Busy schedule for spring Breakers

It’s been a busy spring break for the Laguna Beach High School baseball team.

Since school let out on April 14, the Breakers never went on holiday. Instead, they’ve been busy participating at the Anaheim Lions Tournament, where they played five games in a five-day period.

The 24-team event, where teams are divided into pool play brackets, was played at various stadium sites throughout Anaheim and Fullerton.

Laguna wrapped up the tournament Wednesday against La Quinta of Westminster, which is ranked fourth in Division III.

The Aztecs (18-5) took a 2-0 lead, saw Laguna pull to within 2-1 through four innings, but scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth and go on to a 4-1 victory at Boysen Park.

Laguna (9-10) began the tournament Saturday and lost to Diamond Bar, 6-2, at Amerige Park. All six runs scored by the Brahmas were unearned.

“It was a tough way to start the tournament,” Laguna Coach Dave Dopf said. “We made too many mistakes and they cost us.”

The Breakers fell behind, 1-0, but managed to tie the score in the fourth inning. Diamond Bar, however, took control by scoring five runs in the fifth.

Dominick Robusto went two for four with an RBI and Dillon Pierce had an RBI single for the Breakers.

Laguna came back Monday to play two games, and the Breakers rolled to a pair of victories.

First came a 10-0 thrashing of the Anaheim Colonists at Brookhurst Park. It was the first shutout of the year for the Breakers, who racked up 11 hits.

Laguna put the game away with a seven-run outburst in the sixth.

Kevin Kelly went three for three with three RBI, Trevor Pierce went three for four with a triple, two RBI and two stolen bases, Dillon Pierce went two for four with three RBI and Ryan Landry tripled.

Senior Calvin Mead improved to 2-1 with a complete-game victory. He struck out five, gave up seven hits but didn’t allow a walk.

“He threw pretty well,” Dopf said of Mead. “He threw strikes and our defense made plays behind him.

“It was nice to put a goose egg on the scoreboard.”

Later Monday, Laguna took advantage of Long Beach Poly miscues to post a 13-3 victory at Fullerton College.

The game was called in the fifth inning by the mercy rule.

Laguna had just eight hits in the contest, highlighted by a three-run home run in the third inning by Landry, and a two-RBI hit by pinch hitter Sam Palfreyman.

The Breakers also benefited from seven errors by the Jackrabbits.

Laguna scored twice in the first inning, got three more in the fifth behind Landry’s pop and its big inning was the third when the Breakers scored eight runs.

Junior Nathan Pickett pitched all five innings. He gave up three runs on seven hits and three walks, and struck out six.

On Tuesday, Laguna had its two-game win streak snapped by the host team, Kennedy of La Palma, which scored a late run to defeat the Breakers, 3-2, at Glover Stadium.

The loss was especially frustrating to Dopf, as the setback marked the sixth time this year that the Breakers have lost a game in the opponent’s last at-bat.

“I told them after the game that we need to play for seven innings, and not six,” he said. “It’s a tough way to lose. We just need to find a way to shut the door on our opponent.”

Laguna took a 2-1 lead through five innings. Kennedy tied the score in the sixth, and the Fighting Irish scored the winning run in the seventh.

Trevor Pierce went two for three with an RBI and Landry went two for three.

“I was pleased with our performance in the tournament. We battled with some big schools and we beat a couple of them.”

Prior to the tournament, Laguna dropped another one-run decision, this time falling to visiting Northwood, 3-2, in an eight-inning Pacific Coast League affair.

Robusto came up big for the Breakers in the bottom of the sixth, as his double scored Landry to pull Laguna to within 2-1. Garrett Rauch then came up with his third hit of the day to score Rauch and tie the score.

Rauch finished the game three for four with a stolen base.

Laguna is 4-4 and in a four-way tie for third-place in the league standings. The Breakers resume PCL play at University Tuesday, then host the Trojans on April 28. Both games are at 3:15 p.m.cpt.21-spball-1-CPhotoInfoK21Q4NR020060421ixzt9bncDON LEACH / COASTLINE PILOT(LA)Laguna catcher Noah Brewster tags a Northwood baserunner at the plate for an out.