SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS : BASEBALL / DIVISION I : Capistrano Valley Gets the Key Play to Beat El Dorado

The playoffs don’t start any tougher than this: two teams ranked among the county’s top 10, two traditionally strong baseball programs and both starting two of the season’s best pitchers.

Friday’s El Dorado-Capistrano Valley game had a bit of everything, from silly errors to big-time defensive plays, from botched bunt plays to clutch hits. When it was over, Capistrano Valley was a 5-4 winner in the Southern Section Division I first round because it had one key play left.

Sam Petke’s single down the left-field line, off the glove of El Dorado third baseman Jim Cox, drove in Todd Miller to break a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the sixth. It was the first lead in the game for the Cougars (16-10)--who had fought back from 1-0, 2-1 and 4-2 deficits--and it was the only one they needed.

It made a winner of sophomore Rik Currier (8-2), who gutted out a complete game. Currier had thrown 47 of his 90 pitches by the third inning and was tagged with as many earned runs on Friday (three) as he had permitted all season, but he grew stronger as the game progressed. He gave up seven hits (only one after the third), walked three and struck out six.

“He’s been the guy who got us here,” Cougar Coach Bob Zamora said. “He’s a very mature sophomore; when he joined our summer league program this year, within two games he had everyone’s respect.”

“I tried to keep things in perspective, that this was just another game,” Currier said. “But I did feel nervous out there the first couple of innings.”

Currier was matched against the Golden Hawks’ 10-game winner Don Jamieson. But it was evident early to El Dorado Coach Steve Gullotti that his senior right-hander was not sharp. Despite taking a 4-2 lead into the third, Jamieson--who gave up five solid hits and several hard outs--was replaced by left-hander Dave Myers (who began the game at first base) after 42 pitches.

“He was laboring,” Gullotti said of Jamieson. “And in a single-elimination tournament you can’t afford to get down three, four runs.”

Myers, who took the loss, held the lead until the fourth, when the Golden Hawks’ defense helped the Cougars tie the score.

With two on and no outs, Miller laid down a bunt. Myers pounced on the attempted sacrifice, but threw poorly to third for an error, loading the bases. On the next pitch, Matt Pope missed a squeeze bunt, but John DiCorpo still scored when El Dorado catcher Craig Patterson’s throw to third sailed into left field.

Anthony Katz eventually scored the tying run on a bases-loaded walk.

“I figured this would probably be a one-run game that would come down to the team that made the least mistakes,” said Gullotti, whose team finished the year at 20-7. “We sure didn’t help ourselves. It really hurt to let them get back in the game.”

In other Division I games:

Fountain Valley 2, Trabuco Hills 0--Dan Keller, who went the distance, pitched a two-hitter with four strikeouts for No. 1 Fountain Valley (22-3). Chris Ponchak and Craig Ritter homered for the Barons, Ponchak in the second inning and Ritter in the sixth.

Huntington Beach 4, La Crescenta Crescenta Valley 1--Brandon Steele gave up only two hits and struck out four for Huntington Beach (15-12). Brad Lineberger had two hits and an RBI.

Katella 5, Torrance 1--Jason Stockstill struck out six and tripled for Katella. Geno Ramirez went two for four with a run scored for Katella (19-8).

Long Beach Millikan 3, Cypress 2--Mike Gallo singled in the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh, giving Millikan (23-2-1), the eighth-ranked team in the country, the victory. Cypress rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie the score at 2-2, in the top of the seventh on Bobby Brito’s RBI double. Brito then scored on a single by Brian Flanagan. Cypress finishes 12-14.

Marina 12, Los Angeles Loyola 0--Chad Scuncio went two for two with two RBIs, a triple and two runs scored.

Mater Dei 7, Diamond Bar 3--David Sanchez’s two-run double in the first inning gave Mater Dei its first runs. Mike Hessman hit his 12th homer of the season in the sixth inning for the Monarchs (20-5).