Baseball (26-3)
Laguna’s storied 75th season ended in the heat at La Sierra High School as the Breakers struggled early against the Eagles (18-10) on Tuesday, May 21, when temperatures reached the 80s.
Grant Wilhelm (3-3) started for Laguna and faced only five batters without an out. Wilhelm had recently had a strong outing against Calvary but couldn’t control the tempo in Riverside giving up a walk, a single that got away from the outfielder, a hit batter, a botched fielder’s choice, and a walk before leaving the mound.
Cole Millerd came in to complete the inning but the damage was done and the Breakers were soon down 8-0.
La Sierra’s other runs came in the fifth inning as they chased Cole off the mound and Kurt Rebone came in to finish the game.
Laguna had seven hits for the contest but stranded eight runners and could not get that key hit or umpire call when it counted. Larry Stewart scored Laguna’s first run in the third inning off a Wilhelm double. The other run was scored in the seventh by Preston Grand Pre.
A number of key players return for 2014 so expect the Breakers to be back in the playoffs for the sixth straight year. Finals season statistics and records will be detailed next week.
Baseball CIF Opener
Nunis Delivers, Breakers Survive 5-4
Richie Nunis delivered a one-out bases loaded single deep into right-center field to lift Laguna to a 5-4 victory over Victor Valley (14-17) as Laguna defeated the Jackrabbits for the second consecutive season in CIF play on Saturday, May 18.
Last year Laguna won in the bottom of the seventh on a walk, but 2013 required a more dramatic finish.
Down 4-0 with one out, Laguna sent eight batters to the plate to pull out the win. The rally started with Larry Stewart beating out an infield hit, Adam Rodner taking a hit by pitch followed by a double by Preston Grand Pre, who drilled a bill down the third base line scoring Stewart.
The Jackrabbits then replaced starter Danny Perez, who had pitched brilliantly all day with Jacob Padilla. The new pitcher got a bad break when his first pitch was popped by Grant Wilhelm into a routine fly to right field appearing to be securely caught only to pop out of the fielder’s glove moments later straight to the ground.
After a pause, the Laguna players recognized what had happened to advance their base. Again with the bases loaded, Robbie McInerny was hit by a pitch to make the game 2-4, Victor Valley. The rattled visitors then gave up a single to Blake Hester and a walk to Steven Harrison, each with an RBI to set up the dramatic finish.
Starter Jackson Rees and a perfect 10-0 record in 10 starts entering the contest but gave up all four runs including back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning. Kurt Rabone came in relief for the fifth inning while Cole Millerd (3-0) completed the final two innings for the win.
Track
Girls scored 11 points to finish 16th competing in three events in the Division IV Southern Section CIF track finals at Mt. San Antonio College last Saturday, May 18.
While Spencer Anderson was the lone competitor for the boys in the 110m hurdles; Drake Martinez was scratched from the 200m dash.
Janie Crawford finished fifth in the 1600m run at 5:18.63, Coco Putnam sixth in the 100m hurdles at 46.22 and the 4 x 400 relay of Crawford, Natalie Kimball, Putnam, and Brielle Budroe finished fifth with a time of 4:00.60, second fastest in school history. Spencer Anderson was eighth in his event at 15.3.
Softball (10-18)
Laguna’s season concluded in the first round of the Division 5 playoffs losing 25-0 in a contest played on Thursday, May 16 at Schurr High School (16-13) in Montebello.
Swimming
Correction: The May 17 edition mistakenly reported the boys medley relay won their event at the Division III CIF finals. They finished fifth, well behind the time of 1:37.82 by last season’s CIF champion time.
Erik Juliusson did win two individual titles, the school’s 27th and 28th individual or relay victory.
