Baseball: Ruling the Orange Coast League
Four games into the Orange Coast League schedule, and the Laguna Beach baseball team sits alone atop the standings.
The Breakers continued their early success Tuesday by routing visiting Godinez, 10-0. They exploded for four runs in the first inning and hiked their lead to 8-0, through three innings. Senior right-hander Kurt Rebone, who one-hit Estancia a week earlier, no-hit the Grizzlies. He threw five innings and recorded five strikeouts.
Rebone improved to 4-0. Offensively, Preston GrandPre, Blake Hester and Richie Nunis had two hits apiece. Robbie McInerny, Will McInerny, Kaito Lee, Grant Wilhelm and Larry Stewart, each had one hit. Hester had a run batted in, Wilhelm homered with two RBIs, Robbie McInerny doubled and drove in two runs, Will McInerny doubled with an RBI, and Nunis doubled with two RBIs.
“We pitched well, played solid defense and earned 13 hits with 10 runs,” Laguna Coach Mike Bair said. “A great team win.”
Laguna, ranked No. 9 in CIF Southern Section Division 4, improved to 9-2 overall and 4-0 in league. The Breakers ended the first round of league play Thursday at Costa Mesa. The score wasn’t available at press time.
The Breakers previously posted a 6-3 win on March 22 over visiting Calvary Chapel. Senior Jackson Rees went to 4-0 in a complete-game performance, and Adam Rodner provided a key, two-run double in the sixth inning.
In its first four league games, Laguna has outscored its foes, 37-3, with three shutouts.
The Breakers took a five-game win streak into Thursday’s game with Costa Mesa.
“We were clutch defensively and offensively which is what you need to do against a good team like Calvary,” Bair said.
Laguna begins play on Saturday at the Anaheim Lions Tournament. The Breakers play two games that day starting with a 10 a.m. matchup with Troy at Amerige Park in Fullerton. They come back at 3 p.m. to face Firebaugh at Servite High in Anaheim.
The Breakers continue tourney play next week. On Monday, they play at 3 p.m. at Sonora. They play host to Capistrano Valley Christian (No. 7, Division 6) at 11 a.m. on Tuesday.
The tournament wraps on Wednesday.
“We believe our pitching depth can really help us compete well in the upcoming Lions tournament,” Bair said. “We will be coming out confident.”
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CIF Weekly Rankings (week of March 25)
Baseball: Laguna Beach (No. 9, Division 4).
Twitter: @MikeSciacca