Mission Bay Stops USDHS’s Celebration Early

USDHS’s baseball team shocked Mira Mesa--the No. 2 team in the country in a USA Today poll--with a six-run seventh inning and a 7-2 victory Friday in the semifinals of the City Conference Tournament.

But the Dons’ celebration ended after an hour. In the afternoon final at the University of San Diego’s Cunningham Stadium, USDHS fell victim to the late-inning heroics of Mission Bay and lost, 6-5.

One would have thought the Dons would be a shoo-in to win it after they turned a 2-1 deficit into a rout against the Marauders and ace pitcher Mike Bovee, who yielded seven consecutive hits with one out in the final inning.

It looked as if the celebration might continue until sundown when the Dons opened the first inning with three hits. But they didn’t score. They led, 5-3, in the sixth. But that’s when their City Western League rivals staged their own uprising. The Buccaneers (10-3), who used 14 players, scored three runs in the sixth and one more in the seventh to win it.

Bucs Coach Dennis Pugh described his team as “battlers” and “bulldogs.” They beat Lincoln 14-0 in the semifinals and have won seven in a row.

“The kids are fighters,” Pugh said.

Back-up third baseman Ivan Espinoza, a sophomore, delivered a run-scoring triple in the sixth and an RBI-single in the seventh. Junior reliever Josh Rees (1-0) allowed one hit and blanked the Dons over the final two innings for his the victory. USDHS (9-5) got all of its runs in the fourth inning.

Freshman left-hander Danny McElmury, who relieved starter Wyatt Spencer with the bases loaded, gave up a two-run double to Doug Abts and a three-run triple to David Sanchez. But that didn’t faze Pugh, who seemed more intent upon emptying his bench than winning the game.

“I’ve got 18 kids on the team, but I believe everybody should be part of it,” he said. “Each kid has something that he does well. Like Ivan Espinoza. He’s always been a good hitter.”

“I can’t be upset with my team, we had a successful tournament,” USDHS Coach Dick Serrano said. “We have to discuss some things and hope to be ready for league.”

Serrano said his Dons had trouble with Rees, who fed them mostly breaking balls and off-speed pitches. The victory was a positive step for Rees, who is playing in the shadow of his brother Sean, a former Mission Bay pitcher who was 13-3 at Arizona State last year.

“This was a really important game for us,” Rees said. “We worked well as a team and we’ve done awesome this whole week.”