DREAM TEAM

Bryce Alderton

As the baseball calendar turns from the regular season to the

playoffs, scoring tends to drop as the games become closer, often of

the one-run variety.

Pitching becomes magnified as a team’s fate can turn with one

thrust of the arm.

Corona del Mar High senior Ben Maggard twice found himself under

the microscope in the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs as

the Sea Kings’ starting pitcher.

The spotlight hardly rattled the stoic Maggard, who maintained

focus when his team needed it most.

Two starts. Two complete games, including a six-hit, opening-round

3-0 shutout of La Serna in the postseason, helped vault Maggard to

the top of the Daily Pilot’s 2005 baseball Dream Team as its Player

of the Year.

Joining Maggard on this year’s squad are CdM senior Wess Presson,

the only repeat selection among this year’s honorees, Newport Harbor

seniors Patrick Keehan and Greg Miner, Sea King seniors Taylor Alston

and Tyler Ray along with sophomore Jake Lemmerman, Costa Mesa senior

Alex Pisarski, Estancia sophomore Taylor McClanahan, as well as Sage

Hill School juniors Bryan Kornswiet and Zach Milder.

Maggard anchored the Sea Kings’ staff, finishing the season 6-4

with a 1.53 ERA. He tossed six complete games -- three shutouts --

including a no-hitter against University March 21, a 3-0 Sea Kings

victory.

He allowed 24 runs, 14 earned, and 62 hits in 64 innings with 30

strikeouts and 11 walks.

In the regular season, Maggard went 5-3 with a 1.82 ERA. The

right-hander allowed 23 runs, 13 earned, in 50 innings while striking

out 24 compared to eight walks.

Maggard continued to roll in the CIF playoffs. He fanned four and

walked two against La Serna.

The Sea Kings reached the quarterfinals before bowing out to

top-seeded La Quinta. In that game, Maggard surrendered four runs,

three unearned, while striking out two and walking one in a

three-hitter.

Maggard, who will attempt to walk-on at Chapman next spring,

combined a fastball and curveball for consistency in his second

varsity season.

“He was our best pitcher all year, without a doubt,” CdM Coach

John Emme said.

Keehan capped his third varsity campaign with a .395 average,

tallying 34 hits in 86 at-bats with 19 runs scored, nine doubles and

10 stolen bases, all team highs.

The Sailors finished 8-17, 3-12 in the Sea View League, but Keehan

continued his torrid streak throughout the entire season.

“He was our best hitter and all-around player,” Newport Harbor

Coach Joel Desguin said of Keehan, who batted leadoff. “He hit over

.400 in league.”

Desguin said Keehan’s natural position is second base, but the

senior saw time at shortstop, third base and on the mound.

“He was our No. 2 pitcher last year, but was the only one who was

consistent,” Desguin said.

Keehan led the Tars with a 4-4 record, allowing 43 runs, 36 earned

for a 5.34 ERA. In 47 2/3 innings, he posted 23 strikeouts and

walked nine.

Keehan plans to continue playing at Orange Coast College next

season, Desguin said.

Lemmerman, a sophomore in his second year as a varsity starter,

played primarily shortstop for Emme. He also did his share of damage

at the plate.

Lemmerman, who hit .379 in the regular season, increased his

average after going 4 for 8 with two runs and two RBIs in three

playoff games. He finished the season at .392 with 29 hits -- a tie

for the team lead with Presson -- in 74 at-bats.

Lemmerman also tied Andy Frenkiel for the team lead with 23 runs

and produced 17 RBIs, one home run and 13 walks, the latter a

team-high.

Presson, a senior and repeat Dream Team selection, platooned at

catcher with junior Andrew Williamson and also started in right

field.

Also a Dream Team honoree in football, Presson, batting primarily

third in the order, compiled 29 hits in 82 at-bats (.354) and

finished second on the team with 18 RBIs.

The four-year varsity performer tied for the team lead in home

runs -- both he and Chris Rosen slammed two -- was third in runs

scored (17) and amassed six doubles.

Presson’s three-run, walk-off home run helped the Sea Kings defeat

Newport Harbor, 5-3, in the first of two meetings this season between

the Back Bay rivals.

“Wess is a gamer,” Desguin said. “He gets that hit when it’s

needed.” Presson plans to walk-on at Utah next season.

Maggard, Presson and Keehan were selected to the South All-Star

team that will face the North in the annual Orange County All-Star

game June 14 at La Palma Park in Anaheim.

Emme was selected to lead the South and chose Desguin as one of

his assistants.

Miner, also a third-year varsity player for Newport, led the team

in RBIs (15) while collecting 20 hits in 65 at-bats for a .308

average. His three home runs, including two grand slams, led the

team, as well as all Dream Team members.

He finished second in runs scored (16) belted four doubles, and

tied Keehan for the team lead with 10 walks.

Desguin said Miner, a first baseman, hit better than .400 in

league games and filled in admirably at catcher for senior Jeff

Sanchez.

Pisarski, a four-year varsity player at Costa Mesa, provided

consistency no matter where first-year coach Dave Austin inserted

him.

Pisarski, who had no previous varsity pitching experience,

scattered five hits in five innings with 10 strikeouts to seal Mesa’s

season-opening 5-0 victory over Buena Park.

He followed with another stellar performance, this time allowing

eight hits with six strikeouts and one walk in a 7-1 triumph over

Calvary Chapel of Santa Ana.

Pisarski, a third baseman and occasional shortstop when not on the

mound, finished with team-highs in hits (30), runs (24), doubles (12)

and stolen bases. He hit .353, including a home run, and finished

second on the team with 15 RBIs, despite hitting primarily in the

leadoff spot.

On the mound, he finished 2-5 with two complete games and a 3.92

ERA. He struck out 36 in 50 innings.

“[Pisarski] was the heart of the team,” said Austin, whose

Mustangs were 9-15-1, 2-9-1 in the Golden West League.

A sore shoulder limited Pisarski’s mound appearances the last half

of the season.

Pisarski plans to play next year at OCC.

Alston, a senior, provided timely hits and was a vacuum at third

base, stopping grounders in their tracks. The reigning Newport-Mesa

district wrestling champion in the 119-pound weight class hit .370

with 20 hits in 54 at-bats. He scored 12 runs and added nine RBIs,

including two in CdM’s 4-0 victory over Orange in a CIF Division III

second-round game.

Ray, a senior, started in center field for the Sea Kings and was

as consistent with the glove as with the bat.

He finished with 49 putouts, one assist and only two errors.

At the plate, Ray, a second-year varsity player, amassed team

highs in RBIs (19) and doubles (eight), while hitting .301 with 25

hits in 83 at-bats. He also scored 16 runs.

Milder, a junior, led Sage Hill (7-16, 4-11 in the Academy League)

in hitting (.329) and stolen bases (13) while tying for the team lead

in runs scored (18). He produced 23 hits in 70 at-bats with one

triple.

In the field, he played primarily at shortstop.

“He beat out a lot of infield hits,” Lightning Coach Bert Emerson

said. “He made things happen on the basepaths and had a real good

glove.”

Kornswiet, also a junior, finished his second varsity season with

a .328 average. He had 21 hits in 64 at-bats with 10 runs, 12 RBIs,

two doubles and one home run. He showed discipline at the plate,

drawing 11 walks, and struck out only four times.

Emerson said Kornswiet made a smooth transition from the outfield

to catcher and blossomed with the bat.

“He was our most consistent hitter,” Emerson said.

McClanahan shined during Golden West League games for Estancia,

which finished 3-21, 3-9 in league.

He capped his sophomore season with his fourth complete game in as

many league starts, limiting visiting rival Costa Mesa to seven hits

while allowing one run with two strikeouts and no walks in a 3-1

victory.

McClanahan, who missed four weeks at the beginning of the season

with an injured finger, rebounded with a 2-2 league record, compiling

a 3.37 ERA in that span.

“He got smarter and stronger as the year went on,” Estancia Coach

Jon Green said of the 6-foot-2 McClanahan, who carried a 4.0

grade-point average.

Green said the coaching staff projected McClanahan as the second

or third starter, but injuries allowed the second-year varsity player

a chance on the mound and he took advantage.

“He won some big games for us,” Green said.