Laguna enjoys quick start
The Laguna Beach baseball team has had a lot of fun in the first two weeks of the season.
And its been winning, too.
The Breakers started the week fresh off winning the Costa Mesa bracket of the week-long Newport Elks Tournament. On Tuesday, they went to Boysen Park in Anaheim for a nonleague doubleheader against Loara and ran their win streak to start the season to seven by doubling up on the host Saxons, 4-2, and 9-6.
The pitching wins went to a pair of sophomores, Jackson Rees and Larry Stewart. Rees orchestrated a no-hitter heading into the sixth inning, where he gave way to Keaton Jones, who earned his fourth save. Offensively, Coach Jeff Sears said the Breakers got a “great-hitting effort” from Eric Peruzzi, who went three for three and drove in two runs. Jake Herbert had an inside-the-park home run.
In the 9-6 win, Peruzzi and Travis Clawson both had two hits, with Clawson registering three runs batted in. Jones tripled and scored two runs and Austin Paxson had a hit and scored three runs.
“As a team we played very well for 14 innings,” Sears said. “We need to clean up the errors to allow our pitchers to go deep in games. Our team has not played the best baseball it can yet.”
Laguna won the Costa Mesa bracket title of the Newport Elks Tournament on March 11 by blanking visiting Nogales, 8-0, getting a complete-game victory from their Joe Friday, senior Chris Paul, who has been the Breakers’ ace each Friday this season.
“We swung the bats very well,” Sears said of an offense that included Steven Harrison hitting his first home run of the season and recording three RBIs and Peruzzi with two RBIs.
Laguna begins its Orange Coast League schedule today with a 3:15 p.m. road game at Estancia. The Eagles are the defending league champion. Sears said that Paul will get the start.
Next week, the Breakers host Calvary Chapel on Tuesday and host Godinez on March 25. Both league games start at 3:15 p.m.
The Laguna baseball program will hold its annual fundraiser March 27 (4 to 7 p.m.) at The Sandpiper restaurant. The cost is $25 per person and goes to the baseball program.
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Softball
Laguna bounced back from a March 10 loss to Buena Park — its first of the young season — to score an 11-3 nonleague win Monday over visiting Los Amigos at Thurston Middle School.
Four consecutive singles through the top of the order, including an RBI by Kennedi Gherardini, scored the first run. Jordan Hartman then delivered an RBI double and Bailey Romatowski followed with a run-scoring single as the Breakers bolted to the early lead. Karinna Reiss added an RBI double in the second inning.
Gherardini also homered during a three-for-four performance that included four RBIs. Pitcher Haley Putnam went two for four with a home run and two RBIs and struck out seven in a complete-game effort.
Laguna, which began the season last week with wins over Connelly and Corona del Mar, was dealt its first loss March 10 by Buena Park. The host Coyotes blanked Laguna, 7-0. Gherardini, Putnam and Corey Kent each had a hit.
The Breakers travel to Cypress today to battle Oxford Academy in a 3:15 p.m. nonleague game. Next week, they play two more nonleague road games, first at Bolsa Grande on Tuesday, followed by a Thursday game at University.