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Segerstrom’s Zack Breta waits for a pitch during Wednesday’s game. Estancia catcher is Sawyer Atkinson. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
There were lots of smiles on the faces of Segerstrom High School baseball players and coaches Wednesday after a non-league game in light of what has been a devastating six days for the program.
The Jaguars rallied from a four-run deficit to capture a 6-5 non-league victory over Estancia at Segerstrom.
The victory was the second in three wins for Segerstrom since the program was placed on probation after three CIF violations, forcing forfeits of all the Jaguars wins. Under the probation, the team, which had high post-season hopes, is not allowed to compete in the CIF playoffs this season and the head coach and principal were removed by Santa Ana Unified School District officials.
The specific nature of the violations has not been disclosed.
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
The game did count for Estancia, which has clinched a CIF playoff berth and can still win the Coast League title with two victories next week vs. Century.
Since the probation was announced last Thursday, a petition was started to re-instate the head coach Erasmo Ramirez. A protest was held on campus Monday and according to Guy Lemmon of the Ryan Lemmon Foundation, a large contingent of parents and baseball players spoke at Tuesday’s Santa Ana Unified School District board meeting expressing concerns about the probation and seeking clarity.
Lemmon said he was one of the speakers and asked that the board outline specific reasons for the CIF violations. He was told that 60 people had filled out cards to speak.
There has been no official update on the probation from the Santa Ana Unified School District since Thursday.
“Coach Ramirez is still on leave from the team,” said Fermin Leal, chief communications officer for Santa Ana Unified School District Wednesday night. “A final decision on his situation has not been made.”
Segerstrom trailed 5-1 on Wednesday but rallied for five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, then relied on the outstanding pitching of senior Joseph Mendez, who came on in relief of starter Sebastian Mejia and held Estancia (13-10) scoreless through the final four innings, striking out the side in the fifth inning and striking out two Eagles in the seventh.
“We started off pretty slow and then we threw Joseph Mendez out there and he gave us four shutout innings and our bats came alive during those four shutout innings and gave us the win,” said assistant coach Sebastian Lopez. “There were no adjustments, we were just letting guys swing it, we love their swings right now.
“These guys won’t ever give up, I know since the situation we’ve gone 2-1, in the first game we didn’t have much of a game plan, it was just thrown at us and now since we’re having our game plans going, we’re playing well. To have such a battle and to have a win come out of this battle, anyone would be excited. I would be excited too if I were still playing.”
Lopez said the team was missing a number of players who had been declared ineligible, but did not indicate a number and declined to comment about the probation.
“I don’t have any information on any of that, I’m just here to coach baseball,” he said.
Estancia jumped ahead 2-0 with two runs in the second inning. Sean Sweeney singled and Vaughn McRea doubled to put runners on second and third. Carlos Hauser and Athan Perez drove in the runs on a groundouts.
Santa Ana cut the lead to 2-1 with a run in the bottom of the second inning. Zack Bretza singled, stole second and scored on a single by Sebastian Enriquez.
In the third inning, Sawyer Atkinson led off with a triple, Nico Viramontes walked and both scored on a double by Sweeney. Atkinson drove home Perez, who was hit by a pitch, with a double in the fourth inning to extend the Eagles lead to 5-1.
But Segerstrom’s bats came alive in the bottom of the fourth inning against Estancia starter Lincoln Silva. The Jaguars parlayed five hits, two walks and a hit batter into five runs.
Issac Acosta had a big two-run double, Tito Fraser had an RBI single, Noah Lopez drove in a run with a double and Adrian Covurrubias capped the inning with a sacrifice fly. Bretza got the inning started with a walk.
“Yesterday we went to the district (board meeting) and said what we had to say and speak our minds and today we had to show it out to make sure that everybody knew what we were standing for,” said Acosta. “Everybody came out to play, I know it was a little shaky in the beginning, but everybody came and did their share and did their part. We had a big inning, that one inning and came out on top.”
Acosta said he did not speak at the board meeting.
“I was supporting my teammates, the majority of my teammates did speak and we were all around surrounding them and supporting them,” he said. “It was great to see the all teachers pull up and be there and all the families that supported us as well. The goal is to keep our passion alive and to play for the same goal, to play for one another, now we have something to play for, we’re looking forward to those games.”
Acosta and his teammates were ecstatic after the game.
“It’s a great feeling, even though we don’t have all of our players, it’s good that everyone did their part from the lower levels came to do their job. It was really fun, everyone cheering, everyone clapping. It was a great atmosphere to be around,” Acosta said.
Acosta will also remember the big double.
“I was looking forward to getting a big hit,” he said. “I was focusing that maybe he was going to throw a first pitch fastball and I was ready for it.”
Estancia Coach Nate Goellrich credited both teams.
“It was two competitive, great teams and it came down to one inning, the fourth inning, to me it’s on me,” said Goellrich. “Usually I get our relief pitchers ready sooner because they’re all out onto the field, so when they’re not coming up to hit, I get them going early so we avoid that kind of big inning. But we didn’t have an option to go to and they had made great adjustments on Lincoln the second time through the lineup, all the credit to them for making that adjustment. I got to do a better job making sure we’ve got guys ready to go.”
In the seventh inning, Atkinson doubled with one out, but Mendez retired the next two hitters.
“Lincoln battled and kept us in the ball game, unfortunately we couldn’t come through,” Goellrich said.
Goellrich praised the way Segerstrom battled back.
“I was really impressed watching their dugout and watching how they’re playing for each other,” he said. “That’s what you’ve got to do right now and Coach Erasmo is a great coach and you know it’s still going to be a great program what he has instilled in them. I wish him well, hopefully things get worked out.
“I was impressed when we scored runs a couple innings in a row, they just hung together, battled together, cheered together, they were loud in the dugout, very positive atmosphere, so all the credit to them for coming out with great attitudes and getting a W. It’s a shame, it’s a great team and would be a great playoff team, don’t know fully what’s going on but I just wish them the best. Hopefully it gets resolved for the kids, it’s a shame for the kids.’
Estancia meets league-leader Century twice next week and will need to win both games to capture the league title, Goellrich said.
“This week is all about cleaning up the little things and we will get after it next week,” he said. “Obviously, we got Savanna right behind us for third place. We have at least clinched a playoff spot, so that’s good for us. We graduated so much of our offense and 90 percent of our pitching and didn’t know what to expect this year, so couldn’t be prouder of the guys and even today, there’s obviously a lot of noise around this, we were focused on playing our game.”
Atkinson was 4 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI and two doubles and Sweeney was 2 for 3 with a run scored, two RBI and a double to lead the Eagles.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com