A four-run outburst in the third helped the Half Moon Bay High baseball team swing past Monte Vista Christian and eventually win a 2011 Central Coast Section Division III playoff game, 5-3, on Wednesday afternoon in Half Moon Bay.
MVC (16-11), the No. 12 seed in the tournament, took a 2-0 lead early off key hits from Nelson Pyle and Danny Saporito.
The Mustangs walked 11 times on the day, but the host team seemed to find a way to dance out of trouble every time they found themselves in a tight jam.
"It was a pretty bizarre line score when you look at it," MVC head coach Don Keathley said. "We had 11 walks, they had four. We had more hits than them, but they made the big plays defensively."
Several big catches from the HMB center fielder robbed MVC hitters of extra base hits in the spacious outfielder at HMB High.
HMB took the lead in the bottom of the third inning off a four run surge. Sophomore Zander Fischer-tellez knocked in a run in the seventh inning to pull MVC within two, but the comeback ended a few batters later with a pair of runners left stranded.
"Some unreal catches by their center fielder really hurt us," Keathley said. "When that happens, you just think it's probably not in the cards for you today."
