High School Baseball : Mission Bay Pitcher Sean Rees Makes Decision, Gets Decision

The pressures of recruiting were weighing heavily on Mission Bay High School pitcher Sean Rees as he prepared for a City Western League game Tuesday against La Jolla.

College coaches offering scholarships were pressing for a decision, and Rees spent most of a sleepless Monday night trying to make a choice.

By Tuesday morning he had narrowed it down to the University of California and Arizona State. Later in the day, he opted for ASU and today will sign a letter of intent with the perennially powerful Sun Devils.

The grinding process of recruiting was at last over, but it left a frazzled Rees mentally unprepared for a long afternoon against ninth-ranked La Jolla.

In the end, No. 1-rated Mission Bay prevailed, 6-2, but it wasn’t pretty.

“He did not have his best stuff,” said Dennis Pugh, Mission Bay coach. “He pitched on guts. But that’s Sean Rees.”

A senior left-hander, Rees struck out seven but walked four, hit a batter and surrendered eight hits. He never retired the first batter in an inning and constantly was behind in the count.

“I was worn out,” said Rees (7-0). “I’ve been thinking about schools and everything, and my mind just wasn’t in the game. I really let up.”

Rees and La Jolla left-hander Brent Woodall (4-1) also had to overcome some tight umpiring.

“He (the umpire) wasn’t giving the corners at all,” Rees said.

Mission Bay scored all the runs it needed in the second inning. The Buccaneers used three hits and two La Jolla errors to score three runs. Shortstop Mike McKesson and second baseman Tony Enomoto drove in one each.

The Buccaneers added another run in the fourth, but La Jolla rallied in the bottom of the inning for two runs and could have scored more were it not for an excellent defensive play.

Woodall led off the fourth with a walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on Sean Hecker’s sharp single to center.

One out later, Jorge Romero doubled to put runners on second and third. After another out, Darren Kaffka grounded a single to center. Hecker scored easily from third but Romero was thrown out at the plate when Mission Bay center fielder Brian Miranda made a strong throw and catcher Tom Lafever held his ground in a collision at the plate.

“I knew he (Romero) was going,” Miranda said. “I got a good running start and I knew as long as I didn’t short-hop the catcher I would get him.”

Mission Bay scored two more in the fifth--the second on a perfect suicide squeeze bunt by McKesson--and Rees recorded four of his strikeouts in the last three innings to keep the Bucaneers undefeated at 15-0-1.

La Jolla is 11-5 with two of the losses coming against Mission Bay.