High School Baseball: Mesa’s Barton steps up in win over Estancia
As Costa Mesa High baseball coach Paul Grady walked away from a meeting at the mound he confidently told his dugout about what he thought of his pitcher James Barton.
“He’s a big boy,” Grady said. “It’s OK.”
Barton definitely came up big in the Mustangs’ 5-4 Orange Coast League win over rival Estancia Friday at the Eagles’ field.
Estancia won the Battle for the Bell three-game series, but Barton helped prevent what would been a fourth straight year of an Eagles’ sweep. Estancia, with Coach Nate Goellrich, had beaten Costa Mesa 15 straight times. Goellrich had not lost to the team he used to coach for since coming to the Eagles.
With the game on the line, Grady not only put the ball in Barton’s hand, but he asked the junior pitcher if he wanted to pitch to Jake Brown. That would be the same Brown who delivered the walk-off single in the Eagles’ 5-4 win over Costa Mesa on March 24.
This time Brown had teammates Tyler Ross on third base and Jake McIntyre on second. At the meeting on the mound, Grady asked Barton if he wanted to pitch to Brown or intentionally walk him to load the bases with two outs.
“I wanted to pitch to him,” Barton said. “It was kind of a pride issue. I just wanted to face him … I just thought I could get him out. I knew I could get him.”
Barton got Brown to fly out. A high fly ball to shallow right-center field caused freshman second baseman Jimmy Solano and junior center fielder Grady Conner to get under it.
The two collided and it had appeared the ball dropped, but it was Solano who secured it while his glasses fell off and onto the ground.
Even though the Eagles (6-13, 3-6 in league) won the city championship and the Paul Troxel Trophy for the sixth straight season, their heads dropped, as they missed their chance for a fourth sweep and made it more difficult to move closer to third place in the OCL to earn a berth to the CIF Southern Section playoffs.
It was the Eagles’ seventh one-run loss of the season. They had beaten Costa Mesa, 19-2, on Tuesday.
“It’s a rivalry. [The Eagles] took it hard,” Goellrich said. “Our guys were upset. We are playing for a playoff spot. We just unraveled for one inning. We had our chances. [The Mustangs] clutched up defensively. We’re fourth in league. We still control our own destiny, but we have no room for error.”
Costa Mesa (2-18), which earned its first league win to improve to 1-8 in the OCL, scored five runs in the third inning as Christian Large (double), Dominick Santos (bunt single), Solano (walk), Conner and Antonio Leal all scored, each displaying smart baserunning.
When Leal crossed home plate on a passed ball, the big guy was pumped as he celebrated for a 5-2 lead.
“It’s been a rough year, but hopefully this helps us turn the corner,” Grady said.
McIntyre doubled in the fifth to bring home Ross. Jeff Alai’s sacrifice fly brought in Brown in the sixth. But the Mustangs held off their rivals, who were treated to a celebration dinner at Newport Rib Company.
Marilyn Scott-Waters represented the Scott family that awards the winners with the meal.
She also rang the bell on the trophy, as did the rest of the Eagles, but Mustangs earned their first win against Estancia since 2011.