Baseball: Costa Mesa All-Stars drop opener

WHITTIER — Four rows up in the stands, a 65-year-old man worked as the PA announcer without a microphone. Gary March didn’t need a mic. Fans could hear his booming voice in the parking lot at York Field in Whittier.

If you follow youth baseball in Costa Mesa, you’re most likely familiar with March’s delivery. He stretches a player’s name out as long as he possibly can.

March says he has worked games at Costa Mesa National Little League and Costa Mesa American Little League for the last 10 to 12 years, as well as for Costa Mesa Pony Baseball during that same period.

On Thursday, March was with the Costa Mesa Pony 13-and-under All-Stars at the Pony West Zone Southern California Super Region tournament. March had never before announced a game in this tournament.

March got his chance with Costa Mesa sending a team to the Super Region tournament for the first time in its 20-year history. He wound up calling the names of the opposing team more than he did Costa Mesa players.

Long Beach Heartwell jumped on Costa Mesa early, scoring six runs in the third inning en route to a 10-1 win in the opening round of the tournament.

Despite the lopsided game, March never lost his enthusiasm. He and Costa Mesa have at least one more game in the double-elimination tournament. Costa Mesa plays the loser between San Dimas and El Cajon-based Emerald Crimson on Saturday at 9 a.m.

Costa Mesa hopes its history-making appearance in the Super Region isn’t short lived.

“It is a huge deal,” Costa Mesa team administrator Jack Morales said. “We’ve been a little streaky. We’ll play sub-par one game and then come back the next day and it’s almost a different group of kids. We’re looking for that second group, you know, that can play that tough game the whole way, and grind and battle, and we’ve done it.”

Things started well for Costa Mesa. Left-hander Dillon Manchester gave up one hit and one run in the first two innings.

Six singles, three of which drove in a run, and three Costa Mesa errors in the third inning helped Heartwell up the lead to 7-0.

Through three innings, Costa Mesa had only Beau Dionio’s single to start the game against starter Tim Fife.

But Fife walked Beto Sotomayor to start the third inning. Two errant pickoff moves allowed Sotomayor to get to third base, but Fife struck out a batter looking and induced two groundouts to leave the runner stranded.

Costa Mesa scored its first run, after the first two batters — Raul Villalobos and Ryan Juncker — got aboard via a single and walk in the fourth inning. Villalobos scored after he stole third base and the throw from catcher Xavier Lujan went down the left-field line.

Costa Mesa brought in a new pitcher, Trey Wilborn, to begin the fifth. A southpaw replaced a southpaw, and after Wilborn gave up consecutive singles to Coats and Robert Bolton, he escaped trouble. He retired the next three hitters.

Three hits is all Fife, Coats and Mason Mize combined to give up; the third was by Luis Munoz in the sixth inning. Juncker appeared to have an extra-base hit in the same inning, drilling a ball toward the gap in right-center field, but center fielder Luca Caldarella ran it down, extending his glove to make the catch.

In the top of the seventh, before March announced Mize as a new pitcher for Heartwell, he quietly asked where all the Costa Mesa fans went. They were on their way home as Mize retired the side in order.

“Gary March has been around Costa Mesa [baseball],” said Morales, who remembers March from when Morales’ son, Daniel, was a kid playing baseball. “My son’s in college now [at Cairn University in Langhorne, Pa.]. My son played at [Costa Mesa] American Little League. [March] was announcing 10 years ago. He’s a great supporter of local youth. He’s a great man.”