Santa Margarita pitcher Brennan Bauer keeps winning, deceptively ...Middle East

It’s difficult for a batter to hit a pitched baseball when the batter does not know what the ball is going to do.

That’s been the successful formula for Santa Margarita senior right-hander Brennan Bauer.

It’s called “pitch tunneling.” When the pitch leaves Bauer’s hand, he leaves no clue as to which pitch he is throwing. His release point and the initial trajectory of the baseball deceive hitters who have little idea what is coming at them until it’s too late.

“He tunnels his pitches really well so they’re tough to see,” said Santa Margarita coach Chris Malec. “It looks the same coming out of his hand and then all of a sudden it will dip, dive or cut.”

Bauer has been credited with the win in all four of Santa Margarita’s playoff victories on the way to the CIF Southern Section Division 1 championship game. The Eagles (20-12) play Trinity League rival St. John Bosco (27-4) in the Division 1 final Friday at 7 p.m. at Cal State Fullerton.

Bauer, who earned his school-record 23rd career win Tuesday in the semifinals, is the probable starting pitcher for Friday’s game.

Malec has other fine options with senior right-handers Hayden George (UCLA signee) and Ethan Russell.

Bauer (5-11, 160 pounds) is 11-3 with a 2.34 earned-run average. He is not a strikeouts-heavy pitcher, with 36 strikeouts in a team-high 71.2 innings. (George has a team-leading 53 strikeouts in 49 innings; Russell has 37 in 51 innings).

Bauer shut out Newport Harbor on three hits in the Eagles’ 2-0 win over the Sailors in the first round. He came on in relief in a 6-5 comeback win over Huntington Beach in the second round, holding Orange County’s No. 1-ranked team to no earned runs in 4 1/3 innings. He pitched one inning of relief to get the win in a 5-4 win over Los Alamitos in the quarterfinals and he shut out Crespi on two hits over five innings in a 12-0 rout in the semifinals.

Bauer mixes in four pitches: fastball, slider, curveball and a splitter serves as his changeup. And he throws them with accuracy. Bauer has issued only two walks in 17 1/3 playoff innings.

For Bauer, to be successful he needs more than his right arm.

“For me it’s always mental,” Bauer said this week. “I remind myself that I’m the pitcher and I control the game. I can slow it down or I can speed it up.

“Especially in these playoffs, I will take a step off the mound and tell myself that I control the game.”

Malec does not have to worry about Bauer getting too excited when everything is going right or Bauer becoming despondent in tough times.

“Brennan’s very calm on the mound,” Malec said. “He looks like he’s done this a number of times. He always looks like the same guy. He’s laid back off the field but on the mound he has that killer instinct.”

The senior and Malec point to a Trinity League game against JSerra as a turning point for Bauer and the Eagles. Santa Margarita, going into the game with a 4-6 league record, scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning for a 5-1 win. Bauer scattered seven hits over eight innings and allowed one earned run with one walk and five strikeouts to keep the Eagles in the game until their big ninth inning.

“It was a really important game to me and to my coaches as well,” Bauer said. “JSerra might not have been as good as they’ve been the past couple of years, but securing that win was huge for us.”

The winning has continued for Bauer and Santa Margarita through the playoffs and into Friday’s CIF championship game.

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