CdM slips up in seventh, loses Pacific Coast League opener to Beckman

The consensus within the Pacific Coast League is that this year’s race ought to be the tightest in history, with five high school baseball teams capable of finishing on top and, thus, every game is a critical endeavor.

Corona del Mar coach John Emme hopes Friday’s league opener with visiting Beckman won’t come back to bite his team.

The Sea Kings surrendered a seventh-inning lead, then left the tying run at third back in the bottom of the inning and walked off with a 5-4 defeat.

The Patriots (5-2-1 overall), ranked No. 4 in the CIF Southern Section Division 4 poll, got timely hitting from star shortstop Matt McLain and expert work from left-hander Trevor Ernt out of the bullpen, and they brought home two runs on sacrifice flies in their final at-bat to knock off the defending league champions.

“Not much else to say. Tough one to lose,” said Emme, whose team led 4-3 after six innings. “We’re both very excellent baseball teams, so it’s back and forth all game long, and we couldn’t hold the lead. We’ve got to get that done if we want to be league champions.”

CdM (2-4) was in command much of the game.

The Sea Kings answered McLain’s homer to right to start the game with a lead-off homer of their own. Preston Hartsell blasted a shot to right-center in the bottom of the inning, then the Sea Kings pushed across three runs in the second for a 4-2 lead after Beckman had gone ahead again on Connor McGuire’s double and a throwing error by shortstop J.T. Schwartz.

The Sea Kings used a single, two hit batters and two bases on balls to put their first five batters on base in the second, pulling even on a bases-loaded walk. Then Schwartz, a UCLA signee, delivered a two-out single to right, providing the advantage they couldn’t keep.

“That is Beckman versus Corona del Mar,” Patriots coach Kevin Lavalle said. “[This kind of game is] what they expected, it’s what we expected. They didn’t play their best game, we didn’t play our best game. I told my guys Pacific Coast League games feel a little bit different from Newport Beach Elks Tournament games, and who executes in the most crucial situations is going to win the game.”

That favored the Sea Kings until the seventh. Chazz Martinez, who surrendered six hits and two earned runs in five innings, worked out of jams in the third and fourth innings, leaving three runners in scoring position. Martinez, headed to UC Santa Barbara, then gave up a run in the fifth as Sean McLain reached on an infield hit and scored on Collin Villegas’ double down the left-field line.

Tommy Wilcox came in to pitch the sixth for CdM. He promptly walked one batter and hit another, then forced Nick Dougherty to bunt into a double play before catcher Nick Rottler threw out Mylan Jones trying to steal second to end the threat.

“We weren’t very good in the sixth,” Lavalle said, “but we were very good in the seventh.”

Ricky Teel led off the last inning with a single to right, and UCLA signee Matt McCain followed with a double to center. Sean McLain’s sacrifice fly to right brought home Teel with the tying run and moved his brother to third. Alec Gomez’s sac fly to left made it 5-4.

The USC-bound Hartsell, who was two for four, singled to start CdM’s half of the seventh inning. He got to third on third baseman Gomez’s throwing error, but Ernt got Reece Berger, who went two for four, to ground into a forceout to end the game.

Ernt threw 3 2/3rd hitless innings to get the win. He struck out two and walked none.

“We played good baseball today,” Emme said. “Bottom line, they just beat us. That’s baseball. ... Not at all [happy] at 2-4. We need to start taking care of business. We’re in league now, and our goal is to win this league, and they’re one [game] up on us now.”

SCOTT FRENCH is a contributor to Times Community News. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottJFrench