Knights take life out of Sailors

Steve Virgen

All the energy, momentum and life that the Newport Harbor High

baseball players had built up for themselves with a three-game

winning streak seemed to fade away with one stroke of the bat.

The Sailors’ hopes of an upset over Sea View League defending

champion Foothill appeared daunting, considering Knights’ starter

Phil Hughes, whose fastball consistently reaches the low 90-mph

range, was on the mound.

Yet for all of Hughes’ prowess, Newport ridded itself a chance of

an upset because of a heartbreaking sequence of events in the top of

the fourth inning and lost its Sea View League opener, 8-0, to the

visiting Knights, ranked No. 1 in CIF Southern Section Division II,

Friday.

Hughes, who improved to 3-0, tossed a two-hitter that came with 10

strikeouts and no walks for his first shutout of the season. Still,

the Sailors were frustrated they hurt themselves with four errors and

allowing four unearned runs.

With two outs in the fourth, the Sailors committed two straight

errors. Shortly thereafter, Foothill’s Chris Moe faced a 1-2 count

and dealt a dramatic blow to Newport Harbor by smacking a home run

over the right-field fence.

“We were [excited] and we were in the game,” Sailors Coach Joel

Desguin said. “But the kids got deflated after that.”

It was realistic to think Newport Harbor was capable of beating

the Knights. Last year the Sailors nearly stunned Foothill, losing,

2-0, in the league finale. Joey Cantarella struck out three and

scattered seven hits in that game.

This year, Cantarella got the start again and allowed one hit

through the first three innings. He struck out two in those innings

and was definitely hanging with Hughes. But then came the fourth

inning and Moe.

“The two-strike adjustment that Moe made was huge,” Foothill Coach

Gary Fishel said. “That was the swing of momentum there. With two

strikes and two outs? That helped us get it going.”

Fishel said Moe’s home run was the difference, but Hughes led the

Knights to the victory. According to Baseball America, he is one of

the top five high school pitching prospects in the nation.

Newport senior Mike McLean was the only one to hit Hughes.

McLean’s base hit in the second inning landed just in front of the

left fielder. McLean, who played third base and pitched the final two

innings, also got a single with a high chopper toward second base and

he beat the throw in the fifth inning.

“I’m proud of them,” Desguin said of his players. “They battled.

It’s not like they got up there and watched [Hughes] pitch. They were

swinging at it.”

Though he was proud of his team’s effort, Desguin was disappointed

in the Sailors’ inability to respond to Moe’s three-run blast.

The Knights scored five more runs in the fifth, capitalizing on

their momentum. The Sailors committed another error and there were

three instances when Newport players misplayed hits, allowing for

Foothill to get men on base.

Desguin and assistant coach Jim Kiefer, a former Newport coach,

stressed to the players that the loss was just one game and they must

gain back the momentum they carried through their three-game winning

streak, which included an 11-4 victory over Back Bay rival Corona del

Mar.

*--*

Sea View League

Foothill 8, Newport Harbor 0

Score by Innings

Foothill 000 350 0 -- 8 10 0

Newport 000 000 0 -- 0 2 4

Hughes and Kirkpatrick; Cantarella, McLean

(6) and Sanchez. W -- Hughes, 3-0. L --

Cantarella, 1-2. 2B -- Hicks (F), Moe (F).

HR -- Moe (F).

*--*