SPRING SPORTS UPDATE
BASEBALL (10-17, 3-9)
Laguna’s 86th varsity season concluded on Thursday, April 25, with a 5-1 loss against Newport Harbor at Skipper Carrillo Field. The game was the final league contest for the Breakers as members of the Sunset Conference, with Laguna returning next season to the Pacific Coast League, where they resided from 1987 to 2006. Against the Sunset, Breakers went 20-37 in seven seasons, while in 20 years of the Pac Coast, they were less successful at 93-201. In last Thursday’s game, Noah Neufeld’s lone run came in the first inning with a home run. Newport took control of the game with a 3-run fifth inning aided by a hit batter, a wild pitch and an error.
FINAL Statistical Leaders thru 27 games:
Batting Average – .314 Noah Neufeld; Hits: 23 – Lucien Reed; Doubles: 5 – Reed; Home Runs: 2 – Neufeld, Runs scored: 12 – Becker Sybirski; RBI’s: 13 – Neufeld; Stolen Bases: 11 – Reed; Innings Pitch: 61.2 – Becker Sybirski; ERA: 1.47– Branson Wade (W3, L4); Strikeouts 63 – Becker Sybirski
BOYS GOLF (3-13, 0-6)
Laguna lost their final Sunset Wave League match with a 214-190 loss to Newport Harbor at Mesa Linda Golf Club in Costa Mesa last Wednesday, April 24. The match tri-medalists shot 37, including Joshua Bellisime, Laguna and Newport’s Zack Moreau and Aiden O’Shea. Additional scores for Laguna included Russell-Franconi-Krychman 43, Kiyan Arshadi 44, Chase Tyson 45, Evan Kretschmer 45, Luke Bo 45, and Hudson Mills 47.
Breaker JV squad (10-6, 5-1) under coach Tom Levinstein defeated Newport 191-199 to take a share of the Sunset Wave League title. Noah Kimball was the match medalist with a 34 score.
GIRLS LACROSSE (12-4, 0-4)
The Breakers were edged 10-8 by league champion Edison in the regular season’s final game. Laguna opened D3 SSCIF playoffs on May 2 at Chadwick (9-7). If the Breakers win, the next round is Saturday, May 4, possibly at Guyer Field against Cate or at Millikan in Long Beach.
FINAL SSCIF D3 Poll: 1 – San Marcos, 2 – Orange Lutheran, 3 – Temecula Valley, 4 – El Dorado, 5 – Glendale, 6 – Northwood, 7 – Laguna Beach, 8 – ML King, 9 – Murrieta Valley, 10 – Cate.
SWIMMING
Ava Knepper smashed two school records, capturing the 50 and 100 freestyle at the Sunset Wave League meet at the Golden West College on April 25. Knepper set her marks in the preliminaries with 23.37 in the 50 and 51.61 in the 100. The old records were set in 2018 (50) and 2017 (100) by Kasey Karkoska. Knepper is seeded #4 for the 50 and 12th in the 100 at the D1 SSCIF Meet held this week. At the Wave meet, Edison won the team title for both boys and girls, while the Breakers were a distant fourth.
Chase Shipp, Sunset League and SSCIF D2 Champion, made the cut at the SSCIF Masters Dive Meet this past Tuesday and will compete in the State Dive meet next month, May 9, at Clovis High School.
BOYS TENNIS (3-3, 3-12) 2nd Place – SUNSET WAVE LEAGUE
Breakers opened the SSCIF D-3 playoffs on Wednesday, May 1, at Trabuco Hills (7-9), losing on games 67-72, with both teams taking nine sets. Luke Jolley won in singles 6-1, 6-0, 6-0, while doubles teams Sam Wong/Chris Herkins won 7-6, 6-3, 6-2, and Owen Britt/Lucas Silverman also swept 6-4, 6-2, 5-0.
TRACK & FIELD
Laguna finished a distant fourth at the Sunset Wave League meet held April 26 at Huntington Beach High School. Jackson Kollock was the lone event champion for the Breakers, capturing the Shot Put with a 49-10 toss.
Boys Scores: Huntington 98, Newport 71, Marina 49, Laguna 15; Girls: Huntington 96, Newport 79, Marina 58, Laguna 13.
Alumni Note:
Princeton Women’s Water Polo (23-6) defeated Michigan 10-9 last week to capture the Collegiate Water Polo Association and a berth in the NCAA Championships this weekend at California. Six of the 2024 Princeston roster are from Laguna Beach: Charlotte Riches, Ava and Grace Houlahan, Rachael Carver and CiCi Stewart from Laguna Beach HS and Olivia Krotts, who prepped at Mater Dei. Ava scored three goals in the title game, with Riches, Grace, and Krotts adding a score.
Have a note/question on Laguna Beach sports/correction/update? E-mail Frank at [email protected]. Looking for the 2023-24 high school schedules and scores? Check Laguna Beach High School on the Max Preps website.
