Capo Valley gets it done

ANAHEIM - Tyler Matzek looked down the third-base line at Coach Bob Zamora to get the sign.

It was a 3-0 count on Matzek. Two outs, bottom of the sixth inning in a scoreless CIF championship game.

“I think it was a ‘take’ sign,” Matzek said.

What Matzek took was a mighty swing at a fastball, a swing that drove the ball into the right-field seats just to the left of the foul pole, a swing that gave Capistrano Valley a 1-0 victory Edison in the CIF-Southern Section Division I championship game Saturday at Angel Stadium.

He thought he had been instructed to not take that swing. But Zamora, the head coach working the third-base coaching box, said he gave Matzek a hit-away sign. Matzek acknowledged he might have missed the indicator sign during Zamora’s sequence of signs.

“But I wasn’t going to take that pitch if I saw it,” Matzek said. “I knew they were going to try to pitch around me. I was looking for a fastball, and I hit it.”

Then Matzek took the mound for the seventh inning. He got the first out on an infield pop up that he fielded with a diving catch towards third base. He hit Edison’s Jimmy Madden with the next pitch, then walked Kyle Jones on four pitches and Eric Snyder on four pitches to load the bases with one out.

Capistrano Valley’s assistant coaches suggested that Zamora go confer with Matzek. Zamora declined.

“He’s a mature young man,” Zamora said. “He had a good talk with himself.”

Matzek then stuck out Chris Czerniachowski on three pitches, then struck out Josh Lesinski on four pitches to end the game and secure Capistrano Valley’s sixth CIF baseball championship.

Capistrano Valley is 6-0 in CIF finals. Zamora has been in charge for all of them, including the first CIF title in 1983.

The secret?

“Great horses,” Zamora said. “Great players. Don’t kid yourself.”

Capistrano Valley finished 26-6. Edison finished 23-6.

Both starting pitchers, Capistrano Valley’s Kevin Chambers and Edison’s Kurt Heyer, were outstanding. Chambers, like Matzek a senior left-hander, pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings in which he allowed six hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

Heyer, a senior right-hander who signed with Arizona, gave up five hits in six innings with no walks and five strikeouts to get a rare loss and finish at 11-3.

Chambers, an Oklahoma State signee, is the Cougars’ No. 2 pitcher but he would be a No. 1 on just about any other high school pitching staff in California. He took an 8-4 record and 2.60 ERA into the game.

“Kevin was amazing,” Matzek said. “He did the job we needed him to do.”

Chambers, who was also 3 for 3 at the plate, was lifted with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth.

“Kevin was doing a fantastic job and his pitch count was fine,” Zamora said. “He was starting to get the ball up just a little bit, and we had Tyler ready to go.”

The Cougars had Matzek warm up in the bullpen while they batted in the bottom of the fifth, just in case.

Matzek said his seventh-inning troubles partly came from the bullpen session. He warmed up exclusively with a full windup, but had to pitch out of the stretch for most of the seventh.

The Capo pitchers got plenty of fine defensive help, too, some of it from themselves.

Chambers picked off Snyder at second base in the third inning when the Chargers had runners on first and second with one out. Sophomore shortstop Kyle Hunt made two excellent backhand-plant-and-throw plays. On a slow roller by Madden in the fifth, Matzek scooped the ball with his glove hand and in the same motion released it to Chambers covering and Chambers out-ran Madden to first base for the out.

Edison is a young team. The Chargers had five non-seniors in the lineup, and sophomore pitcher Henry Owens was 9-1 with a 0.98 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 71 2/3 innings. Owens, a 6-foot-5 left-hander, pitched a complete game for Edison in its 2-1 victory over Mater Dei this past Tuesday in the semifinals.

Matzek got the victory to conclude his senior year with a 13-1 record and 106 strikeouts in 86 2/3 innings. His home run was his team-high eighth of 2009.

One big event down, one to come in just a couple of days for Matzek. The Major League Baseball draft is Tuesday. Matzek is projected to be selected somewhere among the first 10 picks of the first round.

He was not looking 72 hours ahead, Saturday night.

“I’m feeling on top of the world right now,” Matzek said. “This is what I’ve always wanted. It’s awesome to reach this goal.”

Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com