Fantastic Four: Calhoun Baseball Tops Oceanside for Fourth Straight Win

Clutch hitting catches on like wildfire as was the case yesterday when Calhoun smacked three straight two-out doubles and a two-out single in the first to grab an early 4-0 lead.

Solid pitching and defense took over the rest of the way as the Colts cruised to a 9-1 victory against Oceanside.

John Mekelburg got the start for the visiting Colts (12-4; 11-4) and was absolutely splendid. Mekelburg threw six effective innings Thursday, scattering a run on four hits. He also struck out nine and walked none in the performance, and Mekelburg impressively struck out five of the last six to face him.

"I thought I pitched well," Mekelburg said. "I noticed that they were chasing pitches outside of the strike zone, so I took advantage of that."

Mekelburg was backed by plenty of offensive support. The first batter of the game was Dan Sullivan, and he wasted no time making an impact. Sullivan cracked his first homer of the season.

"It felt good," Sullivan said. "I had two strikes on me, and he threw me a hanging curve ball, and I was able to get some good wood on it, and I hit it out."

After the next two batters were retired, Calhoun strung together a two-out hit parade. Three straight doubles by Robbie Rosen, Tom Viverito and Joey Christopher plated two runs, and then Frank Trimarco added an exclamation point with an RBI single of his own. That was more than enough for Mekelburg.

"That's nice hitting," Calhoun coach Mike Marino said. "It's always nice to have a two-out rally."

For the Sailors (5-9; 5-9), Mike Curti got the start, but he would not return to pitch the second inning.

The Colts added three more in the third. First, Rosen scored on an Oceanside error, and then Zach Goldstein hit a sacrifice fly. John Eyerman capped the scoring with a pop single to give Calhoun a 7-1 lead.

Oceanside got on the board in the bottom half of the third when Joe Totino singled in a run from second, although Totino was hardly satisfied with his team's efforts.

"It's always nice to look and see your stats improving," Totino said. "But the most important thing is what ends up on that scoreboard, and we are not satisfied with that."

Calhoun capped the scoring in the fourth, as Viverito got a hold of one for a two-run homer, although he was surprised it went the distance.

"I didn't think it was gone when I hit it," Viverito said. "The ball kept going, and I will definitely take it."

It was the Mekelburg show after that. After he completed his six-inning effort, Trimarco threw a scoreless seventh, and the Colts were happy owners of their fourth straight win.

"We're proud of the way they played," Marino said. "We need to keep it up and keep playing as a team."

The Colts will tangle with Oceanside again on Monday at 4:30 p.m., this time at Calhoun High.