Youth Baseball: Mesa is Dodge City

FOUNTAIN VALLEY — Chris Hall was confident in his abilities at the plate Wednesday evening for the Costa Mesa National Little League Major Division All-Stars.

His abilities on the mound were a riskier proposition, and made Hall more nervous. He had not pitched since the District 62 Tournament of Champions two weeks ago.

No one could tell. Hall fired four shutout innings in relief against rival Costa Mesa American.

For good measure, he also scored the eventual winning run. Hall came home on Dane Dodge’s single to right as Costa Mesa National beat Costa Mesa American, 2-1 in seven innings, in both teams’ District 62 All-Star Tournament opener at Mile Square Park.

The teams will play each other again next month in the annual best-of-three Mayor’s Cup series. Wednesday night offered a sort of preview.

“We definitely fired the first shot across the bow,” Costa Mesa National Manager Chad Gordon said with a smile.

Gordon said he’s very proud of his team, which was playing with just one substitute. Make that none for Thursday night’s game against powerhouse Ocean View at 7:30 p.m., as James De La O aggravated a right knee injury during Wednesday’s contest.

De La O was tough, staying in the game in the fifth and nearly scoring before being stranded at third base.

“He just fought his way through it,” Gordon said. “I couldn’t be more proud of him. That’s some toughness. For us, we’re competing against bigger teams, bigger depth. To continue to be able to fight and play through like this in the All-Star tournament, I couldn’t be more proud of these boys.”

Costa Mesa American came oh so close to winning the game in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases with one out in what was a 1-1 game. Nate Baker, who led off the inning with a walk and stole second, tried to end it, charging home on a passed ball.

The pitch was in the dirt, caromed off Costa Mesa National catcher Josh Gordon, who chased it down at the screen and flipped to the pitcher Hall, who tagged Baker as he blocked the plate.

“Show me the ball!” the home-plate umpire said to Hall, who did what he was told to earn the second out.

“It was very close,” Hall said after the game. “The ball was almost about to fall out of the glove, and then I tagged him.”

Costa Mesa American’s next batter, Zach Kerkhoff, worked a full count before hitting a line drive down the first-base line. But the potential game-winning hit was just foul. On the next pitch, Hall earned his eighth strikeout to get out of the jam.

“That’s baseball, a game of inches,” said Costa Mesa American Manager Jonny Harmer, whose team will play Huntington Valley on Saturday at 1 p.m. in an elimination game. “A couple of inches on a hit, a couple of inches on a tag, a couple of inches on a passed ball. Sometimes they go your way, sometimes they don’t.

“The difference for us in the game was at the plate. In 21 outs at the plate, I think we had 14 strikeouts. If you don’t put the ball in play two-thirds of the time, it’s real tough to win a game. Credit them, they played good defense.”

Hall led off the top of the seventh with a single to right, and Ta’ita’i Grey-Uiagalelei followed with a walk. After James Ruorock grounded into a fielder’s choice, Costa Mesa National had runners at the corners with one out.

Then Dodge came through with the RBI single to right, giving Costa Mesa National its first lead of the night. An out later, Jonah Shapiro singled to load the bases, before Costa Mesa American pitcher Luke Jones got out of the jam by inducing a grounder to the shortstop.

Hall set Costa Mesa American down in order in the bottom of the seventh, earning a pair of strikeouts and a sharp groundout that Grey-Uiagalelei was able to corral at first base.

Grey-Uiagalelei, the Costa Mesa National starting pitcher, gave up one run on one hit in three innings, striking out six.

Costa Mesa American was able to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, when David Rosen’s bases-loaded walk scored Baker.

Costa Mesa National answered in the top of the fourth, when Hall’s two-out double to right scored J.J. Kibin.

Hudson Letterman and Josh Gordon also had hits for Costa Mesa National, which also got contributions from outfielder Nolan Turk. Neither of Costa Mesa National’s top two pitchers, Grey-Uiagalelei and Hall, will be able to pitch against Ocean View on Thursday.

“God only knows,” Chad Gordon said. “We’re going to play as hard as we can. It’s the scrappy little Costa Mesa National [team] against the Goliath Ocean View [team]. We’ll live to fight one more day, regardless of the outcome.”

Starting pitcher Zach Mascarenas went five innings for Costa Mesa American, allowing one run on four hits. The left-hander struck out seven and walked just one.

Anthony Henderson and Jeremy Harmer also had hits for Costa Mesa American, while Josh Gough, Dylan Matian, Jesse Ambrose, Robby Crowell and Sydni Griffin also contributed.