Prep baseball: Sea Kings crash in 15-6 setback

Barry Faulkner

CORONA DEL MAR - In a turnaround only Microsoft stockholders could

appreciate, the Corona del Mar High baseball team went from blue chip to

Black Friday in a 15-6 Pacific Coast League loss to visiting Laguna

Beach.

Nine of the first 10 Sea King hitters reached base as the hosts put a

five-spot on the board before all the players’ fathers had arrived from

work.

And with sophomore starter Cavan Cuyler mowing down Artists in search of

his fourth win in as many decisions -- four of his nine strikeouts came

in the first two scoreless innings -- it appeared as if CdM was bound for

its third high-scoring win of the week.

But, as quickly as one could say Dow Jones industrial average, the

Artists started stringing hits together.

A hit batter, three singles and a strikeout preceded Kirk Ziegler’s

towering two-run home run in the visitors’ five-run third, erasing what

would be CdM’s only lead.

Three straight Artist singles followed a leadoff double, sacrifice bunt

and a strikeout in the fourth, to help Laguna Beach post a 7-5 cushion

and take the life out of the CdM dugout.

“After beating Garden Grove Monday (16-15) and the way we played against

(Laguna Beach in a 14-3 win Tuesday), I kind of thought we were rounding

third and heading for home,” CdM Coach John Emme said. “But then, all of

a sudden, we were back standing on second.”

The Sea Kings, who had six hits the first two innings, had only two base

runners advance past second the rest of the way.

The hosts (7-6, 3-3 in league) scored again to trim the deficit to 7-6 in

the fourth, but Laguna Beach (4-7, 3-3) scored seven runs in the fifth

after two were out to make the outcome all but academic.

“They spanked us,” Emme said of the Artists’ 18-hit attack, which

included at least one hit from every spot in the lineup.

Ziegler, a junior who now has four homers, finished 3 for 5 with five

RBIs and catcher Ryan Gagnet went 3 for 5 with three RBIs.

“It looks like the old Laguna Beach team is back,” first-year Artists

Coach Mike Schubert said. “We were playing pretty well early in the year

and we opened league 2-0. But then we hit a little skid.”

It’s the Sea Kings who must now attempt to put the breaks on a

disappointing performance.

“We had a great approach (against Laguna starter John Verdugo) in the

first inning,” Emme said. “We were hitting line drives and ground balls.

But, all of a sudden, we get a lead and everyone starts trying to drop

and drive. From then on, it was F-dash (the scoring symbol for flyout)

all day long.”

Only three of the Sea Kings’ final 18 outs came in the air, but it was

clearly not the same attack that pushed Verdugo to the verge of being

pulled.

Instead, the junior left-hander, who had missed recent action with a

sprained ankle, settled in and worked into the seventh to earn his third

win in five decisions.

Andrew Johns, Cuyler and Wes Hockinson had RBI singles in the first for

the Sea Kings, who stole two runs with first-and-third double steals.

Leadoff man Dave Knecht scored the first run on the aforementioned

double-steal tactic. He finished 3 for 3 with a walk, two steals and two

runs.

CdM center fielder Billy Eagle, who made a diving catch to end the Laguna

Beach second, went 2 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base.

Johns also had two of the Sea Kings’ 10 hits.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Laguna Beach 15, Corona del Mar 6

Laguna Beach 005 270 1 - 15 18 2

Corona del Mar 500 100 0 - 6 10 1

Verdugo, Dy-Buncio (7), Bobst (7) and Gagnet; Cuyler, Martinez (5) and

McKeever. W - Verdugo, 3-2. L - Cuyler, 3-1. 2B - Knecht (CdM), Anu (LB),

Ziegler (LB) 2. HR - Ziegler (LB).