Baseball Video: Mission Viejo Wins Semifinals

Mission Viejo has officially lived up to the preseason hype. The Diablos defeated Santa Barbara for the second time this season, taking care of the visiting Dons, 11-7, in Tuesday’s CIF Southern Section Division 2 semifinal.

A championship clash with Etiwanda (18-11) under the bright lights of Dodger Stadium awaits the Diablos (22-13) on Thursday night at 7:30. Mission Viejo brought the bats out in its first semifinal appearance since 2002, collecting 16 hits against fourth-seeded Santa Barbara.

The Diablos dealt the Dons an 11-4 defeat on April 4 in the Anaheim Lions Tournament thanks to potent hitting throughout the lineup. The recipe worked again on Tuesday, when each member of Mission Viejo’s batting order managed at least one hit.

“We really hit the ball one through nine,” Diablos first baseman Ryan Muno said. “We put the ball in play and that’s a big thing.”

Mission Viejo batters struck out only once against Santa Barbara pitching, using an aggressive game plan to pile on the runs. Diablos coach Chris Ashbach incorporated suicide squeeze bunts on two separate occasions to score runners from third base. 

“We wanted to stay aggressive,” Ashbach said. “I didn’t want to do anything different than I normally do because it was a semifinal game. We’re just going to stick with the same offensive plan that we always do.”

After surrendering a run to Santa Barbara in the top of the first inning, Mission Viejo quickly grabbed a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first when Muno sent an RBI single into right field.

The Dons chipped away against Diablos starting pitcher Dallas Draviczki, tying the score at two with four hits in the second inning. Santa Barbara shortstop Lucas Benenati slapped a two-out RBI single into left field to score first baseman Pepe Gil and put the Dons ahead 3-2.

Santa Barbara’s last lead of the game would be short-lived.

The Diablos erupted with an offensive explosion in the bottom of the third, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring five runs to take command of the contest. Designated hitter Jake Kuluris clobbered a two-run home run to key an impressive offensive attack that chased Dons starting pitcher Kees t’Sas and gave Mission Viejo a 7-3 lead after three innings.

“It was a curveball that was kind of just sitting there, so I just took a hack,” Kuluris said.

Kuluris rarely starts against right-handed pitchers like t’Sas, but Ashbach went with a gut instinct and inserted the senior in his lineup.

"I normally start [Kuluris] against left-handers but I just kind of had a feeling today,” Ashbach said. “It worked out, I guess.”

Draviczki didn’t last much longer than his counterpart. The senior surrendered a two-run home run to Cameron Gniadek with no outs in the fourth, leading Ashbach to replace his starter with right-hander Anthony Shew in an effort to protect a suddenly slim 7-5 lead.

Shew was sensational in relief, retiring the first nine Santa Barbara batters he faced. Meanwhile, Mission Viejo continued to add insurance runs. Senior Parker Anderson and junior Derek Meddings each dropped squeeze bunts to help cushion the Diablos' lead.

“Santa Barbara came out firing but we were able to answer them,” Muno said. “We showed some heart and character by battling early and then we didn’t let up late, which is so important.”

The Diablos carried an 11-5 lead into the seventh inning. Despite allowing two Santa Barbara runs, Shew shut down the Dons with three consecutive fly-outs to end the semifinal and send Mission Viejo up I-5 to Chavez Ravine.

“I think the effort and attitude has been the difference for this team,” Muno said. “If we have a bunch of energy, no one is going to beat us.”

Ashbach echoed his cleanup hitter’s sentiments. The coach feels his team is playing its best baseball of the season and he hopes to cap off the Diablos’ powerful postseason play when he gives the ball to ace Willie Kuhl against Etiwanda in Thursday‘s final, the first of Ashbach’s 14-year tenure with Mission Viejo.

“We’ve been playing with a little more emotion,” Ashbach said. “Guys carry each other in the playoffs because they know it could be the last [game]. We have a senior-heavy team, so I don’t think anyone wanted to go home. The ability has been there.... It’s just a matter of putting it together. I think they finally did at the right time.”

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