Newport Harbor baseball pulls out win over Corona del Mar with 7th-inning rally – Orange County Register

NEWPORT BEACH — The Newport Harbor baseball team took advantage of the breaks it was afforded for a 4-3 victory over Corona del Mar in a Wave League game Friday at Newport Harbor High School.

The Sailors (9-12, 3-3) and Sea Kings (12-9, 3-3) have split their four games this season.

Jack Pinkert came home to score the winning run from the third inning on a passed ball with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The ball appeared to move away from the receiver and roll toward the backstop. The catcher then picked up the ball and threw it to the pitcher who was running from the mound to cover home plate.

But the pitcher couldn’t handle the throw and Pinkert got home safely with a head-first slide.

The Sea Kings had tied the score in the top of the seventh inning on Carter Danz’s two-out, full-count single that scored William Chiechi from the second inning.

“I’m just going to go,” Pinkert said. “With two outs, you have to be pretty aggressive because obviously we only have one more out to work with. And I just saw him walk away. Honestly, he would have been out if he had caught it.

Pinkert, the leadoff hitter, reached base on an infield single to start the inning.

Ryan Williams then singled, but a throwing error allowed Williams and PInkert to reach second and third, setting up the game-winning play two outs later.

“Jack, who is our senior captain, had had enough of seeing the last two bases loaded with no one turn into no runs,” Sailors coach Josh Lee said. “That happened to us a few times in the last couple of weeks, so I think he just saw an opportunity and was like, here we go. These coverages from catcher to pitcher are always a little tricky. Often things go wrong and we were lucky on this one.

Newport Harbor catcher Lucas Perez went 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored.

The throws from both sides were effective.

Sailors starter Dominic Viglione pitched the seventh, allowing three runs on five hits with four strikeouts and four walks.

Sea Kings starter Will Chavez allowed three runs on four hits with three strikeouts and one walk in 3 2/3 innings.

Carter Danz came on to relieve Chavez with two outs in the fourth and didn’t allow a hit in his 2 1/3 innings of work and had three strikeouts.

The four Wave League teams are 3-3 in league play with six more league matches remaining.

“It’s tough to lose to our rival like that, but I’m really proud of the way our boys competed,” Sea Kings coach Kevin McCaffrey said. “That’s what I remember. I can take tough losses as long as we compete.