Andrew Mits, Trevor Scott coming up aces for Estancia baseball
Sophomore Andrew Mits was fully expected to be a starting pitcher this year for the Estancia High baseball team.
Senior Trevor Scott took a different path.
The two right-handed pitchers are both here now on the big stage, and good luck getting a hit off either one of them.
Estancia has ridden a pair of staff aces into the CIF Southern Section Division 6 title game, the first CIF championship appearance in program history. Mits and Scott have helped the No. 2-seeded Eagles (27-5) soar into history, as they face Anaheim (21-9-1) for the crown on Saturday at 10 a.m. at Cal State Fullerton’s Goodwin Field.
Earlier this week, they did it in tandem. Scott pitched the first seven innings of a 1-0 semifinal win over Santa Ynez, and drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the 10th for the walk-off victory. Mits threw the final three innings to record his 10th victory of the season.
“Our pitching has definitely carried us,” said Estancia coach Nate Goellrich, whose team has given up just two total runs in four playoff games. “We would not be in this spot without the way they threw. We’re facing everybody’s best arm, and our offense has dwindled a little bit from where it was … [but] I think we’re due for an offensive explosion. Hopefully it’s Saturday.”
Goellrich, who was the Estancia baseball coach from 2012 through 2017 before returning this season, does not have to hope that Mits and Scott will be on. Mits is 10-4 with a 0.43 ERA. Scott is 9-1 with a 1.40 ERA.
Both are averaging more than a strikeout per inning.
“Throughout the games we’ve been playing, it’s always been that one-two punch between him and I,” Mits said. “Lately, it’s been like we don’t even need relievers. It’s been a one-two punch, and then those relievers that have been needed have stepped up as well.”
To be sure, Estancia values its relief pitchers, primarily sophomore left-hander Miles Moyer, who is 4-0 with a 0.95 ERA. The Eagles have also benefitted from a standout defense.
Estancia hasn’t seen a lot of balls drop in the outfield with senior left fielder Tyler Humphries, sophomore center fielder Andrew Coyotzi and junior right fielder James De La O roaming out there.
“Our outfield is insane this season,” Scott said. “That’s definitely helped us pitch with a lot more confidence.”
Goellrich, himself a former pitcher at Brea High and Cal Lutheran, figured that Scott would be a middle-relief guy this year. However, his pitching in winter ball showed that more was in store. He only threw a few innings last year as a junior, but he’s gotten the job done time and again.
He and Mits have seen a remarkable turnaround for Estancia, which went just 8-16 in 2021 and missed the postseason. This year, Estancia started 11-0, and the Eagles have won nine straight games since a 5-4 league loss at rival Costa Mesa on April 13.
“Last year was rough, to say the least,” said Mits, one of five sophomore starters for Estancia. “But through all the time that we had in the offseason, all of us were able to improve more and build a stronger bond to get through this year. We think we did a pretty good job at that.”
That loss at Costa Mesa meant that Estancia lost the Battle for the Bell series, which stung, but the Eagles never started lacking confidence.
Goellrich said the Eagles’ lineup is dangerous one-through-nine, with Mits hitting .395 and senior shortstop Jack Moyer — the only player with three full years of varsity experience — at .391. De La O is batting .372 and has an Estancia single-season record 35 runs batted in, with Coyotzi right behind at .367.
Those bats, combined with two red-hot pitchers, have made the Eagles a tough out. Their 27 wins are also easily a single-season program record, and they have qualified for the CIF State Southern California regionals that begin May 31.
But Estancia isn’t too worried about the past. The present is a gift for this group of players.
“We think [making the program’s first CIF final] is great, but we’re also not letting that get to us,” Mits said. “We still have games to play and things to achieve. We’re not letting the past, as good as it may be, keep us from anything in the future.”
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