Baseball: Breakers Rally Past Villa Park
Robbie McInerny drew a bases-loaded walk in the top of the eighth inning to score Steven Harrison, lifting Laguna to a 6-4 win over Villa Park on Thursday, April 7, at Skipper Carrillo Field. Laguna was the visiting team against the Spartans in a contest that was the final game in the Anaheim Lions Tournament. Breakers added the insurance run when Keaton Jones singled. Jones then took the mound to seal the win as Villa Park (11-6) could not rally.
Laguna carried the lead into the bottom of the seventh inning when Villa Park rallied with no outs to tie the game. Austin Paxson recorded the first out on a fly and noticed the Spartan runner had left early. A toss to second recorded out number two and a rejuvenated Breaker squad stormed into the winning inning. Larry Stewart pitched 5 2/3 innings with Jones finishing the contest.
On Wednesday, April 6, Breakers suffered their second consecutive loss at Sunny Hills when the host Lancers scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to defeat Laguna 8-7. It was a team effort of errors and poor judgment that sank Laguna against the Freeway League division rival.
The win over Villa Park helped Laguna in the D-IV poll despite the two losses. The Breakers are now ranked fourth, their highest ranking in 73 seasons.
This past week, Laguna (15-2, 5-0) faced Estancia (8-7, 3-2) on Tuesday and Wednesday and will have a pair of games with Calvary Chapel (11-5, 3-2) next week. Breakers need only one win to tie the school record for victories in a season. Counting the contests previously mentioned, there are 10 remaining league games. Breakers have not won a league title since 1963.
Local fans should visit Skipper Carrillo Park on Friday, April 22, for the Calvary game. After 72 previous season of baseball, the 2011 squad is the team to see.
Southern Section CIF D-IV Poll for April 11:
1 – Bishop Amat, 2 – Palm Desert, 3 – Oaks Christian, 4 – Laguna Beach, 5 – Torrance, 6 – Chino, 7 – Indio, 8 – Troy, 9 – La Salle, 10 – La Quinta/La Quinta, Others: San Dimas, Calvary Chapel.
Statistical Leaders after 17 Games:
Batting Average: .508 – Erik Peruzzi .479 – Chris Paul, .439 Keaton Jones
Hits: 30 – Erik Peruzzi
Runs: 24 – Keaton Jones
RBI : 26 – Chris Paul
Extra Base Hits: 13 – Chris Paul
Stolen Bases 7 – Chris Paul
Innings Pitched: 33 – Chris Paul
Strikeouts: 43 – Chris Paul
ERA: 0.85 – Chris Paul, 1.08 Keaton Jones, 1.56 Jackson Rees, 2.10 Larry Stewart
Team Totals:
Batting Average: 3.66
ERA: 1.76
Boys Golf
Laguna’s team (8-6, 8-2) captured a pair of league wins last week defeating Westminster (1-13, 0-9) 190-287 and Costa Mesa (3-7, 2-7) 201-253. Laguna defeated Ocean View (9-5, 6-4) 213-225 on Monday and faced off with Loara on Tuesday. Breakers will close out their league play on April 25 with undefeated Estancia. Laguna should finish this year tied with Calvary for second in the eight-team league
Softball
Laguna returned to varsity league play this past week after a three-year absence due to low interest in softball. Breakers traveled to Estancia on Tuesday then hosted Calvary on Wednesday and Godinez on Thursday at the new Thurston field. Laguna gained confidence with their 5-3 non-league schedule but will face a tougher level of competition in league play.
Swimming
The defending league dual meet champions hosted their chief league swim rival Godinez on Tuesday at the Laguna Community pool. The regular season concludes on April 27 at Costa Mesa.
Boys Tennis
Laguna (6-7, 4-0) dropped three non-league matches before returning to league play this past Tuesday. On April 5, Sage Hill defeated Laguna 11-7 on the local courts with five wins coming from the singles play of Jake Michaels, Benito Romero, and Teague Hamilton. Hutton McKenna and Morgan Lebby were the only successful doubles squad winning two of three. Lightning are ranked No. 2 in Division III.
On Friday, April 8, Santa Margarita defeated Laguna 13-5 with singles earning four of the Breaker’s points. Breakers also lost on Monday, April 11, to Cerritos 10-8 with McKenna-Lebby sweeping their doubles matches 6-3, 7-6, 7-6 .
Track & Field
Laguna closed out their dual meet season with the boys defeating Costa Mesa 98 ½ to 28 ½ on April 7 at the Estancia stadium. Laguna girls defeated the Mustangs 85-40. Both teams completed their league dual meets season at 4-1 good for second place after dominating the Orange Coast league until this season.
Boys Volleyball
Breakers (13-10, 6-0) continue to roll through the Orange Coast League defeating Costa Mesa 25-11, 25-16, 25-14 on April 7 at the Mustang Gym and Calvary Chapel 25-17, 25-21, 25-19 on Monday, April 11, at the Eagles home court. Against the Mustangs (0-17, 0-5) Laguna hammered out 16 services aces as Robbie McKnight led all hitter with 14 kills. In Monday’s match with Calvary, McKnight’s 18 kills and Alek Burk with 11 led the Breakers. Jack Winn dished out 35 assists and Troy Donenfeld had 12 digs. Breakers hosted Godinez this past Tuesday and then break until April 28 when they face the Grizzlies again. League play concludes on May 2 with Costa Mesa and at Saddleback on May 4.
Don’t miss the Alumni Match on Friday, May 6, at Dugger Gym.
