Baseball: Laguna moves closer to record
Facing one of the top pitchers in the Orange Coast League Tuesday, Laguna Beach baseball Coach Mike Bair figured his Breakers would be in for a battle when they hosted Estancia.
Instead, the Breakers turned the game into a rout.
Laguna jumped out to the lead from the start and went on to tame the Eagles, 14-1, at Skipper Carrillo Field. The win put the league-leading Breakers, ranked seventh in CIF Southern Section Division 4, at 10-0 in league and 15-6 overall.
“I thought it was a great win,” Bair said. “I think their pitcher (Connor Brown) can beat anybody, and he did a good job against us the first time we faced them. But, we came out swinging and put the game away early.”
Laguna scored three runs in its first at-bat, tacked on four more runs in the second inning, led, 8-0, through three, and took a 12-0 advantage into the sixth.
Senior Jake Smith went two for four and drove in four runs, juniors Alex Baker (two RBIs) and Zak Kovacic (double, RBI) each had three hits, senior Anthony Norelli and sophomore Dante Faicchio both had two hits and two RBIs, freshman Jeff Bruyntjens had a hit and RBI, and senior Callan Cochran had two hits.
Freshman pitcher Blake Burzell (three hits, one walk, two strikeouts) threw five scoreless innings for the win, his fourth of the season.
“Blake pitched great and our defense did a good job,” Bair said. “They (Estancia) had baserunners on in a few innings but we came up with a key double play, and Blake worked his way out of a few spots.”
Tuesday’s win over Estancia was Laguna’s fifth in succession and seventh in last eight games, and it also was the 44th consecutive win in league play for the Breakers. They now are one victory away from tying the all-time Orange County record for consecutive league victories (45, held by La Quinta).
The Breakers get a shot at No. 45 when they play at Estancia at 3:15 p.m. Friday.
“We definitely want to go out and win Friday,” Bair said. “We treat league games as though they are CIF games, with a ‘one-and-done’ mentality.
“We set a goal before the start of the season to win league, and that always has been our goal. Halfway through the season, we had heard people talking about this streak. That certainly wasn’t a goal-oriented focus for us. Winning league remains our No. 1 priority. If we achieve this (record), it would be a blessing and an nice, extra bonus.”
Bair said that Goddard will start on the mound Friday as Laguna looks to go 3-0 this year in their league series with the Eagles.
In a previous league outing, Laguna scored its six runs over the first two innings and went on to take a 6-1 home win April 24 from Saddleback to complete a 3-0 series sweep of the Roadrunners. Cochran went three for four with a double and scored twice. Baker singled and had two RBIs, Norelli, Faicchio and Bruyntjens each singled and had an RBI, and Smith had an RBI.
Ashton Goddard allowed only three hits and struck out four in four innings for the win, and the sophomore improved his record to 5-2.
After Friday’s game at Estancia, Laguna finishes its three-game league series with Calvary Chapel when the teams play twice next week. First up is a 3:15 p.m. game Tuesday at TeWinkle Park in Costa Mesa. The teams meet at 3:15 p.m. May 8 at Skipper Carrillo Field.
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CIF Weekly Rankings
Laguna Beach (No. 7, Division 4).
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Twitter: @MikeSciacca