Encino Crespi beats Orange Lutheran, 7-6, in Diamond Sports National Classic
By the time Encino Crespi right fielder Michael Hubbard caught a line drive in the bottom of the seventh inning with the tying run at second base, his veteran coach, Scott Muckey, had seen enough.
“I think I’m going to die young,” Muckey said.
Crespi came away with a 7-6 victory over Orange Lutheran on Wednesday in a semifinal game in the Diamond Sports National Classic at Placentia El Dorado. It was worthy of a championship game, with each team making no errors and refusing to go down without a fight.
Crespi (13-3) overcame deficits of 1-0 and 3-2, only to see a four-run lead in the bottom of the seventh slowly dissipate, at which point it came down to Hubbard catching a hard drive by Lutheran’s Blake Hugaert.
Crespi broke a 3-3 tie with four runs in the top of the seventh. The Celts took advantage of bases-loaded walks to Josh Mason and Ryan Brockett, plus a two-run single by Alex Gonzalez.
Then Lutheran (11-4) came back against Scott Heineman, closing to 7-6 on a two-out, two-run double by Dillon Bryant.
The key to victory for Crespi was its pitchers throwing strikes. Because the tournament is using wood bats, home runs have been rare. Only two had been hit in three days. That means keeping runners off the bases is crucial. Starting pitcher Madison Dang walked none in four innings. Heineman walked three over three innings. In contrast, three Lutheran pitchers had nine walks.
“They helped us out a little bit,” Muckey said. “That’s our philosophy: Go out and play the game of baseball and let them make the mistakes.”
In defeat, however, Lutheran showed that it should be a Southern Section Division I title contender. Josh Doyle, normally a reliever, pitched well for 6 1/3 innings. Chase Harrison looked comfortable with a wood bat, contributing a double and single. Cody Nulph had two doubles.
Crespi advances to Thursday’s 7 p.m. championship game at Cal State Fullerton, where it will play El Dorado, which beat Edison, 2-1. It will be the second time in three years that the Celts will try to win the tournament title.
Despite losing ace Ryon Healy last month because of a muscle strain in his forearm, the Celts keep finding pitchers. Dang and Heineman are Nos. 5 and 6 on the Celts’ staff, and a seventh pitcher, Chad Tobin, is expected to start Thursday.
They all follow the Muckey credo: Throw strikes.
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