Nathan Wilson’s complete game against Newport Harbor keeps Fountain Valley alone in third
For the first time on Wednesday, someone other than the catcher had a talk with Nathan Wilson on the mound at Fountain Valley High. The right-hander was two outs away from shutting out Newport Harbor in a key Sunset League baseball game.
“Convince me to keep you out here,” Barons coach Deric Yanagisawa said to Wilson after the senior walked a batter for the first time.
Wilson was convincing enough for 6 1/3 innings, striking out six and scattering eight hits, all singles. Now with runners on first and second, and the Barons leading by six runs in the top of the seventh inning, Yanagisawa wanted to hear from Wilson.
“I really want it,” Wilson told Yanagisawa of getting the shutout, even though he was approaching the 100-pitch mark. “I’m going to make it happen.”
Wilson got the next hitter to foul out near the first-base line, but two pitches later, he lost the shutout.
One run scored on Max Crabbe’s single to center, and that was all. Wilson’s defense backed him up one more time in the Barons’ 6-1 win.
Shortstop Sebastian Murillo dove to his left, robbing Clay Liolios of a hit and a run batted in, and he was able to throw to second for the force out, ensuring Fountain Valley stayed alone in third place in league.
The Barons and Sailors entered the week tied for third. Fountain Valley is now 5-4 in league and it holds a two-game lead over Newport Harbor after beating the Sailors for the second day in a row.
We were able to lay off a lot of balls in the dirt and force him to elevate the off-speed pitches.
— Fountain Valley coach Deric Yanagisawa
Six games remain in league for both programs, and only the top three teams in league earn automatic berths into the CIF Southern Section playoffs. Huntington Beach is atop the league at 8-0 and Los Alamitos is second at 6-2.
Fountain Valley (14-8 overall) plays Huntington Beach (20-3), ranked No. 2 in California by CalHiSports.com, twice next week.
“The last time we played them, you know, they kind of got the better of us,” Wilson said of the Oilers, who beat the Barons 12-2 in the first meeting last month. “But I feel right now we’re playing really good ball.”
Wilson said he expects to start on the mound on April 27, in the second game against Huntington Beach, with Jackson Ouellette going next Wednesday.
Ouellette threw 4 1/3 innings in Tuesday’s 15-8 win at Newport Harbor. The Barons gave Ouellette and Wilson run support early against the Sailors. They put up six runs in the first two innings for the second time in as many days.
“Against a good pitcher like [Cameron] Mahaffy, any time that you can take advantage and score first, it’s a big thing,” Yanagisawa said of Newport Harbor’s starter, who gave up three earned runs and seven hits while striking out six in six innings. “He’s one of the better pitchers in the league. We were able to capitalize on some mistakes, but we also did a good job of hitting the baseball today.
“I thought our kids’ approach, compared to [March 20], when we faced him [for eight innings in a 2-1 loss at Newport Harbor], was a lot better today. We were able to lay off a lot of balls in the dirt and force him to elevate the off-speed pitches.”
Mistakes in the bottom of the first inning hurt the Sailors (8-13, 3-6 in league). They committed four errors, three by USC commit John Olmstead at shortstop, and the Barons took advantage.
The junior misplayed a hard-hit grounder by Sebastian Murillo and then a chopper by Cedrick Perez. With the bases loaded and no outs, Olmstead made a nice stop up the middle on Noah Amenta’s grounder, but his flip to second base went wide of the bag and the Sailors were unable to turn a double play. Two runs scored, and Fountain Valley added a third run on Cole Wentz’s sacrifice fly to center.
The Barons put together another three-run inning in the second. Conrad Villafuerte, Murillo and Perez singled in consecutive at-bats, and Amenta and Wentz joined the hitting streak. Amenta singled in a run and Wentz singled in two. Amenta and Wentz each had three RBIs, with Wentz going two for three.
The chances were there for the Sailors to get to Wilson. In the third, fourth and fifth innings, they had runners on first and second, but each time Wilson pitched out of trouble.
The second time around, Newport Harbor had two on with no outs. Mahaffy led off the fourth with a single and Brad Siegel followed with a single. But Wilson fanned Spiro Stameson, picked off Siegel at first and got Matt Weiss to pop up.
“It’s disappointing,” said Newport Harbor coach Evan Chalmers, whose team will face fifth-place Edison (9-12, 2-6) twice next week. “[Wilson] is a very good player. He keeps the ball down and his ball moves really well. He gave us fits early on [as four of our first six batters struck out], and he’s going to challenge you.”
Get more of David Carrillo Peñaloza’s work and follow him on Twitter @ByDCP
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