A new season begins

Down the stretch, Sage Hill School rested, whereas Costa Mesa was restless.

These two are the only local high school baseball teams making the playoffs. But they’re also entering on losing streaks.

The Lightning aren’t as concerned. They wrapped up their first league championship in school history before closing out the regular season with back-to-back Academy League losses.

As for the Mustangs, they should be worried. They lost out in claiming their first league title in 31 years by dropping three in a row in the Orange Coast League.

For that, Costa Mesa has to play earlier than Sage Hill.

Each learned of their opening-round opponent during the release of the CIF Southern Section playoff pairings Monday. Both Sage Hill and Costa Mesa earned home games.

But the Lightning (14-6) don’t play their Division VI first-round game against Bellarmine-Jefferson (9-11) of Burbank until Friday at 3:15 p.m.

Costa Mesa (15-12) plays today in a Division III wild-card game against Glenn (14-10) of Norwalk at 3:15 p.m.

This is Costa Mesa’s second straight playoff appearance under Coach Jim Kiefer. Sage Hill, led by first-year coach Andy Berglund, is making its first postseason appearance since 2004.

“We were disappointed we lost the last three games, but we played better in the last game,” said Kiefer, whose team lost to Calvary Chapel, 4-3, in the league title game Friday. “It was a good environment to be in because it was a playoff-type experience for us and we’re young. This is going to benefit us in the long run.

“If we play like we did [Friday], I think we’ll match up. We’re in for a tough one.”

Just like last year’s wild-card home game. Costa Mesa lost, 11-1, to Loyola of Los Angeles, which went on to win the section title over La Mirada.

Glenn placed fourth in the more competitive Suburban League, home to four playoff teams, including La Mirada. But the Eagles have struggled offensively in the last five games, getting shut out three times and manufacturing only one run in another game.

Kiefer said sophomore Tyler Peterson (7-3 with a 3.23 earned-run average) will start for Costa Mesa. In a small park, the right-hander will have to watch out for Glenn’s big bats. Tim Soonthorngarun leads the team with five home runs, followed by Enrique Medina’s four.

Those two players have combined to hit one more homer than Costa Mesa has as a team.

“Any time you’re in a league with Mayfair, La Mirada and Bellflower, you’ve played some quality teams,” said Kiefer, knowing the next round will get even tougher as the winner plays at South Hills (19-5) of West Covina on Friday. “We haven’t won a playoff game since 2001, so it’s been awhile.”

The same can be said about the Lightning’s lack of recent playoff success.

But their lone playoff victory in the seven-year varsity program’s history was in 2003, when the Lightning beat, La Verne Lutheran, 4-2, in a wild-card game at home.

Berglund wasn’t around back then. This entire experience is new to him.

He likes what he sees so far from Sage Hill, ranked No. 10 in the final Division VI coaches’ poll, before facing Bellarmine-Jefferson, the third-place team out of the Santa Fe League.

“I’ve got two pitchers who really want the ball and that’s a good thing,” said Berglund of senior right-hander Travis Duncan (3-3, 2.33 ERA) and freshman left-hander Jack Heffron (3-3, 2.93 ERA). “We rested a little bit at the end, so we can’t wait to get going again.”

Check out David Carrillo Peñaloza’s blog, “DCP Marvel Writings,” at dailypilot.com/dailyblogger/dcarrillo