Strong performances by a pair of sophomores were not enough for Mira Costa’s baseball team, which had its playoff run come to an end Friday with a heartbreaking 1-0 home loss to Capistrano Valley in the CIF-Southern Section Division 2 quarterfinals.
When the season began, first-year head coach Keith Ramsey faced many questions regarding his young, inexperienced Mira Costa squad but it didn’t take long to find answer to who would be his ace on the mound.
Sophomore Christian Bodlovich emerged as the Mustang’s workhorse of the pitching staff and proved his future is bright despite making one mistake against Capistrano Valley.
Bodlovich scattered five hits with six strikeouts against the visiting Cougars but, with a 3-1 count on Dane Nakatsuka in the fifth inning, threw a changeup that Nakatsuka hit over the right-field fence for his first home run of the season.
The lone run was all Capistrano Valley would need as Cougar pitcher Ryan Daugherty allowed only two Mira Costa base runners to reach scoring position while tossing a four-hitter.
Although Mira Costa batters put the ball in play striking out only once, sophomore Chase Meidroth gave Mira Costa its best opportunity to score in the first inning after hitting his first of three singles of the game.
He successfully stole second and went to third after knocking the ball loose, but a groundout, pop-up and another groundout put an end to the Mustang’s early rally.
Mira Costa (24-8) rallied again in the seventh inning, after Joey Acosta singled and pinch-runner Nick Solan took second on a Matt Beserra groundout. But a pop-up and a groundout put an end to the Mustang’s season.
Capistrano Valley (19-15) advances and hosted Palm Desert (22-7) in the semifinals on Tuesday.
Mira Costa finished a successful season that saw its team capture a share of the Bay League championship with a sweep of rival Redondo in the final week of the regular season. The team also reached the championship game in three tournaments, falling to California 1-0 in the El Segundo Tournament, losing to Huntington Beach (No. 4 in the nation) 9-4 in the Boras Classic South bracket then winning the Redondo Tournament with a 6-1 victory against Simi Valley on May 6.
“Whenever you reach a final in any tournament it’s a sign of positive things,” Ramsey said. “We are a young group of mostly sophomores and juniors with some quality seniors, so to be in three tournament championship game this year shows our future is bright.”
Mira Costa’s roster included five sophomores and 10 juniors this season.
In Division 3, two South Bay teams reached the quarterfinals but also saw their season’s come to an end on Friday.
Bay League co-champion Peninsula (23-7) lost at Righetti 7-4 and Ocean League champion El Segundo (7-7) fell to host Walnut 3-1.
