Breakers can’t hold off Aztecs

In a game that featured clutch hitting by both teams Tuesday, Palm Desert came up with the final offensive punch to pull out a 6-5 victory over Laguna Beach in nonleague baseball action.

Palm Desert pushed across three runs in the top of the seventh inning to wipe out a 5-3 deficit. The visiting Aztecs used three singles, a pair of walks and a hit batter, to pull ahead, then shut down the Breakers in the bottom of the seventh to leave town with a win.

“All-in-all, we played a real quality program today and we had them beat for six innings,” said Laguna Coach Dave Dopf, whose team saw its record fall to 3-2. “We played well for most of the game and went toe-to-toe with them, but couldn’t finish in the seventh.

“Still, this game was a confidence booster for our team.”

Laguna hung around the Aztecs through the first four innings, despite being out-hit, 5-1. The Breakers managed a 2-2 tie going into the fifth.

Senior right-hander Kevin Kelly struck out three of the first four Aztecs he faced, but gave up two runs in the top of the second as Palm Desert took a 2-0 lead. Laguna, however, bounced back in the bottom-half of the frame with two runs to tie the score.

In the bottom of the inning, junior Dominick Robusto doubled high off the left-centerfield fence to get the Breakers going. Kelly and senior Garrett Rauch followed with consecutive fielder’s choice grounders in the infield, each leading to a run off Aztecs’ starter Sam Bridge.

Palm Desert regained the lead at 3-2 in the top of the fifth but as it did in the second inning, Laguna retaliated in the bottom of the fifth.

There, sophomore Dalton Sype delivered a lead-off double and junior Trevor Pierce laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runner. Senior Calvin Mead came up with an RBI single to score pinch runner Dillon Pierce which evened the score.

That set the stage for Ryan Landry, and the senior homered into the elm trees outside the fence in left-centerfield, giving Laguna a 5-3 lead.

In addition to Landry’s three-run pop, Sype finished two for three.

In its previous outing, Laguna suffered its first loss of the season in dropping an 11-2 game to Garden Grove in the semifinal round of the Newport Elks Tournament.

“I know that 11-2 score sounds to the contrary, but we have been in every game this year,” Dopf said. “That score easily could have been only 3-2, if not for a lot of our mistakes.

“But as we get ready to begin league play, I’m extremely happy with the way this team is playing.”

The Breakers open their Pacific Coast League schedule Tuesday against Calvary Chapel at 3 p.m. at Vanguard University.