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Costa Mesa players found time to meet with their young fans, sign autographs and take pictures after the loss. (PHOTOS: Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone).
Entering Friday’s CIF Division 3 quarterfinal playoff baseball game, Costa Mesa and Glendora had combined to win 16 of their last 17 games, so Friday’s contest shaped up to be a thriller.
And the contest was still up for grabs until the final out as the Tartans held on to defeat Costa Mesa 2-1.
Glendora (21-10) advances to the semifinals Tuesday and will face Temecula Valley, which defeated Castaic on Friday. It’s the first time the Tartans have reached the semifinals since 2010. The Mustangs (24-7) were attempting to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2019.
Costa Mesa’s 24 wins this season is a school record.
To see additional photos, click on the first picture:
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“This team exceeded my expectations,” said Costa Mesa Coach Jim Kiefer, whose team had won nine consecutive games entering the quarterfinals. “If you told me at the beginning of the season, we would have 24 wins and reach the quarterfinals of CIF Division 3, I don’t think I would have believed you.”
The Tartans scored their only two runs of the game in the second inning. Tyler Obert reached first base on an infield error and then Jackson Glaze singled. Both runners moved up a base on a passed ball and scored on Mason Danison’s two-run RBI single that gave Glendora a 2-0 lead.
“The infield was playing in, and I got a fast ball and was able to hit it on the ground past them,” said Danison.
Costa Mesa had several excellent scoring opportunities in the second and third innings but came up short.
The Mustangs loaded the bases in the second inning with two outs, but Wylan Rottschafer flied to right to end the inning. In the third inning, Aiden Comte led off with a single and Will Clark walked but Tartans starter Tanner Grable was able to retire the next three hitters to keep the Mustangs off the scoreboard.
“Over the past few games, we’ve gotten some big clutch hits, but it didn’t happen today,” said Kiefer. “We set the table but hit the ball hard, but we didn’t get there. You must get them credit; they made some great pitches on us.”
In the fourth inning, Jack Shafer led off with a single to left. He was sacrificed to second by Zeno Piazza and then came around to score on Rottschafer’s two-out RBI single to cut the lead to 2-1.
In the sixth inning, Costa Mesa came close again to tying the score but had a runner tagged out at home for the third out of the inning. Shafer walked to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning and again was sacrificed to second by Piazza.
He took third on a wild pitch and with two outs tried to score after a pitch had gotten away, up the first base line, from Tartans catcher, Tyler Obert. Obert quickly retrieved the ball and made a diving tag on Shafer who was called out at home on a close play.
“When the ball got away from me, I jumped to grab it and when I turned around my pitcher wasn’t there, so I made a fully extended dive to tag him out,” said Obert. “I think that gave us some momentum.”
Rottschafer led off the bottom of the seventh and was awarded first base after getting hit by a pitch. He was sacrificed to second.
With one out, Clark nearly slammed a walk-off home run for the Mustangs as his deep drive to center appeared to be leaving the ballpark but Danison, Glendora’s center fielder, ran it down at the fence for the second out. Relief pitcher Santiago Garza then retired Grady Jackson to secure the win.
Despite the loss, Kiefer said he is proud of his team and its accomplishments this season.
“We set school records the last two years with 22 and 24 wins,” said Kiefer. “This is the best team in Costa Mesa history. I’m so proud of these guys.”
Rottschafer added:
“I’m sorry to see it end; we wanted to win it for the seniors. We gave it our all and it was a great run. We had the most wins in school history, and we received the highest ranking ever for the school. It was a fun season.”
Will Morales was outstanding in relief for Costa Mesa as he pitched the final three innings and yielded only one hit.
Notes:
—Glendora finished third in the Palomares League and defeated Yucaipa and Citrus Valley in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
—The Mustangs reached the quarterfinals by defeating Kaiser and San Juan Hills in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
—Costa Mesa finished the season 7-3 in one run games; Glendora is 6-4 in one run games this season.
—The Mustangs pulled off a 4-6-3 double play in the first inning and then a 6-4-3 double play in the second inning.