Newport appears to be hurting - Los Angeles Times
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Newport appears to be hurting

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NEWPORT BEACH — One catcher missed the Newport Harbor High baseball game Wednesday due to the flu and a sinus infection.

The backup hurt his thumb on his catching hand in the fifth inning against Marina.

He tried squeezing the mitt. The ball kept popping out and the catcher found himself out of the game. Coach Evan Chalmers isn’t sure if he has a catcher who can catch the next game.

Two pitchers he wants to see throw can’t because of elbow issues.

Chalmers is playing “Operation” on the field and it’s hard. The Sailors are hurting physically and in the win column.

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Eight games into the season, Newport Harbor has only one victory to show. Marina beat the host Sailors, 6-2, in a Sunset League game.

The Vikings problem was the playing condition, the sun in their eyes. Everything appears brighter for Marina (8-1, 2-0 in league), ranked No. 4 in the CIF Southern Section Division I coaches’ poll, after winning its seventh straight game.

Things look dark at Newport Harbor (1-7, 0-2).

One of the first things Chalmers planned to do after the game was call catcher Blake Davey at home and check on his health.

First, Chalmers observed the trainer working on Davey’s backup, sophomore Spencer Rautus, in the dugout. Rautus’ father had asked Chalmers if it were possible to take Spencer to the hospital to get checked out after Chalmers replaced him after the sixth inning.

Rautus, left hand taped up, stayed with the team in the dugout.

“The trainer seems to think it’s not fractured,” said Chalmers of the lower part of Rautus’ thumb.

“He banged up his thumb making a play over here up against the fence [in the fifth inning while] trying to keep the ball in play. He toughed it out for an inning.”

Newport Harbor’s fans toughed it out as well. You might understand why some cheerleaders left before the game ended.

Through five innings, the Sailors’ lone hit came in their first at-bat. Leadoff hitter Dillan Freiberg recorded an infield single, snapping a seven-game hitless funk.

For his struggles, Freiberg has a good excuse. He’s getting used to working with his hands again.

Freiberg joined the baseball team late after he led the Newport Harbor boys’ soccer team to the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs.

Baseball has shelved Freiberg from pitching. The left-hander said he hurt his elbow trying to pitch the first day with the team.

Hitting isn’t so easy either.

“Late soccer season and I come back and see 90-mile-per-hour fastballs,” said Freiberg of how difficult it has been adjusting.

Freiberg went two for four. The rest of the Sailors found their hits in the sixth against reliever Jordan Maddox.

Austin Wobrock led off with a single to center field. An error allowed him to reach second. Cody Green followed with a chopper over the third baseman, driving in the Sailors’ first run.

Alex Rios collected the third straight hit, a single to right to cut the deficit to 6-2. Newport Harbor appeared to be on the brink of a comeback, as Kyle Cablay got on board on an infield single and Jack Grace reached first after a catcher’s interference call.

With the bases loaded and two outs, Maddox faced Ryan Albert, a left-handed batter, and another player dealing with elbow issues.

Maddox recorded the strikeout, ending the threat emphatically by staring at the Sailors’ dugout. The right-hander hurt the already banged-up Sailors.

“We had several opportunities,” said Chalmers, referring to the first and sixth innings. “In the first inning, we had [runners on] second and third with two outs. We don’t put the ball in play in those two situations. We struck out at the plate [twice].

“Those are turning points in the game.”

The game is baseball, but with so many injuries, it’s “Operation.”

You can see the frustration in Chalmers. His face lights up red.

Sunset League

Marina 6, Newport Harbor 2

SCORE BY INNINGS

Parmenter, Maddox (4), Stoops (7) and Ponce; Ward, Vlahakis (4), Vasquez (6), Green (7) and Rautus, Grace (7). W – Parmenter, 4-0. L – Ward, 1-2. 2B – Parmenter (M), Lewis (M). HR – Contreras (M).


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