Costa Mesa National falls

Barry Faulkner

Manager Kirk Stone likened his team’s early-inning jitters to stage

fright in the opening round of the District 62 Majors division

All-Star tournament Thursday at Wardlow Park in Huntington Beach.

And, indeed, with it’s marquee talent -- 6-foot pitcher and

slugger A.J. Roth -- competing with his traveling team some 3,000

miles away, the Costa Mesa National Little League squad played a bit

like overwhelmed understudies.

The result was an 11-1 loss to Huntington Valley in a baseball

game called after five innings, one shy of the regularly scheduled

minumum due to the 10-run mercy rule.

“We had some great practices the last week and the kids looked

really loose in infield tonight,” Stone said. “But once the game

started, it was like they were scared and couldn’t focus. I think it

was a little bit like a very good actor who knows all his lines, but

when he’s on stage and the lights go up, he can’t remember what to

do.”

Huntington Valley was not similarly stricken as the designated

visitors clouted a two-run home run in both the first and second

innings to help build an insurmountable lead.

The loss dropped the Costa Mesa National squad into the loser’s

bracket, where it will meet Seaview of Huntington Beach Tuesday at 5

p.m. in the double-elimination format.

Huntington Valley will play Costa Mesa American in a quarterfinal

clash tonight at 5, also at Wardlow Park.

Roth, whose mere presence bolsters his teammates and strikes fear

into opponents, is flying back from Williamsport, Pa., Stone said,

and figures to be back with the team Tuesday.

In addition to Roth, Costa Mesa was without Kevin Carvajal and

Chris Molina, leaving them with nine players.

Carvajal is still trying to satisfy eligibility requirements,

Stone said, while Molina is battling an illness.

Stone said there’s a chance Molina and Carvajal could also be on

the field Tuesday.

It was in the field where Costa Mesa was most tentative. The

designated home team committed three errors in the third inning to

help Huntington Valley score four times. Costa Mesa made four errors

in all and struggled all game with wild pitches and a few passed

balls.

But after falling behind, 9-0, through three innings, Costa Mesa

appeared unwilling to see the game end early due to the 10-run rule.

Costa Mesa third baseman Matt Carlyle reached high to snag a

bounding ball with no outs and men on second and third in the fourth

inning. He spun 360 degrees and threw to catcher Michael Markovsky,

who applied the tag to a sliding runner for the first out.

Pitcher Kannon Stone struck the next hitter out and Alex Kronfeldt

made a juggling catch of a fly ball to left to end the inning without

allowing a run.

Kronfeldt charged to glove the fly ball, but it went in and out of

her glove and back into the air. But Kronfeldt stayed with it,

catching the richochet while falling to her knees, with her back to

second base.

Sho Watanabe and Victor Trujillo also made outstanding defensive

plays for Costa Mesa.

Watanabe, playing shortstop, retreated into shallow left field to

catch a tricky pop-up in the fifth inning.

Trujillo, pitching at he time, reacted quickly to snare a line

drive back to the box to end the Huntington Valley second.

Costa Mesa managed five hits, including two by Markovsky.

Markovsky singled with two outs in the first, which proved to be

the only Costa Mesa hit through three innings against Huntington

Valley’s C.J. Hollingsworth, who went the distance.

Markovsky doubled to left to open the fourth and went to third one

out later when Josh Hill’s ground ball went through the shortstop for

an error.

With runners on the corners, Hill was thrown out trying to steal

second, but the play allowed Markovsky to score from third.

Stephen Hildebrand, Daniel DeGree and Matt Carlyle also produced

singles for Costa Mesa, which used four pitchers.

Huntington Valley pounded out 11 hits. It also benefited from six

walks and one hit batsman.

Hollingsworth struck out only three, but Markovsky was the lone

Costa Mesa runner to advance past second base.

* In other District 62 All-Star tournament action Thursday: The

Costa Mesa National 9- and 10-year-old All-Stars fell to Huntington

Valley, 6-2 at Wardlow Park.

Costa Mesa Manager Randy Wood said his team fell behind, 2-0,

before Jake Stone belted a solo home run and Aaron Wood’s double

plated Jeff Carlyle, who had singled, to pull Mesa even.

But Huntington Valley scored the game’s final four runs, dropping

Costa Mesa National into a loser’s bracket game Tuesday at 5 p.m.

against Costa Mesa American, which fell to Seaview in the first round

Wednesday.