Macklin wakes up Sea Kings

Steve Virgen

If there was a time to end Corona del Mar High’s undefeated streak in

the Pacific Coast League, Tuesday might have been that day.

Corona del Mar Coach John Emme noticed his team had come off an

emotional week, following a dramatic 2-1 victory over Tesoro Friday.

He took a wait-and-see approach as the Sea Kings took on University.

Corona del Mar did enough to get the job done, while the visiting

Trojans were left asking, ‘What if?’ as they allowed three unearned

runs and lost, 6-2.

The Sea Kings, ranked No. 8 in CIF Southern Section Division IV,

improved to 13-5, 8-0 in league and remained in first with a

three-game lead over the second-place team. They have now won five in

a row and 11 of their last 12.

“We need to make sure we come out with the same determination,”

Emme said. “Day in and day out, we just need to make sure we take

care of business.”

Emme also said the Sea Kings were a bit lackadaisical against the

Trojans, but thanks to the pitching of USC-bound senior Todd Macklin

and his timely home run in the fourth inning, Corona del Mar was able

to come out ahead.

He smacked a three-run home run that gave the Sea Kings a 5-1

lead. Macklin also improved to 7-1, recording eight strikeouts and

allowing just two hits in six innings.

Junior Blake Contant, who was brilliant in helping provide the 2-1

win over Tesoro Friday, picked up his second save of the season. He

came on in the seventh with the bases loaded and two outs. His first

two pitches were strikes and his next pitch induced a pop out to

center field, where Wess Presson gloved it and ended the game.

Emme was pleased with Macklin’s overall performance, yet both he

and Macklin thought the pitcher did not start as well as he should

have. Macklin opened his day by walking Eric Dawling, who later stole

second. Then Jason Rice reached on an error and Dan Warners collected

an RBI on a groundout to give University (11-9, 3-4 in league) a 1-0

lead.

However, Macklin rebounded and struck out the next two batters to

end the inning. The Sea Kings and Macklin then benefited from scoring

two runs with two outs.

Barrett Sprowl, the Sea Kings’ senior first baseman who reached on

an infield single, scored on a balk. Junior Wess Presson, who got

aboard with a base hit, came across the plate when Nik Palchikoff put

the ball in play with a ground ball toward second base.

The University second baseman flinched before throwing to first

base and Palchikoff beat the throw. Meanwhile, Presson sprinted home

and slid before the first baseman could make the throw home, giving

CdM a 2-1 lead.

The Sea Kings were also able to score four runs in the fourth

inning. Two of the tallies came unearned, as Palchikoff and Tyler

Lance both reached on errors to open the frame. Then Macklin blasted

the aforementioned three-run shot over the fence in right-center

field.

“I saw the curveball right out and I just got a good piece of it,”

said Macklin, who had not been in the battling lineup since April 13,

when he pitched the win against Tesoro.

“Not bad for a guy who hasn’t swung a bat for a week,” Emme said.

“That set up perfectly. They threw the ball away and Todd was able to

help himself out.”

CdM senior Jeritt Thayer, who drew a walk, also scored in the

fourth. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and moved over to third

when freshman Jake Lemmerman singled to left field. Thayer made it

6-1, scoring on Parker Ferguson’s sacrifice fly.

“I was disappointed with the way we played on defense,” University

Coach Chris Conlin said. “I felt like we gave them four runs. Tyler

Brown pitched as well he could have pitched.”

Brown dropped to 4-3 in his complete-game effort that included

four strikeouts and one walk. He scattered eight hits.

Macklin and Presson each went 2 for 3. On the mound, Macklin’s

fastball was the key in his two-hitter over six innings.

“[Macklin] relied on his off-speed stuff a little too much early,”

Emme said. “He started to get his fastball over later, and was more

effective ... Overall he had a very good day.”

*--*

Pacific Coast League

Corona del Mar 6, University 2

Score by Innings

Uni 100 001 0 -- 2 3 2

CdM 200 400 x -- 6 8 3

Brown and Huttaker; Macklin, Maggard (7),

Contant (7) and Kelly. W -- Macklin, 7-1. L

-- Brown, 4-3. Sv -- Contant (2). 2B --

Saito (U), Bradbury (CdM). HR -- Macklin

(CdM).

*--*