CdM loses track, game

CORONA DEL MAR — Confused at how the Corona del Mar High baseball team played the top of the seventh inning, South Hills Coach Kevin Smith checked with his scorekeeper.

“Our situation is this, right?” said Smith, making sure the Huskies trailed by one run with a base runner onboard.

Still, Smith found it hard to believe as CdM ignored the runner on second base.

“We’re a run down?” Smith asked, finally finding reassurance when the scorekeeper promised him that indeed was the case. “OK. We’ll play for a run.”

South Hills did, scoring once in the inning to tie the fifth-place game in the Beach Pit Classic Wednesday.

One problem, the Sea Kings began to line up for traditional postgame slapping of the hands with the opposing team after the third out. They believed they won the game, 6-5, at home.

Seconds later, Smith and CdM Coach John Emme, both surprised, met at home plate with the head umpire. Each side shared books, resulting in Emme shortly admitting, “They’re right.”

The Huskies were. This one went into extra innings and it didn’t have to as the Sea Kings committed another mistake in the seventh, costing them an opportunity to end the four-day, 16-team tournament on a high note.

Instead, South Hills, ranked No. 2 in the CIF Southern Section Division III coaches’ poll, scored three times in the ninth to win, 9-6.

No third straight come-from-behind victory for the Sea Kings (8-10) in the tournament. They can lay blame on not knowing the score on the scoreboard, which never lit up during the game.

Emme offered no excuses after the 2 hour, 40-minute affair with South Hills (13-2).

“We had the wrong score, so we did some things thinking that we were up two [runs] when we were up by one,” Emme said. “That’s 100% my fault. I take full responsibility for this loss.”

“I teach the kids all the time that once you make a mistake you have to let it go.”

Emme said he never shook his after learning the correct score was 6-6.

Danny Moskovits, the hero the day before with a three-run home run in the fifth, tagged another shot. This time it was in the bottom of the seventh with one out, lifting some fans off their seats in the bleachers as if Moskovits had belted another game-winning homer. The junior didn’t.

The ball stayed in play and Moskovits was motoring, easily on his way to securing a double. But Emme waved him to third base, where shortstop Christian Ibarra, the cut-off man, fired a throw to Andrew Roddy, who easily tagged Moskovits out.

This left the Sea Kings with no runner in scoring position and two outs. The next batter popped up to end a frustrating inning for Emme.

“I carried my anger for the other [mistake] with me by trying to take another extra base that wasn’t there,” Emme said.

“I told the kids we definitely learned an awful lot.”

During the tournament, the Sea Kings had their ups and downs. Timely hits, costly errors, big pitches, you name it.

A couple of young pitchers showcased their arms after being called up from the lower levels during spring break. One of those was freshman Sam Cubiero. He entered in the fifth, relieving starter Steven Manning, who left trailing, 5-3.

Cubiero slowed down the Huskies for the next two innings, allowing only one hit. In the seventh is where he got into trouble. CdM’s John Doering gave Cubiero a 6-5 lead with a two-run single to right field in the sixth.

Or, the Sea Kings thought, a 6-4 lead to work with.

After Dakota Behr drove in the game-tying run with a single to left, Cubiero got the next batter to fly out. But the game wasn’t over.

The game lasted another two innings. Cubiero (1-1) didn’t get to finish it. Things started well in the ninth. Catcher Doug Kelly caught a foul ball near the plate after spinning around to find it.

A walk, followed by a double, and then an intentional walk, and Cameron Deen came up with the bases loaded. The junior smacked a two-run double off the left-field fence, giving South Hills an 8-6 advantage.

Deen was proud afterward, even though he was looking for more.

“We wanted to win the whole tournament,” said Deen, whose team dropped out of championship contention when Irvine rallied to beat South Hills, 10-9, Monday. “But we’ll take what we can get.”

Right now the Sea Kings will accept whatever, too. They resume the second half of Pacific Coast League play with a 3-3 league record, good for third place, next week.

“I think we’re all ready for a break,” Emme said.

Beach Pit Classic

Fifth-place game

South Hills 9, Corona del Mar 6

SCORE BY INNINGS

Buffington, Atienzo (6), Chico (7) and Doyle; Manning, Cubiero (5), Weinberger (9) and Kelly, Attyah (5), Kelly (9). W – Chico, 3-0. L – Cubiero, 1-1. 2B – Buffington (SH), Porro (SH), Deen (SH), Moskovits (CdM).

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