Mustangs aim for Orange Coast crown

Everything started off nicely for the Costa Mesa High baseball team.

Three straight wins.

Now the Mustangs are going the wrong way.

Five straight losses.

Coach Jim Kiefer has an inexperienced squad in his third year. Only three starters return: Junior shortstop Mikey Molina; senior left fielder Gabe Sanchez; and senior pitcher/third baseman Andrew Millian.

The rest are relatively new to varsity. Still, Kiefer is counting on the Mustangs to compete after guiding the program to the CIF Southern Section playoffs for the first time since 2001.

“We feel with our [Orange Coast] league, with four teams, no team is returning a bunch of guys, that we can compete for a championship,” Kiefer said. “We’re going to have our ups and downs.”

The Mustangs have experienced that early on. Succeeding and failing in stretches. The same thing happened last season, when they began 4-0 and then proceeded to drop three of their next four games en route to a 15-12 record.

Costa Mesa’s streaky regular season ended with a second-place showing in the Orange Coast League, where it finished 6-6, three games behind Calvary Chapel.

The team to beat in league again appears to be Calvary Chapel, which has more numbers than the other three programs, Costa Mesa, Estancia and Laguna Beach. The Mustangs will rely on Molina, Millian and Sanchez to lead the young prospects.

Kiefer said five sophomores will see action. Starting pitcher Tyler Peterson, second baseman Brian Waldron, catcher Garrett Hirsch, outfielder Jesse Fox and pitcher Luke Boulger are all talented, Kiefer said. The Fab Five excelled on the frosh-soph team, leading it to a 19-2 record last season.

Boulger has already shown his toughness. During a 5-0 loss at Corona del Mar Friday, he took a line drive off his right pitching arm and still tried to make the play at first. Boulger stayed in the game.

“We’re excited about them moving up,” said Kiefer, who needs someone to eat up innings like Garrick Williams did last season by pitching 63 2/3 innings as a senior. “At the same time, we have some seniors who can compete.”

Seven seniors are on the team, which will play a different brand of baseball this season.

The power designated hitter John Rybarczyk provided last season by hitting nine home runs and driving in 28 runs won’t be there. He is now at Vanguard University.

The Mustangs will run more and use hit-and-run situations more often. They were successful when stealing bases last season, when they snagged 24 in 27 attempts. Sanchez led the team by going eight for nine.

Kiefer said he will let the leadoff man loose this season. Sanchez, a second-team all-league pick last season, hit .359 with 21 RBIs and three home runs.

Batting behind him is Waldron, the perfect No. 2 hitter.

“He doesn’t strike out at all,” Kiefer said.

In the No. 3 spot is Molina, one of two sophomores on last year’s Newport-Mesa Dream Team. Cleanup is Millian, who led the team with a .381 batting average, but only produced one home run.

“We just haven’t put together the whole package of pitching, defense and offense,” Kiefer said. “[We’re a] young team, just a little inexperience. Get a little tight in the beginning of the games. It’s becoming a trend.”

One that Kiefer is hoping ends soon.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].