Cantarella saves Sailors’ day

Richard Dunn

Baseball weather couldn’t get any better Saturday and neither could

the suspense.

On par with some of the storied Back Bay athletic contests of

yesteryear, Newport Harbor High’s Sailors escaped with a 5-4 victory

over host Corona del Mar in the first round of the Pride of the Coast

Tournament.

As in most any case on the diamond, pitching decided the outcome,

the Sailors’ first win over the Sea Kings since 1999, a year CdM captured a CIF Southern Section title. So maybe there’s something

more to this as far as the Sea Kings are concerned.

Working out of jams often wins games for pitchers. And, while that

was the state of affairs for Newport Harbor junior right-hander Joe

Cantarella, it can be damaging for a hurler to keep an inning’s door

open following a two-out solo home run.

Corona del Mar (8-5), the Pacific Coast League leader entering

spring break, jumped on Newport Harbor with three runs in the first

inning, but the offensive fun stopped there. The Sailors used one big

inning -- the fourth -- to score five runs.

After CdM’s around-the-horn infield turned a double play, Newport

Harbor junior Karo Makserjian cleared the corner in left field for a

solo home run to end CdM starter Griffin Dunzer’s shutout bid. R.J.

Muller opened the fourth inning by ending Dunzer’s no-hit attempt.

But following Makserjian’s home run to cut CdM’s lead to 3-1,

Newport Harbor cleanup hitter Ryan Torrey walked, then Ryan Rowe was

hit by a pitch to put the tying run aboard.

Cantarella, whose sparking relief effort would eventually earn him

the save, singled to left to plate Torrey, then Dave Erickson reached

safely on a bobbled infield grounder, a play that scored Rowe to tie

the game. A wild pitch sent Erickson to second, putting two runners

in scoring position. What followed was senior Nick Sacco’s double to

left field to score both runners and give the visitors a 5-3 lead.

It was Sacco in the second inning who did the splits at first base

while scooping up a throw in the dirt from shortstop and keeping his

foot on the bag as Newport Harbor senior right-hander Ryan Heenan

retired the side in order to begin a Newport pitching string of four

straight shutout innings.

Heenan lasted 4 1/3 nnings, giving up only one earned run and four

hits, while striking out one and walking two. Cantarella worked the

final 2 2/3 innings for the save, punching out five, yielding two

hits and wiggling out of some tough spots.

After Cantarella relieved Heenan in the fifth with one out and two

runners aboard, he struck out CdM’s Josh Bradbury, then walked

Barrett Sprowl to load the bases. On a first-pitch fastball to CdM

cleanup hitter Todd Macklin, Cantarella forced him into an

inning-ending popup.

CdM added a run in the sixth on senior Ryan Rhodes’ RBI single to

center field, scoring Tyler Lents. CdM’s Ryan Kelly, however, reached

safely on strike three when a pitch caromed to the backstop, setting

up a first-and-third situation. But Cantarella struck out CdM leadoff

hitter Keith Long to stop the threat.

“Joey came in and did a great job closing it out. He got out of a

couple of jams and has been pitching real well lately,” said Newport

Harbor Coach Joel Desguin, whose team improved to 5-10 and will play Dana Hills on Monday at home in the quarterfinals at 11 a.m., while

the Sea Kings fall into the consolation bracket and will host Bolsa

Grande at 11 a.m. Monday.

“We made some critical errors and didn’t hit the ball well,” CdM

Coach John Emme said. “Cantarella shoved the ball down our throats,

so to speak. He did a great job.”

Adding to the tension in the seventh, CdM’s Bradbury opened with a

single to center, bringing the potential winning run to the plate in

Sprowl, the Sea Kings’ No. 3 hitter. But Cantarella struck out Sprowl

swinging, then retired Macklin on a screamer to center field, where

Torrey was perfectly placed. Cantarella ended matters by, fittingly,

striking out Wess Presson.

“They did a good job. They beat us,” Emme said of the Sailors, who

made all three of their errors in the first inning as the Sea Kings

took an early 3-0 lead.

Makserjian, however, launched a 2-and-1 pitch over the left-field

fence near the foul pole to ignite a sudden rally.

“We had that big two-out rally in the fourth with Karo Makserjian

starting it out with a home run, then we got a couple of hits and

then got five runs,” Desguin said. “Obviously (CdM reliever) Blake

Contant did a great job when he came in. It was a very big win. Any

time I can beat the Emme dynasty, it’s big. It’s great for the

program and great for the kids.”

Contant, a left-hander, struck out eight in three innings of

relief. He fanned the side in the fifth and seventh. In the seventh,

Contant struck out Newport Harbor’s Nos. 2, 3 and 4 hitters with the

bases loaded, sparking a boisterous CdM bench for the bottom of the

seventh.

*--*

Pride of the Coast Tournament

First round Newport Harbor 5, Corona del

Mar 4

Score by Innings

Newport 000 500 0 -- 5 7 3

CdM 300 001 0 -- 4 6 2

Heenan, Cantarella (5) and Sanchez; Dunzer,

Contant (5) and Kelly. W -- Heenan. L --

Dunzer. Sv -- Cantarella. 2B -- Sacco (NH).

HR -- Makserjian (NH)

*--*