Estancia gains steam

Pizza came to Matt Sorensen’s home Friday night. It wasn’t to celebrate a high school baseball season heading in the right direction. The food was for a fantasy baseball draft directed by the Estancia High coach.

Sorensen, in his third year with the Eagles, tries to create activities like a fantasy baseball league to encourage bonding. There are 12 teams in the league made up of Estancia players. Some teams have two owners. They don’t play for money. They compete for bragging rights, and fill up the message board on the website with plenty of trash talk.

The bonding certainly hasn’t hurt the Eagles this season. Estancia, which went a combined 5-19 in the Orange Coast League in Sorensen’s first two seasons, is 3-1 in league, and 8-6 overall as it begins play in the Beach Pit Classic, the 15-team tournament that starts today. The four-day tournament that ends Wednesday, also features Corona del Mar, Costa Mesa and Newport Harbor. The games are played at the four Newport-Mesa District teams’ fields.

Estancia will face Laguna Hills in the first round at 10:30 a.m. at the Eagles’ diamond. Andres Gonzalez will start for Estancia.

“We had a weenie-roast bonfire at the beach and now we’re going with a fantasy baseball draft,” Soresensen of the team’s activities. “It’s a lot of fun.”

Sorensen and his team have also enjoyed winning games. He realizes the Hawks (6-6) will provide a good challenge, but he’s up for it. He believes the action during the team’s spring break will help his team’s quest to reach the CIF Southern Section playoffs for the first time since 1992.

Newport Harbor (10-2) and Corona del Mar (5-7) will try to bounce back from crushing losses suffered Thursday. Costa Mesa (6-5) won big Thursday, beating Laguna Beach, 12-4.

Newport Harbor, which lost to Edison, 4-3, will play host to San Juan Hills in the first round at 10:30 a.m.

CdM, which fell to Beckman, 6-5, in eight innings, will play host to Villa Park, also at 10:30. Sea Kings Coach John Emme, who is the tournament director, likes to call that first-round matchup, “The Tim DeCinces Game.” DeCinces, the owner of the Beach Pit, played at Villa Park before transferring to CdM.

Costa Mesa opens at home against Northwood at 10:30 a.m.

The tournament originally had 16 teams, but Segerstrom pulled out because of scheduling issues. Ventura receives a first-round bye and plays against the Estancia-Laguna Hills winner Monday at 2 p.m.

In Segerstrom’s place, CdM’s junior varsity team will play. The team will most likely include some varsity players, however.