CdM collects win over Mesa

Barry Faulkner

With all else being virtually equal, it was the 10 walks and one hit

batter surrendered by Costa Mesa High pitching that helped fuel

visiting Corona del Mar’s 6-3 nonleague baseball victory Tuesday

night at TeWinkle Park.

Both teams had six hits, while CdM left nine runners stranded, to

Costa Mesa’s eight. The Mustangs committed one more error than the

Sea Kings’ two.

But five of the six runs plated by CdM reached base on either a

walk (four) or a hit batsman.

“We gave up 11 free bases,” lamented Costa Mesa Coach Doug Deats,

whose team scored all of its runs in the sixth to cut the deficit to

4-3.

But CdM, which used six pitchers, padded its lead with two in the

seventh and senior Griffin Dunzer retired Mesa in order in the

seventh for his first save of the season.

Dunzer’s save was not the only first for the Sea Kings, who saw

two-time All-Newport-Mesa left-hander Nick Rhodes make his season

debut on the mound. Rhodes, sidelined by a sore shoulder to this

point, worked a scoreless third to earn the victory and show Coach

John Emme he is ready for the Pacific Coast League season that begins

Friday at home against University.

CdM starter Josh Bradbury pitched two scoreless innings, while

Beau Stockstill and Blake Contant added to Rhodes scoreless relief

outing with shutout innings of their own. Dunzer, who came on with

two in, two on and no outs in the sixth, yielded only an infield hit

and a walk to help CdM navigate out of trouble.

The trouble started for the Mustangs in the first when, after

loading the bases with walks, CdM junior first baseman Barrett Sprowl

lined a two-run single over short to open the scoring. Mesa starter

Gary Gonzalez settled down from there, retiring 10 of the next 14

hitters, but CdM doubled its lead off the Mustangs’ first reliever in

the fourth.

Bradbury followed Keith Long’s RBI triple with a double inside the

third-base bag to create some breathing room.

After Mesa closed to within one, Long led off the seventh with a

walk and later scored on a wild pitch. Senior Bradon Kurtz, who

played flawlessly at third base, drove in the final run with a line

single to right to finish 2 for 3. He also had a stolen base to cap

what Emme called a great game.

Senior left fielder Derek Garcia went 2 for 3 with an RBI to lead

the Mesa offense, which also included an RBI single by sophomore

shortstop Alex Pisarski. Pisarski also sparkled defensively.

*--*

Nonleague

CdM 6, Costa Mesa 3

Score by Innings

CdM 200 020 2 -- 6 6 2

Costa Mesa 000 003 0 -- 3 6 3

Bradbury, N. Rhodes (3), Stockstill (4),

Contant (5), Lents (6), Dunzer (6) and

Presson, Marin-Finn (5); Gonzalez, Beltran

(5), Peterson (7) and N. Hunter. W -- N.

Rhodes, 1-0. L -- Gonzalez, 0-1. Sv --

Dunzer (1). 2B -- Bradbury (CdM). 3B --

Long (CdM)

*--*