CdM gains opener

Bryce Alderton

Sometimes the friendly rivalries are the most fierce. Several of the

coaches and players from both the Newport Harbor Baseball Association

and Corona del Mar Pony 14-year-old All-Star teams have grown up

together in organized baseball, making bragging rights for Back Bay

supremacy even more substantial.

It took five lead changes and two ties, but CdM’s Blaine Nielsen

ripped a 2-2 curveball, with two outs, inches inside the third-base

line and into left field, collecting his second single and, most

importantly, his second RBI to give CdM a 9-8 triumph in the first

game of the best-of-three Back Bay series Wednesday at Eastbluff

Park.

“These kids believe in themselves,” Vinnie St. John, a CdM coach

said. “They were confident they could hit the pitches.”

Walks to Conner Whalen and Tom Thomas began the bottom of the

seventh for CdM, trailing 8-7 after Newport scored five times in the

top of the inning. Michael Ford battled back from a two-strike count

to send a 2-2 pitch into right field, scoring Whalen and giving CdM

first and third with no outs.

That’s when Newport Manager John Houten shifted his shortstop to

third, brought the infield in and sent third baseman Bryce Stillman

to play almost even with the pitcher’s mound on the grass.

“[Bobby Manning] had bunted twice before, so I wanted to take that

option away,” Houten said.

Nathan Todd held strong on the mound, striking out two batters

sandwiched around an intentional walk to Tyler Brady, CdM’s leadoff

hitter.

“I wanted them to swing the bat to beat us,” Houten said.

After the game, Houten, a former CdM Pony Director, approached CdM

coaches and said, “In seven years I have never intentionally walked a

[batter]. Brady always puts the ball on the ground and he hit it hard

the last two times. I was not going to have him beat us.”

Newport scored five runs in the top of the seventh to erase a 7-3

deficit, using three hits and three walks in 10 batters. Zippy Levy

and Andrew Skjonsby each singled in runs while Stillman doubled in

one. Todd, Jarrett Daniel, who slammed a two-run home run over the

center-field fence to give Newport a 2-0 lead in the first, Brett

Houten, Levy and Drew Harris all scored for Newport. Daniel went 1

for 2 with a walk and scored three times and pitched two innings in

relief, striking out the side in the fifth to finish with five K’s.

Kyle LeGrand ripped a 3-2 pitch over the center-field fence -- his

second hit -- to plate three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Brady

went 2 for 4 with a walk and two runs scored while Vinnie St. John

singled, walked and scored once. Kelsey Chase went 2 for 3 with a

double and a walk while Chris Rosen plated two in the top of the

first with a single to tie the score, 2-2. Ford went 2 for 2 with a

walk and one RBI while Whalen walked three times in four at-bats.

Manning scored twice and added a sacrifice bunt. Thomas finished 1

for 3 with a run scored.

Houten went 2 for 3 with an RBI and run scored while Starnes

Arnold added a sacrifice fly in the seventh to score a run. Blake

Pinto went 1 for 3 with a run scored while Kyle Rohan walked and Troy

Seeber hit the ball sharply on the ground twice.

Nielsen went four innings on the mound in relief of LeGrand and

struck out three while allowing three runs and Harris struck out

three in his two innings. Houten relieved for two innings and fanned

two, allowing two runs.

Game 2 will be 5:30 p.m. today at the same field and if a third

game is necessary, it will be played Friday.