Lions Tournament : Rees Has Big Day Pitching and Hitting for Mission Bay
SAN DIEGO — For Sean Rees, the A division semifinals and final of the Lions baseball tournament Wednesday at Mission Bay High School turned into a personal highlight film.
In Mission Bay’s 3-1 semifinal victory over La Jolla, Rees pitched a one-hitter and went 1 for 2 at the plate.
He bettered himself in the final with 4 hits--including 2 home runs--4 runs scored and 4 RBIs as Mission Bay beat Escondido, 16-4.
In the fifth inning of the semifinal, Brad Tecca, the ninth hitter in La Jolla’s lineup, pushed a twisting bunt up the first-base line that Rees let roll.
“I thought for sure it was going to go foul,†Rees said.
It didn’t, and Rees, a senior left-hander, had to settle for a one-hitter and his fifth victory without a loss.
“I just wanted to throw hard and do the best I could,†Rees said. “I wasn’t thinking no-hitter or one-hitter or anything. These guys can hit. They scored, what, 52 runs in the last three games?â€
La Jolla (10-3) had won by scores of 27-1, 12-2 and 13-1 in the tournament.
As Mission Bay’s leadoff hitter in the final, Rees opened the game with a long home run to left field. He hit an opposite-field two-run home run in the second and added singles in the fourth and fifth.
“I was hitting about .482, but I went 0 for 4, 0 for 3 and 1 for 4 in the last three games,†Rees said. “But I came out of it today. I just relaxed and put more weight on my back foot and drove into the ball. I felt real comfortable and I’m seeing the ball real well.â€
As were most of the Buccaneers.
After Rees’ homer, Mission Bay scored eight more runs in the inning. Tony Lennan had the big blows with a two-run homer down the right-field line and a two-run triple later in the inning.
The Buccaneers added four in the second inning and Darren Sesslar picked up his first victory of the season with 4 innings of relief. The game was called with Escondido (6-6) down by 12 runs after six innings.
“I’m real happy with the way we’ve played,†said Dennis Pugh, Mission Bay coach. “You can’t be unhappy at 12-0-1. In my wildest imagination, I didn’t think we’d be 12-0.â€
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