Breakers open strong, lose last three

The Laguna Beach baseball team picked up a pair of wins in its first two games at the Anaheim Lions Tournament but lost its final three in an event that began Saturday.

The Breakers opened the tournament win a 19-2 rout of Cerritos and then came back to defeat host Anaheim 8-6.

The losses were to Long Beach Poly (5-4), JW North (12-0) and Valencia (6-3), the latter two played as a doubleheader.

Laguna Beach Coach Jeff Sears said while his team is growing more confident in their game, they still need to improve in some areas.

“We need to work on pitching to better locations,” he said. “We’ve been giving up some bad hits.”

Despite these setbacks, Sears is proud of the progression the Breakers are making.

“We hit the ball hard and played some good games,” he said. “Brennen Mulvaney went four for four, and we had some great field plays.”

Prior to the tournament, Laguna took on Costa Mesa in Orange Coast League action and dropped a 5-2 game to the visiting Mustangs at Skipper Carrillo Field.

As has been the case for much of the season, Laguna had the hits but couldn’t take advantage of scoring opportunities.

Pitchers Julian Deline and Will Burk combined to strike out three but also gave up 10 hits.

Laguna hosts Estancia in league play at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

In track and field

The Laguna Beach boys’ and girls’ teams dominated JSerra on both the track and field at Guyer Field March 20, beating the Lions by scores of 72-55 and 83-48, respectively, in nonleague meet action.

Girls’ coach Steve Lalim was proud of his team’s effort.

“We had a great day,” he said. “The kids are getting stronger and times are improving.”

Laguna turned in strong times and marks in both distance and sprint events as well as field events.

Maggie Newton went 5:25 in the 1,600-meters to capture first-place. Jessica Goodman was a double winner in taking both the 400-meters (1:03) and 200 (28:19). Sabina Seyster won the 100 in 13.59.

In field events action, Seyster hit 14 7 3/4 to take first-place in the long jump, and Sam Garner won the shot put (23 2 1/2 ) and discus (66 2 5/8 ).

The boys’ distance runners are still turning in some top times.

Earning first-place finishes were Tommy Newton in the 1,600-meters with a time of 4:50:50, Yann Panassie took the 3,200 in 10:36:90 and Sheldon Eaton won both the 110- and 300-hurdles with times of 15:62 and 41:49, respectively.

First-place winners on the field were Brett Linkletter in long jump (19-3), Spencer Jones in triple jump (39 8 1/4 ), Jesse Wang in high jump (5-8) and Mitchell McMullin in shot put (39 8 1/4 ).

The Breakers next will travel to Costa Mesa Thursday for a 3 p.m. Orange Coast League opener with the Mustangs.

“” Ashley Breeding

?

In boys’ tennis

Laguna put on a strong performance in its Orange Coast League opener against Calvary Chapel on March 20 and posted a 16-2 victory over the host Eagles.

The Breakers grabbed all nine available points in doubles action with sweeps going to the No. 1 team of Ben Biscarrat/Jared Berkson (6-2, 6-0, 6-1) and No. 3 Mike Rubel/John Palfreyman (6-2, 6-0, 6-0). At No. 2 doubles, Graham Unterberger/Paul Salomon won 6-4 and 6-3, before the team of Bryant Schulman/Robbie Wagner subbed in and won the final set 6-0.

In singles play, freshman Benito Romeo swept (6-1, 6-1, 6-0) at No. 2 and sophomore Alex Gromet won two of three (7-6, 6-1) at No. 3.

“It was a good way to open up league,” Laguna Coach Jonee Earl said. “Starting out strong gives our kids some confidence.”

Laguna, now 3-4 overall, returns to league play Tuesday with a home match at 3:15 p.m. against Costa Mesa. The Breakers will play at defending league champion Estancia at 3:15 p.m. Thursday.

The Breakers will get senior Sean Ochwat back in the lineup for next week’s action but Wagner, an alternate, could be sidelined with a broken arm, Earl said.

“” Mike Sciacca