Eagles make plays to win at Costa Mesa

In the bottom of the seventh inning with the tying run up to bat for Costa Mesa High, Estancia senior pitcher Connor Brown appeared angry and frustrated.

He would later admit that he was a bit nervous and felt as if he was letting the moment get to him. But after a meeting on the mound, Brown got back to what he was doing the previous six innings. He delivered three straight strikes for his 10th punchout that ended the Battle for the Bell series opener in favor of the visiting Eagles, 4-1, on Friday.

Costa Mesa’s pitcher Ryan Lether was also brilliant in his effort, as the game was scoreless through six innings.

“This game is always tough,” said Brown, who allowed just four hits. “The emotions are high playing our city rivals. It was good to get that first win. We’ll try to capitalize in the next game. We know it will be tough.”

Brown also came up big in the top of the seventh after Colin Gardner singled. Brown put the ball in play, sending what appeared to be a double-play groundball toward third base. But the third baseman recorded a throwing error over the second baseman’s head. The ball went into right field where another error happened, allowing Gardner to score.

Brown reached third. Brian Rodriguez brought him in with a fly out to left field.

“We’ll take the breaks,” Estancia High Coach Nate Goellrich said. “We did a great job today being the aggressor. Putting the ball in play. We were aggressive on the mound and defensively we were just solid. The ball got away from the [Costa Mesa] right fielder. That was huge. I don’t know if it’s a choppy outfield. But, hey, we’ll take it. We’ll take the win. We needed it.”

Jake McIntyre and Jeff Alai also scored in the seventh inning. McIntyre was hit by a pitch and Alai reached on an error. They both stole a base and scored after another error after Nick Torres put the ball in play.

“Ryan Lether pitched a great game,” Costa Mesa Coach Paul Grady said of his senior, who struck out seven and allowed seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. “He’s kind of been a hard-luck pitcher. He’s pitched great for us. But we’ve had trouble scoring runs for him. We let them hang around. We should’ve been more aggressive early. If you wait around long enough something bad is going to happen.”

Costa Mesa kept battling despite the 4-0 deficit heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Omar Munoz led off the inning with a walk. David Gonzalez entered to run for him. Gonzalez stole a base and later scored on a passed ball.

Christian Large doubled and Miguel Rodriguez singled with two out to make things interesting and to apparently make Brown nervous.

“[Brown] did a great job of just throwing it right down,” said Goellrich, as he held his newborn baby daughter, Laila. “He kind of got out of the moment. He did a great job of calming down. He has to finish that game for us. He earned it. He did a great job of channeling his energy back into a positive manner. It was a heck of a game. Ryan’s a great pitcher. We knew we were in for a battle. It was a big game for league. We want to compete for that league championship. We needed to get that win today.”

Two of the three rivalry games last year were 5-4 results with each team winning in the final inning.

However, Estancia won the Paul Troxel Trophy, named for a late coach who coached baseball at both schools, that is awarded annually to the winner of the season series.

Estancia has won the Paul Troxel Trophy for the past six seasons.

Goellrich, who was an assistant at Costa Mesa for four years before moving over to Estancia, is in his fourth year with the Eagles.

“It’s always weird walking back on to this campus,” Goellrich said. “I put four years into this school. Both jobs were open [in 2011]. I made the better choice for me, teaching-wise. I always have a lot of respect for Costa Mesa and a lot of friendships that will stay … It’s a great rivalry. I love the city. The game is great for the city. Both programs are growing.”