Bob Erspamer finishes the job in San Clemente's win over Aliso Niguel
SAN CLEMENTE – When San Clemente baseball coach Dave Gellatly visited the mound with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh inning, San Clemente starting pitcher Bob Erspamer had no worries that he was about to be pulled from the game.
"I knew he wasn't going to take me out," Erspamer said, "because I wasn't going to let him."
Erspamer got the game's final out when San Clemente center fielder Joaquin Baumgardner made a running catch of a line drive to finish the Tritons' 4-1 win over Aliso Niguel on Tuesday in a South Coast League game at San Clemente High.
The win moves San Clemente (15-8 overall, 6-4 league) into second place, a half-game behind league-leading Trabuco Hills (6-3 league), which does not play a league game this week.
Aliso Niguel's playoff hopes got murkier.
The Wolverines (14-6-2 overall) dropped to 2-4-1 in league. They are in fourth place in the five-team league. The top three finishers in league will be automatic qualifiers for the playoffs. A fourth-place team will need an at-large berth to get into the playoffs.
Erspamer, a junior right-hander, allowed no earned runs on two hits with six strikeouts and two walks. He retired 12 straight batters from the third inning through the first batter of the seventh. Erspamer is 3-2 with a 2.83 ERA.
"Bob pitched like the pitcher he's capable of being," Gellatly said. "He pitched like the No. 1 pitcher as we see him."
Aliso Niguel starting pitcher Andrew Watson was good, too. Watson gave up no earned runs on four hits with five strikeouts and two walks in his five innings.
The Wolverines took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning on a run-scoring single by sophomore Hudson Covington, who leads the team with 13 RBIs.
San Clemente tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning on Baumgardner's RBI single.
The Tritons scored three runs in the sixth on Bradyn Campopiano's two-run single down the third-base line and on a ground out for their 4-1 lead.
Aliso Niguel put a threat together in the top of the seventh. After Erspamer got a strikeout to start the inning the Wolverines loaded the bases. A fly out to left fielder Kai Cesare was the second out.
Then Gellatly exited the dugout. Destination: pitcher's mound, for a quick conversation with Erspamer whose pitch count had passed 90.
"When I got to the mound, I said ‘this is your last batter, go get ‘em,'" Gellatly said. "And he got the job done."
San Clemente's job is to continue the pursuit of Trabuco Hills and first place.
"Our mentality is ‘one game at a time,’" Campopiano said. "Just one game, one pitch, one at bat at a time."
The Tritons play Aliso Niguel two more this week. Trabuco Hills beat San Clemente in two of their three league games.
When its series with San Clemente ends, Aliso Niguel has three league games remaining next week against third-place Dana Hills. Dana Hills is 4-3 in league after beating Tesoro, 9-1, on Tuesday.
The CIF Southern Section playoff brackets will be released May 9.
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This story was originally published April 21, 2026 at 9:17 PM.