Tempers flare following loss

Steve Virgen

Phil Bagby faced a nightmare on the Huntington Valley Little League

fields Wednesday. This is not one of those figurative terms to

describe a situation within a game.

Rather, Bagby’s bout with an unfortunate situation came after his

Costa Mesa American Major All-Star team lost, 9-5, to Fountain

Valley, and were eliminated from the District 62 tournament.

Bagby, the manager of the CMALL All-Stars, was confronted by an

angry father who shouted threats at Bagby. No punches were thrown in

a two-minute argument. The scene -- Bagby stood near his dugout,

while the father was some 25 feet away behind the backstop --

produced a deafening silence and ultimately left Bagby at a loss for

words.

When the situation ended Bagby was left asking himself a question.

“Why do I coach?”

After several parents came to thank him and showed support, and

after his players wanted to defend their coach, Bagby realized the

positive aspects that make Little League baseball special.

“I [coach] because my son [Austin] plays,” Bagby said. “This is a

great time to spend with him and to see him spend time with his

friends.”

Bagby also said he respects his players and tries to get everyone

in the game. He was obviously bothered by the argument, but he

remained calm. Initially, his frustration shown Wednesday was more

about his players’ failure to capitalize on a relief pitcher than a

kid’s father shouting.

Fountain Valley pitcher Sara Mitchell came on in the fourth inning

and shut down Costa Mesa, which had scored five runs in the bottom of

the third. She allowed one hit and retired the final six batters she

faced, including two strikeouts in the bottom of the sixth.

“I don’t think she was doing anything special,” Bagby said. “She

did a good job. We never had a girl on the mound against us. I don’t

know if that threw off the kids or not.”

The Costa Mesa American All-Stars fell behind, 6-0, after two

innings, just as they did in their 6-4 loss Tuesday. Fountain Valley

scored one unearned run in the first and three of its four runs were

also unearned in the second. Costa Mesa committed four errors in the

second inning.

However, the CMALL All-Stars came up with a five-run third inning

to get back in the game. Mike Molina’s ground ball toward the pitcher

led to a throwing error, which allowed Chris Gute to score. Gute

reached on an error to open the inning.

Ryan Boulger followed Molina with a two-run base hit, scoring Ben

Lounsbury, who singled, and Molina. Then with two out, Chris Robinson

came up with the game’s only triple after his line-drive shot landed

in the left field corner. Robinson later scored on a wild pitch,

which drew Costa Mesa within, 6-5.

However, Mitchell ended Costa Mesa’s momentum over the next three

innings. Fountain Valley scored one run in the sixth and two more in

the seventh. Costa Mesa’s Mike Kelly pitched the final three innings,

while Kevin Hoffman started.

Kelly struck out a Fountain Valley batter with the bases loaded to

end the fifth inning. Jesse Dawson also helped or completed standout

defensive plays. In the first inning, he appeared to steal a home run

as he gloved a fly ball at the fence in center field. In the fourth

inning, Dawson was part of a 1-4-2 double play.

With runners on first and second, Fountain Valley’s Michael James

hit a ground ball to Kelly, who got the runner out at second with his

throw to Dawson. Dawson showed awareness and made the throw to home

plate, where Gute, the catcher, tagged out a sliding Mike Delicce.