Breakers beat Mustangs

The Laguna Beach High baseball team picked up its second Orange Coast League win against Costa Mesa on Tuesday, defeating the Mustangs 2-0.

Costa Mesa is currently tied with Calvary Chapel for the league lead, which made this an important game for the Breakers, Laguna coach Jeff Sears said.

“Our players are starting to believe in themselves and in each other,” he said.

The Breakers scored their only two runs in the first two innings, but struggled to bat in any more runs, as has been the case since the beginning of the season.

Failure to execute at the plate left 13 players on base over the course of the game, with no additional runs scored.

“We played well enough to win, but our offense still missed a lot of hits with runners in scoring position,” he said. “We’ll get after that aspect tomorrow at practice.”

Solid pitching is mainly what kept the Mustangs from scoring any runs.

Zach Nuno, who pitched all seven innings, struck out 13 and gave up only three hits.

“[Nuno] was competing again, and he played a great game,” Sears said.

Dillon Pierce batted in one run. On defense, Gabe Stansbury and Casey Miller had 13 and four putouts, respectively.

In previous action, Laguna picked up one win in its first game of the Norco Tournament but lost its final three in an event that began Wednesday.

The Breakers opened the tournament with a 5-3 win over La Sierra, but then lost to Santiago (12-2), Norte Vista (8-1) and Centennial (10-3).

Sears said good defense and competitive pitching by Nuno won them the first game, but the team did not play to its capabilities in the remainder of the tournament.

“We can do better, and we expect to get there,” he said. “We’ll find our way into the play-offs.”

The Breakers are now 9-13 overall, 2-3 in league play.

Laguna hosts Estancia in league play at 3 p.m. today.