PRIDE OF THE COAST TOURNAMENT : Welcome Break for Corona del Mar Results in Title

If Corona del Mar could, it would probably stay in the Pride of the Coast Tournament and never return to the Sea View League.

The Sea Kings finished a romp through the tournament with a 9-2 victory over Marina in the title game Wednesday at Estancia High. Corona del Mar beat Santa Fe Springs Sante Fe, ninth-ranked Irvine, Rancho Alamitos and Marina by a combined score of 39-12.

But when the Sea Kings (8-6) return to reality, they will be re-entering league play with a 0-4 record.

“This nonleague stuff is great,” said Corona del Mar Coach Scott Majers, whose team finished third in the Pride of the Coast last year. “This tournament has been good for us. It got us going last year. Maybe we can do the same this year.”

A winless record in four Sea View League games is not exactly a disgrace--two of the Sea Kings’ four losses have come against ranked teams.

But a lot has changed since those four losses. Majers has discovered three solid starting pitchers in Dave Angeloni, Kevin Stuart and Dan MacMillan--and a reliever in Bryson Groat.

Stuart, a freshman, pitched a two-hit shutout in the semifinals against Rancho Alamitos, and MacMillan gave up six hits in going the distance Wednesday. MacMillan (2-0), who had been Majers’ short reliever, had four strikeouts and three walks and allowed one earned run.

“He came up to me and said, ‘Hey, I want the ball for this game,’ ” Majers said. “He’s a bulldog. If you throw strikes, good things happen.”

And if you hit the ball hard, good things happen, too.

The Sea Kings had 12 hits, all singles, but they seemed to find holes in the Marina defense.

“They hit the ball where we weren’t,” Marina Coach Paul Renfrow said. “Give them credit.”

But Marina (10-7) gave Corona del Mar more than credit. The Vikings gave the Sea Kings two first-inning runs when Angeloni’s tap in front of the plate was thrown into right field by catcher Joe Snyder. One run scored on the play, and MacMillan’s grounder to second scored Angeloni.

From there, the Sea Kings’ bats took over. Mike Knecht had a run-scoring single in the third, then Corona del Mar got four consecutive two-out, two-strike hits by Angeloni, MacMillan, Jim Huston and Cam Hoover to score three more runs. Hoover’s single to center scored two runs. Lead-off batter Dave Matsen was three for three with two RBIs and a walk.

In other tournament games:

Rancho Alamitos 10, Brea-Olinda 5--Nathan Freeman had three hits, including a triple and a home run, and four RBIs to lead Rancho Alamitos (10-3) in the third-place game.

Santa Fe Springs Santa Fe 4, Orange Lutheran 0--Ryan DeWitt struck out nine and walked four to earn the victory for Santa Fe (12-1) in the consolation final.

With two out in the bottom of the seventh, Orange Lutheran (8-5) loaded the bases on an Eric Glessner single and two walks, but was unable to capitalize.

Katella 7, Estancia 6--Eric Gardiner singled home the winning run in the bottom of the seventh for Katella (11-5) in the fifth-place game. Jaret Wright had a two-run home run in the first inning for the Knights.

Huntington Beach 10, Newport Harbor 0--Brian Batson had two hits and drove in five runs for Huntington Beach (8-9). Ryan Brannan (3-4) pitched a two-hitter and Craig Daedelow was three for three for the Oilers.

Bolsa Grande 4, Century 3--Adam Gilbert drove in the winning run with a two-out single in the top of the seventh for Bolsa Grande (4-8-1).