Costa Mesa finally claims Battle for the Bell baseball rivalry against Estancia

It had been nearly a decade since the chime of a bell ringing had signified victory for the Costa Mesa High baseball team in the season series with its crosstown rival.

For the first time since 2009, the Mustangs took back the coveted Paul Troxel trophy, finishing off a season-changing week with their second straight win over Estancia.

Junior catcher Cameron Chapman had a home run and five runs batted in, and the host Mustangs went on to beat the Eagles 9-4 on Friday in an Orange Coast League game.

“It feels unbelievable,” Mustangs coach Don Welsher said of winning the rivalry. “These guys have worked really, really hard. I told them at the beginning of the season that they were a good enough team to beat anybody we play, and they finally started believing in themselves.”

Costa Mesa improved to 8-8 overall and 4-3 in league, prompting Welsher to say that his team is definitely on the upswing. The Mustangs had gone 3-21 against Estancia since 2010. Costa Mesa dropped the first meeting between the teams this season, which was a 4-0 loss at Angel Stadium, but two wins this week gave the Mustangs the series.

The Mustangs’ players lined up at home plate to ring the bell after the game, and they carried it into left field for their postgame huddle, too.

Their excitement was palpable. Costa Mesa rallied around its emotional leader James Welsher, who wore his heart on his sleeve on the mound. The sophomore left-hander slapped his glove in celebration a number of times after recording key outs, including when he struck out the side in the sixth inning.

“Pretty much every game, I try to get everyone hyped up,” Welsher said. “Every time we’re excited, that’s when we seem to come together as a team mostly and take home a win.”

Welsher’s brother, Ray, was a high-energy, 160-pound wrestler for Costa Mesa who graduated last year. Asked to compare himself to his older sibling, Welsher said, “We’re a pretty emotional family.”

In getting the start, Welsher threw 6 1/3 innings to earn the win. He allowed four earned runs on six hits and struck out five.

Costa Mesa has scored at least four runs in every game during its three-game winning streak. The Mustangs had failed to do that in back-to-back games leading up to this most recent stretch.

“The hits just started to fall for us,” Chapman said. “All year, we’ve just been hitting it right at people. It’s been frustrating us all, but we just keep with the process, hitting the ball hard, and today they fell for us.”

Junior left fielder Miguel Rodriguez, sophomore second baseman Riley Mitchell, Welsher and Chapman all collected two hits.

Chapman did not have to worry about whether the ball was going to fall in when he faced senior Nick Mazur in the fourth inning. He pulled a high fly ball to right field, and it easily cleared the fence.

“That first pitch that I swung and missed on, I think I swung harder,” Chapman said. “I had to take a deep breath, take a step back, and then just put my swing on it. I got a good piece of it, and it went over.”

Costa Mesa pulled into a tie with Estancia (9-6, 4-3 in league) for third place in league. The Mustangs have not reached the CIF Southern Section postseason since 2010.

Laguna Beach is atop the league at 5-0, followed by Calvary Chapel, which is 3-2.

Estancia junior right fielder Hayden Pearce reached base safely all four times he came to the plate. He had three hits, including a pair of doubles, and a walk.

Sophomore catcher Garrett Palme knocked in two runs, and junior left fielder Justin Wood had a run-scoring single in the fourth inning for Estancia.

Losing a big game can be a powerful motivator. Eagles coach Kevin Conlin thinks that is exactly what happened, and he commended the Mustangs for coming to play.

“They’ve had to watch us, and they’ve probably gotten sick and tired of it,” Conlin said. “That’s the way it goes. It’s a good rivalry, and it didn’t go our way, but tip your cap to them. They did a good job.”

andrew.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner