Oaks Christian Next
Laguna Beach (27-2) continued into unchartered territory for the 73-year old program as the Breakers rallied to a 2-1 victory over El Segundo Tuesday, May 24, at Skipper Carrillo Field. Bleachers were added to accommodate an overflow record crowd with pre-game ceremonies that included the first pitch by former head coach Norm Borucki, who guided Laguna to the 1963 league title, the last one prior to this season.
Game was a 0-0 tie until the sixth inning when the Eagle’s Seth Mckenna hit a hard single to first. Breaker pitcher Keaton Jones got the next two batters out on a strikeout and ground out, but could not escape as Eagle pitcher Nigel Nootbaar slammed a two-out double scoring Mckenna and taking the 1-0 lead. Jones struck out the next batter to end the Eagle’s turn at-bat.
Austin Paxson quickly got Laguna started with a lead-off single down the first base line. Chris Paul appeared to hit into a double-play when the El Segundo third base player threw the ball well into right field, allowing Paul and Paxson to reach base safely with Paxson on third. Paul stole second and Erik Peruzzi drilled a deep single to score both runners giving the Breakers the lead.
In the seventh inning, the first two Eagle batters popped up to first with Larry Stewart making a difficult catch in foul territory for one out and a more routine pop-up for the second. After two consecutive base hits, Keaton Jones got Mckenna to line out to second and end the contest to the relief of the players and fans. Jones (7-0) went the distance striking out 10.
Breakers travel to Oaks Christian (24-6) in Westlake Village this Friday for a 3 p.m. quarterfinals contest. The Lions are led by Trevor Gretzky and advanced with a 3-2 win at Savanna. Chris Paul (10-1) with 0.63 earned run average is expected to start for Laguna.
