Top-Ranked Harbor Opens Quest for Regional Crown

Harbor College’s top-ranked baseball team will play host to Miracosta College of Oceanside in the first round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs at 2 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday. If necessary, they will play a third game Saturday afternoon to complete the best two-out-of-three series.

The 43-5 Seahawks, who were 20-0 in the Southern California Athletic Conference, are seeded No. 1 in the South. Miracosta is seeded 16th. The Spartans placed fourth in the Pacific Coast Conference with a 13-10 record, 18-18 overall.

“I don’t know anything about them,” said Harbor Coach Jim O’Brien. “I do know we’ll be ready to play.”

The Seahawks are strong everywhere, especially on the mound. Sophomores Pat Ahearne (10-1), Jeff Hunter (9-0), John Ingram (5-0) and Sky Lasowitz (5-0) have combined for a 3.13 earned-run average.

Harbor also has lots of power at the plate. The Seahawks have 12 batters averaging .300 or better. Sophomore Matt Nuez leads the team with a .325 percentage, 50 runs batted in, 54 hits, 50 runs scored, 14 doubles and seven home runs.