Longtime friends and former teammates battle each other as rival schools meet to finish regular season
Bragging rights won’t be the only thing on the line next week when Mira Costa and Redondo play a two-game baseball series with CIF playoff implications on the line.
Redondo entered the week riding an 11-game winning streak highlighted with a dramatic win to claim the championship of the 46th annual Redondo Tournament last Saturday after sweeping Peninsula.
But if the first-place Sea Hawks falter this week in their home-and-away series with second-place Palos Verdes on Wednesday and Friday, it would create a logjam in the Bay League race.
Mira Costa began the week with an 18-7 overall record and sat in third place in league with a 4-2 record. The Mustangs split their series with Palos Verdes and Peninsula and play lowly Morningside this week. Even if Redondo wins both games against Palos Verdes, Mira Costa could claim a share of the Bay League crown (and go into the playoffs as the league’s No.1 team) with a sweep of its cross-town rival.
Redondo hosts Mira Costa Tuesday, May 12 and will travel to take on the Mustangs on Thursday, May 14. Both games a slated to start at 3:15 p.m.
“Bay League play is always tough no matter how many wins a team has coming in,” Redondo head coach Jeff Baumback said. “Every game at this point is a playoff type game and we are just focused on taking it one game at time and treat each as a must win.”
The final week of the regular season will not only pit rivals against each other, but the Mira Costa-Redondo series will feature longtime friends competing against each other while finishing their Bay League careers on the same diamond.
Between the ages of nine and 12, Mira Costa seniors Luke McCauley, Dylan Tyrer and Robert White played alongside Redondo senior Duncan McKinnon on the Manhattan Beach Bulldogs, a club team coached by Duncan’s father, Mike.
“It’s kind of funny having things come full circle with Duncan and it’s not just him, but also Jason Clebowicz, who transferred from Costa,” Tyrer said. “It’s going to be very exciting and will add some drama and fire to an already pumped-up series. But overall, we are just looking forward to playing Redondo for a shot at the league title. It’s not really about one guy, it kind of just adds to the fun.”
Ranked No. 2 in CIF Southern Section Division 3, Redondo improved its season record to 22-5 with a 5-4 victory over Millikan to win its own tournament in what is believed to be the first time in history.
After Millikan’s Spencer Steer tied the game with a seventh-inning home run, Redondo began its rally when McKinnon led off the bottom of the seventh with a double.
A sacrifice moved McKinnon to third and Millikan opted to walk the next two batters to set up a force play. But Danny Zimmerman spoiled the strategy hitting a sacrifice fly to right field to score McKinnon.
The game ended with controversy when Millikan claimed it had tagged the first-base runner, who was off the bag, to end the inning. The umpires ruled the run counted thus ending the game.
“Reaching our tournament championship game was very important. The field was very strong and it’s been a goal of ours to reach the final and win all year,” Baumback said. “It’s great preparation for the stretch run through the Bay League and the upcoming playoffs. Millikan is a very good club.”
Jason Clebowicz went 3 for 3 with a home run and is one of many Sea Hawks swinging a hot bat. Brady Dorn had two hits in the win and is batting at a .433 clip while McKinnon is hitting .396.
Cooper Gallion hurled a complete game against Millikan to improve his record at 6-1. The junior has been just as effective at the plate batting .390 while leading the team in RBI (37) and doubles (17).
Sophomore Danny Zimmerman has come into his own leading the team in home runs. He hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and had eight RBI in an 18-1 rout of Peninsula last Friday. Zimmerman also has a 4-1 as a pitcher.
Junior catcher Marco Valenzuela is batting .382 while handling the pitching staff that has always had a strong season from Jason Dicochea (5-1, 3.75 ERA).
Mira Costa won the Bay League title in 2013 and hopes to reclaim the position with a sweep of Redondo. The Mustangs are ranked No. 7 in CIF-SS Division 3. They have won 11 out of their last 13 games and have a modest four-game winning streak after dropping back-to-back league contests to Palos Verdes and Peninsula.
“Redondo is a really experienced and talented team,” Mira Costa head coach Cassidy Olson said. ”We have less experience, but if we play as a team we can beat anyone.”
A 7-2 victory over Simi Valley last Saturday kept the Mustangs undefeated in the Harvard-Westlake Tournament. Mira Costa will finish the tournament at Serra at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
Will Proctor went 2 for 3 with two RBI, Dylan Tyrer was 1 for 2 with a double and Robert White had a double and two RBI against Simi Valley.
Trevor Franklin improved his record to 9-0 scattering three hits while throwing five shutout innings. Franklin entered the week with an impressive 1.11 ERA.
Michael Rumpp provides a solid one-two punch for Mira Costa’s pitching staff amassing a 6-2 record with a 0.68 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 51.1 innings pitched.
Tyrer leads the Mustangs in RBI (19) and doubles (7) while batting .357 and Reese Alexiades has a .354 batting average with nine doubles, two home runs and 15 stolen bases.
Robert White has knocked in 18 runs while hitting .333, Rollie Nichols is batting .344 and Proctor is hitting .385 with six doubles.
Tyrer feels defense and energy will be key factors in the Mira Costa-Redondo series
“It’s going to be about which team plays a smarter, cleaner, more energetic game because we both have pitched and swung the bats pretty well all year,” Tyrer said. “It’ll probably come down to who can keep their composure during a key pitch or at-bat.
“We’re playing really solid baseball right now. We’ve gotten fantastic pitching all year long and it’s just been a matter of whether or not we can score runs to support our pitchers. We’ve significantly tightened up defensively and have gotten pretty consistent with the bats lately, so we are confident heading into the last week of league.”
