HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP : Overthrow Gives Mira Mesa Victory in 9th

How cruel.

After throwing more than 160 pitches, Point Loma left-hander Kevin Robell turned into a fielder, which subsequently turned around the game.

In an Eastern League opener that might well have set the tone for the rest of league play, third-ranked Mira Mesa escaped with a 2-1 nine-inning victory over visiting Point Loma.

Escaped would be Mira Mesa’s description. The Pointers thought the game was stolen from under them.

The game turned in the bottom of the ninth. Robell, the starter, appeared tired at times but was still effective--he retired Mira Mesa in order in the seventh and eighth.

He started the ninth by including the first two batters to fly out, but yielded a walk to Carl Goins, then intentionally walked Brendan Hause.

That’s when the wall crumbled. In a routine throw to check Hause at first, Robell overthrew the base. The ball went out of play, and umpires awarded Tim Fay, the pinch-runner for Goins, two bases. He scored the winning run.

“Kevin pitched real well. He deserved a better fate than that,” Point Loma Coach John Gunther said. “He and the first baseman had the play on. He was on one leg when he threw it.”

The runner was awarded two bases because umpires ruled that Robell, by stepping off the pitching rubber before he threw to first, was a fielder. Umpires ruled that when a ball is thrown out of play in that circumstance, runners advance two bases.

“He stepped off, that’s the way we saw it,” Marauder Coach Mike Prosser said. “It was a real good game. To lose it on something like that is tough. But I think that’s the way this league will go.”

Hause and Jason Payne combined for a three-hitter for Mira Mesa. Robell allowed five hits.

And once again, Hause became Mira Mesa’s reluctant hero. Hause entered the game in the fifth inning, with two outs and the bases loaded. The Pointers had just scored on a walk.

Hause induced a fly ball to center. He proceeded to strike out seven of the next 13 batters he faced, allowed one hit and walked one.

“The kid never ceases to amaze me,” Prosser said of his four-year starter. “When he’s on the field, and even in practice, he has tremendous focus. All he thinks about is his job, and what he has to do to win. I don’t know what I’m going to do without him.”

He’s not gone yet. Hause scored Mira Mesa’s tying run in the fifth. He walked, stole second, got to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Coleman Mullin’s RBI single deep in the gap.

In spite of the loss, Gunther still found favor in his team (6-7).

“I’m very encouraged,” he said. “There are always things to work on, but I couldn’t be happier with my players. We’ve been playing pretty well lately.”