Elliott leads Sea Kings to win

CORONA DEL MAR — It depends on who you ask why it took a month for Austin Elliott to start on the mound again for Corona del Mar High.

Coach John Emme said the right-hander hasn’t started because his arm is a little tired.

Elliott said he’s not sure the reason behind the long wait because the arm is fine.

The senior showcased how well he was Tuesday afternoon, going the distance against Back Bay rival Newport Harbor.

Newport Harbor proved no match for Elliott, as he threw a three-hit, complete game shutout to lead the Sea Kings to a 5-0 victory and into today’s Beach Pit Classic championship.

As dominant as he was in recording his second shutout and accomplishing it against the defending tournament champ, Elliott (3-1) also chipped in offensively to set up today’s 2 p.m. title game at home against San Clemente (9-6). The Tritons came from behind to beat South Hills of West Covina, 11-8, in the other semifinal. South Hills plays at Newport Harbor today at 11 a.m. in the third-place game.

Corona del Mar (13-3) went ahead, 2-0, after Elliott blasted his third home run of the year in the bottom of the fourth inning. He followed up Jake Lemmerman’s solo homer, which gave the Duke-bound senior shortstop a team-leading four on the year.

“Second time we’ve gone back-to-back in a tournament,” said Elliott, referring to accomplishing the feat in last year’s Beach Pit Classic. “This time was even better because it was against Newport [Harbor] and I finally got my chance to start again. I’ve been wanting to get back in [the rotation].

“We just wanted to come out and take it to them, because the last time we played them, we didn’t.”

The last time the Sea Kings met the Sailors (5-11) they won, 2-1, on Chris Rosen’s walk-off RBI single in the seventh on March 13.

But this time around more was at stake. Not only for Elliott, trying to convince Emme that he’s ready to start somewhere other than the outfield on a team already boasting two strong starting pitchers in sophomore Danny Moskovits (4-1, 1.06 earned-run average) and USC-bound senior Vinnie St. John (3-1, 3.50 ERA).

“He hasn’t pitched in awhile. He was very well-rested,” said Emme of Elliott, who before Tuesday had pitched in relief four times since throwing a four-hit, complete game shutout in a 4-0 victory against Martin Luther King of Riverside on March 9. “We’ve only used him here and there, because obviously he’s an asset on the field, too.

“It was good for him to get to air it out.”

Elliott, who struck out three batters, definitely did against a Newport Harbor team trying to advance to the title game for the second straight year. The Sailors tried to reach that goal by sending out a freshman in left-hander Dillan Freiberg, making his first varsity start after being called up.

CdM’s plan was to play for the actual championship and not for the consolation championship, which it won last year.

The opportunity for the Sailors to help Freiberg (0-1) out with some run support presented itself in the top of the fourth. The bases were loaded with two outs after the Sea Kings committed their second error of the inning and Brett Houten singled and Harold Levy walked.

But Elliott responded. He fired two straight strikes to Nick Svendsen. A couple pitches later, Elliott induced a groundball to second baseman Kevin Holland, who tossed it to Lemmerman at second for a force out to get out of the inning unharmed.

The Sailors didn’t have another runner in scoring position again until the last inning. By that time, it was too late for a rally against Elliott. The Sea Kings, with Freiberg out of the game, went ahead, 5-0, after Vinnie St. John drove in two runs with a single over shortstop P.J. Errington’s head, and a run came in to score on Elliott’s grounder to third base.

“We didn’t hit the ball hard anywhere. We didn’t make a whole heck of a lot of plays,” said Newport Harbor Coach Evan Chalmers, whose team got blanked for the first time in the four-day, 16-team tournament, which ends today. “We have to be more aggressive at the plate early in the count and trying to hit the fastball rather than waiting so long and seeing the off-speed pitches. It’s hard to win when you throw up a zero. But their guy did a really good job up there. I tip my hat to him.”

Emme tipped his hat to Elliott as well, because for the second time in his 10-year CdM career, he’ll be coaching in the tournament’s championship.

For that, Elliott’s now hoping his coach hands him the ball more often before games.

Beach Pit ClassicSemifinal

Corona del Mar 5,

Newport Harbor 0

Score by Innings

Newport 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 3 0

CdM 0 0 0 2 3 0 x - 5 7 3

Freiberg, Schuler (5), Albert (6) and Levy; Elliott and DiRocco. W -- Elliott, 3-1. L -- Freiberg, 0-1. HR -- Lemmerman (CdM), Elliott (CdM).