Sailors’ miscues mount

LOS ALAMITOS — There are many subjects that can be covered in two semesters. But baseball is not one of them.

It’s a lesson Newport Harbor High baseball coach Patrick Murphy is learning, somewhat painfully, in his first year at the helm.

Murphy’s Sailors have displayed a winning mentality this season, in which they have won two out of every three games. But, as they showed Wednesday in a 6-4 Sunset League loss at Los Alamitos High, they still have plenty of work do to do on their collective baseball IQ.

“I really wish I had and an opportunity to work with these guys, these seniors, for a longer time,” Murphy said after the Sailors’ inability to avoid myriad mistakes, both physical and mental, led to virtually giving the Griffins (9-12, 3-7 in league) a gift-wrapped victory.

The loss dropped Newport Harbor (14-7, 4-6) into fourth place in the six-team league, the top three teams from which earn guaranteed berths into the CIF Southern Section playoffs. Newport Harbor trails third-place Fountain Valley (5-5 in league after beating Marina Wednesday) with five league games remaining.

“It has been a real crash course,” Murphy said of the ongoing baseball education of his players. “In the games we’ve lost, I can go back and point to all the mistakes that have led to us coming up a little bit short. Most of those are non-physical mistakes.”

Mental miscues, on offense and defense, helped push the Sailors farther away from reaching their ultimate goal, the program’s first postseason berth since 1990.

Four recordable errors were also problematic for the Tars, who had 12 hits to the Griffins’ seven and left twice as many runners on base (10) as the hosts.

“We can’t make the outs on the bases we made [Wednesday],” Murphy said. “And, unfortunately, they scored four of their runs on plays we should have made defensively.”

The Sailors had a runner picked off first base by the catcher, another picked off second by the pitcher, and a third nailed at the plate, when a late stop sign issued by the third-base coach led to his being caught off third trying to score from first on a double.

Two of these base-running blunders came in the fourth inning, when the first four Sailors reached base — on three hits and walk — and still the visitors failed to score.

“That’s just unacceptable,” Murphy said. “You can’t win games doing that.”

Murphy also lamented a scoreless seventh, in which the first three Tars walked, but a strikeout and double play ended the threat and the game.

“With the bases loaded and nobody out, we’ve got to at least put the ball in play and scratch one run across right there,” said Murphy, whose team also left runners stranded on third base in the second, fifth and sixth innings.

Still, the Sailors’ most damaging diamond digressions likely came in the field.

The first came with two outs in the Los Al third, when a squibber got by the Newport Harbor second baseman. The fielder failed to immediately chase down the ball as it rolled onto the outfield grass, then bobbled it again and slipped as a second run scored from second base to give the Griffins a 3-1 lead.

After a bases-loaded walk allowed the hosts to break a 3-3 tie with one out in the fifth inning, a seemingly routine double play went sideways when the relay throw to first pulled the first baseman off the bag. The first baseman lost his balance and fell on the play, then, in a momentary lapse, remained seated as a second run came around to score from second base on the play.

Junior Steve Guerin went three for three with a home run and a walk and drove in two runs to pace a Sailors offense that included two hits apiece from Alex Maddox (one RBI), Matt Carpenter and Jacob McCann (one RBI).

Murphy praised pitchers Chase Kapana and Ryan Albert.

Carpenter made a spectacular play in the field, catching a foul pop over his shoulder behind first base, then spinning a throwing a strike to the plate, where catcher Blake Davey tagged out the runner tagging from third for a double play.

Sunset League

Los Alamitos 6, Newport Harbor 4

SCORE BY INNINGS

Kapana, Albert and Davey; Reynolds, Cortez (4), Cole (5), Calderon (6), Ferramola (7) and Hartong. W – Cole, 2-0. L – Kapana, 7-2. Sv – Ferramola (1). 2B – McCann (NH), Hartong (LA), Carpenter (NH) 2. HR – Guerin (NH).