Little Plays Loom Large as Mustangs Win Title

Trabuco Hills made the little plays on offense and Mike Collins gave the Mustangs a big lift on the mound as they defeated Vista, 4-1, in the championship game of the Big West Invitational Thursday at Windrow Park.

Collins, the tournament MVP, did not give up an earned run in the final, giving up six hits with four strikeouts and three walks, one of which was intentional. Collins was toughest when Vista put runners on, stranding nine.

After Vista put two on in the seventh with a walk and a line-drive double by all-tournament selection Shaun Boyd, Collins got No. 3 hitter Wes Littleton to pop out to short to end the game.

“Maybe he got a little tired at the end,” Trabuco Hills Coach Tim Ellis said of his senior right-hander, who threw 109 pitches. “But he battled, and they have some guys who can really swing it. Mike gave us two great games in this tournament.”

Collins started the Mustangs off right in the tournament, giving up only one hit in a 6-2 victory over Tucson Catalina Foothills in the first round.

Trabuco Hills (16-4), the sixth-ranked team in Orange County, gave Collins an early lead Thursday, scoring once in the top of the first and twice in the second.

Ryan Brizandine, who had two hits and a run batted in, led off the game with a single to right, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Brad Boster, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a one-out grounder to short that Littleton threw in the dirt.

The Mustangs got some more breathing room in the third, which started with a one-out walk to catcher Steve Sirbu, who then stole second. Then Jason Mooneyham grounded an opposite-field double just inside the third-base line to score Sirbu for a 2-0 lead.

Mooneyham scored two batters later on Brizandine’s ground-ball single to right.

“Maybe we were underrated early,” Brizandine said. “But the pitchers have been doing good and the hitters are clutching up.”

Trabuco Hills extended the lead to 4-0 in the fourth, using a walk, error, Mooneyham’s sacrifice bunt and Mike Thompson’s sacrifice fly to score Sean Boatright.

Vista got its run in the fourth, but only after an aggressive play by the Trabuco Hills defense. With runners on first and second and one out, Vista’s Junior Miller grounded one to short, and Trabuco Hills’ Brian Byrne, an all-tournament selection, took the feed from Thompson.

But Vista’s David Hall barreled into Byrne, who tried to complete the double play but threw the ball over Mooneyham’s head at first and Sean Richardson scored.

In another Big West Tournament game:

No. 4 University 12, No. 7 Irvine 11--Kevin Conlin’s three-run double in the fourth gave the Trojans a 12-9 lead, and they held on to win the consolation championship.