MISSION VIEJO – They see each other every day. At the dinner table. Before school. After school. And on Tuesday afternoon, they saw each other in the opposing dugout.
And on the pitcher’s mound.
In a real rarity, two brothers pitched against each other as El Toro senior Anthony Chapuis faced Mission Viejo junior Aiden Chapuis in what some fans were calling the Chapuis Show.
It was a game for the scrapbook, and maybe even a record book. But it wasn’t for the highlight reel.
El Toro, ranked No. 25 in Orange County, won the Sea View League contest, 7-5, to remain in first place in the league standings.
The Chargers are 10-7 overall, 5-2 in league.
Mission Viejo, hoping to make a run at an automatic playoff berth with a third-place finish, dropped to 9-10 overall, 1-3 in league.
The Brothers Chapuis played the matchup off as no big deal, but neither pitcher was himself. Within two innings, both had committed an error. And their performances were more anomalies than anything else.
Anthony Chapuis, who had hit only one batter in his first 38.1 innings this season, hit five Diablos in four innings. That’s where the record book may have been affected. Longtime El Toro coach Mike Gonzales said he didn’t ever remember one of his pitchers hitting that many batters in a single game.
“He throws way more strikes than that,” Gonzales said of his right-hander, whose performance was an exception to the rule. “He did a good job of battling to keep us in the game.”
Anthony Chapuis, who is going to walk on at Chico State next season, allowed five runs on four hits, a walk and the five hit batters. He struck out two in four innings. He gave up single runs in the first and second innings, and three in the fourth – the biggest blow being a two-out, two-run double by Jacob Ramirez.
Anthony Chapuis called his performance the worst of the season, but claimed it had more to do with the heat of the afternoon and not drinking enough water.
“The heat got to my head,” he said. “This kid does not get into my head.”
Standing next to him postgame, Aiden Chapuis also downplayed the matchup.
“I don’t have to face the opposing pitcher, I have to face the opposing hitters,” he said. “It was just another game, just another pitcher.”
For what it’s worth, Anthony got a hit and scored against his brother.
Mission Viejo coach Dan Holley wasn’t sure he was buying what Aiden – or Anthony – was selling.
“How could you not think about it,” he said. “I’ve seen Anthony pitch before. He’s got good stuff – he’s a top-notch pitcher. I told Aiden a couple of weeks ago that he might match up against Anthony and asked him if he was OK with it. He said he wanted to pitch against him.
“It is a cool story.”
Aiden Chapuis, a junior left-hander, gave up single runs in the first three innings.
“Aiden settled down, but unfortunately, we didn’t make a few plays behind him,” Holley said. “After struggling early, he grinded out a tough performance. If we play defense, we probably win that game.”
Neither pitcher was sharp, and neither was the performance behind them. Both teams committed three errors.
The sixth inning was Mission Viejo’s undoing. With two outs and runners at first and second, No. 9 batter Dylan Ortiz’s second single of the game also gave him his second RBI to pull El Toro to within 5-4.
Blake Rajan’s second single made it 5-5.
That chased Aiden Chapuis from the game with a line that included 10 hits, a walk, and two strikeouts. But a throwing error on a grounder to the infield allowed Ortiz and Rajan to score for the 7-5 margin. All runs were charged to Aiden Chapuis.
“I gave up too many hits,” he said. “I just couldn’t keep the ball down, couldn’t hit my spots.”
Nathan Broesamle got the victory in relief. He gave up two hits and a walk in three shutout innings.
“He did a really good job of holding down the fort,” Gonzales said. “It was not a clean game. We were fortunate to come out on top.”
Anthony and Aiden might have been teammates this season, but Aiden transferred to Mission Viejo.
It’s the first time the brothers have ever pitched against each other. The only other opportunity they’d get is if both teams make the playoffs and the pitchers match up. As respective aces, that could happen.
“It would be great to pitch against them again,” Aiden Chapuis said.
But next time, it won’t be – as he called it – “just another game.”
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