Coming into last week, the Mission Bay baseball team was riding high, fresh off a three-game sweep of San Diego High.
At the time, the three victories over the Cavers pushed the Bucs’ record to 17-4. Good for a tie for first place in the Eastern League standings. The team Mission Bay was tied with? The rival that is a half-mile east up Garnet Avenue: Clairemont.
Mission Bay beat the Chieftains 14-4 on April 28, the first of a three-game set.
For game two on April 29, Mission Bay coach Kenny Hood handed the ball to senior Blake Barnes. The 6-foot 1–inch tall southpaw would work six innings and allow three runs (two earned), on four hits while striking out two.
While Barnes did not generate a lot of swings and misses, he was remarkably efficient. Needing only 79 pitches to complete six innings of work. His ability to locate his fastball and get hitters to chase out of the zone with his slider allowed him to induce soft contact from Clairemont’s batters.
At the plate, it was a slow burn for the Mission Bay offense. Through six innings, the Bucs managed one run. That came in the bottom of the second when Gavin Griffiths came into score off a bunt single by Andrew Hamilton, which was thrown into left field by Clairemont starter Diego Matsumoto, tying the game at 1-1.
Mission Bay failed to score in the following four innings and fell behind 4-1 heading to the bottom of the seventh.
To start the seventh inning, Emery Semmens singled and Kaden Jones walked. After a fly-out to the left, senior Van Playman delivered a 1-1 slider back up the middle for an RBI single, making it a 4-2.
One batter later, Owen Oswald would hit a chopper down the first base line that ate up the Clairemont first-baseman and rolled into the right field corner. The error let Mission Bay tie the game at 4-4, placing Oswald 90 feet away with only one out. But the Bucs would strand Oswald at third after a double play ended the inning.
In the eighth and ninth innings, neither team produced a run. In the top of the 10th, Claremont broke through and scored five runs against reliever Kaden Jones to take a 9-4 lead.
Mission Bay was unable to muster more late-game magic.
The marathon match-up on April 29 may have had a ripple effect in the series’ final game on May 1, as Clairemont took game three 8-0.
MaxPreps ranks the 18-6 Bucs as No. 2 in CIF Div. III, meaning that if they can win their final regular-season series against Morse, they should be one of the top seeds in the playoff bracket. Mission Bay will next play on Wednesday, May 7, against Canyon Crest Academy. The Bucs play Morse on May 12, May 13, and May 15.
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