Peterson, Mustangs ring up Estancia

Barry Faulkner

Not long before members of the Costa Mesa High baseball team began to

ring the bell atop the Troxel Trophy that goes to the annual

crosstown series winner, more than a few Mustangs had to answer the

bell in a seesaw 6-3 Golden West League victory Wednesday at

Estancia.

Not the least of those were junior left-handed pitcher Justin

Peterson and senior designated hitter Robert Rodriguez.

Peterson pitched five strong innings of relief to earn his third

victory over the Eagles this season. He struck out the first five he

faced, yielded just two hits and walked one to improve his record to

5-3.

Rodriguez went 3 for 4 with two doubles. He doubled in two runs in

the third inning to give the Mustangs a 3-2 lead, then doubled and

scored in a three-run seventh, after the Eagles had pulled even, 3-3,

with a run in the sixth.

Other Mesa heroes included: senior catcher Nate Hunter, who

reached four times in five plate appearances and drove in a run,

without registering an official at-bat; senior left fielder Derek

Garcia , who was 2 for 4 and scored a run; sophomore shortstop Alex

Pisarski who scored twice; and junior center fielder Gary Gonzalez

who singled in the go-ahead run in the seventh and later scored to

add insurance.

Estancia (3-18, 1-8 in league) was not without a heroic effort of

its own, in the person of junior Jeremy Hauser. Hauser, whom Coach

Jon Green said had pitched only four or five innings all spring,

battled gamely into the seventh. Mesa’s first four runs were

unearned.

“This was an important game for our kids and Jeremy wanted the

ball,” said Green, who cited pitching depth and Hauser’s value at

shortstop as reasons for his limited mound appearances. “It was the

kind of game where a play here, or a play there, and the outcome

could have been reversed.”

Mesa Coach Doug Deats was also impressed by Hauser’s pitching

performance.

“He did a good job of not giving into us,” Deats said.

The Mustangs and Eagles appeared to be in a giving mood early, as

five combined errors, four by Costa Mesa, helped produce five

combined unearned runs the first three innings.

Cullen Crom reached on an error, went to second on a passed ball

and scored on a play that featured two errors to give the hosts a 1-0

first-inning lead.

An errant pickoff throw to second allowed an Eagle runner to reach

third, then score on Eric Scheafer’s infield hit for an unearned run

in the Estancia second. But in the last of the third, Peterson, who

had thrown two complete games against Estancia this season, strode to

the mound and, seemingly, into the collective consciousness of the

Eagles.

“When [Peterson] came in, I think our kids went ‘Uhg, here we go

again,’ ” Green said. “I think our intensity on offense dropped a

little bit.”

Peterson, who struck out 14 in an April 4 win over the Eagles,

retired 10 of the first 11 he faced, before Tyler Hoffman singled

with one out in the sixth. Hoffman went to second on a passed ball

and advanced 90 more feet on a groundout. Jose Jauregui then singled

to center to tie the game.

The Mustangs (9-14, 3-6 in league), however, didn’t wait long to

reclaim the lead.

Pisarski reached on an error to begin the Mustangs’ seventh, then,

waiting to see if the ball would fall in shallow left-center, wound

up at third on Rodriguez’s second double of the day.

Gonzalez followed with a single to center, which was bobbled in

the outfield to allow Rodriguez, who had stopped at third, to score

to make it 5-3.

Gonzalez went to second on Steve Doerr’s well-executed sacrifice

bunt, then trotted into third on a wild pitch. After walks to Jeff

Waldron and Dylan Hunter, Gonzalez scored on Nate Hunter’s sacrifice

fly to right for a comfortable three-run cushion.

Peterson retired the side in order in the seventh to cap the

Mustangs’ four-game sweep of the Eagles this season, including both

league meetings.

“We started Coop today, because Justin threw on Friday and we

wanted [Peterson] out on the hill at the end,” Deats said. “We got

two innings out of Cooper and we brought Petey in. I don’t know if

[Peterson] is in [the Eagles’] heads or not. I just think he just

does a good job of competing and throwing strikes.”

Cooper and Peterson combined for 11 strikeouts and a three-hitter

to outduel Hauser and overcome four Mesa errors.

“It was a little ugly,” Deats said. “If we play good defense, I’m

not sure they score any runs and if they play good defense, it might

have been the same way for us. We left a lot of guys on base [11],

but we got a couple big hits from Rodriguez and Gonzalez.”

*--*

Golden West League

Costa Mesa 6, Estancia 3

Score by Innings

Mesa 003 000 3 - 6 7 4

Estancia 110 001 0 - 3 3 3 Cooper, Peterson (3) and N. Hunter; Hauser,

Hoffman (7) and Crom. W - Peterson, 5-3. L -

Hauser, 0-1. 2B - Rodriguez (CM) 2

*--*