Prep baseball: Mustangs efficient winners, 6-3

Barry Faulkner

COSTA MESA - Costa Mesa High baseball coach Kirk Bauermeister is

either living right, or he does, in fact, have a pretty fair team this

spring.

Evidence of both was offered up Tuesday in the Mustangs’ 6-3 win over

visiting Laguna Beach in the Costa Mesa Division championship semifinals

of the Newport Elks Tournament.

“Usually it’s the sign of a pretty good team when you play poorly and

still win,” Bauermeister said, after three Mesa pitchers stranded 11 base

runners in the first five innings, during which time the Mustangs also

survived two errors.

Meanwhile Mustang hitters used three extra-base hits to sweep the

bases clean for their six RBIs.

Senior catcher Mike Carrasco needed just two swings to produce five of

those runs, blasting a three-run homer in the first and a two-run shot in

the fifth to help propel the hosts into Saturday’s 10 a.m. division title

game against Pacifica, an 11-3 winner over Santa Ana in the other

semifinal.

Senior center fielder Michael McGuire was 2 for 3 with an RBI triple,

a stolen base and a run, while senior leadoff man Nick Cabico walked

twice, scored two runs and stole a base.

The Mustangs had all but one of their hits in the three innings they

scored.

The Artists (2-1) used a groundout and a wild pitch to plate two of

its three third-inning runs, but was frustrated the rest of the game.

Junior George Vargas pitched three no-hit innings of scoreless relief

to earn the save, striking out four. Just six of his 28 pitches were out

of the strike zone, in stark contrast to the other Mesa mound men, who

dispenced eight walks.

Carrasco’s first round-tripper came courtesy of a 3-0 fastball.

After McGuire’s one-out triple in the third put Mesa back on top, 4-3,

Carrasco worked a 3-0 count with two outs and McGiure on second in the

fifth. The Artists served him another batting-practice fastball and the

result was another jog around the bases.

Carrasco also threw out two base runners, one trying to steal second

and another on a pickoff at first base. Mesa pitcher Derek Garcia, who

earned the victory in relief, also picked a runner off first base.

“I said this would be a team that would have to manufacture runs and

we already have three homers in three games,” Bauermeister said. “I guess

I didn’t know what I was talking about.”

A.J. Perkins, who scored a run, Nathan Hunter, Dan Bitler and Steve

Doerr also had singles for the winners.

NEWPORT ELKS TOURNAMENT

Costa Mesa Division championship semifinal

Costa Mesa 6, Laguna Beach 3

Laguna Beach 003 000 0 - 3 5 0

Costa Mesa 301 020 x - 6 8 2

Youngstead, Beck (3) and Baumer; Cooper, Garcia (3), Vargas (5) and

Carrasco. W - Garcia, 2-0. L - Youngstead, 0-1. Sv - Vargas (1). 3B -

McGuire (CM). HR - Carrasco (CM) 2.