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High School Baseball: Newport Harbor sweeps Battle of the Bay doubleheader for second straight season

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Here’s a hashtag that won’t be trending any time soon in the Corona del Mar area: #bustoutthebrooms.

That tweet on Monday night came courtesy of @NHHSTars, the Twitter account for the Newport Harbor High baseball team. It was reaction to the Sailors’ sweep of the Battle of the Bay doubleheader against rival Corona del Mar at UC Irvine’s Anteater Ballpark.

The Sailors’ sweep set off their spirited celebration after beating the Sea Kings, 3-2, in the nightcap. Newport Harbor won the first game, 3-1. Twin brothers Jake and Luke Genova, juniors for the Sailors, delivered a clutch hit in each game to give the Tars the sweep for the second straight season.

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“It’s the greatest feeling in the world,” Jake Genova said of sweeping the Sea Kings.

Jake Genova, the younger twin by nine minutes, was like the rest of the players, thrilled to play on a college baseball diamond.

“It’s a special place,” Jake Genova said of Anteater Ballpark.

And, he should know. It’s the site where last year he produced the sacrifice fly that drove in the game-winning run.

This year, he smacked a ground ball down the right-field baseline in the top of the seventh inning that drove in Rigsby Duncan for the 3-2 win. Jake Genova pumped his fist as he ran toward first base while his teammates cheered loudly from the Newport Harbor dugout.

In the first game, Luke Genova singled to right center in the top of the seventh to drive in Logan Mahaffy, who had reached on an error. Luke Genova also scored after Keith Marshall put the ball in play with a hard-hit ground ball to the shortstop for an error.

“It means the world,” Luke Genova said of sweeping CdM. “It’s awesome. These are our rivals. We’re buddies off the field, but on the field we want to beat each other, obviously.”

Both teams now turn their attention to the start of league play, Newport Harbor (6-3) in the Sunset at Los Alamitos, CdM (4-3) in the Pacific Coast at Irvine. Both games are on Friday, starting at 3:15 p.m.

The Sailors appeared fired up about their sweep. They had lost twice before the doubleheader, while CdM came in hot with a 4-1 record and a runner-up finish in the Newport Elks Tournament Foothill Division.

But the Sea Kings reverted to their demise from a year ago when they began 0-10 and committed errors in the first game. They also couldn’t come up with the clutch hits or big plays with runners in scoring position, CdM Coach John Emme said.

“We have to change some things offensively,” Emme said. “That’s really the only weakness for us. If we don’t we’re going to have a hard time. We have this week to see if some guys will be receptive to changes because some of their approaches to the plate they just have no idea what they’re doing up there, and it shows.”

Emme noticed the Sailors’ spirited celebration after the doubleheader.

“It’s the Battle of the Bay and they swept us,” Emme said. “Kudos to them. Our new season starts Friday and their new season starts Friday and we’ll see what happens from there.”

Freshman pitcher Chazz Martinez was a bright spot for CdM in the first game. The lefty pitched five innings, striking out five and allowing one run and two hits.

Luke Genova also had a strong start for the Sailors in Game 1. He struck out four in three innings, allowing one hit and one run. CdM freshman JT Schwartz singled in junior catcher Donato DiFerdinando, who was one of three batters who drew walks to load the bases in the third inning.

But after the Schwartz single, Luke Genova got out of the jam after inducing a fly out and then striking out the next two batters.

Senior pitcher Liam Ogburn worked the longest of all the hurlers Monday night, going six innings in the second game for the Tars. Ogburn said at first he wanted to finish the game, but Jonah Dipoto came in the seventh, allowing just one hit to Evan Larsen in his shutout frame.

“I wanted to finish, but then I thought whatever is best for the team,” Ogburn said of the final inning.

He celebrated with his teammates after the win.

“We were fired up,” he said. “Mostly because we were playing selfish in the games before that. What’s my ERA? What are my wins? All that kind of stuff. But [Monday] we really came together as a squad. We battled together. It was great.”

Newport Harbor Coach Evan Chalmers said he was proud of his team earning two wins against a much-improved team from last year.

The wins are great also because it provides the Sailors with momentum as they head into the highly competitive Sunset League. Chalmers said the league is tougher than last year, with Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley on a higher level than the other Sunset teams.

Newport Harbor will take on Marina at Angel Stadium Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.

“[The doubleheader] went just like I had talked about with them,” Chalmers said. “You try to keep it close and then in the end someone will make a big play.”

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