American keeps Mayor’s Cup

COSTA MESA ? Costa Mesa American Little League All-Star pitcher Martin Myszynski stands just over 6-foot tall ? not counting the mound he threw off during Tuesday’s Mayor’s Cup rubber match at Costa Mesa High.

Several of Myszynski’s teammates also stood plenty tall with their prowess at the plate, helping Costa Mesa American to an 8-1 triumph over Costa Mesa National that means bragging rights stay with the boys in green.

Tyler Sheffner and Trace Curet each had home runs in the game for Costa Mesa American while Myszynski went the distance on the mound, striking out seven and giving up just two hits.

As was the case last year, Costa Mesa American Little League lost the first game of the Mayor’s Cup before rallying to take the series. The overall Mayor’s Cup series, which began in 1997, is now tied at five wins apiece.

“I think that getting beat on Saturday [in the Mayor’s Cup opener] sparked something inside of them,” Costa Mesa American Manager John McLuckey said. “There’s only two kids coming back next year, the rest are moving on to Pony. So, I think they realized they didn’t want to leave Costa Mesa American by losing the Mayor’s Cup.”

J.T. McLuckey drew a one-out walk in the second inning, then Sheffner connected on a home run to right field to give Costa Mesa American a 2-0 lead.

“I’d been in a slump,” Sheffner said. “I was like three for 17 before that, so I went to the batting cages. I just wanted to get on; home runs don’t come on purpose. But it was a cool feeling.”

Costa Mesa American added another run in the bottom of the third, when Tom Werdel’s single to center brought in Austin McArdle. But with runners on second and third and no outs, Costa Mesa National relief pitcher Kevin Carvajal did a nice job of getting out of the jam.

Costa Mesa National got its run in the top of the fourth, when cleanup hitter Hans Anderle led off with a triple to right. National Coach Kirk Stone argued that the ball bounced off a fence outside of the field of play, caromed back into the stadium and should have been a home run, but only a triple was awarded.

It was a moot point, however, after Brodie Pearce’s sacrifice fly to deep right field brought Anderle in and made it 3-1, Costa Mesa American.

But Myszynski, who gave up two walks in the first inning to Kannon Stone and Stephen Hildebrand, only gave up one more hit in the game ? Hildebrand’s sixth-inning single.

“We knew they could hit the fastballs down the middle, so we needed to keep them off-balance and keep them guessing a little bit,” John McLuckey said. “Martin’s curveball and off-speed pitch were working real well. We didn’t give them too many fastballs.”

Myszynski said he just stayed relaxed throughout his 83-pitch performance.

“I’m always comfortable on the mound,” Myszynski said. “I don’t think I’ve been uncomfortable since last year. It felt good to beat National.”

Costa Mesa American came up with the knockout punch in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Werdel doubled to left and was batted in on Myszynski’s single to center.

Myszynski advanced to second on the throw home and to third on a passed ball, scoring when J.T. McLuckey’s sacrifice fly to left field was dropped. That made it 5-1, Costa Mesa American.

After a walk to Jeremy Peak, Curet came up and crushed his second hit of the game, a three-run homer to left to give Costa Mesa American plenty of breathing room, 8-1.

“I was hoping that Jeremy would get on so I could bat one last time,” Curet said. “And I did, and I hit the home run. It was good to end the year with a home run and go up to Pony [baseball] with that.”

Logan Benter added a hit and a run scored for Costa Mesa American, also making a nice catch in right field in the third inning. Tyler Taormina had a double and first baseman Werdel made a leaping grab in the fifth inning to rob Carvajal of a hit.

Costa Mesa National Manager Greg Pearce said adjusting to Myszynski proved to be a challenge.

“It was different having a man, a full-grown adult standing on the mound and throwing to you,” he said with a smile. “But a couple of guys swung the bat really well. The score doesn’t really reflect how hard our kids played and I’m really proud of them. It was a fun series to end the year on.”dpt.19-mayors-1-BPhotoInfoFM1T2RIP20060719j2mr6nncCredit: Caption: (LA)Costa Mesa American’s Trace Curet (2), center, leaps into the air before touching home plate after a home run as his teammates wait to pounce. dpt.19-mayors-2-BPhotoInfoFM1T2RSI20060719j2mr7qncCredit: PHOTOS BY MARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT Caption: (LA)Costa Mesa American’s Martin Myszynski delivers to the plate in Tuesday evening’s game three of the Mayor’s Cup against Costa Mesa National. dpt.19-mayors-4-BPhotoInfoFM1T2S6H20060719j2mr86ncCredit: MARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT Caption: (LA)Costa Mesa National’s Hans Anderle catches a fly ball in game three of the Mayor’s Cup against Costa Mesa American Tuesday.