Trabuco Hills Knocks Out No. 1 Team

Whatever plagued Trabuco Hills toward the end of the baseball regular season, looks gone now.

After dropping five of its last six games and advancing to the first round of the playoffs by virtue of a wild-card victory, the Mustangs upset top-seeded University, 11-1, in a six-inning Southern Section Division II game Friday.

The Mustangs (19-9) took an 11-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth, but the host Trojans (22-5) could score only one run in the mercy-rule defeat. Trabuco Hills will face Corona Tuesday in the second round.

The Mustangs’ Kyle Allen threw a two-hitter with eight strikeouts and two walks. He also retired 12 in a row after walking the game’s first batter.

The Mustangs gave Allen (6-2) four runs in the first inning and five more in the fourth, but the support wasn’t needed--a refreshing change for a Mustang team that had simply quit hitting over the past few weeks.

“Every time I pitch I don’t seem to get the run support,” said Allen, who had a no-hitter until Zach Sherwood’s single opened the fifth. “Leads always help a pitcher.”

The Mustangs finished with 14 hits, including two home runs and four RBIs from Sean Boatright. An RBI single by Joe Burgett began the Mustang scoring in the fifth, which was highlighted by a two-run single by Jason Mooneyham and Boatright’s first homer, a two-run shot to center.

Brian Byrne, Brad Boster, Burgett and Mooneyham each had two hits for Trabuco Hills.

“If everybody hits the ball like we did today, we’re unstoppable,” Boatright said. “Finally today everyone came through.”

Matt Gamble (9-1) took the loss for University, which posted a school-record 22 wins this season. The Trojans’ Jay Nichols was hitless, as his county-leading batting average fell to .558.