LA COSTA CANYON HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL

John Maffei - San Diego Union Tribune

La Costa Canyon  1   St. Augustine  0 

  St. Augustine left-hander jack Dashwood knows the La Costa Canyon hitters better than any pitcher in the County. Heck, he played with at least nine of the Mavericks on the Encinitas National Little League 11-12 All-Star team.

  All grown up now, Dashwood was assigned Tuesday to beat his old friends.  And he came close.

  The junior gave up one run, but it was one too many as he lost a classic pitchers' duel to Julian McDonald and the Mavericks 1-0 in the fourth round of the San Diego Section Open Division Baseball Playoffs.

  The victory vaulted top seeded LCC (26-6) into the title game on Saturday at 7 p.m. against second-seeded Rancho Bernardo (25-7) at USD's Fowler Park. 

  "We knew exactly what we were in for today," said LCC's Mickey Moniak, who walked with the bases loaded in the fifth inning to force in the game's only run. "Jack's a great pitcher, and St. Augustine has a great team.  Jack's a good friend, too. I got a hit off him, but it was a jam shot. And really, I got lucky on the walk."

  Dashwood, who fell to 9-4 with a 1.27 ERA this season, walked two and struck out four.  He finished the season with seven walks and 90 strikeouts in 82 1/3 innings for the Saints (23-11). 

  On this day, McDonald was just a little bit better. The junior right-hander improved to 7-1 and lowered his ERA to 0.97.  He worked out of a first inning jam, then retired 18 hitters in a row before Dashwood singled with one out in the seventh. Nico Anderson walked with two outs to push the tying run to second, but McDonald struck out the last batter to end the game.

  "I played with Jack in Little League. I knew what kind of effort it would take to beat him," McDonald said. "This was a real dog fight against a great pitcher and a great team."