Costa Mesa baseball pulls away for Halo Classic win at Angel Stadium
The Battle for the Bell returned to the major leagues on Wednesday.
If the wild, often weird spectacle wasn’t quite to the standards of the field, no matter. It’s the experience that counts.
Costa Mesa scored six times in the final two innings to run away to an 8-2 Angel Stadium victory over arch-rival Estancia.
The Mustangs (12-3) prevailed in a sloppy encounter that produced seven errors, five wild pitches, a passed ball, 11 walks, two balks — both bringing runs home. There was also a sun-drenched, would-be third-out fly ball that fueled the Mustangs’ four-run sixth-inning charge that turned a 2-2 game into a romp.
It counted for nothing but pride. This fifth meeting within the Angels’ annual “Halo Classic” series involving local high schools — just the second Bell showdown here since the pandemic — went Costa Mesa’s way for the first time, but it doesn’t count in the Orange Coast League standings. The real games come next week, Tuesday at Estancia and then Friday on the Mustangs’ field, with the league title almost certainly on the line.
Costa Mesa, ranked No. 4 in CIF Southern Section Division 6, has a one-game lead, and both have games Friday.
“Nothing’s different [next week because of this game],” said Costa Mesa senior right-hander Michael Joyce, who threw three innings of one-hit ball as Costa Mesa’s starter. “We just got to see how their offense is, how their defense is, how their pitching is.”
Estancia (12-3), ranked No. 5 in Division 4, wasn’t at its best on Wednesday.
The Eagles, who came into the game hitting .336, managed just two hits — John Uchityl’s leadoff single up the middle in the bottom of the first inning and Bennett Molica’s single to right with two out in the fourth. Seven pitchers, starting with two-time All-CIF ace Andrew Mits, conceded eight hits and five earned runs while hitting the strike zone barely more than half the time.
“We played uncharacteristically bad today,” said Estancia head coach Nate Goellrich, who has a 64-14 record since the start of the Eagles’ CIF Southern Section championship season two years ago. “Lot of mistakes. Pitching falling behind, getting into hitters’ counts. So good opportunity for us to learn and grow as a team, to get ready for next week.
“All the credit to [Costa Mesa]. They’re a good team. We gave them way too many opportunities, they took advantage of it, so we’ve got a couple of practices to get better.”
Costa Mesa struck first, in the top of the third. Omar Gonzalez singled to left-center, went to third on Grady Jackson’s single, then came home on left-hander Spencer Jackson’s balk.
The Mustangs returned the favor and more in the bottom of the inning. An intentional walk and Joyce’s throwing error on Miles Dodge’s bunt put Estancia runners at first and third. Joyce balked Andrew Coyotzi home, and Dodge scored following successive two-out, two-strike wild pitches for a 2-1 Eagles lead.
Brennan Borg singled, stole second, went to third on Wylan Rottschafer’s flyout to right and scored on Omar Gutierrez’s squeeze bunt to pull Costa Mesa even in the fifth.
It was Costa Mesa’s game from that point. After two quick outs to start the sixth inning, the Mustangs used a walk, stolen base, passed ball, Owen Dever’s pinch-hit RBI single, Will Morales’ RBI double to right, a wild pitch, another stolen base and a two-run error to take charge.
The Mustangs added two more in the seventh, loading the bases on walks ahead of Zeno Piazza’s two-run single to right.
“We stubbed our toe [in the third inning], but the key for us is not to get too emotional or too broken when something like that happens,” Costa Mesa head coach Jim Kiefer said.
The opportunity to fight back in a major-league stadium is something else.
“It’s been a dream of mine [to play here]. The Angels are my favorite team ...,” Joyce said afterward. “I’ll be able to say to my children I got a chance to play on that field.”
Rottschafer called the experience “amazing.”
“I’ve dreamed to play here as a kid, and I’ve watched all the Angels playing [while] growing up,” he said. “It was a blast.”
Win or lose, it’s special.
“It’s so nice,” said Uchityl, an All-CIF selection last year for Estancia. “Just stepping on a professional field, it’s like I’m in a dream. It’s so fun to be out here with the guys. I had a great time.”
Getting used to the surroundings — the huge stadium, the pregame introductions, the national anthem while standing at the foul lines, the rockpile in left-center field — wasn’t so difficult, even for those playing in Angel Stadium for the first time.
“Once we get here, it’s a little surreal,” Rottschafer said. “But once the game starts, it’s just another game. Once you step between the lines, it’s just a baseball game.”
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.
