San Marcos pitcher Nick Stathopoulos knew right off the bat who to recognize after tossing an impressive, five-hit, complete-game 6-0 shutout and belting a monster two-run homer against Nipomo on Tuesday in a CIF Division 2 wild-card baseball playoff game at home.
“The outfielders were spectacular today, running around getting a lot of fly balls. So it was all defense today,” he said.
Royals starting pitcher Nick Stathopoulos threw a complete-game shutout and hit a home run.
The outfield of Shane Wieland in right, Shane Moore in center and Anthony Patolo in left turned in huge plays behind their pitcher to frustrate the visiting Titans and propel the Royals (15-10) into Friday’s first round against Mira Costa.
“We have four different combinations,” San Marcos coach Rob Crawford said about his outfield. Lino Reveles was a late scratch, so we put Shane Wieland out there and he can cover it. We have three to four guys who have speed, range and communicate well. It’s got to be the best outfield in the Channel League. With that speed, nothing really falls.”
The Royals wrap up a post-game meeting following their CIF wild-card victory. (Vince Agapito Photos)
That was apparent early. In the first inning, Shane Moore ran down a deep fly by Nipomo’s Ryan McNeil and then quickly got the ball back into the infield for the Royals to complete a double play.
Then it was Wieland’s turn at a web gem. With one on in a scoreless second inning, he raced toward the fence in right-center and robbed Cole Holloway of an extra-base hit with a one-handed catch.
“Shane in right and Shane in center … the two Shanes were great today,” said Stathopoulos.
Nipomo (13-14) also flashed the leather to keep the game scoreless. In the third, with Patolo on second base, Nicky Villegas hit a ball up the middle that Titan shortstop Jeff McNeil gobbled up and made the play at first. McNeil and his younger brother, Ryan, the second baseman, played Little League at Goleta Valley South before the family moved to Nipomo.
The Titans almost got to Stathopoulos in the fourth as they loaded the bases with two outs. But the steady San Marcos senior got Sean Shurtleff to fly out to center on a 3-2 pitch, ending the threat.
The Royals then went to work at the plate in the bottom of the fourth and scored four runs. Riley Moore, the team’s leading hitter, started the uprising with a leadoff walk. Twice he was walked as a leadoff batter and scored both times.
Crawford thought Nipomo showed Moore too much respect. He said on the first walk, they threw Moore a curveball when the count was 3-0.
“In the situation of a 0-0 game, you don’t want to put the leadoff hitter on base. You got to make him kind of earn that. I was a little surprised by the 3-0 curveball.
“Riley was key,” he added. “It’s not just the home run Riley can hit, it’s the fact they are afraid to pitch to him, and that puts more runners on base for us.”
Jimmy Brakka followed the walk with an opposite-field single and Stathopoulos singled into the hole at shortstop to load the bases. Nipomo’s Baker got David Kim to ground into a 6-4-3 double play, but Moore came home to break the scoreless deadlock.
Brakka scored the second run when Baker’s inside pitch to Wieland got away from the catcher. Wieland was then hit by a pitch. Payton Moore and Patolo singled to score two more runs.
The four-run lead made Stathopoulos stronger. He struck out four of the last 10 hitters and allowed one hit. He finished with five strikeouts.
He also got another spectacular defensive play behind him by Kim at third base. Kim scrambled to his left to glove a hard grounder by Joe Gutshall, barrel-rolled to get back on his feet and gunned to first for the out.
Crawford was impressed with the performance by Stathopoulos in the pressure of a playoff game.
“He’s stayed consistent all season,” the coach said. “I told him that we’ve kind of come to expect it. He’s pretty efficient with his pitches. He threw 86 pitches and he was ahead on counts consistently. He had a couple of balls hit hard early and he made his adjustments.”
Stathopoulos capped his big day with a mammoth two-run homer to dead-center field in the fifth inning.
“That’s the first one in dead center this year,” Crawford said. “That’s a legitimate shot there.”
Stathopoulos said he knew he got all of it when he connected on Baker’s pitch.
“It was late in the game and he’d thrown a lot of pitches and he couldn’t throw his curve ball for a strike very much, so I was sitting for a fast ball,” he said.
He crushed it, and the Royals celebrated their first home playoff win in several years.
“It’s a really fun thing to do,” said Crawford of winning a CIF game at home. “It’s definitely memorable for San Marcos.”
SAN MARCOS 6, NIPOMO 0
Nipomo…000 000 0 — 0 5 0
San Marcos…000 420 x — 6 7 1
Baker, Cruz (6) and Garl. Stathopoulos and R. Moore. W—Stathopoulos. L—Baker. Records—N 13-14, SM 15-10.
HR—SM: Stathopoulos, 5th inn. one on.
