Skyline's Miguel Acosta cooler than the Bay in opener

Skyline's Miguel Acosta cooler than the Bay in opener
By Jimmy Durkin
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 05/18/2009 08:45:05 PM PDT
Updated: 05/18/2009 09:35:33 PM PDT


It took Skyline High's Miguel Acosta a few innings to calm his nerves Monday in the TransBay Series opener at the Oakland Coliseum.

Once he did, Acosta dazzled on the mound and delivered a two-run, go-ahead double in the sixth inning to propel the Titans to a 5-3 win over San Francisco Section champion Washington in the opener of the best-of-3 showdown.

"I was just really nervous," Acosta said. "There's a lot of people looking at you."

Skyline (16-3) can close out a sweep of the Eagles (17-13) on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at San Francisco State.

With Skyline down 3-2 in the sixth, Titans freshman Taylor Jones tripled and Scott Barron walked to end Eagles pitcher Roland Maxie's day. Gabe Morse entered and Acosta lined a double to the warning track in left-center field to score two. Acosta scored an insurance run when Eric Robles singled him home.

"Miguel's gotten big hits all year," Skyline coach Bip Roberts said. "He had another chance and came through again."

The Titans were baffled early by Maxie, whose impeccable control negated Skyline's patience. He faced the minimum through three innings and allowed just two hits through four.

"He kept getting ahead and putting us in a hole, so we had to be aggressive," Roberts said.

Acosta was dinged by one bad pitch in the third inning when Tom Mora, a Washington senior who attended Skyline as a freshman, blasted a two-run triple. Mora scored on a ground out by Alex Kozakiewicz

to make it 3-0.

The Titans got on the board in the fourth when Jordan Norman scored on Acosta's RBI ground out. Royce Tsukayama made it 3-2 with an RBI double to score Zack Bonzell in the fifth. Tsukayama was thrown out at home trying to score when Norman followed with a single.

Over the final four innings, Acosta held Washington hitless. He retired 11 in a row after Mora's triple until Walter James reached on an error in the seventh. A double play wiped out James as Acosta faced the minimum over the final four innings.

Tsukayama led a strong defensive effort by Skyline. The sophomore fielded all six grounders he saw — including starting the double play in the seventh — and made a sliding catch in foul territory to end the sixth.

"At first I was nervous, but I calmed myself down and was able to make all my plays," Tsukayama said.