Birmingham Out of Order in 15-0 Loss

Understatements were the order of the day Wednesday during a game in which there was very little order for the Birmingham High baseball team.

“I was frustrated,” said Braves pitcher Alan Sedacca, a senior right-hander whose words qualified as Understatement No. 1.

“Everybody has these kind of days now and then,” he said. “But it was just a case where everybody on the team had a bad day all at one time. The team’s mind just wasn’t in the game.”

And almost right from the start, the team wasn’t, either, as Sedacca and the Braves were hounded by their own mistakes and pounded by San Fernando, 15-0, in a Mid-Valley League game at San Fernando.

“I wasn’t exactly on, but I can’t say much for my fielders, either,” Sedacca said. “It was the whole team, we just didn’t play baseball. The wheels fell off the machine. There must have been six or seven errors out there.”

Actually, Birmingham (5-3 overall, 2-2 in league play) committed four errors, but that was more than enough to help San Fernando (3-3, 3-1) end a three-game losing streak.

“This was the first game we’ve had where we had an opportunity to really jump on somebody--and we did it,” San Fernando Coach Steve Marden said for Understatement No. 2.

The Tigers, who were playing at home for the first time in seven games, mounted a full-scale assault on Sedacca, who had come in with a 4-0 record and 24 strikeouts and only 8 walks in 28 innings.

In five innings Wednesday, however, the Birmingham ace was touched for 13 runs--eight of which were earned--on 10 hits and 2 walks. Sedacca also threw a wild pitch, hit one batter and committed one of the Braves’ errors.

“We didn’t play as well as we can,” Birmingham Coach Wayne Sink said for Understatement No. 3.

While the Braves did not play well at all, several San Fernando players enjoyed strong outings.

“I was seeing the ball real well today,” said San Fernando’s Rudy Sanchez, who provided yet another understatement after hitting two triples and a double and driving in three runs.

Josh Bergara also went 3 for 4, including a grand slam that highlighted a five-run fifth inning for San Fernando, which scored in every frame except the first.

Left-hander Rudy Vargas, the beneficiary of San Fernando’s 12-hit offense, allowed just four hits and two walks in five innings.

“We just got up off our you-know-whats today,” said Vargas, who picked up his first win. “We always look for our double-digit runs on the scoreboard, so this was fun.”

And as far as San Fernando was concerned, that was no understatement.