CdM, Mesa enter CIF

Usually around this time, Corona del Mar High baseball coach John Emme looks forward to speaking in front of a classroom.

It’s away from the Sea Kings’ campus, the talk deals with legalities and coaching, but baseball still dominates the discussion.

Emme said he has been invited to Joe Marcos’ class of graduate students pursuing their master’s degree in physical education at Azusa Pacific University every year.

For the last couple of years, Emme said he and Marcos have joked about seeing each other outside the classroom.

Just maybe they’d get to talk about something other than the four-year ordeal Emme said he went through with a former player’s parent, who sued the coach for trying to harm his son’s baseball future by making him pitch too often and for allegedly making false statements about the player’s achievements.

The lawsuits were dropped, and Emme countersued for defamation.

Emme won the case, the Orange County civil jury awarding him $700,000 in damages two years ago.

This is not as rewarding as the money Emme won, but he’ll finally see Marcos on the baseball field as Corona del Mar (18-8) opens the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs Friday at Don Lugo (16-8-1) of Chino, coached by Marcos.

“We almost crossed paths last year on the diamond,” Emme said. “I really enjoy going every year [to his class] because [the students are] very interested in the whole story. We go over the ups and downs of coaching and the unfortunate fact that high school athletics is becoming litigious and I just let them know what they’re getting into.

“It’s absolutely important for those interested in coaching because when it happened, a precedent was set.”

The Sea Kings are one of two local teams that qualified for the Division III postseason. The other is Costa Mesa (15-11), which plays host to Loyola (20-8) of Los Angeles in a wild-card game today at 3:15 p.m.

When Coach Jim Kiefer heard of his good friend, Emme, facing Marcos in the first round, he laughed.

“Coaching is a small world,” Kiefer said. “Both are great. Now they’re matching up.”

Now Emme and Marcos will be the ones receiving grades for their decisions.

The first move Emme said he’s making is sending sophomore Danny Moskovits to the mound against the Mt. Baldy League champions, who average close to eight runs per game. The right-hander, with a 5-3 record and 1.80 earned-run average, receives the nod over USC-senior bound Vinnie St. John (3-3, 3.20 ERA).

“Danny’s been our guy all year long,” said Emme of the pitcher leading the team in innings (58 1/3 ), starts (10) and complete games (five). “He’ll be the same guy he’s been all year.”

Moskovits has been the Sea Kings’ most consistent pitcher, but his solid efforts were futile in CdM’s attempt to defend the Pacific Coast League championship. CdM finished second at 8-4, one game back of Laguna Hills (9-3), which won the league crown by handing CdM two of its three league losses down the stretch.

Just as last year, Emme has a club sputtering into the playoffs. If it continues, CdM might find itself ousted from the opening round for the second straight year and fall short of winning Emme his third section title in his 10-year CdM career.

“We just need to make the plays on the field and get key hits,” said Emme, whose team ended last season on a four-game losing streak in which it got shut out three times, including a 2-0 loss at Westminster in the playoffs. “The last two years [at the end], that has definitely not been the case.

“We have the talent. We just have so many guys, and all are not performing. Jake [Lemmerman] and Austin [Elliott] have carried us all year. You just can’t rely on two guys. This a five-game tournament if you want to win it all.”

For the Sea Kings it is five games, but for the Mustangs it is six if they want the section crown.

But with Kiefer guiding his first high school team to the postseason in his eight-year coaching career, he’s taking it one game at a time.

With good reason, too, because Costa Mesa squeezed into the postseason for the first time since 2001 with a 7-5 victory over cross-town rival Estancia Wednesday.

In his second year at Costa Mesa, Kiefer avoided getting swept by the Eagles and got into the playoffs by securing second place in the Orange Coast League with Garrick Williams’ late-inning act.

Williams, who literally won the game for the Mustangs with two scoreless innings of relief and by scoring the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth, gets the nod today against Loyola.

The senior right-hander with a 4-5 record faces a an all boys Jesuit preparatory school that has won 13 of its last 14 games.

Ace Jordan Sigman will most likely start for the Cubs, the third-place team out of the Mission League. The senior has impressed major league scouts, as he’s 10-0 with a 2.90 ERA and has 45 strikeouts in 60 1/3 innings.

For the Mustangs, facing a possible Major League prospect doesn’t compare to what they’re experiencing right now.

“None of us have ever been in the playoffs. We’re all excited,” said Costa Mesa outfielder Gabe Sanchez, whose infield single was the game-winning hit against Estancia. “He’s excited for us.”

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].