Baseball
Breakers In Uphill Playoff Contest
Breakers played their initial CIF playoff game this past Thursday at Skipper Carrillo Field. Breakers first opponent in the single elimination playoff was either Indio (16-5) or Bloomington (11-14). Should Laguna prevail they would meet either El Segundo (18-12) or Monrovia (11-13-1) on Tuesday, May 24, with the winner advancing to quarterfinals on Friday, May 27. Laguna and Oaks Christian (22-6) are favored to reach this point. Top seed is defending champion Palm Desert (24-4), which ended Laguna’s run last season in the second round.
The regular season portion of Laguna’s historic season concluded last Thursday, May 12, with a 15-3 clubbing of Saddleback to finish the league season at 15-0 and the regular season at 25-2. Breakers pounded out 12 hits by 10 different players including six doubles in the season finale. Chris Paul pitched four scoreless innings to record his ninth win and hit his sixth home run of the season. Breakers now have 85 two-base hits this season, fourth best in CIF season history and one short of the county record.
Season Statistical Leaders (27 games):
Games: 27: Austin Paxson, Erik Peruzzi, Keaton Jones, Chris Paul, Travis Clawson, Steven Harrison
Plate Appearances: 116 – Jones, 111 – Paul
At-Bats: 93 – Paul
Runs: 43 – Jones, 37 – Paul, 36 – Paxson
Hits: 47-Paul, 45 – Peruzzi, 40 – Jones
Runs Batted in: 48 – Paul, 35 – Peruzzi
Doubles: 15 – Jones, 14 – Paul
Triples: 2 – Peruzzi, Jones, Paul
Home Runs: 6 – Paul, 3 – Harrison
Walks: 22 – Jones,
Batting Average: .505 Paul, .495 Peruzzi, .440 Jones, .406 – Clawson, .397 Larry Stewart
On-Base % .577 – Paul
Slugging % .892 – Paul
Innings Pitched: 61.0 – Paul, 39.0 Jackson Rees, 32 – Jones
Earn Run Ave 0.65 – Jones, 0.69 – Paul
Strikeouts 75 – Paul, 42 – Jones, 22 – Rees, 20 – Stewart
Wins: 9 – Paul, 6 – Jones, 5 – Rees,
Saves: 5 – Jones
Swimmers Record Best CIF Finals in School History
Coach Kari Johnson’s arrival on the Laguna swim scene a few seasons ago radically changed the participation levels in the Laguna swim program. Breaker teams captured their first league titles in the school’s history and achieved this season their first top-10 finish in the section finals.
Last Saturday at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach, the Breaker girls finished second in Division III with 192 points just three short of the 195 mark set in 2009. The ladies scored in nine of 12 events contested. In the pool, the Breakers dominated as Lila Vera won the 100 fly with a school record time of 56.2 and the 400 freestyle relay squad of Yoshi Anderson, Melena Masson, Jessica Shusko, and Lila Vera won with a 3:40.29 mark. Laguna totaled seven top 10 individual finishes:
Individual performances by Athlete:
Yoshi Andersen- 13th 200 IM (2:18.69), 7th 100 Free (56.04)
Taylor Capobianco- 8th 200 Free (2:05.30), 14th 100 Free (57.17)
Lexi Del Toro- 13th 200 Free (2:06.99)
Melena Masson- 3rd 200 Free (1:58.60), 3rd 500 Free (5:17.39)
Jessica Shusko- 9th 100 Free (55.74)
Lila Vera- 1st 100 Fly (56.20)*School Record, 2nd 100 Back (57.97)
The boys recorded their first top-10 team finish with a fifth place finish behind Mark Keppel, Kennedy, La Serna, and Maranatha (Pasadena). Breakers did not win any individual events but did set some school records. The 200 medley relay lowered the school mark to 1:42.13 with the efforts of Nolan McConnell, Spencer Dodson, Billy Wild, and Erik Henrikson. All three of the boys relays (which score double points), finished in the top eight places for the first time in school history.
Individual performances by Athlete:
Samer Alkateb- 15th 200 Free (1:54.93)
Spencer Dodson- 12th 200 Free (1:53.90)
Erik Henrikson- 11th 50 Free (22.66)
Nile Koegel- 12th 50 Free (22.76), 9th 100 Free (49.56)
Nolan McConnell- 10th 100 Free (49.71), 4th 100 Back (57.05)*School Record
Billy Wild- 3rd 100 Fly (52.43)*School Record, 6th 500 Free (5:01.32)
Softball
Breakers Grab Playoff Spot
Although fourth place in the Orange Coast League, Laguna’s young squad earned the program’s second all-time spot in the playoffs as the Breakers traveled to Magnolia for the Division V wild card round this past Wednesday, after a one day postponement due to rain. Breakers only other trip to CIF play was in 1990 when West Torrance defeated the then Artists 4-0. Breakers earned the current spot with their 10-8 overall winning record and a 5-5 league mark behind Calvary Chapel, Godinez, and Costa Mesa. The 10-win season is only the fifth time the Breakers have reached double digit wins. The school record 12 wins was achieved in 2001. Breakers have a playoff level pitcher in sophomore Haley Putnam but must focus on defense to capture a playoff win. Last week Laguna dropped a 6-3 contest to third place Costa Mesa (8-15, 6-4) before rebounding to defeat Saddleback (0-10, 0-13) 6-2.
Boys Golf
Palmer and Peterson compete in CIF
Andrew Palmer and Tim Peterson represented the Breakers at the Southern Division CIF individual golf championships played on Monday at Skylinks Golf Course in Long Beach. The windy conditions played havoc on the scores with Palmer finishing tied for 38th out of 102 competing golfers from many of the top Orange County leagues. Peterson shot 80 to finish tied for 58. Palmer missed the cut by one stroke in the 18-hole event.
Boys Tennis
Breakers quest for a playoff rematch with Viewpoint (Calabasas) continued last week with a pair of playoff match victories. On Wednesday, May 11, Laguna rolled through Orcutt Academy 17-1, winning 106 of the 120 contested games. Laguna nearly matched that success on Friday, May 13, when they torched host Lynwood 16-2. Jake Michaels and Teague Hamilton have been perfect so far in singles play. Hutton McKenna has teamed with two different partners to sweep his doubles competition. Breakers hosted Alhambra this past Wednesday, after a one-day rain delay, with the winner facing either Santa Ynez or Cate in the semifinals this coming Tuesday, May 24.
