Sailors dealt serious curve by Dolphins

Bryce Alderton

Newport Harbor High’s baseball team can gain solace that it held its

own against South Coast League foe Dana Hills Tuesday, even if the

effort wasn’t enough to win.

The Dolphins -- behind the crafty breaking balls of starter Trevor

Helms that zig-zagged to find nearly every part of the plate and the

run-producing machine at the top of the order -- downed the host

Sailors, 9-5, in a quarterfinal matchup in the Pride of the Coast

Tournament.

Brent Lawson and Ryan Jones each had three hits in four at-bats

and scored six of the Dolphins nine runs to give the South Coast

League participants their 11th victory.

The loss drops Newport to 5-11, but the Sailors fought until the

very end.

With two runs already in in the seventh and final inning, the

Sailors had runners at first and second with one out and junior left

fielder Karo Makserjian at the plate. Makserjian, who had singled and

scored one of Newport’s three runs to tie the Dolphins in the third

inning, ripped a 2-2 fastball right at left fielder Brady Smith, who

alertly fired to double up a Newport runner at second who had strayed

a bit too far off the bag.

Newport Coach Joel Desguin, coaching at third, acknowledged he

thought Makserjian’s ball would fall in front of Smith and told the

runner to come down the line.

Pinch-hitter Nick Sacco and starting shortstop Dave Erickson each

singled and scored in the seventh inning with catcher Jeff Sanchez

adding one of his two singles in three at-bats.

Newport’s two final runs equaled Dana Hills’ output in the top of

the seventh inning. The Dolphins (11-5) scored two runs each in the

first, fourth and sixth innings to go with a single tally in the

third. Wild pitches to consecutive hitters accounted for Dana Hills’

two runs in the fourth inning, increasing the margin to 5-3 after

Newport had tied it, 3-3, the previous inning.

Newport began its assault with two outs, getting four consecutive

singles by Sanchez, third baseman R.J. Muller, Ryan Heenan and

Makserjian. Heenan and Makserjian both beat out slow rollers in the

infield. Makserjian’s grounder scored both Muller and Heenan, Heenan

alertly sprinting home from second when the first baseman lost focus

after fielding a late throw.

Then came a blast by center fielder Ryan Torrey to the

left-center-field gap that one hopped against the wall to plate

Makserjian. A tie is as close as Newport would get as starting

pitcher Ryan Rowe and the defense behind him tried to limit the

Dolphins the best they could.

“Rowe kept us in the game and [Joe Cantarella] is going to do what

he can do to get to the ball,” Desguin said. “We were right there

against a better team.”

Rowe (0-2) struck out two while allowing six hits and five runs in

five innings. Matt Erickson relieved Rowe and struck out three in his

two innings. Cantarella covered a lot of real estate in right field

Tuesday. The junior reached over a fence along the right side to

catch a pop foul and then made a Tim Salmon-like grab on a shallow

fly by Todd Carlin, sliding to scoop the ball before it hit the turf

to end the Dolphins’ third-inning threat.

Dana Hills’ Helms kept Newport at bay, tossing breaking balls that

started outside the strike zone but curled to catch the outside

corner on a number of occasions, often freezing the batter. Helms

allowed just three runs on nine hits with eight strikeouts and

retired the side in order in the first, fourth and fifth innings.

“[Helms] was throwing first-pitch curves and was hitting the

outside corner,” Makserjian said. “I just tried to wait on the ball

and hit it to the opposite field. He was a good pitcher. He made a

great play on me and [Erickson].”

Helms speared two hard-hit grounders by Erickson and Makserjian

and threw both out at first.

After Brady Smith, the Dolphins’ No. 4 hitter who went 2 for 3

with a walk, the Sailors limited the rest of the order to just two

hits. But the damage Jones and Lawson did to Newport was enough.

“They hit the ball well ... [Lawson] is very good,” Desguin said.

Newport and Dana Hills began played at 1 p.m. Tuesday, two hours

later than previously scheduled, to allow time for the field to dry

out from Monday’s rain that caused all tournament games to be

postponed.

Newport returns to action today at 9 a.m. against visiting

Santiago. If the Sailors win, they would play again at noon.

*--*

Pride of the Coast Tournament

Quarterfinal Dana Hills 9, Newport Harbor 5

Score by Innings

Dana 201 202 2 -- 9 11 0

Newport 003 000 2 -- 5 9 1

Helms, Kaplan (7) and Vazac; Rowe, M.

Erickson (6) and Sanchez. W -- Helms. L --

Rowe, 0-2. 2B -- Lawson 2 (DH), Kaplan

(DH), Torrey (NH)

*--*