CdM solid at showcase

IRVINE — At the start of the home run derby which preceded Saturday’s 11th annual Ryan Lemmon Foundation Showcase baseball game, the announcer threw a good-natured curve.

Introducing Corona del Mar High senior Jake Lemmerman, the Duke-bound co-MVP of the Pacific Coast League, the announcer mentioned that Lemmerman hit 10 home runs this year.

“But we all know CdM Coach John Emme keeps a short porch out there at CdM,” he said, before Lemmerman mentioned that seven of his 10 homers were hit on the road.

“I don’t know what his deal is,” Lemmerman said with a smile after the Pacific Coast League fell to the Sea View League, 11-4, in the final of three games at the showcase at Windrow Park. “Our field is only like 10 feet shorter than other fields, and Laguna Hills is the same.”

Lemmerman was slow to warm up in his semifinal heat of the derby and couldn’t make it into the finals, although his last two pitches he saw he crushed over the center-field fence.

But the focus Saturday was really on the team — and CdM was extremely well-represented in the nightcap.

Out of nine starters for the PCL, six — shortstop Lemmerman, third baseman Greg Garte, first baseman Chris Rosen, left fielder Vinnie St. John, right fielder Austin Elliott and catcher Michael Di Rocco — were Sea Kings.

“I was the late scratch,” said CdM’s laughing Michael Ford, who would later sub in to play first base. “It’s fun to get one more game after it’s over. After that tough loss against Crespi [in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs], it’s good to get another crack at it. We’re just out here having fun.”

The Sea View League jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two innings and cruised from there, but the game wasn’t totally about the final score.

“We’re just out here to be with our buddies and play the game of baseball that we love to play,” Di Rocco said. “It’s nice to have a last game where you’re actually having fun out there and not freaking out.”

Lemmerman had a single in three at bats and scored a run, and Elliott drew a fourth-inning walk. Elliott, who will play next season for Orange Coast College, was also named the PCL’s recipient of a $500 scholarship from the Ryan Lemmon Foundation.

“I didn’t expect to get [the scholarship],” Elliott said. “That was a big surprise.”

Garte, who recorded three putouts at third base, said it was a nice way to end his high school career, with friends who he had grown up playing with since Little League.

“It’s a good reflection on our team,” Garte said. “With six guys [starting], that’s two-thirds of a team. It’s a good indicator of how CdM baseball was this year, it shows the quality of our team.

“We’ve played together for all this time. It’s a good way to cap it all off.”

St. John, bound for USC, pitched in the sixth, allowing a run and striking out a batter.

Kyle Ammons of Huntington Beach won the home run derby, edging Jourdan Watanabe by a single point.

Emme was one of five coaches in the game for the PCL.

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or at [email protected].