Corona del Mar’s Tommy Wilcox throws third straight shutout in win over Laguna Hills

Corona del Mar High’s baseball team can now enjoy its spring break.

The Sea Kings went 4-0 during the Newport Rib Co. Tournament, outscoring their opponents 45-8 the last four days.

Tommy Wilcox led the way in the finale, tossing his third straight shutout in a 15-0 win at home over Laguna Hills on Tuesday.

Wilcox struck out seven, walked two and allowed four hits. The junior has thrown 24 straight scoreless innings.

“Tommy’s third shutout in a row is pretty impressive. You don’t see that very often,” CdM coach John Emme said. “J.T. [Schwartz] started us with a bang [by hitting a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning]. He lit up that ball. Offense was great today, defense played great behind Tommy. Every play got made. It was a full team effort and we put up some runs in this tournament.

“We have some time off and hopefully we can bring this momentum with us when we come back to [Pacific Coast League play next week].”

The Sea Kings, who improved to 14-5 overall and are ranked No. 6 in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 poll, are in second place in league at 7-2, a game back of No. 1 Beckman.

Schwartz finished two for two with four runs batted in, a triple, two runs and a walk. The UCLA-bound senior was also hit by a pitch.

CdM’s Nick Rottler had a two-run homer and Luc Stuka a two-run triple. Nick Gilbert, Alex Rosen and Garin Friedman each had two hits.

“This tournament was really good for us,” Schwartz said. “We just broke out and everyone has contributed this week. Everybody got in the game, we were loose, having fun and playing baseball.”

CdM opened the floodgates by scoring five runs in the second and six in the third to take a 12-0 lead.

The offense on the other side was silenced by Wilcox, who improved to 6-1. The last time Wilcox allowed a run was on March 27, when Irvine scored in the fourth inning of the Sea Kings’ 12-1 win in league.

Mitchell Zone went two for three for Laguna Hills (9-10), and Connor A’Hearn was one for three. The Hawks will play at Costa Mesa in their final game of the Newport Rib Co. Tournament on Wednesday at 3 p.m.

The Sea Kings won’t play again until April 24, when they travel to take on Northwood in league.

“I think the [rest of] week off is going to help us a lot,” said Wilcox, who threw 87 pitches in his fourth consecutive complete game. “We’re a little bit banged up, but we’ll get it done.”

MANNY ALVAREZ is a contributor to Times Community News. Follow him on Twitter: @MAlvarez02