Baseball (9-2, 4-0)
Laguna 10, Godinez 0
Kurt Rabone was near perfect in five innings facing 17 batters giving up only a walk to help the Breakers over the Grizzlies (5-6) at Skipper Carrillo Field on Tuesday, March 26. Breakers pounded out 13 hits led by Preston Grand Pre, Richie Nunis, and Blake Hester who each had multiple hits. Breakers lead the all-time series 12-1.
Laguna 6, Calvary Chapel/SA 3
Laguna took the lead in the 2013 Orange Coast League pennant race with a tough comeback victory at Skipper Carrillo field last Friday, March 22 over the visiting Eagles (6-4). Breakers took an early 2-1 lead in the first inning off a Richie Nunis hit. The visitors stormed back in the fifth inning to tie the contest at 3-3. Kaito Lee’s big fifth inning double led the comeback with Grant Wilhelm driving home the winning runs. Jackson Rees pitched the distance striking out eight. The two teams both gain pitchers after April 1 so expect the two remaining league contests next month to be classic pitching duels.
Laguna completed the first round of league play at Costa Mesa on Thursday, March 26 before the spring break period begins. Breakers will be participating in the 39th Annual Anaheim Lion’s Tournament featuring 76 teams from a number of states and Canada. Competition begins this Saturday, March 30, with Laguna facing Troy at 10 a.m. at Amerige Park in Anaheim. Breakers defeated Warriors 5-4 on March 4 and expect another tough outing. At 3 p.m. on Saturday at Servite, Laguna will play Firebaugh (Lynwood) in their second game. The Division 7 Falcons are currently 5-8 but playing a very tough schedule.
Next Monday, Laguna will travel to Sonora High School in La Habra for a 3 p.m. tournament game with the D-4 ranked Raiders and concluded schedule play on Tuesday, April 2 hosting D-6, seventh-ranked Capo Valley Christian at home in an 11 a.m. contest. The tournament playoff will be played on April 3 after all the scheduled games have been completed. You can track the tournament and find out Laguna’s April 3 assignment at the tournament web site www.anaheimlionstournament.com
Statistical Leaders through March 26 (11 games)
Batting Average: .500 Luke Simon
.478 Blake Hester
.455 Steven Harrison
Hits: 11 Blake Hester, Preston Grand Pre
Runs Scored: 10 Preston Grand Pre
RBI’s : 10 Richie Nunis
Doubles : 5 Grant Wilhelm
Home Runs: 2 Steven Harrison
Slugging % .773 Steven Harrison
Stolen Bases 6 Robbie McInerny
Pitching Wins: 4 Jackson Rees & Kurt Rebone
ERA: 0.058 Jackson Rees
Team Batting Average: .324
SSCIF D-4 Poll for March 25: 1 – Oaks Christian, 2 – Nogales,3 – Northview , 4 – Kaiser, 5 – Monrovia, 6 – San Dimas, 7 – Sonora, 8 – Don Lugo, 9 – Laguna Beach, 10 – La Sierra, Others: South Torrance, Lawndale
Boys Golf 3-8, 1-3)
Settling into third place the boys golf squad lost at Estancia 227-209 on March 21 and defeated Costa Mesa 205-244 this past Tuesday, March 26.
Softball (3-12)
Laguna concluded their non-league portion of their season dropping a doubleheader at J Serra on March 23 losing 10-0 and 15-5 to the Lions. Laguna also lost 11-1 to Santa Ana on March 22 in a Costa Mesa tournament contest.
Swimming
Breakers swamped Costa Mesa at their pool on March 20 as the boys won 103-68 and the girls 119-50. Laguna hosted Estancia on Wednesday, March 27 before spring break.
Boys Tennis (4-7, 4-0)
Laguna continued to roll through league play defeating Godinez 14-4 on March 21 and Costa Mesa 13-5 on March 26. Against the Grizzlies, all three doubles teams – Ryan Gee and Oliver Nasiell at No. 1, Owen Weber and Alex Duong at No. 2, and Andrew Koumas and Matthew Meisberger at No. 3 – swept their matches
SSCIF D-4 Tennis Poll for March 28: 1 – Wilson/Hacienda Heights, 2 – Garden Grove, 3 – Laguna Beach, 4 – Estancia, 5 – JW North, 6 – Redlands, 7 – Paramount, 8 – Santa Ynez, 9 – Laguna Blanca, 10 – Cate
Boys Volleyball (7-3, 2-0)
On Wednesday, March 20 at Dugger Gym, Laguna swept Corona del Mar (# 7 OC, # 10 SSCIF D-I) 25-20, 25-15, 25-19 . Weston Barnes had 11 kills, Jackson Pries 9, and Noah Blanton 8, Jack Wyett 7. Maxx McCarter delighted the Laguna crowd teaming with Weston Barnes, Jack Wyett and Grif Fair for four blocks in the final set to seal the win. Fair had 32 assists and three aces. The last time Laguna swept both Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor in the same season was in 1982 and the last time to defeat both schools in the same season was 1990. Breakers last defeated the Sea Kings in 2008 and lead the all-time best-of-five set series 30-23.
League play opened Thursday, March 21 sweeping Saddleback 25-7, 25-7, 25-12 and on Tuesday taking Estancia 25-12, 25-3, 25-11 at the loser’s gym. Laguna had 19 service aces against Estancia. Alec Wulff was the kill leader against Saddleback with Loic Corbiere and Wulff sharing the honors against Estancia.
Breakers faced Calvary Chapel (16-3, 2-0) this past Thursday, March 28 and will travel to Hawaii next week for the Kamehemha Tournament. Also attending this tournament will be Huntington Beach (second-ranked in the county, # 5 D-I SSCIF) and St. John Bosco (# 9 D-I SSCIF) who holds a win over the D-II leader Oak Park. Top Hawaii competition includes Maryknoll, which has wins over Edison and Oak Park this season and a very good Hawaii Baptist squad. Breakers will be without star middle Noah Blanton and outside hitter Alec Wulff for the tournament.
Darren Utterback’s JV squad defeated Corona del Mar 25-17, 27-25 to remain unbeaten in regular matches. The Sea Kings had defeated San Clemente to win the Foothill Tournament but lost to San Clemente in the finals of the Tesoro Tournament. Breakers have now beaten both squads in regulation best-of-three set matches. The JV’s next big test will be at Laguna on April 19 hosting Dana Hills with the Newport JV Championships on May 4.
SSCIF D-II Poll for March 28: 1 – Oak Park, 2 – Esperanza, 3 – Laguna Beach, 4 – San Barbara, 5 – San Marcos, 6 – Clairmont, 7 – Lakewood, 8 – Burroughs/Burbank, 9 – Oaks Christian, 10 – Dos Pueblos, Other: Foothill
Photos by Robert Campbell
