Diablos Hold on to Win Playoff Opener, 6-4

It appeared Mission Viejo High's baseball team would run away with the victory in its first-round playoff game against visiting Vista del Lago on Thursday afternoon. While that ultimately wasn’t the case, the Diablos are headed to the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs nonetheless.

Mission Viejo (19-13) held on for the victory after a late rally by the Ravens (21-10) changed the margin from 6-0 to 6-4, a score that would ultimately stand thanks to a game-ending strikeout by relief pitcher Anthony Shew.

Highlighted by leadoff hitter Austin Saenz’s three-hit performance, the top of the Diablos’ batting order set the stage for an impressively efficient offensive output. The top four batters in the lineup -- all seniors -- combined for six hits in 11 at-bats and five runs batted in, accounting for each of their team’s six runs.

“As the top of the order goes, we go,” Diablos coach Chris Ashbach said. “When Austin Saenz is on base, it’s hard to beat us. Our first few batters set the tone and really got us going.”

The Diablos built a 6-0 advantage after five innings, scoring at least one run in four of those frames.

Saenz was the first Diablo to cross the plate. After leading off the bottom of the first inning with a single to left field, the left-fielder advanced to third after a bunt single by Boog Powell and a groundout off the bat of Ryan Raslowsky. Saenz sprinted in from third base when Mission Viejo senior first baseman Ryan Muno airmailed a sacrifice fly deep to center field.

Muno, the Diablos’ cleanup hitter who missed much of the spring after mid-season knee surgery, returned two weeks ago and seemed to regain his swing and swagger just in time. Muno collected three RBIs in the victory, driving in two runs with a third-inning double along with his first-inning sacrifice fly. The San Diego State-bound veteran looked right at home returning to the heart of the Diablos’ batting order.

“Ryan is a big-time confidence hitter and when he is swinging the bat well, he’s about as good as I’ve seen,” Ashbach said. “I think he was a little jumpy at the plate when he first got back, but now he’s settled in and really making a difference.”

Muno’s job as the four-hole hitter was made easier with a productive group of players ahead of him. Saenz followed his leadoff single with doubles in his next two at-bats. The Cal State Fullerton commit scored each time he reached base. The right fielder reached home on Muno’s third-inning double and pushed the score to 5-0 in the fourth when Powell's infield single brought Saenz in from third base.

“Those top three guys are just about the best hitters I’ve seen,” Muno said. “If they get hot, look out. We can win this whole thing if we keep the intensity up.”

Mission Viejo inflated its advantage to 6-0 in the fifth inning courtesy of a Vista del Lago fielding mishap. Diablos third baseman Danny Poe grounded to shortstop with two outs in the inning and Muno on second. However, the Ravens infielder’s throw to first was low and skipped all the way to the fence, scoring the hustling (and surprisingly spry) Muno on a two-base error.

“I’ve been working on the knee with therapy every day and I definitely feel like I’m getting back into it,” Muno said. “It was tough having to watch from the dugout for a month of the season, but it’s great to be back now in the playoffs. I might not be at 100 percent quite yet, but I’m almost there.”

Mission Viejo pitcher Willie Kuhl started his third consecutive playoff opener. The senior, another Cal State Fullerton signee, cruised through six scoreless innings before running into some trouble in the seventh.

Kuhl picked up his fifth strikeout of the afternoon to lead of the final frame before surrendering two consecutive singles and a walk, loading the bases with one out.

After inducing Vista del Lago’s Hector Flores into an infield groundout that resulted in a force-out at home plate, Kuhl gave up a single to right field off the bat of Henry Munoz, which cut the deficit to 6-1 and ended Kuhl’s outing one out shy of his sixth complete game of the season.

“Willie was gutsy today,” Ashbach said. “He deserved the start because of every big game he’s pitched in since his freshman season. He’s our guy and there was no question he was getting the ball in this situation.”

Shew, a junior relief pitcher, replaced Kuhl but ran into trouble of his own immediately. Ravens leadoff hitter Devyn Bolasky blasted a bases-clearing double down the left-field line to cut Vista del Lago’s deficit to 6-4. Shew averted disaster by striking out Greg Turner on a two-strike fastball, ending the contest and sending the Diablos beyond the first round for the first time since 2009.

Mission Viejo will travel to Dos Pueblos on Tuesday for a quarterfinals matchup with the Chargers (20-8), who finished third in the Channel League but knocked off top-seeded Cypress, 5-4, on the road in other Thursday afternoon action. The Diablos appear to be heating up just in time.

“We’ve been able to get into a rhythm,” Ashbach said. “I think our confidence continues to build, which is so important right now.”