Sea Kings’ lead now slim in PCL

CORONA DEL MAR — That drought of a year ago might be back.

Jake Lemmerman referred to it at the start of Corona del Mar High’s baseball season, how he, and everyone else, tussled with the bat at the end, scoring one run in four straight losses and getting bounced in the opening round of the playoffs.

The offense again is losing its fervor down the stretch before the playoffs begin, forcing the Sea Kings to adjust at the plate.

What better pitcher to reestablish themselves against than the one Laguna Hills’ sent out Friday in a vital Pacific Coast League game?

The Sea Kings remember Jeff Rauh well. In their last meeting they chased the junior in the bottom of the seventh inning, and came back from a three-run deficit to win in extra innings.

Lemmerman won that game last month with a walk-off, two-run home run, but the senior alone couldn’t knock Rauh out.

Twice the Duke-bound shortstop ripped solo homers off Rauh, but this time Rauh went the distance for the first time this season.

Laguna Hills took advantage of Rauh’s five-hit effort, storming back to win, 4-2, and take two of three games in the series to put itself in the driver’s seat to dethrone CdM, last year’s league co-champ.

The key for Rauh’s (5-1) success this time around was easy for Laguna Hills Coach Pete Tereschuk to pinpoint.

“This time he got the first guy out,” he said.

Rauh plunked the leadoff hitter in the seventh in his previous start at CdM and was pulled after back-to-back wild pitches. This time he induced three ground balls, allowing the Hawks (17-6, 5-3 in league) to win their 10th game in their last 11.

CdM (15-6, 7-3 in league) is still atop the league standings by having two more victories than Laguna Hills, which has four league games remaining to the Sea Kings’ two.

The way CdM’s sputtering offensively, Coach John Emme knows those two games against University next week will be no walk in the park.

The Sea Kings can still share the league title for the second straight year if they and the Hawks both win out. But Laguna Hills would receive a higher seed in the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs because of winning the head-to-head competition.

The Sea Kings, ranked eighth in CIF Division III, can only blame themselves. Take away a 16-4 victory against Beckman in their last five games and they’ve managed to combine for 10 runs in four of those games. Two of the three losses have come against the Hawks.

“University’s a very good baseball team. We got a lot of work ahead of us,” said Emme, whose team lost to University, 5-1, on March 28, making it the only other league opponent to have beaten CdM this year. “Whether we’re in contention for a league championship or not, depend on those games. That’s how big they are, as was this one.”

Another significant game against Laguna Hills this week and Emme went with his other ace in Vinnie St. John.

The Hawks collected four of their 13 hits in the sixth, where they took a 4-2 lead and saw St. John (3-3) exit.

Pacific Coast LeagueLaguna Hills 4,

Corona del Mar 2

Score by Innings

LH 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 - 4 13 0

CdM 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 - 2 5 2

Rauh and Giovinazzo; St. John, Jones and DiRocco. W -- Rauh, 5-1. L -- St. John, 3-3. 2B -- St. Pierre (LH). HR -- Lemmerman (CdM), 2.