ANGELUS LEAGUE BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Another One-Run Loss Ends Servite’s Playoff Hopes

Mike McNary can count on one hand the reasons Servite High School’s baseball team will miss the playoffs for the first time in his five years as coach.

In fact, it only takes four fingers--one for each one-run defeat the Friars suffered in their last four Angelus League games.

The latest came Friday against visiting Bishop Amat, 5-4, in a game to decide the league’s No. 3 entry into the Southern Section 5-A playoffs.

Bishop Amat is 14-8, 6-6 in league play. Servite finished 16-10, 5-7.

Servite, which was ranked as high as third in the Orange County poll, ended its season on a five-game losing streak, including a nonleague loss to St. John Bosco.

“It’s going to take a little while before we figure out what happened,” McNary said. “It was sort of like getting hit by a sledgehammer.”

When McNary took over the Servite program in 1986, the Friars hadn’t made the playoffs in seven years. But McNary guided Servite to a league championship in his first year and added another title in 1988.

Servite was on its way to another playoff appearance this season until early last week, when the Friars lost an extra-inning game against St. Paul. Since then, McNary couldn’t find a way to stop the team’s skid.

“There’s really no explanation for it,” he said. “Our pitchers were giving up one or two walks a game all year. Then in the last five games, they’ve been walking six or seven. And the clutch hits just haven’t been coming.”

Friday, Servite stranded seven runners in scoring position.

Meanwhile, Servite workhorse Cliff Mierendorf (5-4) wobbled through his roughest start of the season. He staked Bishop Amat to a 5-0 lead, giving up a two-run homer to Eric White in the first inning and a two-run single to White in the third.

The Friars rallied to pull within a run by the sixth behind the hitting of Whit Haydon, Neal Yamamoto and Blaine Patriquin, who each had two hits.

George Garcia (4-1) earned the win in relief of White, who was ejected along with Servite shortstop Eddie Crippen after a bench-clearing brawl in the fourth.

“It’s frustrating, but the effort was always there,” McNary said. “I never had to sit the kids down and chew them out for not trying. Now we’ll just try to put the pieces back together.”