FONTANA — Lucien Reed went 2 for 4, scored two runs and drove in the game-winning run with a triple as the Laguna Beach baseball team defeated Summit 7-5 in a CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoff opener Thursday afternoon.
The Breakers (25-3) will host Norco in the second round Tuesday afternoon. Summit (25-4) saw its 22-game winning streak snapped with the loss.
Laguna Beach’s offense exploded for five runs in the second inning. Thomas Gonzales stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and single home Reed and Dylan Yencho. Otis Boultinghouse singled home another run, and Becker Sybirski capped the big inning with a two-run double.
“We were able to stay on the fastball,” Breakers coach Ryan Belanto said. “We’ve been swinging it pretty well recently and we just kind of were able to put the ball in the gap, we were able to hit a couple flares and things ended up dropping for us.”
Summit starting pitcher Kody Smathers pitched 1 2/3 innings, allowing four hits and five runs before being replaced by Ryan Oaks. Oaks pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing two runs while striking out five.
“(I was) just telling them that we have quite a few at-bats left,” Summit coach Samuel Lopez said when asked what he told his dugout after the early deficit. “And start chipping away and give us a shot so we’re in the ball game at the end.”
And chipping away is exactly what the SkyHawks did.
After back-to-back singles in the third, Sammy Lopez tripled to bring in Evan Spencer and Issac Castanon. Lopez touched home after an RBI single from Ian Stewart to help Summit cut the deficit to 5-3
Laguna’s starting pitcher Branson Wade pitched three innings, allowing three runs and striking out three batters. In the fourth, Thomas Gonzales took over on the mound for the Breakers He pitched four innings, allowing two runs and five strikeouts.
In the fifth inning, a single by Castanon and two walks loaded the bases for Summit. Smathers singled to right field and tied the game at 5.
Coach Lopez credited his team for not giving up and giving themselves the opportunity to fight, despite the early deficit.
Although Laguna Beach’s offense had quieted down after the second inning, there was still one more vital inning of baseball left to play.
After Oaks walked Sybirski in the seventh inning, Reed tripled home a run to put the Breakers back on top..
“It wasn’t just me, that was a team effort,” Reed said. “For me personally, I didn’t want to let the moment get too big, it’s just like any other at-bat there. Runner in scoring position, just try to get the ball in play, just try to get him over.”
Yencho added an RBI double later in the inning.
“There’s no easy draw, there’s no easy game,” Belanto said. “We have to come out and play every single time. It’s great to get this first one and we’re just gonna concentrate on the next one.”
