Champs at Last

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By Bill Norris, Special to the Independent

After 78 years, the Laguna Beach High School baseball team finally got to have its dog pile.

The Breakers scratched out two runs and pitcher Ashton Goddard made sure that was enough as Laguna Beach defeated Kaiser High School of Fontana 2-0 to win the CIF-Southern Section Division 4 championship at San Manuel Stadium in San Bernardino.

The final "dog pile."
The final “dog pile.”                                                                                                                           Photos by Anna Goddard.

That final dog pile was something the members of the Breakers used as a focal point during the rough stretches of the season.

“It seemed like everything was against us (this season),” coach Mike Bair said after the game. “The one thing that kept us together and believing was just this group of kids. They just believed in each other. We knew, after every loss, we’d always say we can still have an opportunity to dog pile in the last game of the season. And we just believed it.”

Things didn’t start smoothly for the Breakers, as Goddard hit Kaiser’s Oscar Rocha with the game’s first pitch. The Cats loaded the bases with one out in the first, but Goddard got Alex Martinez to ground the ball back to him for a force out at home and then struck out Carlos Serna to end the threat.

Ashton Goddard
Ashton Goddard

“As soon as I got on the mound and the adrenaline pumped in, I just was a little too hyped up on that first pitch, so I let it loose a little too far inside,” Goddard said. “After that, I just settled in. I knew I’d get out of that first inning without anything – just 100 percent belief.”

Connor Basile comes home.
Connor Basile comes home.

Laguna Beach got the only run it needed in the bottom half of the inning. With one out, Connor Basile singled up the middle and Dustin Angus followed by hitting a grounder that bounced off the bag at third base and bounded into left field for a double.

Will McInerney followed with a grounder between third and short that Jacob Gonzalez fielded and went home. The throw was late with Basile sliding in safely for the 1-0 lead.

From there, it was Goddard on the mound keeping the Cats off balance. He mixed his speeds, striking out four and walking two. He stranded seven Kaiser runners on base. He retired eight batters in a row at one point, and got the last four in a row.

Dustin Angus
Dustin Angus

“He pretty much dominated their hitters all game long,” Bair said. “I felt like he got better each inning. Obviously you get a little concerned for that third time when their best hitters are coming up. He just pounded the curve ball for a strike any time he wanted, I figured he just kept them off balance.”

The Breakers got an insurance run in the fifth inning. Zak Kovacic led off with a walk, and went to second on Alex Baker’s sacrifice. Jack Loechner grounded out to second base, moving Kovacic to third. With left-handed pitcher Armando

Dante Faicchio
Dante Faicchio

Duenas in the wind-up and an 0-2 count on Jack Simon, Kovacic broke for home and slid in before catcher Leonardo Rodriguez could apply the tag.

All that added up to the historic first championship for the Breakers.

Zack Kovacik
Zack Kovacik

“It means more to me for others than it does to me as a person,” McInerney said. “I want to say six or seven years ago this program was not anything. I think Orange County overlooked it all the time. We were always toward the bottom of our league. Through Coach Bair and

Coach Bair
Coach Bair

some good players, we turned it around and we really put one focus and one goal in our mind, and it’s just incredible to represent our city in this fashion. It’s incredible to take this trophy back home.”

Breakers cheer.
Breakers share their joy with their most loyal fan, Skipper Carrillo, center.

 

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