Patrick Laverty
Costa Mesa National Little League third baseman Alex Grosek caught
the popup and headed straight for the dugout. His teammates followed.
Ocean View promptly took the field.
It wasn't until Costa Mesa catcher Ryan Knapp had already removed
his gear and Ocean View pitcher Bo Amaral was into his warm-up
pitches that the Ocean View coaching staff realized the out that
Grosek recorded was only the second in the top of the sixth inning.
"Alex sold it well," Costa Mesa Manager Kim Pederson said. "I
wasn't sure how many outs there were. I just said, 'We'll see what
happens.' "
What happened is Costa Mesa had to return to the field to record
the final out of the sixth inning, but it sure could have used the
two-out trick a few frames earlier.
Ocean View scored two runs in the third inning and three in the
fourth, all after two outs had been recorded. The five runs helped
them overcome an early one-run deficit and post an 8-1 victory that
knocked Costa Mesa out of the District 62 Major All-Star tournament
Wednesday at TeWinkle Middle School.
Things looked solid early for Costa Mesa, trying to bounce back
from a 4-1 loss to Huntington Beach Seaview on Monday. Josh Ryding
belted the first pitch he saw, a high fastball from Ocean View
pitcher Andrew Ragsdale, over the right-field fence for an
opposite-field home run in the first inning and Costa Mesa hurler
Gavin Montague shut down the Ocean View bats through the first two
innings.
But underlying that early 1-0 lead was a continuation of what
plagued Costa Mesa in its loss to Seaview, an inability to get a
clutch hit.
"We couldn't get a big hit," Pederson said. "It was exactly the
same as the last game."
Costa Mesa left nine runners on base, including four in the first
two innings. On Monday, the left seven runners on base, also
stranding four in the first two frames.
Unable to add to its lead, Costa Mesa then watched its greatest
strength go on vacation when a trio of errors led to two unearned
runs with two outs in the top of the third.
"We've been a great defensive team for two games," Pederson said.
"We slipped a little and let them have a little momentum."
Amaral reached on an error and advanced to second on another. He
then scored on Dalton Hintz's single. Hintz, who went 4 for 4 with
two runs scored and three runs batted in, took second base on the
throw home and advanced to third on Costa Mesa's third error of the
inning. He then gave Ocean View a 2-0 lead, scoring on a wild pitch.
