Munoz makes most of his moment for Mustangs

ANAHEIM ? In the middle of a rain-drenched Saturday, the Costa Mesa High baseball team not only managed to get its last game of the Newport Elks Tournament in against Magnolia, it took advantage of the few moments of dryness the afternoon had to offer.

The Mustangs scored three first-inning runs that held up behind senior Alex Munoz’s solid performance on the mound in a 3-0 victory at Magnolia High. The game was called in the top of the fifth inning when a light rain turned heavy.

Because the game went the required four innings for an official game, it goes down in the books as a victory for the young Mustangs, their second of the year in five games.

“I’m glad we could get it in. We’re fortunate the rain stayed away as long as it did, long enough for us to get four innings in,” Costa Mesa Coach Jim Kiefer said. “I’d hate to play as well as we did and have it not count.”

Munoz solidified his spot in the starting rotation by holding the Sentinels to three hits and one walk in four innings. Kiefer said Munoz struggled with his command in a scrimmage game before having a positive outing in relief earlier in the week. Saturday’s performance landed Munoz another start in one of Costa Mesa’s three games next week.

“It was a positive step forward for him,” Kiefer said. “He built on the solid relief appearance. He did a good job of getting ahead in the count.”

Munoz was aided by a Costa Mesa defense that didn’t make any errors. Garrick Williams made a running catch on a long drive to left field by Magnolia’s Ruben Garibay in the bottom of the second inning. Senior third baseman Alex Dominguez and freshman shortstop Mike Molina made solid plays on hard ground balls in the first inning.

“The biggest thing for us was playing good defense,” Kiefer said. “We made a couple of good plays in the outfield and played catch in the infield. We made the plays we should make.”

Munoz gave up a walk and a single in the bottom of the third inning, but got out of the jam by striking out No. 3 hitter Jose Lamas.

After a brief rain delay, Munoz came out in the fourth inning and allowed a runner to reach third after a single and a fielder’s choice. But Munoz got Andrew Garcia looking for the third out.

In the top of the first inning, Molina led off with a walk and sophomore Andrew Millian singled. Catcher Matt Pisarski singled home Molina, then scored himself, along with Millian, when Munoz came up with two outs and one-hopped the left-field wall for a two-run double.

Costa Mesa snapped a two-game winning streak for Magnolia (2-3).

The Mustangs (2-3) play three nonleague games next week, starting with Los Amigos at home on Tuesday. Costa Mesa plays host to Bolsa Grande on Thursday before playing at Beckman on Friday.