High School Baseball : Rees’ One-Hitter, Davis’ Homer Lift Mission Bay, 1-0

No matter how long Brent Woodall stood and stared at the left-field fence, over which Mission Bay High School’s Colin Davis had just sent a 3-2 pitch, it wouldn’t change the pitch, the score or eventually the outcome of the game.

Sean Rees pitched a one-hitter, and Davis’ home run in the fifth inning was all Mission Bay needed for a 1-0 victory at La Jolla Tuesday afternoon.

The victory moved Mission Bay into a tie with La Jolla atop the City Western League. Mission Bay can clinch the title with a victory over Kearny today at Mission Bay.

La Jolla will finish the regular season by playing host to University of San Diego High School today. Even if the two teams tie for first, Mission Bay will win the title because it defeated La Jolla twice in three league games.

With Rees throwing his curveball for strikes and the hard-throwing Woodall hitting the corners, it figured that not much scoring would be needed to win this game.

Davis, who has been struggling all season, made his .240 average seem like the .417 he hit last year when he socked an inside fastball 330 feet down the left-field line. It was Davis’ first home run of the season.

“It was kind of a shock,” Davis said. “I was thinking ‘Yeah, I finally got a hit.’ ”

Woodall allowed just three hits as the two teams traded far more barbs and insults than hits. The umpire had to warn both teams and their fans to keep their emotions under control on several occasions.

Woodall gave up the home run and a seventh-inning single to Davis and another single to Pat Betancourt in the fifth.

Rees allowed just an infield single to Brad Raulston to open the fifth inning. Raulston’s hit was a high chopper to third baseman Brian Haire, who just missed getting the runner at first. Rees struck out eight, walked one and hit a batter. Woodall struck out four and walked one.

“It came down to one pitch,” Dick Huddleston, La Jolla coach, said. “People may think that’s strange when each pitcher may throw 90 to 110 pitches a game. But it can come down to one pitch.”

Woodall is 8-2 this season, with both losses to Mission Bay. Rees improved to 10-1, with his loss to La Jolla.

“I get up for the big games,” Rees said. “I was just throwing the ball today instead of worrying about where it was going. I told them all we needed was one run. My curveball was breaking off the table.”

Rees has been working on his mechanics after several shaky starts of late.

“I was giving up 6 to 7 runs a game,” Rees said. “I think I was trying to throw too hard. I wasn’t using my body, so my curveball wasn’t breaking.”

Rees had no trouble with his curve Tuesday.

“He threw a good curveball today,” Huddleston said. “He threw it for strikes, which I hadn’t seen him do in a while. He kept us off-balance and that was the ballgame.”