Pitching gives Estancia the edge against rival Costa Mesa
No matter what sport is being played, it is a big deal when Costa Mesa High and Estancia face each other.
The Orange Coast League foes call their rivalry, “The Battle for the Bell.”
Since 2010, the bell has made its home on the grounds of Estancia High for baseball. The Eagles came into Tuesday’s contest 19-2 over the past seven seasons against the Mustangs.
Still, the rivalry is such that the fans come out and the blood gets flowing when it is game day for these two squads.
A marvelous pitchers’ duel went to the home side, as the host Eagles came away with a 2-1 victory in nine innings to extend their winning streak to six games.
Estancia’s Jake Covey said he received a talk from the team’s veterans before his start.
“All the seniors,…they said, ‘Covey, we haven’t lost. You can’t drop the ball,’” Covey said.
The freshman right-hander was up to task in a great matchup with Costa Mesa’s Mark Maes.
Covey struck out seven in seven innings. He allowed one run on five hits, and he did not walk a batter.
Something was different about this game for Covey. As often happens in these types of games, he had his best stuff for his first experience of the rivalry.
The Eagles’ No. 2 starter said he came in trying to treat the game as any other, but that changed once he toed the rubber.
“I was throwing harder than I had ever thrown before,” he said. “It felt amazing.”
Maes matched him step for step for the Mustangs (6-7, 1-3). The junior threw 61/3 innings, tossing a series of quick innings to work deep into the game.
He allowed three hits in the fifth, and Tyler Ross scored the tying run on a double steal with Covey.
After a walk by Joe Stukkie, Brian Rodriguez singled to center. Dylan Schafer got the ball in to catcher John Koskela, who tagged out Covey to end the inning.
Covey nearly walked away with a win as the Eagles (8-5, 4-0) tried to rally in the bottom of the seventh. Maes was replaced by Skylar Manning with one out, and he moved to third.
With two outs and runners on second and third, the ball found Maes immediately. A tough grounder forced Maes to make a diving stop over the bag at third. He got up to his feet, and in his haste, delivered a high throw. Carter Chapman leapt to catch it, and his foot came back down on the bag just in time to beat Stukkie.
“That was a great play by the third baseman,” Eagles Coach Nate Goellrich said. “Great plays around the field by everyone.”
Stukkie faced a great challenge after that. He went from nearly being the hero to pitching in relief the next frame.
The junior answered the call, allowing just one hit in his two innings. As a whole, Estancia pitchers faced one batter over the minimum for a nine-inning game.
“When you get into extra innings, you really just got to keep your composure,” Stukkie said. “You have to stay strong mentally and physically, and you just have to do whatever you can to win.”
“If you’ve got the right mindset and your teammates behind you, you can’t really go wrong with that.”
Manning was pulled with one out in the ninth after Spencer Stern reached on a fielder’s choice. The Eagles left-fielder stole second off of Chapman.
Henry Flores pinch ran for Stern. A walk by Ross and a single by Covey loaded the bases with one out. Stukkie flied out to shallow center to make it two outs in the inning.
Rodriguez followed. He swung at the first pitch, grounding it to second. Cameron Chapman bobbled it, and his throw could not be handled at first, sending the Eagles to the walk-off win.
It was a tough break for the Mustangs and their second baseman. Chapman, a sophomore, had gone three for three at the plate before committing the error.
Maes drove in Costa Mesa’s run with a single in the fifth.
Estancia won its second straight extra-inning game. The Eagles beat Calvary Chapel, 10-4, in 10 innings on Friday.
“Our guys have been resilient all year,” Goellrich said. “We just played a 10-inning ball game Friday, beating Calvary for the first time in a long time.”
“This is a great group of kids that battled hard all day. They deserved to win.”
Up next for Estancia is a Thursday home game against Laguna Beach, which will come into the game at 8-5, 4-0 in league.
“We know that we’re in for a battle, and we’re ready for it,” Goellrich added. “We want to finish off the first round of league winning the first game of every series.”
“We want to put ourselves in position to win series. If we win series, we’re going to compete for the league championship.”
Orange Coast League
Estancia 2, Costa Mesa 1
(nine innings)
SCORE BY INNINGS
CM 000 010 000 – 1 6 1
Est 000 010 001 – 2 7 1
Maes, Manning (7), Car. Chapman (9) and Koskela; Covey, Stukkie (7) and Harrison. W – Stukkie, 1-2. L – Manning, 1-1. 2B – Car. Chapman (CM); Gardner (Est).
Twitter: @ProfessorTurner
