Laguna Beach went 26-3 last year and won the Orange Coast League championship with a 15-0 league record.
The Breakers might be as good this year. Maybe even better.
Laguna Beach had the best winning percentage going into this week in county baseball, at .909 with its 10-1 record.
The best players on the field are seniors, and that’s never a bad sign.
“The guys who bat 1-5 in the order are seniors,” Laguna Beach coach Mike Bair said. “Those are five solid hitters who constantly contribute.”
Steven Harrison, a senior catcher/first baseman who was All-CIF Division 4 second team last season, is batting .423 with six doubles and 10 RBI. Senior outfielder Richie Nunis is batting .450 with six doubles and 18 RBI. Senior pitcher Grant Wilhelm is hitting .459 with 15 RBI and is 4-0 with a 1.35 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 26 innings.
Senior shortstop Preston GrandPre, who signed with Cal, has 15 steals on 15 attempts.
The Breakers, ranked No. 5 in CIF-Southern Section Division 4, are 4-0 in the Orange Coast League. They have the won 22 league games in a row. Laguna Beach went 15-0 in the league last season.
Laguna Beach won the Costa Mesa Division of the season-opening Newport Elks Tournament. Its loss was to Westminster by one run. The Breakers are playing in the Anaheim Lions Tournament this week, including a 7:30 p.m. game today against West Torrance at Amerige Park in Fullerton.
After the Lions tournament, it’s back to league play and perhaps a lengthening of that league winning streak.
• The Boras Classic is in full gear, at JSerra and Mater Dei. Tuesday, JSerra is home for a 6 p.m. tournament game against Vista Murrieta, and Mater Dei plays host to Chino Hills at 6 p.m. Mater Dei’s boys basketball team beat Chino Hills in the CIF-SS Open Division championship game this year.
• Boras Classic results and schedules are updated at borasclassic.com.
• The Lions tournament continues Tuesday for the 78 teams entered. The two teams that have the best records and have allowed the fewest runs will meet in the championship game Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Glover Stadium’s Dee Fee Field at La Palma Park. Go to anaheimlionstourney.com for results and updated schedules.
• Century’s tournament starts Saturday. It has all of Santa Ana’s other public-school teams in it: Godinez, Segerstrom, Saddleback, Santa Ana and Santa Ana Valley. Costa Mesa and Calvary Chapel complete the field.
• The Ryan Lemmon Invitational begins April 12. Its entries include Valencia, which took a 9-2 record into this week, Northwood (6-1-1), Trabuco Hills (9-2) and 2013 CIF-SS Division 1 finalist Marina.
• Crean Lutheran is the only county team at No. 1 in the CIF-SS rankings. The Saints, 9-2 going into this week, are No. 1 in Division 6.
• JSerra is No. 2 in Division 1, behind Harvard-Westlake of Studio City. In Baseball America’s latest national rankings, JSerra is No. 13 and Harvard-Westlake is No. 5.
• Also in the Division 1 top 10: No. 4 Huntington Beach, No. 7 Edison, and No. 10 Trabuco Hills.
• In Division 2, Dana Hills is No. 4, San Clemente is No. 5 and Aliso Niguel is No. 10. Rancho Alamitos is No. 6 in Division 3.
• Other county teams in CIF-SS top 10s: Sonora, No. 4 in Division 4, which has Laguna Beach at No. 5; and Capistrano Valley Christian is No. 4 and St. Margaret’s is No. 8 in Division 6.
• Beckman’s Dallas Dey was 5 for 10 last week in wins over Corona del Mar and Irvine. He drove in five runs with two doubles and a triple in the Corona del Mar game.
• San Clemente senior Kent Burckle went 6 for 12 last week as the Tritons won four games.
• Rancho Alamitos is off to a 3-0 start in the Garden Grove League. Vaqueros coach Greg Pines sees a big challenge ahead: Rancho plays a home game against league-favorite and defending league champion Garden Grove on Friday. “Garden Grove clearly looks like the best team in the league,” Pines said.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
