South Coast scores two runs early and holds on to beat Century League 4-1 at showcase

Capistrano Valley was represented Saturday by (from left), top row Garrett Broussard, Nathan Manning, Nathan Benefeito, Nolan Nankervis and Eric Shumann; and bottom row, Danny Tiotuico, Coach Adam Sorgi and Lance Gardiner. (Photos Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone)

South Coast League’s senior all-stars scored two runs in the first inning to set the stage and went on to defeat the Century League team 4-1 in the Ryan Lemmon Showcase Saturday night at the Great Park Baseball Stadium.

To see the slide show, please click on the first photo

Capistrano Valley players, who led the team to the South Coast League championship and into the quarterfinal round of the CIF Division 1 playoffs, contributed to the victory.

“It was a good game, we put up two early which was nice for us to have a little cushion but I was just proud of everyone in our league.” said Capo Valley Coach Adam Sorgi, who led the South Coast League team. “They’re such great kids and I had the support of all the other coaches here today. It was a great opportunity and great baseball.

“We will miss all these seniors but it was a great way for them to end out. It’s always a great honor to be in this game and I’m glad our guys got a chance to be take part in it.”

The Century League, trailing by three runs, brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh but Lance Gardiner of Capo Valley, who came on to pitch to start the inning, got Kyle Morrell of El Dorado to ground out to end the game.

“It was fun, I’ve known a lot of these kids since when I was really little so it was kind of cool being on their team for the first time in four years,” Gardiner said. “It was a ton of fun, these are all good kids and all good ball players.”

Gardiner helped the South Coast League get off to a fast start when he opened the game with a double, swinging for the first pitch. Then Zach Waters of Dana Hills drove him in with a single and Waters later scored on a ground out by Nathan Benefeito of Capo Valley, who was credited with an RBI.

“I’ve kind of had an on-going joke with my coach this year of swinging at the first pitch because I’ve batted lead-off and he hated it, so I told him I would go up there and do it, so I put a good swing on the ball. It was fun,” said Gardiner, who plans to play baseball at Saddleback College next year.

The Century League cut the lead to one run with a run in the third inning. Brock Denbo of Brea Olinda was hit by a pitch and went to second on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI double by Ryon Padayao of Foothill.

The South Coast League added some insurance in the sixth inning. Benefeito walked and Luke Spillane from Mission Viejo homered over the left field fence to give the South Coast League a 4-1 lead. It was the first home run in the three games of the showcase.

“It was a curveball, a 1-1 (count), I just kind of hung in there and stayed through it and put a good swing on it and it felt good,” said Spillane, who will play at UC Irvine next year. “It was a lot of fun, playing against these guys all year and competing and being on the same team with them for once was a blast.”

The Century League pitchers included Matt Williams (Yorba Linda), Gavin Lizik (Esperanza), Brock Razook (Canyon), Justin Roberto (Villa Park) and Noah Hirose (Brea).

Besides Gardiner, the South Coast League used Nick Pinto (Tesoro), Cole Danaher (El Toro), Nolan Nankervis (Capo Valley), Chase Hill (Dana Hills), Jeffrey Rinehart (Mission Viejo), Eric Schumann (Capo Valley).

There were a number of outstanding defensive plays, including one by Gardiner in the third inning he took away at least a double with a great catch in left field.

The Century League included players from the Crestview and North Hills Leagues.

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com