Costa Mesa closes in on league crown

LAGUNA BEACH — On the bus ride to Laguna Beach, Tyler Peterson prepared for his next start with a book in tow.

The rest of his Costa Mesa High baseball teammates scoffed at the idea. They preferred to talk and joke while enjoying the scenic drive.

Peterson managed to read 10 pages from “The Mental Game of Baseball.”

Peterson is far from a bookworm. But with 25 minutes to spare, he looked for an edge.

The start of the book gave him plenty of valuable information.

The sophomore made the most of his reading Tuesday, taking all the tips with him to the mound. He threw a complete-game, three-hit shutout, as the Mustangs beat Laguna Beach, 3-0, in an Orange Coast League game.

For the most part, Peterson (7-2) kept up with Laguna Beach ace Zach Nuno (6-4) in recording his first shutout of the year. This was against the same Nuno, who mowed down 13 batters and handed the Mustangs a 2-0 loss, their lone league loss of the year.

But that was two weeks ago. This time the starter the Mustangs gave the ball to hung around.

Peterson struck out one and went the distance with Nuno, making sure the Mustangs (15-9, 8-1 in league) stayed two games ahead of second-place Calvary Chapel (13-12, 6-3) in the league standings.

Three league games remain and Costa Mesa already clinched its second straight playoff berth. Now Coach Jim Kiefer said the Mustangs can claim their first league crown since 1978 on Friday. Costa Mesa has to win at home against the Breakers (11-15, 4-5) coupled with a Calvary Chapel loss to Estancia.

If both Costa Mesa and Calvary Chapel win Friday, then it might come down to the last two regular-season games pitting the two programs against each other.

Kiefer will have Peterson to throw again. And the way he attacked hitters and showcased command of the strike zone in his fourth complete game of the season, someone better make sure Peterson carries that book wherever he goes.

“It gave me a mindset [to] go [out] there and pitch with a purpose,” Peterson said of the book written by Harvey Dorfman, a sports psychologist. “Just be confident on the mound.”

The confidence grew well before Peterson stepped on the rubber.

Two errors and two uncharacteristic balks by Nuno in the first inning put the Mustangs in a situation they had never been before against Nuno. They led, 2-0.

“Sometimes in the first inning you get a chance, you get a shot at a guy like that, he’s a little bit off, and we hit the ball hard to right field, kid misplays it, and we take advantage of that, that was the difference in the game right there,” Kiefer said. “Nuno pitched two great games against us.”

At the end, it didn’t matter to Laguna Beach Coach Jeff Sears.

Sure Nuno struck out seven and allowed four hits, but his defense committed four errors, giving the Mustangs their runs.

Sears stood disappointed in shallow center for some time. Someone asked him what he planned to do next. He responded, “Going to bed!” It wasn’t even dark yet.

“We’re done. We’re done,” he said of his team having no chance to finish in second place to secure the league’s second automatic berth into the playoffs. “When you don’t play catch, you don’t assume the ball is coming to you, or you don’t anticipate something happening. That’s kind of what we did.

“We got surprised by it, a bad throw [in the seventh], and then we got surprised by [Costa Mesa pinch-runner John Salyer] wheeling around third base.”

When Salyer came around to score, Peterson figured he was on his way home, too.

Enough time on the bus ride home to catch up on some reading.

Orange Coast League

Costa Mesa 3, Laguna Beach 0

SCORE BY INNINGS

Peterson and Hirsch; Nuno and Stansbury. W – Peterson, 7-2. L – Nuno, 6-4.

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