PREP BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Mira Costa Ties for 1st by Defeating South, 8-3

Two months ago, Mira Costa High School’s baseball players were in a fighting mood.

They fought themselves, their opponents and their coaches. They fought their way to eight losses in their first nine games. Then an amazing thing happened.

“A lot of our players got fed up with losing,” Mira Costa Coach Jim Beaumont said. “They realized that the coaching staff is here to help them, not fight with them. Then they learned what it takes to win a ballgame.”

Wednesday afternoon, 11 games after hitting rock bottom, Mira Costa reached .500 with an 8-3 Ocean League victory over visiting South Torrance.

The victory was the fourth in a row for the Mustangs (10-10 overall) and their ninth in the last 11. Mira Costa is tied for first place in the league with Culver City with a 7-2 record.

“To be honest, some of the ball games we lost early on was because we were flat-out lazy,” Beaumont said. “Every game, we’d see another example of a team beating us with good hustle. Now, we’re the hustling team.”

A key in the Mustangs’ resurgence has been the return of third baseman Bobby Dominguez, who missed five weeks after fracturing his wrist during an early season brawl against Rolling Hills.

“He was upset at himself for getting hurt in the first place, so Bobby was hungry to play,” Beaumont said. “When that cast came off his hand, he was ready to play.”

Dominguez continued his torrid hitting Wednesday, driving in three runs with a single and a double.

Mira Costa fell behind, 1-0, in the first inning, but hammered back with 10 hits off South starter Chris Castillon (1-4) and relief pitcher Jeff Machnij.

Mustang catcher D. J. Allen led the charge with three hits, including a double and a fifth-inning home run.

Meanwhile, Mira Costa right-hander Andy Owens was in complete command. He gave up six hits in six innings, striking out three and walking two to improve his record to 3-4.

Three of those hits came in the sixth inning, when South’s Greg Paluszek led off with a solo homer to left. Owens gave way in the seventh to reliever Jason Garner, who allowed an earned run but picked up the save by striking out Aemon Fowler with runners on first and second.

“Earlier in the year, we would have found a way to lose this ball game,” Beaumont said. “Now, we’re finding ways to win. I’m actually glad it’s happened this way. We overcame the slow start and we have improved. But it’s not over yet.”

South dropped to 6-11 overall and 3-6 in the league.

Culver City 8, North Torrance 4--The Centaurs rallied from a 4-1 deficit at North to keep pace with Mira Costa for first place in the Ocean League.

Culver City (16-4 overall, 7-2 in the league) scored six runs in the sixth inning to take a 7-4 lead. Troy Dunlap batted two for three with a double and three RBIs, Dean Davidson had two RBIs and Rick Heineman hit a solo home run.

Left-hander Mauricio Estavil came on in relief in the sixth and held North to no hits. He struck out five in two innings to earn a save.

Culver City finished with seven hits, while North had five.