Quick oust for Mesa

COSTA MESA — One last photo, all together now.

Last chance for another team photo of Costa Mesa High’s baseball team, and the lady behind the camera was going to get it.

“C’mon, guys,” Peggy Kimmes-Erno pleaded.

She’s snapped photos of the Mustangs throughout their season. The good, the bad, and the everyday shots, she has thousands of those types of pictures. There’s an ample amount to fill every player’s scrapbook.

But the final picture taken, not everyone smiled for it Tuesday. Hard to crack a smile after getting hammered by Loyola of Los Angeles, 11-1, in a wild-card game in the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs.

“We’ve taken a lot of those pictures,” said a distraught Matt Pisarski, a senior catcher. “We wanted to keep playing.”

And Kimmes-Erno wanted to continue to shoot Costa Mesa (15-12) and see her grandson Garrick Williams keep the Mustangs’ first ride in the postseason since 2001 alive.

Things looked promising for the senior right-handed pitcher heading into the fifth inning. Down 3-0, Williams (4-6) got the first two outs. The third never came, eliminating any chance for Kodak moments the rest of the game for the Mustangs.

The Cubs (21-8), winners of 14 of their last 15, made sure those belonged to them. The tenth-ranked team in Division III clubbed five home runs and three doubles to advance to a first-round game Friday at No. 8 South Hills (19-5) of West Covina.

Loyola’s Steven Selsky hit two solo homers, and Brian Glass and Holden Watne each homered once. William Gilmore also got involved in the home-run friendly park.

The designated hitter smashed a three-run home run to straight-away center, putting Loyola up, 10-1, only thing more impressive than the score was watching the ball sail way past the 360-foot sign.

“Got to keep the ball down, otherwise the ball is going to fly, especially in our yard,” Pisarski said. “We don’t have a big yard.”

Now the Mustangs have no yard to play in. The season is over, some Mustang fan said while coming to grips with it in the stands and seeing Costa Mesa record only four hits.

The lasting memories for Costa Mesa’s players were watching Loyola’s 18-hit attack and starter Curtis Wagner end their season.

Wagner (6-5) needed just 54 pitches in five innings to record the win. But Wagner taking the mound was a gamble by Loyola Coach Brian Felten. Go with his No. 2 pitcher instead of ace Jordan Sigman (10-0), a possible future Major League Baseball player.

“We understand that we’re going to be in a dogfight on Friday,” said Felten for holding the senior for South Hills. “We wanted to get our best guy on the mound and get us the best opportunity to get a victory.

“So we gambled. Fortunately we have a payoff.”

The Mustangs, those returning, have next year, a year on paper looking prosperous with a freshmen team going 19-2.

Seven of the 12 players will graduate and be missed by Costa Mesa Coach Jim Kiefer. Those players making it possible for the eight-year coach to coach in the playoffs for the first time, and he thanked them.

“I could talk about all them,” said Kiefer, who in his second year led the Mustangs to a second-place finish in the new, four-team Orange Coast League. “I’m proud overall of how our kids handled [the season.] My goal was to change the culture, trying to create a winning culture here. I think we’ve made great steps in doing that. That takes a lot of work.

“You have a lot of kids here who weren’t sure, who weren’t really confident when I got here about playing a winning style of baseball.”

To Williams, the Mustangs learned to win and that’s what will stick with him when he graduates.

“You can’t buy what we did this year,” said Williams, teary-eyed. “It’s emotional right now, but it is satisfying how we ended the season. This is a great group of guys.”

The last team photo will show that when it’s developed.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at david.carrillo@latimes.com.CIF Southern SectionWild-card game

Division III Playoffs

Loyola 11, Costa Mesa 1

Score by Innings

Loyola 1 0 1 1 7 0 1 - 11 18 0

CM 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 1 4 2

Wagner, Llaca (6), Drolet (7) and Lamb; Williams, Millian (5) and Pisarski. W -- Wagner, 6-5. L -- Williams, 4-6. 2B -- Paillet (L) 2, Muno (L). HR -- Selsky (L) 2, Glass (L), Watne (L), Gilmore (L).