Prep baseball: Back to business

Barry Faulkner

It’s back to business today for Pacific Coast League baseball teams

from Corona del Mar, Costa Mesa and Estancia high schools, all of which

begin the first of five home-and-home series to close out the league

season in the circuit’s second division.

Defending PCL champion Corona del Mar (7-8, 2-3 in league) hosts

Northwood (3-2 in league, tied for second with Laguna Beach) today at

3:15, hoping to continue a recent trend of success.

The Sea Kings have won five of their last six, including two straight

league games, to work their way back into contention for a CIF Southern

Section playoff spot.

CdM knocked off Back Bay rival Newport Harbor, 6-5, Mission Viejo,

8-7, and Mountain View, 4-2, en route to the title game of last week’s

Pride of the Coast Tournament. San Clemente defeated Coach John Emme’s

squad, 8-1 in Wednesday’s tournament final, but Emme believes his team is

on the rise.

“We definitely have momentum,” said Emme, whose team had dropped seven

straight, before an 11-4 league win over Costa Mesa March 26, followed by

a 6-2 triumph over Laguna Beach to lead into the spring break tournament.

“I think we’ve forced our pitchers to go at hitters more aggressively,

which has kept our defense on its toes,” Emme said. “We’ve been playing

the kind of defense I expected us to and we’ve raised our team batting

average 40 points over the last six games.”

Northwood, led by Irvine High transfer Chris Lewis, defeated the Sea

Kings, 5-2, in the league opener March 15 at the Timberwolves’ diamond.

Lewis homered three times in that game.

Costa Mesa (2-3 in league) is at league-leading University (4-1

against PCL foes) today at 3:15. The Trojans handled the Mustangs, 9-2,

their first league meeting.

Estancia (3-9-1, 1-4), coming off a nonleague doubleheader sweep of

Los Amigos April 1, visits Laguna Beach today.

The same PCL foes square off Friday at 3:15, when the venues flip

flop.

Newport Harbor, which split its four Pride of the Coast Tournament

games, returns to Sea View League action Wednesday seeking its first

league win.

First-year coach Joel Desguin’s Sailors (4-9) saw their confidence

bolstered by back-to-back tournament triumphs over Santa Ana and Costa

Mesa. Desguin liked the way his hitters swung the bat in the tournament

and is hopeful they can carry it over to Wednesday’s league clash against

visiting Laguna Hills.

Sage Hill High continues its inaugural Academy League campaign today

at Oxford Academy. The Lightning won two games to reach the title game of

its own Sage Hill Classic last week and bring a 6-6 record into today’s

game.