Capuchino baseball back in playoff picture with sweep of Aragon

With three straight wins in Bay Division play, though, the Mustangs (5-5 PAL Bay, 15-8 overall) are back in the hunt for one of the league’s five automatic playoff bids. Perhaps more importantly, Cap is at last looking like a playoff contender. With Friday’s 8-2 win over Aragon at Lara Field, the Mustangs earned their first series sweep of the year.

“Just being two games under .500 in league and knowing that we have such a tough division where there’s not a lot of margin for error, we needed to do big things,” Mustangs manager Matt Wilson said.

It’s no coincidence the Mustangs’ current three-game winning streak sees Lordier regaining his form. The senior is 7 for 11 during that stretch, and now ranks third among PAL Bay hitters with a .478 batting average.

“I’m trying not to look at that,” Lordier said. “I’m just trying to win ball games and do whatever I can to help my team. Obviously getting hits helps with that — high batting average and all that — but we got a sweep this week and that’s huge for us.”

When Lordier went down with a torn ulnar collateral ligament of his throwing elbow after a March 17 non-league game against Prospect, he was leading all PAL Bay batters in hitting. Not only did the Mustangs lose their Friday starting pitcher due to the injury — Lordier can only hit right now, as he can hardly throw a ball, and is schedule to undergo Tommy John surgery in June — he struggled to regain his form, going 3 for 19 at the plate in the first five games after returning to the lineup.

While Cap’s production at the plate has ebbed and flowed with Lordier’s presence, the pitching staff is a different story. Right-hander Ryan Choi has posted a 4-2 record since taking over as the Friday starter and turned in his second complete-game victory Friday against Aragon. The senior allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits to improve his record to 6-4.

Choi wasn’t expecting to be Cap’s ace this season, but he has certainly rolled with the punches.

“No, because [Lordier] got injured, so I wasn’t expecting to be the Friday guy,” Choi said. “But it’s pretty cool being the Friday guy.”

The Mustangs have had to rely on sophomore starting pitcher Aidan Mendel as well, and the right-hander has settled in nicely. In Cap’s March 23 league opener at Sequoia — the first game after Lordier was hurt — Mendel earned a complete-game victory. It wasn’t until Wednesday that he got back in the win column, but he stepped up in the key series opener against Aragon, striking out seven over four innings to front the Mustangs’ 7-1 victory.

“[Lordier] was our ace to start,” Wilson said. “But we’ve got Mendel, who’s been doing amazing. If we give him a little more run support, he’s undefeated. And Choi, you saw today, Choi can do what he needs to do. … He’s just a bulldog out there. He just goes out there and just battles.”

Choi’s big moment Friday came in the sixth inning. With one run in, and the Dons narrowing Cap’s lead to 4-2, Choi faced a two-on, one out jam. His response was to notch back-to-back strikeouts, using a big bending curveball — a pitch he’d kept in his back pocket all day until he needed it — to freeze Aragon’s Pat Mori and Noah Frandsen, who each struck out looking on wicked breaking pitches.

Cap’s offense added three runs in the bottom of the inning to put the win on ice. Lordier enjoyed a 3-for-4 day, while senior Timothy Jang added two hits and an RBI. Senior shortstop Cesar Ceron had the back-breaking swing of the bat, splitting the left-center gap for a two-run triple in the sixth.

The Mustangs are hitting .307 as a team with a .395 slugging percentage, with most of their power numbers coming on the road. With their on-campus baseball facility shut down for the season due to an extensive remodel, Cap has played all its home games at San Bruno Park, where Lara Field has only an expanse of green grass with no outfield fences.

“A lot of us have hit balls really far … and they haven’t gone over the wall because there’s no wall out here,” Ceron said. “But as long as we keep getting good pieces and good swings, we’ll be just fine.”

The Dons (4-6, 14-7) have now lost four straight games, and their postseason chances are not guaranteed. With five automatic playoff bids allotted to the PAL Bay Division, Aragon is currently on the outside looking in, in sixth place, with four league games to play.

The Dons have a big advantage going forward, however. They have 14 overall wins. Only first-place Carlmont, with 16, has more. So, Aragon will get serious consideration for an at-large bid to the Central Coast Section playoffs, if need be.

“We’ve got 44 (power) points right now,” Dons manager Lenny Souza said. “If we win a game or two, we’re going places. The body of work we completed in the beginning of the year put us in a good place. But it doesn’t matter where we go unless we start playing some good baseball.”