Prep baseball: Mustangs sneaks past Northwood, 5-4

Steve Virgen

IRVINE - Costa Mesa High junior Derek Garcia’s heads-up play spoke

volumes to the Pacific Coast League and it also led the Mustangs’

baseball team to a 5-4 victory over host Northwood Tuesday.

In a thrilling game, which included three ties and three lead changes,

Garcia scored the winning run in the sixth inning, bolting to the plate

when Northwood’s pitcher fumbled a low return throw from the catcher. The

Timberwolves’ pitcher appeared to lose the ball in the sun and reacted

too late to the low throw, which tipped off his glove and rolled behind

the mound. Garcia, who reached on a walk, advanced to second after Adam

Jorgenson’s sacrifice bunt and moved to third on a passed ball, sprinted

home and beat the throw from the pitcher, who scrambled to retrieve the

ball and threw to the plate.

Garcia’s aggressive base running, as well as the Mustangs’ win, basically

told the PCL: If you’re not alert the Mustangs will take advantage.

“We have the strength to beat any team if we play our best,” Lewis said.

Senior Kevin DeSandro also had a message to deliver.

“Even though we know we have the talent to compete in league, this

definitely tells the rest of the league that we’re not joking around,”

said DeSandro, who belted a two-run home run over the right-field fence

for a 4-2 lead in the fifth inning. DeSandro, who played second base, got

ahold of a 3-0 pitch for two of his three RBIs, scoring senior Michael

McGuire, who had reached on an error.

McGuire, who finished with a double and a single, also scored a run in

the third inning on DeSandro’s sacrifice fly to center for a 2-1 edge.

Costa Mesa senior Nick Cabico also had an RBI when his double into the

right-field corner scored Garcia in the second inning for a 1-0 lead.

Cabico earned his first save of the season by pitching a scoreless

seventh. He struck out Stanford-bound Northwood standout Chris Lewis, who

had smacked a two-run home run in the fifth inning to tie the score, 4-4.

With one out and the tying run on first (the runner reached on a

third-strike passed ball), Lewis swung and missed two high Cabico

offerings. Lewis took Cabico’s next pitch, a fastball down the middle,

for strike three.

Fittingly, perhaps, Garcia recorded the final out, squeezing a fly ball

to right field.

“I know a lot of people would (consider this an upset), but I don’t

consider it an upset,” said Mesa Coach Kirk Bauermeister, whose team

improved to 5-4, 1-1 in the PCL. “We played baseball the way that we need

to play baseball to be competitive. And when we play this way we can play

with anybody in the county.”

Northwood Coach Rob Stuart also thought the Mustangs’ win was not an

upset.

“Whoever said we were the (PCL) favorites must be a bad gambler,” Stuart

said. “They outplayed us. They were the better team. There are no upsets

in baseball. The better team wins the game. Call it an upset if you want,

they outplayed us and just beat us. We can’t make any excuses. You have

to give them credit. Their pitcher (Daniel Cooper) threw well, they got

the timely hits and took advantage of our miscues. Hats off to Kirk and

his boys. I wish we could have played like that.”

Cooper, a sophomore right-hander, turned in a gritty performance, which

included three strikeouts and just one walk. Mesa junior George Vargas

pitched a scoreless sixth, before turning it over to Cabico.

Stuart said starting catcher and closer Brandon Gragnano missed the game

with a shoulder injury.

“He has thrown out 11 of 12 runners (trying to steal),” Stuart said. “But

it wasn’t one player that lost the game.”

Northwood fell to 4-4, 1-1.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Costa Mesa 5, Northwood 4

Costa Mesa 011 021 0 - 5 7 2

Northwood 011 020 0 - 4 9 4

Gray, Morrison (6) and Chungala; Cooper, Vargas (6), Cabico (7) and

Carrasco. W - Cooper, 1-2. L - Gray. Sv - Cabico (1). 2B - Cabico (CM),

McGuire (CM), Morrison (N), Miller (N), Harper (N). HR - DeSandro (CM),

Lewis (N).