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Will Clark helps Costa Mesa baseball extend league lead with victory

April 30, 2025

ANAHEIM – His name is Will Clark, and just like his namesake who had more than 2,000 MLB hits, Costa Mesa’s Will Clark wears No. 22 and plays first base.

But that’s not the reason Costa Mesa’s Will Clark wears No. 22.

“This was my mom’s number in high school,” Clark explained.

Whatever the connection to No. 22, the Costa Mesa senior hits like the Will Clark of San Francisco Giants fame. He was 4 for 4 with two RBIs in the Mustangs’ 5-3 win over Katella in a Golden West League baseball game Tuesday at Katella High.

Costa Mesa improved to 9-0 in the league. The Mustangs have a two-game lead over second-place Katella (7-2 in league) with three league games: Thursday and Friday against Katella at Costa Mesa High and May 7 at Kennedy.

Segerstrom was a factor in the race for the Golden West League championship but was found to have violated CIF Southern Section bylaws. Segerstrom had to forfeit several weeks’ worth of victories and was ruled ineligible for this season’s playoffs.

Clark went into Tuesday’s game with a team-high 27 hits and was batting .355. His four hits were singles. His third-inning single drove in the Mustangs’ first run and his fourth single drove in their final run.

Senior starting pitcher Troy Simmonds worked into the seventh inning to get the win and improve to 5-2.

Simmonds, a left-hander, is not a strikeout pitcher. He went into the game with 35 strikeouts in 50.1 innings. He struck out two Tuesday but more importantly allowed only two walks and four hits, which Clark admired.

“Just let the other team hit the ball and trust your defense,” Clark said. “That’s all he had to do and he got the job done.”

Katella (18-4 overall) took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Julian Bustos led off the inning with a single and scored on Robert Barba’s sacrifice fly. A single by Alejandro Tinoco drove in Isaiah Munoz, who had walked.

A three-run third inning gave the Mustangs the lead for good.

With one out Wyatt Rottschafer got it started when he was hit by a pitch. He went to third base on Aiden Comte’s single and scored on Clark’s hit. Grady Jackson pulled a double down the right-field line to drive in Comte and Clark for a 3-2 lead.

Clark’s RBI single in the sixth inning sent home Rottschafer to make it 4-2.

Costa Mesa coach Jim Kiefer said that sort of opportunistic hitting has been part of Clark’s game all season.

“He had a couple big ones today,” Kiefer said. “He’s been that way for us all year.”

In the seventh inning, with Mateo Navarro on second base, Owen Dever squared to bunt then pulled the bat back to slap the ball over the head of charging Katella first baseman Hector Perez. The hit brought home Navarro for a 5-2 lead.

Katella’s Andrew Ureno scored on an error for the Knights’ third run.

Kiefer said his team is taking care of its own business and has not given much thought to what happened at Segerstrom.

“We’re not involved in that so we just keep playing our season,” Kiefer said. “We know where we’re at and we’re just trying to be our best.”

Costa Mesa was 1-2 against Segerstrom in their league games.

Clark said the Mustangs offense has been more productive lately.

“At the beginning of the year, we weren’t getting as many hits,” Clark said. “We were just missing the ball and leaving runners on base. Over the last couple of games we’ve had clutch hits in clutch moments.”

Orange County Register

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Will Clark helps Costa Mesa baseball extend league lead with victory

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