San Juan Hills Rallies to Beat Mission Viejo

This is how opponents become rivals. Mission Viejo missed an opportunity to move closer to securing second place in the Sea View League on Wednesday afternoon when the Diablos surrendered three runs in the seventh inning of a 6-5  defeat at San Juan Hills. The Stallions’ entire rally came with two outs and provided a signature win for a program in only its third year of existence.

Sophomore Dylan Diaz became the fifth consecutive San Juan Hills player to reach base against Mission Viejo pitcher Willie Kuhl when he sent a liner into left field, sending senior Sam Robison sprinting in from third with the winning run. Kuhl, the Diablos’ right-handed ace, was only one out away from finishing his fifth complete-game of the season before the Stallions’ stunning comeback. 

"This is huge for our team," San Juan Hills coach Jeremy Wooten said. "Willie Kuhl is a great pitcher and he did a nice job against us today, but we just never stopped competing.”

Mission Viejo (15-12, 5-4 in league) jumped to a 3-0 lead in their first meeting with the Stallions (13-12, 3-6), an April 1 home contest won by the Diablos, 7-4. Again on Wednesday, Coach Chris Ashbach’s team gained the upper-hand.

Ryan Muno, who recently returned to the field after missing most of April with a knee injury, opened the second inning by taking a Christian Stubbs fastball to his torso to earn a spot on first base. Parker Anderson followed with a double to deep left field that moved Muno to third and set the stage for Diablos third baseman Danny Poe, who scored Muno with a single to left.

Shortstop Derek Meddings brought Anderson in from third with a suicide squeeze that surprised San Juan Hills’ infield and extended Mission Viejo’s advantage to 2-0. The Stallions responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the second. Casey Przybylak led off the inning with the first of two singles on the day. The senior advanced to second after first baseman Payton Reisman was hit by a pitch, and scored when senior Kyle Murray sent a single to center, cutting the deficit to 2-1.

The score remained the same entering the fourth inning, as both pitchers began to develop their respective rhythms. Kuhl needed only 31 pitches to get through the first three innings, while Stubbs, a senior right-hander, started 21 of the total 31 batters he faced with a first-pitch strike.

Stubbs ran into some trouble in the fourth and fifth innings, a span in which the Diablos tacked on two more runs to extend their lead to 4-1. The host Stallions appeared to be losing a grip on the game, but Stubbs overcame a shaky middle portion of his start and ultimately tossed a complete-game to earn his fourth win of the season.

"Christian is a guy who always seems to bounce back," Wooten said. "He shakes off tough innings and won't come out of the game until I grab the ball out of his hand. Even if he falls behind a little bit, we know he's probably still going to give us an opportunity to win."

The Stallions' offense began to capitalize on that opportunity in the fifth inning. Murray opened with another single into center field and senior Tony Pelleriti followed with a line drive to left, giving San Juan Hills two base-runners with no outs.

Schmitz moved Murray to third base with a grounder to Diablos first baseman Mitch Holland, who retired Pelleriti at second. The Stallions then used some tactical base-running, as Murray scored on a delayed double-steal when Mission Viejo catcher Sean Miller made a failed attempt to gun down Schmitz at second.

Schmitz trimmed the Diablos’ lead to 4-3 one batter later, when he scored on an infield error.

"When you can capitalize on another team's mistakes, it's a huge momentum shifter," Wooten said.

Mission Viejo center fielder Boog Powell supplied his team with what appeared to be an insurance run in the seventh when he raked a double to the right-field warning track to score senior Austin Saenz, who had worked a walk. The run allowed Kuhl and the Diablos to return to the field with a 5-3 lead, only three outs away from gaining a pivotal league victory.

"I was confident that we'd be able to finish off the game," Ashbach said.

Kuhl calmly retired the first two batters of the inning, displaying a fastball that appeared to gain steam as the game moved on. However, after striking out Pelleriti for the second out, the floodgates gates opened.

Schmitz, who hits at the top of San Juan Hills’ batting order, blasted a hooking line drive over third base and into left field.

"As a leadoff hitter, I've always been taught to see pitches and just focus on putting the ball in play," Schmitz said. "Willie elevated a fastball, so I just went with it. Luckily it got over the third baseman's head. That brought some energy to our team and got things going at the right time."

Catcher Ryan Crowe followed with a hard-hit grounder to Diablos shortstop Derek Meddings, who couldn’t corral the ball as Crowe reached first base safely. Robison then snuck a single into the outfield past a sprawling Meddings, scoring Schmitz and cutting the deficit to 5-4.

Przybylak then lined a one-strike pitch to left field to score Crowe from second base and send Robison to third base. Suddenly, the game hung in the balance at 5-5 for Diaz.

The sophomore, who entered the game mired in a two-for-16 slump, turned on the first pitch he saw from Kuhl. Diaz drove yet another single to left field, which easily scored Robinson and sent the Stallions into a celebratory uproar.

"Dylan has gone through some struggles lately but he never put his head down," Wooten said. "He looked more comfortable at the plate today, especially after his first hit. The kid is a competitor and he came through."

Beating an established program like Mission Viejo's, especially in such a fashion, is a major step forward for Wooten’s program, which began competing at the varsity level in 2008. The Stallions have a chance to make it a very memorable week if they can win on Friday afternoon at Mission Viejo.

“We're here to show we belong and our team is up to the challenge right now,” Ashbach said. “We're excited to get back out there on Friday because this would be a major series win for our program."

Mission Viejo doesn’t have time to feel sorry for itself after the gut-wrenching loss. A team that entered the season with the highest of expectations now faces adversity as the playoffs quickly approach.

"We've got to get over it," Ashbach said. "They're high school kids, so they're resilient and they'll come out ready to go at practice tomorrow. We've got to continue battling like we have throughout the season. I guess we'll find out what we're made of on Friday."

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