ORANGE COUNTY PREP BASEBALL : South Coast League : Double Plays Save the Day as Capistrano Valley Beats Mission Viejo, 5-4

To err is human, as the Capistrano Valley High School baseball team discovered Wednesday, but to atone for your mistakes with four double plays is divine.

Despite the four errors the Cougars committed in their South Coast League game against Mission Viejo, it was still their defense that was largely responsible for their 5-4 victory on the Diablos’ field.

Four double plays--three turned by shortstop Bill Bardens--prevented at least four runs as the Cougars, ranked No. 1 in this week’s Southern Section 2-A poll, held off the second-ranked Diablos.

Capistrano Valley right-hander Brett Snyder (4-0) went the distance on a seven-hitter and struck out seven. He also came up with one of the biggest defensive plays of the game in the sixth.

With the Cougars clinging to a 5-4 lead, Jeff Hawkins led off the sixth with an infield single. Eric Ekdahl attempted to sacrifice pinch-runner Brett Varner to second, but he popped up a bunt toward the first-base side of the mound.

Snyder made a diving catch before the ball hit the ground and got up in time to double Varner off first. Dwayne Lee then tripled to center field--a hit that easily would have scored Varner from first--before Snyder got Phil Houston to pop out to shortstop to end the inning.

Capistrano Valley (4-0, 9-1) had snapped a 4-4 tie in the sixth when Brian Walker tripled to left-center and David Rawson singled to left. Snyder escaped the sixth inning and then struck out two of three batters in the seventh to end it.

The Cougars took a 2-0 lead in the first when Tommy Adams walked, moved to third on Bardens’ single and scored on a wild pitch. Bardens later scored on a balk by Houston, the Diablo starter.

The Diablos (2-2, 7-2) loaded the bases in the second, but Troy Kopp bounced into a 4-6-3 double play, scoring one run, and Hawkins struck out to end the inning. On the double play, Bardens fielded a high throw from second baseman Chris Ashbach and relayed to first in time to catch Kopp.

Capistrano Valley took a 3-1 lead in the third on Ashbach’s sacrifice fly, but Mission Viejo came back with a run on Jack Bailey’s RBI single and had runners on first and third with one out. But Tony Arnone bounced a grounder up the middle to Bardens, who fielded the ball, touched second and threw to first for the inning-ending double play.

This pattern continued in the fourth inning as Charles Lockard singled and scored on an error for Capistrano Valley, and Mission Viejo loaded the bases on a walk and two errors. But the Diablos managed only one run after Hawkins grounded into a 4-6-3 double play and Ekdahl struck out.

In other South Coast League action:

Dana Hills 6, El Toro 2--Sean Barrett hit a two-run home run and Chris Delfs and Greg Erickson each went 3 for 3 to lead the Dolphins (2-2, 6-5) to the victory over the Chargers (1-3, 7-4) at Dana Hills. J.B. Hollis (2-2) went the distance, striking out six and walking none, to earn the win.

Irvine 10, San Clemente 3--The Vaqueros scored eight runs in the sixth to defeat the Tritons at Irvine. Nick Nikolenko’s two-run double gave Irvine (3-1, 5-5) a 4-3 lead in the sixth, and Jeff Walters had a single, triple and two RBIs in the inning. Paul Bernard had a two-run homer and Mark Broccardo added two hits for the Tritons (0-4, 1-8).