Hueneme Mistakes Pave Way for Rio Mesa Win : Prep baseball: Baserunning blunders kill two rallies in 4-2 loss.

The first time Hueneme High played Rio Mesa in baseball this season, the Vikings committed 10 errors and left Hueneme Coach Reg Welker wincing throughout a five-run loss.

The teams met again Tuesday in a Channel League game at Rio Mesa, and the Vikings were not charged with an error. They did, however, make a pair of critical baserunning mistakes that deflated two rallies in a 4-2 loss.

“We looked like Groucho and Harpo Marx out there,” Welker said.

The first error came in the fifth. Hueneme trailed, 3-1, and had runners at first and second with one out when Rio Mesa pitcher Angel Lopez (5-1) picked Marcos Grajales off second base.

In the sixth, Jim Pettit faked an attempt to tag up on Mike Ortega’s fly ball to right field, then changed his mind and was tagged out.

Aside from their baserunning blunders, the Vikings (12-6, 5-4 in league play) played flawless baseball. Pitcher Karl Whitnall (2-4) struck out eight and Hueneme outhit Rio Mesa, 7-6. But Rio Mesa (15-3, 8-1) robbed the Vikings of several other hits on defense.

Rio Mesa shortstop Dmitri Young stole consecutive hits in the fourth with a backhanded stop of Ortega’s grounder and a diving catch of Jesse Olivares’ line drive. Second baseman Eric Farias backhanded a grounder headed for center field and turned it into a forceout that ended the fifth, then snatched a line drive off the bat of Ed Montez, who was leading off the seventh.

“If any of those balls are two or three feet either way, we’re in trouble,” Rio Mesa Coach Rich Duran said.

Young and Lopez each had two hits and Mike Mitchell added a run-scoring double. Casey Bolen and Grajales each had two hits for Hueneme.