Prep baseball: Down the Stretch

Spring vacation annually signals the top of the stretch for high

school baseball teams and four Newport-Mesa schools will be trying to

summon a finishing kick, beginning today.

While Corona del Mar tries to polish off what appears to be a gallop

to the Pacific Coast League title and Newport Harbor tries to stave off

playoff elimination in the Sea View League, Costa Mesa and Estancia

pursue playoff berths in the PCL.

Costa Mesa, one game behind second-place University and a half game

ahead of fourth-place Laguna Beach, begins a home-and-home series with

Northwood today at 3:15 p.m. on the Timberwolves’ Irvine campus. Coach

Kirk Bauermeister’s Mustangs, who won their final three games of the

Pride of the Coast Tournament over the break, then host the T-wolves

Friday at 7 p.m. at TeWinkle Park.

CdM, unbeaten in nine league games and owning a 3 1/2-game cushion over Uni, battles Estancia this week.

The Sea Kings could clinch the title outright with a sweep of the

Eagles, who are 2 1/2 games out of the league’s third guaranteed playoff

berth with six games to play. The series begins today at Estancia, before

shifting to CdM Friday. Both games are scheduled for 3:15.

Meanwhile, Newport Harbor, coming off two straight wins in the Pride

of the Coast, does not play a league game until Friday, when it hosts

Aliso Niguel at 3:15.

The Sailors, however, will host Tustin Thursday at 3:15 in their

remaining game of the Foothill-Costa Mesa Tournament.

The Tars trail third-place Laguna Hills by five games with five to

play, so one more league loss would eliminate them from a top-three

finish.