LA COSTA CANYON HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL

U-T San Diego Wed. June 4th 

John Maffei-UT

  Ethan Abrams, it seems, has pitched every big game for the La Costa Canyon High Baseball team this season.  So it was no surprise to see his name on the lineup card Tuesday, facing top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Rancho Bernardo in the fourth round of the San Diego Section Open Division playoffs.

  As he has done so often this season, the junior right-hander delivered. Abrams allowed 11 hits in a complete game 111 pitch effort but was huge in clutch situations as No. 4-seeded LCC edged RB 3-2.

  The victory propels the Mavericks (21-11) into Saturday's 7 pm title game against second seeded Granite Hills (25-7) at USD.  RB (30-5) which needed to beat LCC twice to advance, is eliminated.

  "I pitched against Carlsbad three times in pressure games," Abrams said. "But this was the biggest game I've been in...by far."  Abrams allowed a run on three hits in the first inning, then worked out of a jam in the third with the help of an appeal play at second base when the umpires said an RB runner left early on a fly ball to center.

  RB left the bases loaded in the fourth when Abrams struck out Alex Jackson on a full-count curve ball. Jackson, who was 3-for-4, is expected to be a high first round pick in Thursday's pro baseball draft.  He concluded his prep career with 47 home runs, tied with RB alum John Drennen for first all-time in the section.

  In the bottom of the seventh, Rancho Bernardo scored one and had runners on first and second with one out. But Abrams got a liner to left and a grounder to short to end the game and knock the defending Open Division champs out of the playoffs.

  LCC scored on a solo homer by Shane Potter in the second inning. Ryan McClure's sacrafice fly scored Mickey Moniak in the third. And Scott Souter's solo homer in the top of the seventh gave the Mavericks some breathing room.

  "Everything was magnified today," said Souter. "We lost all our seniors off last year's team, so to come together as a team and go to the championship, this means so much."

  The defeat stung the RB players hard. Several were in tears after the loss. "That was two good teams out there," said Broncos coach Sam Blalock. "We hit a lot of balls hard that were caught. And we lost an appeal that I thought the umpires missed.  That took a run off the board.  There are a lot of ifs and buts in a close game, though."