NEWPORT BEACH — The Newport Harbor baseball team took advantage of the breaks it was given for a 4-3 victory over Corona del Mar in a Wave League game Friday at Newport Harbor High School.
The Sailors (9-12, 3-3) and Sea Kings (12-9, 3-3) split their four games against each other this season.
Jack Pinkert raced home to score the winning run from third on a passed ball with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The ball appeared to skip away from the catcher and roll toward the backstop. The catcher then picked up the ball and tossed it to the pitcher who was racing from the mound to cover the plate.
But the pitcher couldn’t handle the throw and Pinkert made it home safely with a headfirst slide.
The Sea Kings had tied the score in the top of the seventh inning on Carter Danz’s two-out single on a full count that scored William Chiechi from second.
“I’m just going for it,” Pinkert said. “With two outs there, you got to be kind of aggressive because obviously we only have one more out to work with. And I just saw it kick away. It would have been out if he caught it, honestly.”
Pinkert, the leadoff hitter, reached base on an infield single to start the inning.
Ryan Williams then singled but a throwing error allowed Williams and PInkert to make it to second and third, setting up the game winning play two outs later.
“Jack, who is our senior captain senior captain had seen enough of last couple of bases-loaded-nobody-out turn into no runs,” Sailors coach Josh Lee said. “It’s happened several times to us in the last two weeks so I think he just saw an opportunity and was like, here we go. Those catcher-to-pitcher covers are always a little tricky. A lot of times things go wrong and we got lucky on that one.”
Newport Harbor catcher Lucas Perez went 1 for 2 with an RBI and a run scored.
Pitching on both sides was effective.
Sailors’ starter Dominic Viglione pitched into the seventh, allowing three runs on five hits with four strikeouts and four walks.
Sea Kings starter Will Chavez allowed three runs on four hits with three strikeouts and a walk over 3 2/3 innings.
Carter Danz came in to relieve Chavez with two outs in the fourth and didn’t allow a hit over his 2 1/3 innings of work and had three strikeouts.
All four teams in the Wave League are 3-3 in league play with six more league games remaining.
“It’s tough to lose to our rival like that, but I’m really proud of the way our boys competed,” Sea Kings coach Kevin McCaffrey said. “That’s my takeaway. I can take tough losses as long as we’re competing.”
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