Barry Faulkner
COVINA - If the Costa Mesa High baseball team's execution is
anything like its scouting acumen, the Mustangs have a solid shot to
advance past today's CIF Southern Section Division IV first-round playoff
game at Gladstone High.
Mesa Coach Kirk Bauermeister, whose Mustangs (15-9-1) completed their
season May 9, elected to use a day off May 11 to go see a Division IV
team play.
"The only ranked team in our division playing that day was Gladstone
(at Workman High)," Bauermeister said.
Paired in the first round with the Gladiators (22-1), ranked No. 6 in
the final division coaches' poll, Bauermeister said he hopes to translate
his good fortune onto the diamond today at 3:15 p.m.
"By watching them play, I think some of our kids learned that ranked
teams are beatable," Bauermeister said. "They threw their No. 2 pitcher
that day (David Rausch), who was good, but not great. They looked like
they were very well-coached and very fundamentally sound, but our kids
walked away believing they could compete with them."
The Mustangs, who missed the playoffs last season, will be hoping to
recapture the postseason success they enjoyed when they made the Division
IV quarterfinals in 1999. That run was the first time since it claimed
the CIF 3-A crown in 1962 that Mesa won two playoff games in the same
season.
The Mustangs, who finished third in the Pacific Coast League behind
Corona del Mar and University, can tie the school single-season victory
record with one more win. The standard was originally set by the
aforementioned 1962 CIF champions, then tied by the 1999 team.
It's been a streaky season, so far, for the Mustangs, who began the
year 8-1-1, slumped mildly, then regained their focus to win six of their
last nine, including four one-run victories.
Mesa, which defeated Duarte in the first round in '99, is keyed
offensively by seniors Josh Feldman, Daniel Hunter, Steven Shores and
Carlos Franco, as well as juniors Nick Cabico and Billy Halverson.
Feldman, a center fielder and leadoff man, is hitting .413 with 17
RBIs. He leads the team in hits (31), runs (21) and stolen bases (14).
Cabico, also a featured pitcher, is hitting .384 with 12 RBIs, 18 runs and nine steals. He is 3-1 with a 1.87 ERA, with 43 strikeouts in 45
innings. He also has a save.
Halverson, a slick-fielding shortstop, is hitting .361 with 10 RBIs.
Hunter, the catcher, is hitting .358 with 21 RBIs, while Franco, a
first baseman and closer, is hitting .328 with a team-leading 22 RBIs.
Franco is 4-2 on the mound with four saves and a 1.94 ERA.
Shores, the second baseman, is hitting .343 with 13 RBIs and his three
homers tie him for the team lead with Hunter.
Gladstone, which won its 10th Montview League title in the last 13
seasons, is led by a pair of unbeaten hurlers. Russell Foldon is 8-0 with
a 1.97 ERA and has 70 strikeouts and only 14 walks in 60 1/3 innings.
Rausch is 6-0 with a 1.75 ERA.
Foldon also wields a big bat for Coach Rich Remkus' squad, hitting
.393 with one homer and a team-high 29 RBIs.
John Gomez, who impressed Bauermeister with his work at shortstop, is
hitting .424 with one homer, 15 RBIs and 26 runs for today's host.
Rudy Hilo (.452 with 19 RBIs and 20 runs) and Nick Rodriguez (.339
with 17 RBIs and 16 runs) are additional threats for Gladstone, which won
section championships in 1973 and '86.
Today's winner will face either St. Paul or Mayfair (14-9) in
Tuesday's second round.
