MBHS BASEBALL Mission Bay High lost its final regular-season game against Clairemont 5-4 on May 17 and will not be advancing in CIF playoff action this year. The Buccaneers dropped their final five games and ended the regular season on low note at 4-8, putting them in fifth place in the Western League and notching a 12-16 overall record. Rick Frink completed his first regular season as Mission Bay’s head varsity coach after he replaced the Greg Farrar before the start of the season. “We lost some tough games this year,” said Frink. “Most of our games were by one or two runs.” The Bucs won four games by one run, but ended up losing five one-run games, which included the final three contests against Madison (losing 3-4 and 1-2) and Clairemont (4-5). Even still, Frink said he was satisfied with the performance of the pitching staff this year. “Our strength was the pitching staff, because seniors Leslie Caibling, Alejandro Zavala and Sam Elgoual stabilized the staff,” he said. Caibling, who was named to the First Team All-Western League, posted a 1.47 earned-run average (ERA) and recorded 52 strikeouts in 57 innings pitched. Elgoual (2.28 ERA in 34 innings) and Zavala (1.86 ERA in 68 innings, opponents batted .240 against him) also had solid performances on the mound this year earning them Second Team All-Western League honors. In addition to their pitching, the standout senior trio of Caibling, Elgoual and Zavala led the team on offense. Elgoual batted .419 with 34 hits and 18 runs batted in (RBI). Caibling was also dangerous at the plate, hitting .388 with 33 hits and 24 RBI. Zavala led the team in stolen bases with seven-of-seven attempts. Despite the sub-par season, Frink said he was encouraged by another trio of underclassmen: juniors Connor Vaughs (.268), Jesse Sullivan (.286) and Luis Osuna (.316), and said he expects all three will be counted on to lead the Buccaneers next year. SOFBOL Mission Bay softball ended its season on May 16 with a 5-0 loss to Del Norte in the first round of the CIF playoffs. Head Coach Jimmy Ross’ Bucs’ finished 2012 with a 3-9 league record and 8-15 overall. The Bucs performed inconsistently during the year, and when they were good, they won impressively. When they were bad, they lost decisively. Mission Bay scored 10 runs or more in five of their eight wins but gave up 10 runs or more in nine of their 15 defeats, which included a 21-1 drubbing at the hands of Madison in the regular-season finale. They were able to shut out their opponents in three of their eight wins but were also shut out by their opponents in seven of their 15 defeats. Senior Whitney Winchester led the Buccaneers in batting with a .353 average while sophomore Mice’la Ross led the squad in RBI with 14. Ross also led the team with a 2.25 ERA, which was impressive considering Mission Bay was outscored 172-94 on the season. VOLEIBOL NIÑOS Mission Bay boys’ volleyball had a rough 2012 as they opened the year with 12 consecutive losses. The high point of the season was a road victory over the Point Loma Pointers, three games to one. Bucs volleyball finished with a 1-10 league record and 1-13 overall.