Prep Baseball : Frankel, Pena Pitch Mater Dei to Newport-Mesa Title

Brian Frankel and Tony Pena combined to pitch a two-hitter Saturday as Mater Dei High School scored a 4-1 victory over Tustin in the championship game of the Newport-Mesa baseball tournament at Tustin.

Frankel (1-1) allowed one hit through the first four innings. He was leading, 2-1, in the fifth when he was replaced by Tony Pena with two on and one out.

Pena, who pitched the day before, retired all eight batters he faced--four on strikeouts--to pick up the save.

“We didn’t want to use him (Pena) that much because he pitched the day before,” said Mater Dei Coach Bob Ickes. “But everything worked out fine because he had to throw only 25 pitches today.”

Mater Dei (4-1) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. After Greg Carl walked and stole second, Tiller starter Erik Grove (1-1) hit Jason Gill with a pitch. Carl advanced to third on Rob Ickes’ fly-ball out and scored on a wild pitch.

After Tustin (3-1) tied it, 1-1, on Shawn Green’s two-out, run-scoring single in the third, Carl led off the bottom of the inning with a bunt single. Gill flied out and Ickes popped up before Jeff Ciccarella sent Carl to second with his single to center.

Lionel Hastings then hit a sharp ground ball to Tiller shortstop Erik Lagafuaina, who threw the ball over first baseman Pete Gerlach and Carl scored.

Mater Dei closed out the scoring in the fifth inning on Jim Bertzold’s bases-loaded infield single and a run-scoring wild pitch by reliever Monte Jones. In the third-place game:

Foothill 6, Mission Viejo 3--Todd Delonce had two hits and Eric Garcia had a hit and two RBIs for Foothill (3-1) at Tustin High School. Tom Hawkins (1-0) pitched the first 4 2/3 innings for the victory. Lance Sabella had two hits for Mission Viejo (2-2).

In the consolation championship:

Capistrano Valley 7, Costa Mesa 5--Doug Bame tripled with the bases loaded in the sixth to give Capistrano Valley (4-2) a 7-5 lead. Mike Lavin had two doubles, a triple and scored three runs for Capistrano Valley at Foothill High School.

In other consolation games:

El Modena 6, Corona del Mar 0--Marcus Esposito (2-1) pitched a one-hitter, with 13 strikeouts, for the Vanguards (3-2) at Mater Dei High School. Esposito also hit a two-run homer.

Esperanza 11, Santa Ana 10--Matt Wilson hit a two-run home run in the sixth for visiting Esperanza (5-1) to give the Aztecs a 10-7 lead. Rob Aldrich had three hits and scored a run for Esperanza.

In the El Segundo Tournament:

Long Beach Wilson 7, Brea-Olinda 6--Host Wilson rallied for two runs in the seventh. In nonleague play:

La Quinta 13-11, Newport Harbor 1-1--James Johnson hit a home run, scored three runs and had three RBIs for host La Quinta (3-2) in the first game. Joe Russo and Jason Parsons had three hits and four RBIs each for La Quinta in the second game.

Liberty Christian 26-17, Temple Christian 1-0--Chris Buckels hit a grand slam for host Liberty Christian (3-0) in the first game. Buckels had three hits and six RBIs. Mark Baltodano had four hits and four RBIs, Don Deaton had three hits and four RBIs and Brian James had three hits and two RBIs for Liberty Christian. In the second game, John Van Dyke, Baltodano, James, and Buckels all had home runs.

La Habra 3-3, Valencia 2-7--David Karraba singled and scored on a triple by David Stevens in the seventh inning of the first game for host La Habra (3-2). In the second game, Rudy Lopez had two hits and two RBIs for Valencia (3-2).