UPPER DECK BASEBALL TOURNAMENT : Improved Capistrano Valley Nearly Pulls Off a Semifinal Upset

Bob Zamora, Capistrano Valley High School coach, said he often wondered how the top baseball teams in Orange County compared to some of the top teams throughout the nation. On Wednesday, Zamora got a first-hand look in the semifinals of the Upper Deck baseball tournament at UC Irvine.

Capistrano Valley played Miami Westminster Christian evenly for five innings before losing, 7-4, as Westminster Christian rallied for four runs in the final two innings. Capistrano Valley (8-7-1) committed five errors but had a 4-3 lead going into the sixth inning.

Westminster Christian (19-6) scored three runs in the sixth off losing pitcher David Guillen (0-1) to advance to tonight’s championship game at Anaheim’s Glover Stadium, but Zamora was satisfied with his team’s performance.

“We’ve played well against three very good teams in the tournament, but unfortunately we didn’t play as well defensively today as we had earlier in the week,” Zamora said. “Westminster’s coach told me afterward that we’re the best team they’ve faced in the tournament.

“That’s quite a compliment when you consider we started the year 0-4-1 and couldn’t get a hit in the South Coast League. We’d like to come back to this tournament next year, but they’ve already told us we won’t be invited back.”

Westminster Christian’s No. 9 hitter, Orlando Sosa, keyed the three-run rally in the sixth with a two-run single. Relief pitcher Ray Brana shut out Capistrano Valley in the final two innings.

Westminster Christian had 10 hits off three Capistrano Valley pitchers, including four by catcher Adrian Antonini. Capistrano Valley matched Westminster’s hit total, but five errors resulted in three unearned runs.

In the consolation round:

Esperanza 5, Houston Waltrip 0--Keith McDonald hit a three-run home run in the third inning to give Esperanza (12-4) a 5-0 lead and then earned a save by pitching two hitless innings. Joe Foss earned his first victory of the season.

Chatsworth 6, El Dorado 4--Scott Carpenter had two hits and scored twice for Chatsworth. Brian Wolf had two hits for host El Dorado (10-7).