Mesa’s Peterson finds groove in nick of time

Steve Virgen

Justin Peterson called it his worst pitching performance of the

season.

But when the game mattered most, the Costa Mesa High senior

left-hander came up huge and displayed an impressive grit in the

final inning Tuesday.

With the tying run on second and one out, Peterson found the stuff

he had been showing prior to the game by striking out the final two

batters, leading the Mustangs to a 2-1 victory over visiting West

Campus of Sacramento in a consolation semifinal of the Pride of the

Coast tournament.

Peterson delivered a three-hitter that came with eight strikeouts

and four walks to improve his record to 5-1.

“I had to step up,” Peterson said. “I didn’t want that run to

score. [With the runner on second], then I started to hit my spots.”

The game situation wasn’t the only reason Peterson became

motivated. His teammates, coaches and supporters in the stands,

started to cheer louder with the game on the line. It helped Peterson

pull himself from his out-of-sync day.

“I couldn’t hit my first-pitch strikes,” Peterson said. “I just

battled and still came through with the win.”

Peterson was aided with a 2-0 lead that came in the first inning,

similar to the Mustangs’ 2-1 victory over Paramount Monday, when they

also scored two runs in the opening frame.

This time, Peterson and senior Gary Gonzalez scored for Costa

Mesa. With one out, Peterson reached on a single. Gonzalez followed

with a base hit to move him over and Daniel Cooper came up with an

infield single to load the bases.

Andrew Sanford collected an RBI, by reaching on a fielder’s

choice, and Ryan Szwast had his first single of the season, a

hard-hit ground ball to the shortstop that scored Gonzalez.

“It was a nice win,” Costa Mesa Coach Doug Deats said. “Hopefully

it will give us momentum into league.”

The Mustangs (7-6) will look to gain more rhythm when they face

Paloma Valley in the consolation championship game today at 3 p.m. at

Costa Mesa. They were able to get there with great defense, and a bit

of fortune, which was shown in the fourth inning when West Campus

(11-4) threatened.

With two outs and runners on the corners, Peterson picked off Ben

Gale at first base. The Warriors thought Peterson had balked, but the

umpire maintained his call and said Gale was out. After the game,

Peterson admitted he balked.

Peterson had a no-hitter through three innings, until Gale reached

on a single. The Warriors’ Scotty Anderson led off the sixth inning

with a double down the left-field line. He advanced to third on a

groundout and scored on Kevin Dawidczki’s sacrifice fly.

In the seventh inning, Costa Mesa junior third baseman Alex

Pisarski contributed a key defensive play. He charged at a slow

rolling ground ball and threw out the runner at first, for the first

out. Mason Asher then came up with a double, a low line drive that

also hugged the left field line, to set up Peterson’s game-ending

dramatics.

*--*

Pride of the Coast tournament Consolation

semifinal

Costa Mesa 2, West Campus 1

Score by Innings

Campus 000 001 0 -- 1 3 2

Mesa 200 000 x -- 2 6 0

Facino and Dawidczik; Peterson and Benson.

W -- Peterson, 5-1. L -- Facino, 5-1. 2B --

Anderson (WC), Asher (WC), Benson (CM).

*--*