Pony baseball: Singularly unlucky

Barry Faulkner

FULLERTON - Bloops, bleeders, duck snorts, flares, Texas leaguers

and dying quail. There may be, in fact, as many euphemisms for the

baseball equivalent of a cheap base hit, as glaring examples of same at

the expense of the Corona del Mar Pony 13-year-old All-Stars Sunday.

Regardless of what one called it, Garden Grove surely found the holes

in the CdM defense, to help produce a 14-3 mercyrule-shortened victory in

the first round of the District/Section Tournament at Amerige Park.

But that was not the extent of the apparent hard-luck baseball clinic

put on by CdM, which had back-to-back rallies killed by double plays in

the fourth and fifth innings and was even called for a balk when its

pitcher stumbled off the mound with the bases loaded.

Alas, CdM should be held accountable for some shaky base running (two

runners picked off, including the final out of the game, and a third

runner caught stealing third for the third out in the third), as well as

some loose leather (three errors, all of which figured in Garden Grove

scoring rallies).

But, as Manager Eddie Orozco could attest, there may not come another

day when such a multitude of breaks conspire to beat the boys.

“I can’t fault our effort,” Orozco said. “I thought we held our own

against a pretty good team. We have some dedicated players who love the

game, so they’ll keep working hard. And, the good news is, two teams can

still advance out of this tournament from the second-chance bracket. It’s

not over yet. There’s still a lot of baseball to be played.”

CdM’s uphill road, which will need to include five straight wins to

earn a trip to region tournament, begins Wednesday against Back Bay rival

Newport Harbor. The game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Amerige Park.

“We’ve played Newport Harbor twice already in pre-tournaments,” Orozco

said. “We’ve won one and they’ve won one, so there will be a lot at stake

Wednesday, including elimination.”

CdM, the designated home team Sunday, scored once in the first to tie

the game and remained close -- trailing 7-3 -- until the sixth.

That’s when Garden Grove turned four hits, four walks and two CdM

errors into seven runs to set up the 10-run mercy cushion.

When CdM was retired without scoring in the sixth, the game ended one

inning early.

After starting pitcher Shawn Mohler left the bases loaded in the

first, CdM second baseman and leadoff man Johnny Angelo sparked a rally

by being hit by a pitch. He went all the way to third on a wild pitch and

came home on a passed ball to even the score.

Mohler, who had six home runs coming in, belted a one-out double off

the base of the right-field fence and Ryan Lance reached on a

third-strike passed ball. Before Andrew Dialynis could double, however,

Grove catcher Case Jongenelen made a strong throw to pick a CdM runner

off second and a strikeout ended the frame without further damage.

CdM produced two more hits in the third inning to pull within 6-3.

Angelo once again started things with a leadoff walk. He then rambled

to third on the pitcher’s errant pickoff throw to first and came home

easily on Mikey Orozco’s RBI double to right center.

Orozco went to third on a passed ball and scored on Lance’s RBI

groundout.

After holding Garden Grove scoreless in the fourth, CdM saw its first

two hitters reach on infield errors. A sacrifice bunt attempt was turned

into a forceout at third, however, and a sharp grounder to the third

baseman resulted in the first of two 5-3 inning-ending twin killings.

Angelo added a single as he reached base in all three plate

appearances and Mohler, a lanky 6-foot-1 left-hander who will start on

the mound against Newport Harbor, finished 2 for 2.

Mike Kordich reached base in both his plate appearances, while

Jonathan Cabin and Matt Hauser also got aboard for CdM.

Garden Grove collected 13 hits, including 11 singles.