High School Baseball: Estancia walks tall in win

The crosstown high school baseball rivalry between Estancia and Costa Mesa has only begun this season. But the way the two teams have struggled to protect seventh-inning leads, there just may not be a final-out finish in sight.

Host Estancia, which had lost its last two games in walk-off fashion, turned the tables on the Mustangs in Tuesday’s Orange Coast League contest to rally for a 5-4 walk-off triumph.

Unfortunately for the Mustangs, the inability to close out the game also had a familiar ring.

It was the second time in three contests that Mesa had surrendered the winning run in the final frame. And Coach Paul Grady’s squad has now sustained three one-run losses, all of which have come during a losing streak that was extended to six.

Not surprisingly, the Mustangs (1-8, 0-2 in league) will receive little compassion from the Eagles (3-5, 1-1), who have dropped four one-run verdicts, three of those being walk-off setbacks.

Senior Jake Brown bounced a single over the pitcher and into center field to drive in the winning run from third base with one out in the seventh, capping a two-run inning for the second straight frame.

Sophomore Dylan Laurent, one of six underclassmen in the Eagles’ starting lineup, doubled with men on first and second and one out to knot the score, 4-4, and set the stage for Brown.

Senior Aaron Boaitey and junior Connor Brown drove in runs for Estancia in the sixth, trimming a three-run deficit to 4-3.

Connor Brown had Estancia’s other run batted in, doubling home Boaitey, who had singled with one out in the fourth.

Costa Mesa got half of its six hits in a three-run third inning, including a two-run triple by junior Grady Conner and a subsequent RBI single by junior pitcher Ryan Lether.

Lether, who had eight strikeouts through five innings, went the distance to absorb the tough-luck loss.

Sophomore Colin Gardner worked Estancia’s only walk to start the Eagles’ seventh-inning dramatics.

Conner and Lether were both two for three with two RBIs for the Mustangs.

Six different Eagles contributed one hit apiece. And freshman Brian Rodriguez pitched a scoreless inning of relief to record his second win in three decisions.

“We’re learning how to win,” Estancia Coach Nate Goellrich said. “We finished the game late and that was huge for our guys. I think the way we lost our [previous two games] contributed to the way we came out, which was sluggish. But this team, more than any of the four I’ve coached, is together and believes in each other. They have all bought into the next-guy-up mentality and they just pick each other up. That’s all you can ask.”

Grady said there was some justification for his team’s inability to sustain satisfaction.

“You make your own luck,” Grady said. “We just gave away too many outs. And you have to finish.”

Mesa made just one of the game’s four errors and that did not result in any unearned runs.

Similarly, Estancia pitchers were not saddled with any unearned runs, though an outfield misplay on Conner’s triple was a miscue not recognized on the scorecard.

Estancia had dropped its league opener on Friday, 5-4, when host Calvary Chapel singled in the winning run in the seventh.

In the Eagles’ 8-7 defeat at the hands of Sage Hill on March 17, an error allowed the Lightning to strike for the difference in the home half of the eighth inning.

Tyler Ross pitched six innings for the Eagles on Tuesday, recording six strikeouts.

Costa Mesa sophomore first baseman Antonio Leal made a pair of backhanded scoops of low throws to save errors, while sophomore shortstop Dominick Santos made a diving stop and putout on a grounder up the middle and earlier threw a runner out at the plate.

The Paul Troxel Trophy, named for a late coach who coached baseball at both schools, is awarded annually to the winner of the season series. The final two games between the rivals are April 21 (at Mesa) and April 24 (at Estancia).

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Orange Coast League

Estancia 5, Costa Mesa 4

SCORE BY INNINGS

CM 003 010 0 – 4 6 1

Est 000 102 2 – 5 6 3

Lether and Chapman; Ross, Rodriguez (7) and Mullison. W – Rodriguez, 2-1. L – Lether. 2B – C. Brown (E), Lether (CM), Rodriguez (E), Laurent (E). 3B – Conner (CM).