Sailors fall short
NEWPORT BEACH — The offense was sharp, the pitching was solid and the defense made plays.
Those three areas are usually what it takes to win a high school baseball game. Yet Newport Harbor Coach Patrick Murphy understood why his team didn’t win its season opener at home Thursday.
“We didn’t execute when we needed to,” Murphy said. “We had three opportunities to get bunts down, and we didn’t come through. For us to compete this year, we’re going to need to get that done. We definitely had a lot of at-bats I was proud of. The kids did a good job getting on base, we just had a hard time getting that clutch hit with runners in scoring position.”
The Sailors fell to Brea Olinda, 2-1, in their opening Foothill Division game of the Newport Elks Tournament.
Newport Harbor tallied nine hits to Brea Olinda’s four, including four doubles. Sophomore catcher TK McWhertor was three for three with a double, while sophomore third baseman Shaun Vetrovec and junior designated hitter Daniel Albert also had a pair of hits and a two-bagger each.
Tyler Taormina also had a double for Newport Harbor. The hitting appeared fine despite the absence of senior Matt Carpenter, who is not playing for the Sailors this year. Carpenter was the team’s top offensive threat a year ago, when he batted .345 with six home runs and 15 RBIs.
Murphy declined to comment on why Carpenter, a two-time Newport-Mesa Dream Team selection, is not playing for the Sailors.
Senior pitcher Chase Kapana allowed two runs Thursday over his five innings of work. He walked three and struck out five. The first two batters that Kapana walked, Kyle Kasser in the first inning and Nick Kern in the third, both came around to score.
“If we can find a way to make them hit their way on, I think I like our chances in that game,” Murphy said. “Unfortunately, when you put ‘em on for free, it usually comes back to bite you.”
Trailing, 2-0, the Sailors had a great chance to either tie the score or take the lead in the bottom of the fifth. They pulled within a run after Taylor Parks led off with a single to left and Vetrovec hit an RBI double to deep center.
He was picked off second base, but with two outs Newport Harbor again had something going. McWhertor singled to left, before Albert hit a rocket shot to the base of the right-field wall. The ball rolled away from the Brea Olinda right fielder, and Murphy decided to send McWhertor home.
But the Wildcats had a strong relay to catcher Jacob McFarland, who tagged out McWhertor rather easily a few feet up the third-base line.
“We were down one run at that point, with two outs,” Murphy said. “I was kind of pushing our guy around to take a shot, and to their guy’s credit, he made a play.”
Brea Olinda Coach Matt Sorensen liked what he saw. Sorensen is in his first year at Brea Olinda; previously he coached Estancia for four years.
“I’m very excited to be here,” Sorensen said. “I do miss Estancia, I miss Costa Mesa, I miss Newport Beach. I had a lot of good memories there. I learned a lot. I’m grateful to the entire community.”
Sorensen was grateful for his pitchers on Thursday, from starter Erick Potts to relievers Mitchell Miralaie and Kern. Kern struck out the side in the seventh to earn the save, although the Sailors disagreed with the final strikeout. The third strike came on a pitch in the dirt. Vetrovec felt he checked his swing, but the first-base umpire disagreed.
Sorensen called Kern, who started the game at shortstop, one of the better players in the county.
“He’s got a Division I arm,” Sorensen said. “He’s built for that situation. With a one-run lead, to come in and get three outs, that’s what that guy’s bred and trained to do.”
Newport Harbor also had a good relief appearance from sophomore lefty Blake Pender, who retired the final six Wildcats batters in order. Pender, who struck out one, appears to be another young piece for the Sailors to build around.
“It looks like that’s probably going to be his role this year, to come in after our starter and try to give us a chance late in the game,” Murphy said. “We have a couple guys we like at the back-end of the game, and Blake will probably be the first guy in. That was a fantastic debut for him.”
Newport Harbor continues Foothill Division play on Saturday at 11 a.m., at St. Paul of Santa Fe Springs.
Twitter: @mjszabo
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Newport Elks Tournament
Foothill Division
Brea Olinda 2, Newport Harbor 1
SCORE BY INNING
Brea 101 000 0 – 2 4 1
NHHS 000 010 0 – 1 9 1
Potts, Miralaie (6), Kern (7) and Minor, McFarland (5); Kapana, Pender (6) and McWhertor. W – Potts. L – Kapana. Sv – Kern. 2B – Bishop (B); McWhertor (NH), Taormina (NH), Vetrovec (NH), Albert (NH).
