Peterson whiffs 14

Barry Faulkner

Before he flirted with history, Costa Mesa High junior left-hander

Justin Peterson danced with defeat in Friday’s 16-5 Golden West League baseball win over crosstown rival Estancia.

Peterson fanned two in each of the first four innings, then struck

out the side in the fifth, putting him four strikeouts away from

tying the 20-year-old school single-game record held by Jeff

Goettsch.

But all he had to show for it at that point was a 5-5 deadlock.

The Mustangs, however, transferred the suspense from the

scoreboard back to the mound, scoring 11 runs on five hits in the

sixth.

Peterson, who did not fan a batter in the sixth, struck out the

side in the seventh to finish with 14 Ks, one off the record. He was

hardly disappointed, however, after his second complete-game win over

the Eagles gave his team its first league victory, as well as

possession of the Paul Troxel Trophy, awarded to the winner of the

annual crosstown series.

Estancia defeated the Eagles, 11-1, in a March 20 nonleague game

and Petersen pitched them to a 4-1 victory in a Newport Elks

Tournament contest March 10. The tournament game did not count in the

battle for the perpetual trophy, named for the late former coach at

Estancia who was also an assistant at Mesa before his sudden death

during the 1999 season. Mesa visits Estancia to complete their league

series May 7.

“I was coming after them,” said Peterson (3-1), who now has 36

strikeouts in 29 innings. With just one earned run allowed Friday, he

lowered his ERA to 1.93. “I’ve never had a game like this. This is my

best win.”

“The little lefty throws strikes,” Mesa Coach Doug Deats said of

his pitching standout, who also doubled and drove in a run to join

the other eight spots in the lineup that reached base at least once

for the winners (5-6, 1-2 in league).

Senior first baseman Dan Bitler was the offensive star for the

hosts, following a first-inning walk with four straight RBI singles,

finishing 4 for 4 with four RBIs and four runs.

Senior third baseman Robert Rodriguez was the only other Mustang

with multiple hits, going 2 for 3 with three RBIs, including a

two-run double that capped the double-digit sixth. Deats, however,

singled out Rodriguez’s RBI single in the fourth, which put the hosts

on top, 5-3.

“The two-out RBI single by Rodriguez in the fifth was huge,” Deats

said.

Rodriguez’s blooper that fell in left-center field, however, was

answered by the Eagles, who pulled even for the second time in the

fifth.

Sophomore leadoff man Greg Hughes, who singled and scored in the

first to give Estancia a short-lived lead, doubled over the center

fielder’s head to open the fifth-inning rally. After Jeremy Hauser

walked, a would-be double-play grounder led to an errant throw to

second base, allowing Hughes to score. Hauser later scored when Matt

Ronquillo was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and the game began

anew.

Dylan Hunter started the sixth-inning onslaught for Mesa, when he

was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game. Adam Beltran

reached on an error and RBI singles by Bitler and Nate Hunter

followed. Rodriguez was hit by a pitch to load the bases, setting up

consecutive RBI walks to Gary Gonzalez and Alex Pisarski. Derek

Garcia reached on an infield error to make it 10-5 and Peterson

followed with a sacrifice fly for another run. A Dylan Hunter double

plated another run and, after a walk loaded the bases, Bitler singled

to drive in his fourth run. Nate Hunter followed with a sacrifice fly

to make it 14-5 and Rodriguez lauched a two-run double into the

right-center gap to complete the uprising.

Beltran went 1 for 2, reached base all five plate appearances,

scored four runs and stole two bases, while Dylan Hunter went 1 for 2

with three runs and an RBI.

Cullen Crom went 2 for 3 with two RBIs and one run and Hughes

finished 2 for 4 with two runs to pace the Eagles’ seven-hit attack.

Tyler Hoffman added an RBI single in the third for the Eagles, who

fell to 3-8, 1-3.

“We don’t have too many guys swinging with confidence right now,”

Estancia Coach Jon Green said. “We walked eight and their hitters did

a good job of battling with two strikes.”

*--*

Golden West League

Mesa 16, Estancia 5

Score by Innings

Estancia 102 020 0 -- 5 7 3

Mesa 210 20(11) x -- 16 11 2

Hoffman, Crom (6), Ippolito (6) and

Hauser; Peterson and N. Hunter. W --

Peterson, 3-1. L -- Hoffman, 1-2. 2B

-- Peterson (CM), Pisarski (CM),

Hughes (E), D. Hunter (CM), Rodriguez

(CM)

*--*