RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA – Entering Friday’s game, Santa Margarita had a bit of a Servite problem.
The Eagles had defeated every Trinity League club except for the Friars.
It didn’t come easy, but Santa Margarita held off Servite for a 2-1 victory in a Trinity League game at Santa Margarita on Friday.
“Even though we didn’t have our No. 1 or No. 2 starters, we had some pitchers step up for us,” Eagles coach David Bacani said. “Even though our starter Kevin Thomsen struggled with the strike zone, he responded. I think he walked the leadoff guy three innings in a row, but he came back and made some pitches.”
Thomsen’s resiliency and clutch hitting from JJ Carr pushed the Eagles (11-8-1, 6-3) to the win, which puts them alone in second place in league.
In the third inning, Carr drove in Cole Ducote with an extra-base hit to tie the game, 1-1.
“New pitcher came in, and I saw he was just throwing fastballs up,” Carr said. “He left one up and I turned on it.”
The Eagles took the lead, 2-1, in that inning as Nick Wallace brought Carr in from third with a sacrifice fly.
The seventh inning was a bit tense for Santa Margarita despite having Griffin Canning, who struck out 13 in an eight-inning performance against Mater Dei on Monday, take over on the mound.
Matt Woinarowicz led off the inning with a single, and the Friars wound up with runners on first and second and two outs after Canning walked Justin Westbrook, who had a run-scoring single in the third.
Servite’s No. 3 hitter, Zachary Huarte, came to the plate with a chance to tie or give the Friars the lead, but Canning struck him out.
“Griffin is such a competitor, he came up to us and said, ‘Hey, if you need me today, I’ll be ready.’” Bacani said. “That one inning we really needed him, and he stepped up big time for us.”
Servite (12-8, 5-4) used three pitchers, Tyler Armour, Connor Moore and Ryan Alsworth, and all of them threw well, but the Friars couldn’t generate enough timely hits.
They stranded runners in scoring position in each of the final four innings, which was costly in a one-run game.
Next week, the Eagles play Orange Lutheran in a two-game series, which begins Tuesday. Santa Margarita has taken three of four from the Lancers over the past two seasons.
Servite’s next league game is next Friday against first-place JSerra, which beat the Friars, 1-0, on a controversial play in the seventh inning at Angel Stadium.
Contact the writer: amorales@ocregister.com
