Laguna pounds Godinez

One down, 14 more to go.

Laguna Beach High’s baseball team took its first step toward repeating as Orange Coast League champion Tuesday by rolling to a 16-4 victory over host Godinez.

Four Breakers clubbed home runs in the lopsided win. Senior Richie Nunis was one of those Breakers and finished three for five with a double, three runs batted in and two runs scored. He also pitched an inning and struck out two. Senior Grant Wilhelm went four for six with a home run and double and drove in four runs. Seniors Preston GrandPre and Steven Harrison both hit solo homers.

Laguna, ranked sixth in CIF Southern Section Division 4, pounded out 24 hits. Sophomore Will McInerny went three for four with an RBI, freshman Dante Faicchio had two hits and three RBIs, senior Garrett Burk had two hits and an RBI, junior Callan Cochran doubled and singled and had an RBI, junior Anthony Norelli doubled among two hits, and sophomore Jack Simon singled and drove in a run.

Wilhelm also got the pitching win. He struck out four, walked one and gave up two runs in five innings in improving his record to 3-0.

“We took really great at bats and took advantage of some Godinez errors for a solid, league win,” Laguna Coach Mike Bair said.

Laguna (5-1) completed play March 14 in the Newport Elks Tournament. They dropped their final tournament game at Westminster, 4-3. Back-to-back doubles by Wilhelm and Harrison in the first inning put Laguna up, 1-0, but a few errors led to two unearned runs that allowed the Lions to build a 4-1 lead through four innings.

Laguna drew to within 4-2 in the top of the fifth when Nunis, who hit a one-out single, scored an out later on a Westminster throwing error at home plate. The Breakers closed within 4-3 in the top of the seventh when Harrison singled into left field to bring home Nunis from third.

Despite the loss, the Breakers won the Costa Mesa Division championship of the Elks Tournament. Wilhelm was named division MVP.

Other Elks Tournament champions included Esperanza (Learner Division), Beckman (Foothill Division), and Crean Lutheran (OC Division).

The season-opening tournament began March 6.

Laguna plays host to Saddleback in a 3:15 p.m. league game Friday. The Breakers also play host to league foe Estancia at 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday.

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Softball

The Breakers went to Fountain Valley Tuesday for a nonleague game with the Barons, and fell, 14-0.

Laguna started its Orange Coast League season Thursday against Estancia. The score from that opener wasn’t available at press time.

Next week, the Breakers play host to a pair of 4 p.m. nonleague games at Thurston Middle School starting with a Tuesday game against Rancho Alamitos. They’ll play host to JSerra Thursday.

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CIF Weekly Rankings

Baseball: Laguna Beach (No. 6, Division 4).