MISSION VIEJO – Trabuco Hills’ stout pitching and defense have drawn considerably more praise than its hitters have this season.
Good work from the mound and solid fielding had the Mustangs ranked sixth in the Register’s media baseball poll this week.
But it was Trabuco Hills’ offense that saved the day Wednesday.
Robbie Biehl broke a tie with a walk-off single in the seventh inning to give the Mustangs a 4-3 victory over Capistrano Valley and sole possession of first place in the South Coast League in a game played at Trabuco Hills.
“This is just a resilient bunch,” Trabuco Hills coach Michael Burns said. “I don’t know how many hits we had today. It wasn’t a whole lot, but they seem to find a way and capitalize. … Great baseball game today.”
Cole Stanton started the seventh-inning rally by drawing a two-out walk. Scott Majors was intentionally walked to set the stage for Biehl.
“I was looking for a good pitch to hit,” Biehl said. “He started off most batters with a curveball, but he came back with a 2-1 fastball, so I decided to hammer it.”
Cameron Aufderheide kept the Cougars (10-8-1, 2-1) in check through the first five innings.
But Aufderheide struggled a bit in the sixth and walked consecutive batters. Next up was Capistrano Valley’s best hitter, Jacob Wong.
As he did in the Cougars’ previous league game against Mission Viejo, Wong came up big for his team by hitting a three-run home run that gave them a 3-2 lead.
The lead was short-lived, though. Erik Voller recorded the first display of clutch hitting for the Mustangs (13-2, 3-0) with an RBI double off Daniel Harris to tie the score in the bottom half of the inning.
Capistrano Valley’s defense had a letdown in the sixth with two errors, which allowed the tying run to reach second base and eventually score on Voller’s double.
“It’s such a fun group, such a loose group,” Burns said. “You can see it, it translates into them relaxing and playing the game.”
Matt Majors pitched a scoreless seventh inning in relief for Trabuco Hills. Aufderheide pitched well throughout. He allowed just three hits and walked one, and made just one real mistake on the pitch to Wong.
Contact the writer: amorales@ocregister.com