Champs to collide

Summer ball play may be a bit different than what transpires in games during the regular season, but an intriguing prep baseball scrimmage will take place Friday between Laguna Beach High and Sage Hill School.

The matchup pits teams that captured CIF Southern Section baseball championships a month ago: Laguna won the Division 4 title, and the Lightning won the Division 6 crown. Both programs became first-time CIF champions.

The teams meet at 3 p.m. at Sage Hill.

“Sage still has some tough pitching, and we are excited to face them,” Laguna Coach Mike Bair said, noting that the teams also open the 2017 season against one another in a March doubleheader.

Next week, the Breakers face three other teams, all on the road, that contended for CIF divisional championships in June. They travel Monday to Hart Park in Orange to face Orange Lutheran which reached the Division 1 quarterfinals. On Wednesday, they visit Beckman which reached the Division 3 semifinals, and take on Woodbridge, the runner-up last month to the Division 3 title, at Ryan Lemmon Stadium in Irvine.

Laguna already has five games under its belt during summer play including three games in the past week against Newport Harbor (twice) and most recently, Wednesday at University. Scores weren’t kept in the games, Bair said.

In their three most recent games, he said key hitters on offense have been Will Bonn (Newport Harbor, July 8), Wesley Witteman (Newport Harbor, Tuesday), and Dylan Smith Wednesday against University.

“We are seeing a lot of players step up and want to win a starting job for next season,” Bair said.

Remaining Summer Baseball Schedule

Friday: at Sage Hill, 3 p.m.

Monday: vs. Orange Lutheran 4:30 p.m. (at Hart Park)

Wednesday: at Beckman, 4:30 p.m.

July 22: vs. Woodbridge, 4:30 p.m. (at Ryan Lemmon Stadium)

July 26: at Century, 4:30 p.m.

July 27: vs. Segerstrom, 4:30 p.m. (at Santa Ana Valley High)

July 28: at Tustin, 4:30 p.m.

Boys’ Basketball

The Breakers competed at the Concordia Tournament last weekend at Concordia University in Irvine, where they won three of four games at the event.

The Breakers defeated Kingsburg, Aquinas and Claremont, and their lone loss was to Northwood. Laguna Coach Bret Fleming said that forwards Adam Armstrong and Ryan Meisberger, who will be a junior and senior, respectively, in the fall, “played well.”

The Breakers also are competing in summer league play at Godinez and Dana Hills. In the last four games, they have gone 3-1 and defeated University Monday.

“We’ve been a little short-handed this summer but, the kids have really stepped up and competed,” Fleming said. “I’ve seen a lot of improvement this summer and I’m proud of how hard the guys are working .”