MISSION VIEJO – Trinity League coaches and athletes say it all the time, that playing in that league is a great way to prepare for what’s to come.
“Every single game is a like a playoff game,” said Santa Margarita junior first baseman Luke Lavin. “You can’t take a pitch off, you can’ take a second off, because if you do the other team is going to get you.”
Santa Margarita, the No. 4 team from the Trinity League, defeated Sea View League champion Trabuco Hills 13-10 on Friday in a CIF Southern Section Division 1 first-round playoff game at Trabuco Hills High.
The Eagles (19-10) will play at Foothill (19-9) in a second-round game Tuesday. Foothill was one of four teams that had a first-round bye in Division 1.
Santa Margarita had 14 hits, and Trabuco Hills (23-6) had 12.
Santa Margarita’s Collin Clarke pitches during a CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff game against Trabuco Hills on Friday, May 6, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Trabuco Hills’ Will Burns safely tags home plate as Santa Margarita catcher Blake Balsz can’t quite hold onto the ball during Friday’s CIF-SS Division 1 playoff game between the two teams on May 6, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Trabuco Hills’ Tyler Byrns pitches during a CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff game against Santa Margarita on Friday, May 6, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Trabuco Hills players greet Will Burns at home plate after his out-of-the-park home run during a CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff game against Santa Margarita on Friday, May 6, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Santa Margarita center fielder Drew Clarke nearly makes a leaping catch at the wall, but can’t quite hold onto the ball, during a CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff game against Trabuco Hills on Friday, May 6, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Santa Margarita’s Logan De Groot dives safely back to second base, narrowly avoiding the tag from Trabuco Hills’ Ryan Sison, during a CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff game between the two teams on Friday, May 6, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Santa Margarita’s Samuel Cova pitches during a CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff game against Trabuco Hills on Friday, May 6, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Santa Margarita’s Drew Rutter hits the ball during a CIF-SS Division 1 first round game at Trabuco Hills High School on Friday, May 6, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Santa Margarita second baseman Zach Fjelstad tags out Trabuco Hills’ Ryan Sison before making the double-play throw to first base during a CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff game between the two teams on Friday, May 6, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Trabuco Hills’ Gavin Madrid pitches during a CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff game against Santa Margarita on Friday, May 6, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Santa Margarita’s Samuel Cova pitches during a CIF-SS Division 1 first round game against Trabuco Hills on Friday, May 6, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Trabuco Hills first baseman Joey Gray catches the ball just before Santa Margarita’s Logan De Groot reaches the base during Friday’s CIF-SS Division 1 playoff game between the two teams on May 6, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Trabuco Hills’ Tyler Byrns pitches during a CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff game against Santa Margarita on Friday, May 6, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Trabuco Hills’ Ryan Manda hits the ball during a CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff game against Santa Margarita on Friday, May 6, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Trabuco Hills first baseman Joey Gray tags out Santa Margarita’s Zach Fjelstad as he tries to dive safely back to the base after a caught hit during a CIF-SS Division 1 playoff game between the two teams on Friday, May 6, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Santa Margarita’s Logan De Groot hits the ball during a CIF-SS Division 1 first round game at Trabuco Hills High School on Friday, May 6, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Trabuco Hills’ Garrett Stenger hits the ball during a CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff game against Santa Margarita on Friday, May 6, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Lavin, who committed to Stanford, was 4 for 4 with four RBIs, four runs scored and a walk.
Eagles junior catcher Blake Balsz, a UCLA commit, was 3 for 4 with a two-run home run and four runs scored. Sophomore right fielder Logan de Groot, another UCLA commit, had three hits and an RBI, and Washington-committed junior shortstop Blake Wilson had two hits.
Trabuco Hills junior shortstop Will Burns, who committed to Texas Tech, hit two sky-high, two-run homers. Mustangs junior third baseman Bobby Gray had three hits, including a double, and scored three runs.
Senior left fielder Tyler Collins hit a two-run homer and a single, and junior catcher Garrett Strenger and senior shortstop Drew Barrett contributed two hits each.
Santa Margarita coach Chris Malec, whose team was swept by Orange Lutheran in a three-game Trinity League series last week, suspected Friday’s game would be a high-scoring one.
“They (the Mustangs) have a really potent ball club,” Malec said. “They’re going to score a lot of runs, and we had to take our punches and just continue to stay after it. Our guys did a tremendous job of doing that.”
The offense started early. Santa Margarita’s three solid hits in the top of the first led to a 2-0 lead.
Trabuco Hills scored three runs, including Burns’ first two-run homer, to take a 3-2 lead.
Santa Margarita tied it in the top of the third, Trabuco Hills scored three in the bottom of the inning to go ahead 6-3 and Balsz’s homer in the top of the fourth made it 6-5.
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A three-run top of the sixth gave the Eagles an 8-6 lead. Trabuco Hills tied it on Burns’ other two-run homer, and Santa Margarita used three hits with the help of two Mustangs errors to score five runs in the top of the seventh for a 13-8 lead.
Collins’ two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh concluded the scoring.
It was a different sort of game from the Eagles’ previous two playoff games, a 1-0 loss to Huntington Beach in the Division 1 first round last year and a 1-0 win over Norco in the Division 2 championship game in 2019.
