It also didn’t help that the Lions built a 3-0 lead in the bottom

of the first inning. Westminster’s leadoff hitter Dale Gamo tripled

to right-center field on a full count. He later scored on a wild

pitch. The Lions then scored two runs with two out. Brian Gump

collected a two-out RBI single on a full count to give Westminster a

somewhat commanding 3-0 lead.

“In our past three games, we’ve been pretty hot,” said Westminster

Coach Mike Carey, whose team has averaged nine runs in its past three

wins. “We’ve just been doing the little things. We’ve just been

putting the ball in play and we’ve been able to grab some momentum.”

Carey, who graduated from Westminster in 1998, said the Lions’

first inning gave them control of the game.

“We established ourselves and established what we wanted to do,”

said Carey, who played baseball at Orange Coast College for two years

after Westminster.

The Mustangs nearly rallied in the third inning when they were

down, 5-0, after the Lions scored another two runs with two out.

Seniors Adam Beltran, Dan Bitler and Nate Hunter showed signs of life

as they each collected two-out singles to load the bases. But,

Westminster pitcher Blake Torgeson was able to induce a short

chopper, which he easily fielded and threw to first for the out.

“We can stack up against [Westminster] better,” Deats said. “But

we didn’t have that opportunity. We had to make some personnel

changes and that wasn’t in our favor. I would like to play these guys

again and I look forward to that.”

Deats, a Costa Mesa alumnus, also said Westminster, along with

Ocean View are the top two teams in the Golden West League. Torgeson

typified the Lions’ superiority in his six innings of work. He

delivered five strikeouts and allowed only one run, which came in the

sixth inning. Hunter, who was hit by a pitch, scored on a fielder’s

choice grounder off the bat of sophomore Alex Pisarski.

Beltran, who went 2 for 4, and junior Justin Peterson, scored in

the seventh inning on RBI singles by Hunter, who also went 2 for 4,

and senior Robert Rodriguez.

Estancia limited to one hit

* BASEBALL: Junior Brad Young struck out nine and allowed three

hits, but the Estancia High baseball team endured a rough sixth

inning and lost, 4-1, to Golden West League visitor Orange Wednesday.

The Eagles (3-10, 1-4 in league) gave up the four runs in the

sixth. Three runs came unearned and Estancia committed three errors

in the inning.

Coach Jon Green’s Eagles built a 1-0 edge after one inning. Junior

Jeremy Hauser, who came up with Estancia’s lone hit, singled and

advanced to second and third on passed balls. He scored on Young’s

RBI groundout.

*--*

Golden West League

Westminster 9, Mesa 3

Score by Innings

Costa Mesa 000 001 2 -- 3 8 1

W’minster 323 001 x -- 9 11 1

Torgeson, Douglas (7) and Brinkman, Nolden

(6); Gonzalez, Beltran (3), Pisarski (5),

Cooper (6) and Hunter. W -- Torgeson, 3-2.

L -- Gonzalez, 0-2. 2B -- Brinkman (W),

Gump (W). 3B -- Gamo (W)

*--*

*--*

Golden West League

Orange 4, Estancia 1

Score by Innings

Orange 000 004 0 -- 4 3 2

Estancia 100 000 0 -- 1 1 4

Johnson and Welsh; Young and Crom. W --

Johnson. L -- Young, 0-5. 2B -- Lawrence

(O), Saucedo (O)

*--*