South Coast League : Mission Viejo Comes Back to Beat Capistrano Valley

Mission Viejo High School pitcher Bob Brucato will never have major league scouts fumbling for their radar guns. His fastball is anything but overpowering and his curve is only ordinary.

But the 5-foot 10-inch junior is what coaches commonly refer to as “a gamer.” Give him the ball, show him the way to the mound and Brucato will deliver. He won his fifth straight on Friday as the No. 4 Diablos scored five runs in the sixth inning for a 6-4 win over Capistrano Valley on the Diablos’ field.

Brucato (5-0) allowed only two hits but was the victim of five Diablo errors. Capistrano Valley took advantage of Mission Viejo’s fielding mistakes, made the most of its two hits and took a 4-1 lead into the sixth inning.

But the Diablos rallied by sending 10 batters to the plate in the sixth, and leadoff batter David Hori provided the winning runs with a two-run single as Mission Viejo improved its record to 2-0 in South Coast League play, 8-1 overall.

Comebacks have become commonplace for Mission Viejo this season. Friday’s win was the Diablos’ third come-from-behind victory against a formidable opponent this season. Earlier this year, Mission Viejo rallied to score two runs in the seventh inning and then beat Fountain Valley in extra innings. The Diablos also beat Lompoc, 4-3, with three runs in the last inning.

“This wasn’t our best game defensively,” Diablo Coach Ron Drake said. “But one thing we did well was come from behind. I don’t like to get in that position, but it’s nice to see us bounce back. We could have gone into the tank the way we threw the ball around.”

Mission Viejo seemed to try to throw the game away. The Cougars opened a 1-0 lead in the third inning thanks to two throwing errors. Capistrano Valley added three runs on only two hits in the fifth and sixth innings with more errors.

Shortstop Scott Stark got the first hit off Brucato, a run-scoring double in the fifth. Center fielder Marcel Durand had a leadoff single in the sixth to account for the Cougars’ only other hit.

“We’re just not hitting,” said Bob Zamora, Capistrano Valley coach. “I had our designated hitter bunt twice today. Mentally, we’re down and we needed to win today.”

The Cougars were close to a victory but starter Ricky Jones (2-2) couldn’t hold a four-run lead in the sixth inning. The left-hander gave up a leadoff single to Brucato, then walked the bases loaded. Before Zamora could replace him, a wild pitch and a passed ball resulted in two runs.

Reliever Stark walked another batter, threw a wild pitch that scored another run and then allowed the two-run single to Hori that gave Mission Viejo the lead. The turnabout was complete as the Diablos went ahead, 6-4, and then settled down defensively to record three quick outs in the seventh to end the game.

“The great thing about Brucato is that he’s a closer,” Drake said. “He got the lead, went out there in the last inning and got them out, one-two-three.”

Capistrano Valley, which slipped to 1-2 in league play, 4-6 overall, fell victim once again to one bad inning. The Cougars executed three sacrifices, including a perfect squeeze, to get the most out of their scoring opportunities, but a pitching breakdown cost them the game.

“Ricky didn’t throw strikes in the sixth and it cost us,” Zamora said. “Then, Scott came in and threw strikes but they hit two ground balls that just barely got through the infield. It wasn’t our day.”

Hori, who started last year as a sophomore, had two singles and designated hitter Sean Campbell also singled twice to account for four of the Diablos’ six hits.

In other South Coast Conference action:

Laguna Hills 4, San Clemente 3--Sophomore right-hander Jay Christensen improved his record to 5-1 with a five-hitter at San Clemente. Laguna Hills (2-0, 10-3) scored three runs in the third inning, two on Wayne Helm’s single. Helm and Dave Stevens led the Hawks by going 2 for 3. Todd Suffridge homered for San Clemente (0-2, 0-8).

Dana Hills 8, Irvine 6--Scott Hefner hit two home runs for the second consecutive game to lead the Dolphins (2-1, 6-4) past the Vaqueros at Dana Hills.

Hefner hit a two-run home run in the first inning and a bases-empty homer in the third while teammate Dave Kirkpatrick went 3 for 3 to improve his batting average to .606. Ed Esteben pitched a complete game and struck out seven to get the win and improve his record to 3-1.

Jim Murphy went 3 for 4 with two RBIs for Irvine, and Steve Lipton and Mike Henigan each had two hits and an RBI.