Eagles near Troxel trophy

COSTA MESA — Talk of sweeping cross-town rival Costa Mesa High broke out for a minute before Estancia High Coach C.K. Green brushed it aside.

“It’s a little early to talk about that,” Green said with a shrug.

The players Green addressed were Trevor McDonald and Tim Morley, who were instrumental in the Eagles winning Friday’s Orange Coast League road game, 10-4, and picking up their second win against the Mustangs.

Both seniors agreed with the 25-year-old coach. That’s because the last time the Eagles won the series from Costa Mesa was in 2001, a year after Green graduated from Estancia.

The drought motivates Estancia (6-8, 2-4 in league), which plays Costa Mesa two more times in league.

“It makes us hungry,” said McDonald of playing the Mustangs more than the usual two league games in years past because the new league has only four teams. “We got to kick some more [butt].”

The third-place Eagles did a good job of that from the beginning against second-place Costa Mesa (8-6, 3-3).

They pounded starter Andrew Millian (2-2) for three runs in the top of the first inning, then chased him in the second, as the Eagles increased the lead to 8-0.

The key for Estancia was seeing its top three guys in the lineup get on base. McDonald, the leadoff hitter, started it off, followed by Blake Pinto and Ryan Redding.

The three combined to go eight for 10 and reach base 11 times out of 12 plate appearances, setting up RBI opportunities for the big hitters. And Eddie Tomasek and Morley tagged the ball.

The two collected five of the team’s 14 hits and drove in seven runs. The barrage began in the first, when Tomasek drove in Pinto on a single. Morley bettered that with a double to bring Redding and Tomasek home.

“Having the first [at-bat] really helped us, because we could jump on them early, and kind of set our tone for the game, and show them what we’re all about,” said Morley, who went three for four with four RBIs, easily his best game of the year. “I’ve just been seeing the ball really well [in league]. I should have had two [doubles].”

The left fielder is right. But Green ordered Morley to stay at first on a long single to right-center field that drove in Redding and put Estancia ahead, 10-3, in the sixth.

Morley had no qualms about the decision, saying, “In that point in the game, I’m glad for the RBI.”

The victory, too, as it put Estancia one-game back of second place in league. In the new league, only the top two teams receive automatic berths into the playoffs.

Costa Mesa appeared as if it would be contending for the top spot with Calvary Chapel (12-2, 5-1) until dropping two league home games this week. Unlike Tuesday’s 10-2 loss to Calvary Chapel, where they trailed by four runs heading into the seventh, the Mustangs’ stood no chance late.

Much of the credit for that goes to Redding (1-1). The junior picked up his first victory by lasting five solid innings. It wasn’t like the 86 pitches the right-hander threw were blowing batters away, but he threw strikes and mixed speeds, fooling Costa Mesa.

Out of the five hits he allowed, only John Rybarczyk’s went for an extra-base hit. It cost Redding two runs in the fifth, when Rybarczyk hit his fifth home run of the year, a two-run blast to left field, cutting the deficit, 9-3.

“We had trouble waiting back on the pitches. We were just kind of out and front, and making bad swings,” said Rybarczyk, who as the designated hitter went one for four. “You got to make that adjustment if you expect to win a game when they score a lot of runs. We kind of got ourselves out by rolling over, or popping up, and that’s what pretty much happened the entire game.

“We knew they were going to come after us. We weren’t as aggressive as them.”

That aggressiveness has led Costa Mesa Coach Jim Kiefer to call Estancia the dark horse in league. With two losses already to Estancia, the other a 3-2 loss in extra innings, Kiefer might be right.

Both teams enter the local Beach Pit Classic, which starts today, giving the Mustangs some time to regroup before league play resumes on April 24.

If the Mustangs don’t return to form, they might see themselves getting swept by Estancia and losing the Paul Troxel Trophy, the award going to the series’ winner. It would end the Mustangs’ five-year run.

Don’t expect Green to brush that trophy aside if it happens.

Orange Coast LeagueEstancia 10,

Costa Mesa 4

Score by Innings

Est. 3 5 1 0 0 1 0 - 10 14 4

CM 0 0 1 0 2 1 0 - 4 8 3

Redding, Pinto (6) and McDonald; Millian, Boulger (2) and Pisarski. W -- Redding, 1-1. L -- Millian, 2-2. 2B -- Morley (ES), McDonald (ES). HR -- Rybarczyk (CM).