FULLERTON - In a tournament that features some of the top teams from across the country, it’s no surprise to Mater Dei coach Burt Call that a pair of Orange County teams will face each other in the finals of the Anderson Bat National Classic.
“Orange County has the best baseball in the country,” said Call, whose Monarchs will face the El Toro Chargers in the finals Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Cal-State Fullerton. “We have 10 teams in the county who are all very good and all have at least one ace pitcher.”
The Monarchs had to beat another Orange County team to advance to the Classic final. Pesky Esperanza, which entered the tournament with the worst overall record of any team in the event, proved it was more than capable of competing with the nation’s best by advancing to the semifinals against Mater Dei.
Then the Aztecs took a 5-4 lead in the top of the sixth inning with a 3-run rally and put the Monarchs six outs away from a berth in the third-place game.
That’s when Call decided to give his team a pep talk.
“We were frustrated because we weren’t executing,” Call said. “So I huddled the guys together and got them refocused on what they needed to do.”
The Monarchs got one run back in the bottom of the sixth. Seth Smith led off the inning by reaching first on an error. He moved to third on Derek Campbell’s basehit to centerfield and scored on Aaron Northcraft’s long flyball to right field.
After Matt Blanchard pitched a scoreless top of the seventh, Mater Dei scored the winning runs in the bottom of the frame. Brian Frattali led off the inning with a basehit and Stephen Lapchak followed with a perfect bunt down the first base line. After a strikeout, Kevin Francke singled to the gap between right and center field to drive home Frattali.
“Esperanza is a well-coached team and they came right at us,” Call said.
Mater Dei grabbed the early lead with a single run in the second and fourth innings and a two-run rally in the third.
Tommy Colton singled and scored on an error in the second while Northcraft and Frattali hit back-to-back doubles to score a run in the third. Colton also singled in the third to drive in Frattali.
In the fourth, Frattali singled home Campbell, who led off the inning with a basehit.
Esperanza took advantage of two walks, a hit batsman and an error to score three runs and take the lead in the sixth.
Travis Almazan singled top open the frame. After two outs, Trevor Magno and Dennis Holt both walked and Justin Viele was hit by a pitch to force home a run. Magno scored the tying run on a passed ball and Holt came home on a bobbled grounder by Jonathan Maciel. Mater Dei avoided further damage in the inning when Viele was thrown out trying to score from second on the error.
Frattali was 3-for-4 for the Monarchs while Campbell and Francke were both 2-for-4.
The Monarchs will face an El Toro team that has scored 27 runs in its past two games. El Toro bashed 12 hits in a 10-1 win over Palm Beach Central, a team that was 20-1 entering the contest.
The 10 runs were more than enough for standout infielder Nolan Arenado, who took a turn on the mound in the wake of El Toro’s lack of healthy pitchers.
“We’re short pitchers this week so we asked Nolan to give us a couple of innings and we would try to get through the game pitching by committee,” El Toro coach Mike Gonzales said. “Instead, he went all seven.”
Arenado faced just two batters over the minimum in getting the complete-game victory. He allowed just four hits and none after the second inning. He finished with eight strikeouts and just two walks. Amazingly enough, the outing was his first of the season for the Chargers.
Arenado worked quickly and efficiently, mixing a nifty curveball with a sneaky fastball that often kept the Bronco batters looking.
“He is an infielder so he likes to get things done quickly,” Gonzales said.
Arenado also didn’t like to waste time on the basepaths. After driving in a run in the fourth inning with a single, Arenado tagged up and took second base on a ball hit to centerfield. He eventually scored on Chris Manning’s grand slam opposite field home run over the right field fence.
Manning’s drive highlighted a five-run fourth inning that helped give El Toro a 7-1 lead. El Toro added three more runs in the sixth on an RBI single by Aaron Wirsch, an RBI double by Grant Andersen and a throwing error on Ryan Joyce’s ground ball.
The win raises El Toro’s record to 15-2 and gives the Chargers their 10th win in a row. El Toro faces a Mater Dei team that is also 15-2. Although both teams are based in Orange County, they rarely face each other and have not met the past five years. Both teams are seeking their first National Classic title. El Toro has never reached the championship game while Mater Dei has finished second twice.
Esperanza (5-10-1) will meet Palm Beach Central (20-2) in the third place game at El Dorado High School at 4 p.m. Thursday.
It will be an all-Notre Dame affair in the fifth place game with Notre Dame Prep of Scottsdale (Ariz.) facing Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks. Notre Dame Prep, which had lost its first game of the season on Wednesday to Mater Dei, edged Archbishop Mitty 12-11 to advance to the fifth place contest.
Meanwhile the Knights topped host El Dorado 13-10 to advance. The two teams will play Thursday at 10 a.m. at El Dorado High School. Mitty and El Dorado will play at 10 a.m. at Esperanza High School.
In the consolation bracket, Norco defeated Northview 7-4 to advance to the ninth place game. Norco got doubles from Jake Clark, Wes Hatton and Robert Castillo along with a triple by Jake Romanski.
In the other consolation semifinal, Jesuit of Carmichael played De La Salle for the right to play Norco for ninth place. No score had been reported as of Thursday morning.
West Coast woes continue to haunt Don Bosco Prep, which lost its third straight game with a 6-5 loss to Spanish Fork (Utah). The win ended a two-game losing streak for Spanish Fork, which entered the tournament with an 11-0 record.
Spanish Fork will play Mamaroneck (N.Y.), which defeated Aptos 8-3, in the 13th place game at 1 p.m. at Esperanza High School. Don Bosco Prep and Aptos play in the 15th place game at Esperanza at 2 p.m.
