Costa Mesa responds from loss to Vaqueros

COSTA MESA — What’s the best way to come back after a tough loss that seemed to take the life out of you?

Well, if Costa Mesa High baseball coach Jim Kiefer had it his way, he would want his Mustangs to answer with a sound defensive performance, something that has been lacking with consistency from his team this season.

But a few balls over the fence, 18 hits and 20 runs might just make up for some defensive lapses. Costa Mesa made its share of mistakes Monday, but it didn’t matter with all that ping it had going on in a 20-10 victory over Vasquez of Acton in a consolation first-round game of the Beach Pit Classic.

Costa Mesa (10-7), which committed five errors, will play at home again against La Quinta in a consolation semifinal today at 11 a.m.

Kiefer’s players are trying to make the best of their situation in the consolation bracket, while trying to ignore the regret they feel for losing to Irvine, 5-4, in the first round Saturday.

Granted, Irvine is in today’s semifinals, but Costa Mesa outhit the Vaqueros, 9-4, and let a 4-3 lead slip away.

Brian Waldron expressed remorse over that loss to Irvine, but he smiled when he talked about the good things Costa Mesa did against the Vasquez Mustangs.

One of those good things came from his bat, specifically a three-run home run in the fifth inning that gave Costa Mesa a 19-10 lead. The three-run blast proved to be the final blow as the two Mustang teams had been trading jabs.

“That felt good,” Waldron said of the home run, part of a three-for-three performance that included six RBIs, four runs and a double.

Waldron wasn’t the only Costa Mesa player to homer. Andrew Millian hit one out, a two-run shot with two outs in the third, and Gabe Sanchez went deep to lead off the sixth for Costa Mesa’s final run. Cody Spoulos also contributed to the win, going three for four with an RBI.

Millian’s home run gave Costa Mesa an 8-2 lead, but Vasquez (8-10) scored six runs in the fourth. Spoulos started a two-out rally in the bottom of the fourth, when Mesa scored four runs, two coming from Waldron’s double over the left fielder’s head.

But Vasquez opened the fifth with back-to-back homers until Costa Mesa pitcher Luke Boulger calmed things down. Then Costa Mesa scored seven runs in the fifth to put the game out of reach.

Kiefer had a premonition his team could do some damage Monday, considering it was a tournament game and he expected the opposing team to be going with seldom-used pitchers or experimenting with different arms. Still, he came away impressed with his offense, singling out Waldron and saying he broke out of a little slump.

However, Kiefer encouraged his players after the game to strive for improvement on defense. Costa Mesa is 4-0 in the Orange Coast League and Kiefer hoped to use the Beach Pit Classic as a time for his team to gain consistency and momentum.

“You score so many runs, you can’t be too nit picky,” he said.

If Costa Mesa beats La Quinta today, it might lead to a matchup against crosstown rival Estancia. The Eagles play against Northwood today with the winner going to the consolation championship.

Beach Pit Classic

Consolation first round

Costa Mesa 20, Vasquez 11

SCORE BY INNINGS

Dashnaw, Maler (3), Foster (4) and Varela; Pederson, LeValley (4), Boulger (5), Peterson (7) and Sanchez. W – Boulger. L – Foster. 2B – Varela (V), Cordova (V); Peterson (CM). HR – Varela (V), Foster (V); Waldron (CM), Millian (CM), Sanchez (CM).

STEVE VIRGEN may be reached at (714) 966-4616 or by e-mail at steve.virgen@latimes.com.