Carlsbad, Myers Hang On to Beat Escondido in 10th

There were the 16 strikeouts and 195 pitches over 10 innings by Carlsbad pitcher Jeff Myers. There was Escondido’s Neil Small driving in the tying run in the bottom of the seventh. There was the second home run of the year by Carlsbad’s Scott Karl, which broke the 1-1 tie in the 10th.

There was, in the end, a 4-3 victory by Carlsbad over host Escondido, creating a tie between the two teams (6-1) for first place in the Avocado League.

Despite all this, the most-discussed aspect of the game was a called third strike. It came in the bottom of the 10th with runners on first and second, one out and Brian Frank at the plate. The pitch from Myers sailed high, but Frank started to chase it, and although he tried to check his swing, the home plate umpire thumbed him.

Escondido Coach Bill Kutzner argued the call and even convinced the umpire to refer the call to his associate in the infield. They conferred, and the call stood.

“He had no business making that call in the first place,” Kutzner said. “I don’t think he saw it. He just saw the motion.”

Said Myers, “I thought it was a strike. It was one of those calls that could have gone either way. The ump was consistent (throughout the game).”

So what’s the big deal? Well, Frank represented the tying run, and the strike call kept him off the bases.

The next batter, Jeff Hopkins, doubled all the way to the fence in right field to score two runs. But that left the Cougars a run short. That can be attributed to the two-run Carlsbad rally that followed Karl’s 10th-inning homer--it gave the Lancers a much-needed three-run cushion.

Buck Taylor started it with a two-out single that drove in Jeff Westcott from second. Taylor scored from second when Escondido third baseman Mike Garcia fielded a grounder from sophomore Brian Vasey and threw wildly to first.

Vasey also scored the first run of the game in the second, sprinting in from third on Larry Griffith’s sacrifice fly. But that was all Carlsbad could muster until Karl’s homer in the 10th.

“I was just trying to redeem myself after striking out twice and losing two RBIs,” Karl said. “Plus, Jeff pitched the best game I’ve ever seen him pitch, and I knew someone had to pick him up.”

Myers was just relieved that someone finally did. “I’ve never thrown that many pitches before in my life,” he said. “Every batter that came up, I knew I had to throw my best stuff--Escondido has a lot of good hitters. But I have to hand it to the team, they really came through at the end.”

Lost in the turmoil was the fact that Escondido pitcher Robert Erp struck out 12 Carlsbad batters.