Eagles top Mesa again

dpt-cmestbase08TextDR26GG9Lcosta mesa, estancia baseball gamerDaily Pilot COSTA MESABASEBALL: Estancia clinches season series with crosstown rival, collecting Paul Troxel Trophy for first time in six seasons.Costa Mesa...5

Estancia...11

COSTA MESA — Estancia High baseball coach C.K. Green remembers the conversation with a Costa Mesa parent like it was yesterday.

Reminiscing about it brought some smiles to his face before the Eagles played host to cross-town rival Costa Mesa Monday

“One of the parents a few weeks ago said, ‘What’s the deal? You can only beat us,’ ” Green said. “I said, ‘Well, if I had to pick one team. I guess you guys would be it.’

“It’s kind of funny.”

Green can laugh all he wants now as Estancia beat Costa Mesa, 11-5, in an Orange Coast League game and is on the verge of sweeping the four-game series.

When’s the last time the Eagles (9-17, 3-8 in league) brought out the brooms on the Mustangs?

“Not any time lately,” Green said, grinning of course as the Eagles won the Paul Troxel Trophy, given to the annual series winner.

This year marks the first time Estancia has won the award since 2001, a year after Green graduated from Estancia.

The Mustangs (14-11, 5-6) were not too happy about it afterward, because the Eagles are not playing to get into the playoffs like Costa Mesa is right now.

Costa Mesa lost an opportunity to clinch second place in league with a victory. A win and it secured one of the new league’s two CIF Southern Section Division III playoff berths.

Had Laguna Beach lost Monday to league-leader Calvary Chapel, the Mustangs were playoff bound for the first time since 2001.

But with Laguna Beach (5-6 in league) winning, 13-9, Coach Jim Kiefer’s Costa Mesa team will need to beat Estancia Wednesday at TeWinkle Park at 6 p.m. in the regular-season finale for both schools. A Laguna Beach loss to Calvary Chapel would also allow the Eagles to qualify for the postseason.

The way the Mustangs are playing, don’t count on the former.

In their last three games, all losses, they’ve been outscored, 38-10. The same issues that plagued them last week, did so again Monday.

“We need to play better,” said Kiefer after a long talk with his team near the right-field line. “We didn’t play well defensively. We didn’t pitch well. We didn’t swing the bats very well. We didn’t do anything well.

“We need to turn things around, and just play harder and better on Wednesday. We’re perfectly capable of it, but we just need to make it happen.”

Against Estancia, starter Gavin Montague has stood in the way twice, giving Costa Mesa starter Garrick Williams (3-5) no chance with no offensive support after his four-inning outing.

The sophomore again went the distance to beat the Mustangs for the second time this year, using his two-seam fastball and changeup well to get outs.

Montague used 83 pitches, 64 for strikes, to improve to 5-4. To Green, the record is an incredible accomplishment.

“It has been awhile since somebody’s won five games for Estancia,” Green said. “It’s early 1990s we’re talking since a pitcher’s won five games.”

Hearing the news, the right-hander’s smile grew as big as his coach’s.

He had good reason to enlarge it because after his offense spotted him a 5-1 lead in the second inning, Costa Mesa rallied to cut the deficit by one.

The Mustangs missed an opportunity to pounce on Montague in the inning. Credit catcher Trevor McDonald for ending the threat. Like he has several times in his senior year, he picked off another runner leaning too far off the bag.

This time, with two outs and runners on the corners, a Mesa runner stood near third base. Then in a matter of seconds, he was out after McDonald fired a perfect ball to third baseman Blake Pinto, who tagged out the runner to retire the side.

“We get really pumped up for the [Costa] Mesa games,” McDonald said. “We wish we could play like that in every game.”

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected]

Orange Coast League

Estancia 11, Costa Mesa 5

Score by Innings

Williams, Boulger (5) and Pisarski; Montague and McDonald. W -- Montague, 5-4. L -- Williams, 3-5. 2B -- McDonald (E) 2. 3B -- Redding (E).