Saugus Surprises Capistrano Valley With One-Hitter, 2-1

Saugus High’s Joy ride through the Southern Section 2-A playoffs was knocked slightly off track on Tuesday, but the team somehow managed to regain its momentum.

Centurions third baseman Chris Joy, who entered Tuesday’s game against Capistrano Valley with a school-record 21-game hitting streak, went hitless, but pitcher Dennis Moran did more than his share to compensate for the lack of offense.

Moran retired the first nine batters he faced and came within one out of a no-hitter. He settled for a one-hitter, leading the Centurions to a 2-1 upset over the Cougars, ranked No. 5 in the Southern Section. The second-round loss ended Capistrano Valley’s nine-game winning streak.

Saugus (18-7) will meet Norte Vista, a 7-1 winner Tuesday over University, in the quarterfinals on Friday. The championship game will be played May 31 at Dodger Stadium.

Although Moran (7-1) cruised through Capistrano Valley’s lineup, the senior right-hander said he didn’t realize he was heading for a no-hitter.

“I didn’t really think about it until the fourth inning,” he said. “Then I thought, ‘Hey, I don’t think they have any hits yet.’ ”

Leading, 2-1, with two outs in the seventh, Moran needed only to retire sophomore second baseman Chris Ashbach to preserve the no-hitter. Ashbach, however, lined a clean single to right, just out of the reach of second baseman Tom Dodson.

“In that last inning,” Moran said, “I felt a lot of pressure. I was really nervous. Once I gave up the hit, I was a little disappointed, but then I had to start thinking about the team win.”

Cougars Coach Bob Zamora was impressed with Moran’s control but wasn’t about to start comparing him to Dwight Gooden.

“I know if you asked every one of our kids, they’d tell you that he wasn’t all that tough,” he said. “I’m not bad-mouthing anyone on their team, though. He threw strikes and we didn’t hit the ball between them. That was the difference.”

Even though Capistrano Valley (19-7) was having problems with Moran, it managed to tie, 1-1, in the fifth, when Moran had difficulties finding the plate.

With one out, he walked Rob Sheehan and hit Mike Pierce with a pitch. He then balked the runners to second and third. Sheehan scored on Ashbach’s squeeze bunt.

Both Saugus runs were unearned and involved Joy, who entered the game batting .456 and needed only one hit to break the school’s career record of 79 hits.

In the second, Joy hit a hard shot that shortstop Bill Bardens mishandled. Joy moved to second on a wild pitch by Brett Snyder (7-3) and to third on a balk. Two batters later, Bryan Riley singled to left to drive in the run.

In the sixth, Joy hit another ball to short. This time, Bardens’ errant throw to first allowed Joy to reach base safely. After a single by Brett Paola, catcher Gene Northway produced the game-winning run with a single to left-center.

Moran worked his way out of a jam in the fourth to keep the Centurions in the game.

Saugus used a hidden-ball pick-off trick in the fourth to get out of a first-and-second situation with one out.

Moran stepped off the back of the rubber and faked a throw to first. First baseman Don Pedersen dove, and Tommy Adams, the runner on second, took off for third. Moran, who had the ball tucked under his arm, threw to third to easily throw out Adams.

The Centurions have so refined the play that they are no longer able to use it in their Golden League games. Everyone expects it.

Capistrano Valley didn’t.

“We’ve worked that play since 1984,” Saugus Coach Doug Worley said. “I’d say we’ve been successful 11 of 14 times. We had nothing to lose. If it didn’t work, everyone would say, ‘Ha, ha, Saugus. You’ve already gotten us on that play once. No big deal.’ ”