HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Mira Mesa Hot Enough to Win, 2-0

They should have called this one on account of cold--and not just because chilly winds blowing through Spring Valley were forcing players, coaches, scouts, scorekeepers and fans to bundle up.

The bats of Mira Mesa, expected to be one of the top teams in the county this year, and Mt. Miguel were chillier still.

The final number of hits was eight, five for Mira Mesa, which needed just two of them for a 2-0 victory that improved the Marauders to 4-0.

Lee McAfee was almost solely responsible for the first run. He led off the third with a single, but only after fouling off three pitches and then switching bats, as if the first one was too cold or something.

Actually, McAfee said, it was too fat. He said his unfamiliarity with the wide barrel made for an unwieldy swing, so he changed back to the bat he used in previous games: same length, just narrower.

McAfee then shot a pitch into center.

He moved to third when a pickoff throw went awry or, more accurately, down the right-field line. The throw from pitcher Chris Green bounced in the dirt and skipped past first baseman Joe Mata.

McAfee scored on the next pitch when it eluded catcher Mitch Hoffarth and traveled to the backstop for a passed ball.

It was that easy, but Mira Mesa couldn’t get anything else going again off Green, a sophomore left-hander, until the seventh. And again, the Mt. Miguel defense got it going for the Marauders.

Green walked pinch-hitter Mark Merrill on a 3-2 pitch, and the next batter, Marc Nielsen, singled down the left-field line. Left fielder Jim Rodgers let the ball get by him and roll to the fence, and Merrill scored easily from first on the error.

That was all the scoring as pitchers from both teams kept batters off balance.

Mt. Miguel nearly rallied in both the fourth and seventh. In the fourth, consecutive singles by Mata and Jim Rodgers with one out turned into nothing when Jim Hoffman struck out and Hoffarth grounded into a fielder’s choice.

The inning had started with a line drive to right-center by Green. But an apparent double turned into the first out when center fielder Jamie Escamilla made a full-stretch, diving catch just inches off the grass. The catch saved a run as Green would have scored on one of the ensuing singles.