UP-N-COMING: Laguna Beach JV squad captures league title

The Laguna Beach High School Junior Varsity baseball team capped off an excellent 2009 season by defeating the Costa Mesa Mustangs, 15-5 at Skipper Carrillo Field last Thursday. It was the 10th straight win for the Breakers, and ninth victory under the 10-run “mercy rule.” With the win, the Breakers locked up first place in the Orange Coast League, finishing the season with a 10-2 league and a 16-8 record overall.

Throughout the season the Breakers had excellent pitching from their three left-handed starting pitchers: Sawyer Pierce, Alex Ianotti, and Alex Lebon. The bullpen of Brenna Laughlin, Santi Pierini, Jack Pillsbury, Travis Clauson and Jake Herbert helped limit the opponents scoring.

While pitching was stellar, it was the powerful hitting that helped Laguna outscore its opponents by a three-to-one margin this year. Home run leaders were Sawyer Pierce, Santi Pierini and Mike Opera. RBI leaders were Taylor Preston, Jake Herbert, and Mike Opera. Contributing timely hits and great defensive plays were Tyler Pierce, Jackson Christy, Jack Pillsbury, Drew Romero, Harrison Williams, Brenna Laughlin and Ricky de la Torre. Rounding out the Breakers’ roster but unable to play due to injury were Rafael Vickers and Zach Graf.

Laguna’s JV coach, Mike Bair, had this to say about the season: “The Laguna Beach JV Baseball team practiced all season long with much intensity and were highly motivated to improve. We had outstanding starting pitching and timely hitting throughout the season while playing with much character and class. Our awesome team chemistry and strong work ethic delivered us a league championship this year. I was honored to be involved with such a great group of players and am excited to see their future development in this program.”

LBHS varsity Coach Jeff Sears echoed this sentiment with his assessment of the JV squad’s season, “the future looks bright for Laguna Beach baseball.”