Barons win Beach Pit Classic

CORONA DEL MAR — Two lefties tried to make it right for Newport Harbor High.

Then the Sailors went “Green” as in Cody Green in relief late, trying to save the baseball game.

The move failed to salvage the Beach Pit Classic Championship Wednesday.

Newport Harbor took a two-run lead into the seventh inning. Things turned hazardous, three straight infield singles burned the Sailors.

For the second day in a row, Fountain Valley rallied late, this time for five runs in the seventh and a 7-4 win and the big prize at Corona del Mar High.

Someone placed a box, full of T-shirts, near the first-base line. The players rushed to it after a lady snapped like 100 photos.

Coach Joe MacDonald said one of those pictures is going up in his office. The Barons (8-7) won the tournament for the first time in his four years as coach.

MacDonald displayed a genuine smile for every picture. You might understand why after his Barons’ comeback against Newport Harbor (6-9).

The Sailors beat Fountain Valley, 3-2, last week in a Sunset League extra-inning game, leaving the Sailors tied for third for third place in league at 2-3, one game ahead of the Barons.

The same pitcher who went the distance against Newport Harbor did so again. This time, Cody Morad (3-3) only threw seven innings, instead of eight, and earned the victory.

“He’s been a bulldog for me the last two years,” MacDonald said of Morad, who struck out four and gave up four runs on five hits.

Alex Rios tagged the Barons’ big dog in the bottom of the sixth.

The clean-up hitter pounded an outside pitch to right field for a two-run home run, giving the Sailors a 4-2 lead, their first of the game.

The momentum appeared to be with the Sailors again late in a game against Fountain Valley. Errors hurt the Barons the last time and Morad said he “was kind of worried” of losing another tight one to Newport Harbor.

In one of the few times in the game, Morad made a mistake, falling behind, 2-0, in the count against Rios. Morad had mowed Rios down in the fourth, tying up the 6-foot-6 senior on the third strike.

Rios protected the inside part of the plate. When Morad missed the strike zone twice, Rios went the other way for his first homer of the season.

The Sailors continued on, seeing Blake Davey get on via a walk. With one out and a runner on first, Davey took off for second base and a freshman batter swung and missed, striking out for the second out.

The third out was Davey, getting thrown out trying to steal. Morad escaped further damage and retuned to the dugout, not sure what to expect.

The second left-handed pitcher for Newport Harbor slowed down the Barons for 1 1/3 innings. In the fifth, Arturo Vasquez relieved Dillan Freiberg, who appears to have recovered from an elbow injury.

The junior turned in a strong 4 2/3 innings, striking out five, allowing two runs and three hits.

Freiberg, making his first start since March 7, gave Coach Evan Chalmers everything he asked for, eating up innings after the Sailors used a lot of pitchers during the four-day, 16-team tournament, and also belting a solo home run to tie the game at 2-2 in the third.

Freiberg hurt the opposition for the second straight day with a home run.

The Barons answered in the seventh, not with the big shot, but with three straight infield singles.

One infield single to the shortstop cut the deficit to one and Vasquez (1-5) exited. With Green in relief, a slow-hit grounder to the shortstop put the Barons in business, setting up AJ Cardenalli with the bases loaded.

The No. 2 hitter turned on a pitch, driving the ball past the third baseman and down the left-field line to bring in two runs, giving the Barons a 5-4 lead.

“We took a 4-2 lead, we just got to play defense,” said Chalmers, whose team went 3-1 in the tournament. “I told the kids, ‘I think that we kind of played not to lose, instead of just being real aggressive defensively.’

“We got caught on our heels with [three] base hits in the infield alone. That’s the one that’s hard to accept.”

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Beach Pit Classic

Championship

Fountain Valley 7, Newport Harbor 4

Morad and Robb; Freiberg, Vasquez (5), Green (7) and Davey. W – Morad, 3-3. L – Vasquez (1-5). 2B – Scott (FV), Jimenez (FV), Cardenalli (FV). HR – Scott (FV), Freiberg (NH), Rios (NH).

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].