Prep baseball: Tender mercy

Barry Faulkner

COSTA MESA - Coaches who disavow moral victories, might be leaving

their players nothing to play for against the University High baseball

team.

Costa Mesa Coach Kirk Bauermeister, however, isn’t above finding a little

silver lining, as he proved after Friday’s 10-0 mercy-rule shortened

Pacific Coast League loss to the visitors from Irvine.

“This is the best I’ve felt, walking away from getting spanked, 10-0,”

Bauermeister said. “I think we might have hit more balls hard than they

did. That (University) team finds a way to win and you have to give them

credit. But we played OK. I liked our intensity, even in that last

inning.”

The Mustangs, hammered in all three meetings against the Trojans, at

least pushed the game one inning past the minimum.

Mesa (6-10-1, 3-5 in league) trailed only 1-0 after two innings, before

yielding a pair of unearned runs in the Trojans’ four-run third.

Mesa finished with five errors, tarnishing the competitive pitching

performances of sophomore Nick Cabico and junior Carlos Franco.

“With those guys on the mound, we fell confident we can play with

anyone,” Bauermeister said.

But even Cabico and Franco could not muster enough quality pitches to

contain the Trojans (12-3, 6-0 and ranked No. 4 in Orange County), who

have now outscored league competition, 63-8.

Making matters worse for the hosts, Uni starter Jairo Ochoa was masterful

on the mound. The right-hander allowed only three hits, struck out seven

and walked only one to improve to 3-2.

“This was by far his best game this year,” Uni Coach Chris Conlin said.

Franco doubled in the second and singled in the fourth, while senior

catcher Galel Fajardo singled in the second to account for the Mustangs’

offense.

Mesa put six men on base the first four innings, but stranded five.

Franco fanned three in three relief innings and senior center fielder

Josh Little made two fine running catches in the gap to highlight the

defense.

Conlin also had praise for the Mustangs.

“Costa Mesa kids always play hard against us,” Conlin said.

Mesa hosts Bolsa Grande in the opening round of the Pride of the Coast

Tournament today at 11 a.m.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

University 10, Costa Mesa 0 University 104 302 - 10 12 0

Costa Mesa 000 000 - 0 3 5

Ochoa and Edmonds; Cabico, Franco (4) and Fajardo. W - Ochoa, 3-2. L -

Cabico, 1-4. 2B - Franco (CM), Sagud (U), Nichols (U).