Coach has Miramonte baseball grilled to near-perfection

Miramonte-Orinda baseball coach Vince Dell’Aquila, the king of positive reinforcement, has promised the Matadors home grilling with all the fixings after every four wins this season. Behind effective pitching from winner Tim Tague (eight-hitter, two runs allowed), aggressive base-running (six steals) and timely hitting and defense, the Matadors secured their 25th consecutive victory and sixth barbecue with a 5-2 first-round North Coast Section Division 3 home win over Las Lomas-Walnut Creek on Tuesday. The top-seeded Matadors are just three wins away from their seventh NCS title and a first undefeated season under Dell’Aquila, who announced before this, his 26th season in baseball (22 as head coach), that it would be his last. [...] they earned (the barbecue) last game,” Dell’Aquila said, “but who’s counting? [...] everyone is. Center fielder Elijah Hodges, the only Miramonte player to hit the ball over the 406-foot sign in right field, will walk on somewhere; first baseman Casey McGonigle will be a walk-on at Cal. Like in the sixth inning Tuesday, with Miramonte holding a 5-2 lead, Las Lomas loaded the bases with two outs. Skylind Rios lined a shot that looked destined for the right-field corner. [...] McGonigle made a diving stab, the ball trickled away, but Tague covered the bag, took the throw and Miramonte got out of the jam. Besides the opportune play, Tague believes the Matadors’ perfect season is for a different reason.