SEA VIEW LEAGUE BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Corona del Mar Breezes Into Tie for Second

Corona del Mar rode a stiff onshore breeze into the Southern Section baseball playoffs Thursday with a 9-5 victory over visiting Newport Harbor, clinching a second-place tie with Saddleback in the Sea View League finale for both teams.

Facing a must-win situation, Sea King junior left-hander C.W. Ramsay pitched six innings for Corona del Mar, striking out five, walking three and yielding eight hits before fading during a Newport Harbor rally in the seventh.

Corona del Mar (12-10-1, 8-6-1 in league) staked Ramsay to a 9-0 lead before Newport Harbor (10-13, 8-7) could get its offense going in the final two innings.

“We came out swinging today,” Corona del Mar Coach Scott Magers said. “Ramsay gave an awesome performance both pitching and hitting. We wanted to get on the scoreboard early and set the tone.”

It was also the strong wind that seemed to aid Corona del Mar while confounding the Sailors.

Corona del Mar scored its first run in the first inning when Jim DeCinces’ towering infield pop fly got caught in the turbulence and eluded second baseman Aaron McKown to score Brady Lamar from third base.

Ramsay hitched the same wind in the second inning with a two-run homer to right field. Lamar, a right-handed hitter, followed, driving Greg Nielson’s pitch to right center. The wind did the rest for another home run and a 4-0 Sea King lead.