Baseball/Softball: Laguna baseball team takes over top spot in Orange Coast League
It’s four games into the Orange Coast League baseball season, and the Laguna Beach High Breakers own sole possession of first place in the team standings through Wednesday.
Laguna won for the fourth consecutive time and went to 4-0 in league by taking an important game from visiting Calvary Chapel. The Breakers led from the start Tuesday at Skipper Carrillo Field and ended up with a 6-4 victory. The result gave the Breakers a one-game lead over their league foes.
Calvary Chapel suffered its first league defeat.
Laguna moved over .500 for the first time in improving to 5-4 overall.
“Calvary outhit us and both starting pitchers threw really well, but I think the difference was is that we kept applying pressure late in the game,” Laguna Coach Mike Bair said. “Blake (Burzell) shut them out down the stretch, and we were able to get a big win.”
Burzell threw the final 2 2/3 innings and earned his first save of the season. The win went to starter Will McInerny (3-0).
Calvary Chapel outhit Laguna, 11-3, but trailed throughout. Laguna took advantage of some Calvary errors to open a 4-0 lead through three innings. The Eagles pulled to within 5-4 going into the sixth when Alex Baker hit a clutch RBI double to give the Breakers a two-run advantage.
Cole Coscino and Dante Faicchio both doubled to account for the other hits for Laguna.
The win gave the Breakers the first game of a three-game series with the Eagles.
“We treat the Calvary series as though it’s the league championship series,” Bair said. “To get the first game is huge. It takes a little bit of pressure off us but we still have two games to go against them.
“It feels good to be 4-0 and beat our rival.”
In a league game March 27, Laguna went to Estancia and posted a 4-0 shutout. Burzell (1-1) got his first win in a complete-game performance that saw the freshman allow only one hit and a walk, strike out seven, and induce 13 ground balls.
“Blake completely dominated,” Bair said. “He was the star of the game, for sure.
“We felt like we were in control of the game because of the way Blake was pitching, three-up, three-down, and for how well our defense was playing. We felt as though we were in the driver’s seat.”
Laguna scored three runs in the top of the third and added its final run in the fifth. The Breakers managed six hits, led by two hits from Anthony Norelli and Jeff Bruyntjens, who drove in a run.
Jack Simon, who had two RBIs, and Jake Smith both singled.
The Breakers ended the first of three rounds of league play Thursday and played another key game, against Godinez. The score wasn’t available at press time.
The Grizzlies (3-1), who defeated Estancia, 9-8, in eight innings Tuesday, were also one game behind the Breakers in the league standings.
During spring break, Laguna will compete at the Ryan Lemmon Invitational.
The Breakers start the tournament Saturday and face Santa Clarita Golden Valley at 11:30 a.m. at Windrow Park in Irvine. They open the tourney, which runs through April 10, with four pool play games.
“This tournament lines up perfectly with our spring break,” Bair said. “I like the teams that are in it. There are a lot of good (CIF) Division 1 and Division 2 teams, and I want our team to play ‘up’ in the tournament. There will be a lot of good competition and I think these games will be good tests for us.”
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Softball
The Breakers played their seventh nonleague game of the season Monday and lost to visiting Bolsa Grande, 34-15, at Thurston Middle School.
In a nonleague game March 26 at Thurston, Laguna fell, 21-1, to Garden Grove Santiago.
The Breakers concluded their nonleague season Wednesday against Saddleback Valley Christian. The score wasn’t available at press time.
After spring break next week, Laguna starts its Orange Coast League season April 14 at Costa Mesa.
Twitter: @MikeSciacca