Sailors will battle in Sunset League

At one point, nine seniors were going to play for Newport Harbor High’s baseball team.

Cut one-third off that number and that’s what Evan Chalmers has in his second year as the Sailors head coach.

With three players not returning for their senior year, including last year’s ace in left-handed pitcher Drew Harris, the Sailors still look to be competitive.

They’ve shown early on that they will be this season.

Chalmers has seen his team battle as four of the first five games have been decided by three or fewer runs.

The Sailors won two of those games, and Chalmers is hoping they win more before they play in the Sunset League, which is considered tougher than their old league, the Sea View.

“We’re going to have to depend on the young guys, because out of the starters, four are juniors and one is a sophomore,” Chalmers said. “We’re real thin, and my hope is our seniors develop as leaders and show commitment.”

Chalmers is counting on seniors Brett Houten (second base), P.J. Errington (third base), Jarrett Daniel (center field) and Brett Rogers (first base) to take charge.

So far Houten, Errington and Daniel are leading the way with their bats. Houten leads the team with a .563 batting average (nine for 16 with six RBIs).

Errington, an All-Newport-Mesa performer as a junior who was also second-team all-league last year, is hitting .500 with four RBIs, while Daniel is hitting .471 with three RBIs.

A junior off to a good start at the plate is R.J. D’Cruz, who leads the team with eight RBIs and has hit a home run. He is hitting .438. D’Cruz, a right-hander, will also pitch, along with junior Patrick Brennan, up from junior varsity.

With three home runs already this season (Houten and Daniel have also gone deep), the Sailors are one away from matching last season’s total.

The two starters will try to replace Harris’ production from last year, when he went 7-5 with a 1.96 earned-run average and became the lone Newport Harbor player to be named first-team All-Sea View League.

Harris picked up more than half of Newport Harbor’s wins last year, as it finished 13-12. Improving on that record will be a challenge for the Sailors.

Brennan is 1-0 and Rogers has the other pitching victory.

“We’re shooting to make a playoff spot,” said Chalmers, whose team missed qualifying for the postseason last year after finishing fourth in league. “The school hasn’t been to the playoffs since 1990, so it’s a big goal of ours.”

To reach the playoffs Chalmers said the team will also need to stay healthy. Two outfielders have been hit with injuries, junior Eric Bonn (fractured foot) and senior Brice Stillman (broken finger).

Bonn started half of last year’s games and Stillman joined the team from junior varsity. Chalmers said the two should be key contributors when they are able to return.

“Stillman can run the bases, and we have a couple of other guys who can aggressively,” said Chalmers, referring to junior Ben Frazier and Daniel. “We’re going to need our team speed in our league against [league] favorites Esperanza and Los Alamitos.”

Newport Harbor visits Back Bay rival Corona del Mar today at 3 p.m.

The Sailors open Sunset League play Friday with a 3 p.m. confrontation at home against Esperanza.

THE SAILORS

3 Jacob McCann Fr.

4 Ben Frazier Jr.

5 Brett Houten Sr.

6 R.J. D’Cruz Jr.

7 Brett Rogers Sr.

8 Jarrett Daniel Sr.

9 Brice Stillman Sr.

10 Nick Svendsen So.

11 Patrick Brennan Jr.

15 P.J. Errington Sr.

20 Eric Bonn Jr.

27 Harold Levy Sr.

Coach: Evan Chalmers

(second year)