Gardea’s Homer Lifts Mater Dei to 6-5 Win

The Servite High School baseball team lived by the home run, and eventually died by the home run at Mater Dei High School Thursday afternoon.

Wednesday’s rain postponed the battle for first place in the Angelus League. Then Thursday’s 25-mile-an hour winds transformed the rescheduled game into a homer festival, which the Monarchs won, 6-5, on Tony Gardea’s two-run shot over the left-field fence in the sixth inning.

Even George Burns could have poked one out with the help of Thursday’s more serious gusts. In fact, Monarch Coach Bob Ickes said the game total of four homers was the greatest in any game during his 11 years at Mater Dei. The previous record for homers in a game at Mater Dei was three, set in 1979.

Wind or calm, Gardea’s game-winner was clearly legitimate. For the fans not sufficiently farsighted to see its actual bounce, the reaction of Friar left fielder Mark Rubel provided another sort of measurement. He stood near the fence, his glove hanging helplessly and his back to the infield for a long, glum moment.

The Friars did come to bat once more, but they could not summon a hit off Monarch reliever Jon Hulshof (5-0) in the top of the seventh inning. Hulshof gave an ample demonstration of the reasons he is considered Mater Dei’s top pitcher. Through his 4 innings of relief, he gave up three hits and a walk, while striking out seven and allowing no runs.

The victory leaves defending champion Mater Dei in the position it prefers--alone in first place, the last undefeated team in the league and the county at 4-0 (8-0). Servite dropped to second place in league with a 3-1 (6-4) record.

The Friars, who finished a half game out of third place last season and who have not been mentioned in this year’s Orange County Sportswriters’ Assn. poll, dominated the early innings against the county’s top-ranked team Thursday.

Servite’s Jay Speidel opened the game with a single to left field against Monarch pitcher Steve Watson, who was starting for the first time after a week’s absence due to an arm injury. With one out, Friar first baseman Chris Ulmer set the trend for the rest of the game by hitting a two-run homer over the left-field fence.

Mater Dei immediately tied the game, 2-2. Bobby DeJardin singled, Chris Gill reached base on Friar shortstop Dave Houk’s fielding error and Gardea got on with a fielder’s choice. The Monarchs’ cleanup hitter, Anthony Follico, who came into the game hitting .500, then hit a single to right, scoring Gill and Gardea.

But the Friars would not be beaten back, even by a worthy rival that boasts a .352 team batting average. Servite’s designated hitter, Everett Musselman, drew a walk to lead off the second inning, and was promptly driven in by homer No. 2, another two-run job by Tim Rosenkranz. The Friars led, 4-2.

Servite picked up its final run in the third when Ulmer walked, took second on a passed ball, moved to third on Eric Buechele’s single and scored when Monarch third baseman Gardea bobbled a grounder by Musselman. But after Hulshof took the mound with two out, things got much quieter.

Servite’s 5-2 advantage remained formidable only as long as its starting pitcher’s arm held out. Starter Jeff Larson (3-1) withstood the threat of the Monarchs’ capable bats until the fourth inning, when his control showed signs of deserting him and his pitches started tasting the dirt.

It looked like the right time to call for reinforcements, but nobody stirred in the Friar bullpen.

The trouble was, as Friar Coach Tom Walbrun pointed out afterward, the person best suited to the challenge was far away, facing tests of a different sort. Regular reliever Jim Sanford missed the game to take a preparatory class for the Scholastic Aptitude Test, and Walbrun was saving his only other starter for Saturday’s Bishop Amat game.

So Larson continued to throw gamely, but the sharks began circling the mound as early as the fourth inning.

The first nick came when Mater Dei’s Mike Kelly hit a grounder to Doug Beuerlein at third base, and Beuerlein’s throw pulled Ulmer off the bag at first. With two out, John Dworzak got on the bandwagon with a two-run homer, moving the Monarchs to within a run at 5-4.

Gardea’s homer put the Monarchs ahead. The game ended as Rubel, the closest witness to the terminal blow in left field, returned to the plate to become Hulshof’s last strikeout victim.