Jun 26, 2008

Orioles overcome jet lag

By Julio Lara / Daily News Correspondent

After spending the week in Omaha, Neb., going 4-1 in tournament play, the San Mateo Orioles returned to California Wednesday afternoon to face the Los Altos Hawks.

It was an exhausting return that included some delays and layovers, but the Orioles made sure to bring to Mountain View High their most important piece of luggage: their bats.

A pair of three-run innings and a trio of terrific pitching performances were more than enough as the Orioles defeated the Hawks 7-2.

"This game wasn't even on our schedule," Orioles coach Mike Chanteloup said. "But we needed to work out the cobwebs."

Craig Sargent, Bobby Hurst and Richie Mirowski combined for nine innings of two-run baseball, limiting the Hawks to seven hits and no runs after the third inning.

"I think they really set the tone," Chanteloup said.

Perhaps the concern wasn't whether the Orioles' pitching would come through, but more of whether the offense was still suffering from jet lag. Whichever the case, San Mateo (14-2-1) received a lot of help from the Hawks to score their first couple of runs.

In the first, Pierson Jeremiah led off with a walk and Ryan Allgrove followed with a single to left. Timothy Quiery followed with a ground ball to first that led to a run-down between second and third that should have been the second out of the inning were it not for a Los Altos throwing error which San Mateo capitalized on to score the game's first run.

Los Altos found a way to tie things up in the second when it strung together back-to-back two-singles, placing runners on first and third. Sargent then balked home the tying run.

After stranding two runners in their half of the second, the Hawks seized the lead, again making the most of a Sargent mistake. This time, an off-balance throw to first airmailed its way into the outfield helping John Hanley cross the plate with the go-ahead run.

Things could have been worse for San Mateo, but Andrew Leary made a tough play at third look easy to get the final out of the frame.

San Mateo warmed up a bit in the third. The heart of their lineup strung together three singles, the latter a rope to right by Dominic Ferrando that scored Quiery to tie the game.

Errors plated home the next two runs for San Mateo. The first was a pickoff throw from pitcher Alex Kasinski that got away from John Austin at first, and the second was a snap throw from catcher Kamron Fariba that flew into right field and scored a hustling Ferrando from second. When the inning was over, San Mateo was up for good 4-2.

Hurst entered in relief of the sidewinding Sargent and was magnificent in his outing. He'd go all the way through the seventh inning without allowing a run, keeping his team's lead at 2 heading into the final innings.

Defensively, San Mateo made all the plays it needed to. Leary made a couple of spectacular plays at the hot corner and in the seventh, Cody Larson, Jeremiah and Craig Nelson combined for a beautiful relay, cutting off a potential Los Altos run at the plate when Kasinski connected for a big triple. Larson hit Jeremiah on the cutoff, and Jeremiah was textbook in his rope to the plate.

Needing some insurance, the Orioles turned to their bats. Five hits in the eighth turned into three more runs for San Mateo. Allgrove, Quiery and Ferrando all picked up RBIs widening the gap for the Orioles.

Mirowski came in for the eighth and ninth. Allgrove helped the cause in the eighth, turning a 4-3 double play, and Mirowski took care of the Hawks in the ninth, striking out the side but needing a 1-3 putout to end the game when Bryon Macomber reached base on a wild pitch.

"Hard works pays off," Chanteloup said. "I'm happy we hit the ball well. They weren't all falling, but we hit the ball hard."