Sears

A Laguna Beach man threatened to bomb Sears in Laguna Hills after a heated exchange with a company phone operator. Police responded at 7:12 p.m. Friday to his home in the 200 block of Diamond Street to assist the Orange County Sheriff's Department in the investigation. The resident, described to be an 80-year-old man with a small dog, had called Sears to file a complaint regarding a repair. They transferred him to their call center in Florida where he got upset and threatened to bomb the Laguna Hills location.

COSTA MESA ? The anxiety was understandable. Both teams figured to have it in Thursday?s Orange Coast League baseball game between Laguna Beach High and Costa Mesa. After all, the winner would be in sole possession of first place in league with the first round down. But, to Laguna Beach Coach Jeff Sears, it appeared that the host Mustangs did a better job of handing that anxiety. It showed in the Mustangs? better at-bats, which they used to earn a 6-1 win that bounced the Breakers to second place.

LAGUNA BEACH ? Forty-six years turned into 47 on Tuesday for the Laguna Beach High baseball team. The Orange Coast League title was so close, yet so far away after Costa Mesa topped the Breakers, 9-2, to clinch the league title outright. Laguna Beach hasn?t won a baseball league title since 1963, and that remains true, regardless of the result of Thursday?s game at Costa Mesa. The Mustangs hadn?t won a league title since 1978 themselves, and what Laguna Beach Coach Jeff Sears saw was a hungrier group from Costa Mesa.

In a four-year span, Jeff Sears took the Laguna Beach High baseball program to places it had never been before. In the recently completed 2011 season, the Breakers won a league championship for the first time in 48 years, won a record number of games (27) for a single season and reached the quarterfinal round of the CIF Division 4 playoffs for the first time. But starting in 2012, the baseball program will be under new direction. On Tuesday, Sears became the new head baseball coach at Servite.

LAGUNA BEACH — At 10 years old, Laguna Beach native Brandon Sears first competed in the Victoria Skimboards World Championship of Skimboarding with a Victoria “foamie” board. He’s been a mainstay at “The Vic,” making it to the final heat of the professional division several times but never coming out with a win. That changed Sunday, as Brandon C. Sears – also known simply as “BCS” – got his win, taking the professional division final at the 33rd annual event held over the weekend at Aliso Beach.

LAGUNA BEACH --- At 10 years old, Laguna Beach native Brandon Sears first competed in the Victoria Skimboards World Championship of Skimboarding with a Victoria “foamie” board. He’s been a mainstay at “The Vic,” making it to the final heat of the professional division several times but never coming out with a win. That changed Sunday, as Brandon C. Sears  – also known simply as “BCS” – got his win, taking the professional division final at the 33 rd annual event held over the weekend at Aliso Beach.

Victoria Skimboards' Brandon Sears came out on top of a competitive field of more than 100 contestants to win the third annual Laguna Surf and Sport Pro/Am Skim contest held at Thalia Street beach. The event drew several local amateurs but it was the pros who showed off their aggressive, technical riding. Victoria Skimboards athletes Jaime Kaya Lovett and Brandon Rothe took second- and third-place, respectively. Sears, 19, and Lovett, 16, both wowed the crowd with a 360 shuv-it on his way out to the wave, followed by a wrap barrel.

This may be the year that the Laguna Beach High baseball team can accomplish big things. ?This process started three years ago,? Coach Jeff Sears said. ?Now it?s time to reap the benefits. We believe we?re a pretty good ballclub.? Laguna finished 14-14 last year, second in the Orange Coast League to Costa Mesa and lost in the CIF Southern Section Division IV first round to eventual-champion San Dimas. The Breakers have not won a league title in 47 years. ?We?re a baseball school, and our kids are starting to buy into that,?

During his senior year of college, Jeff Sears suffered a gnarly injury during a baseball game when an outfielder missed his target and hurled a ball directly into Sears’ face. That incident marked the end of his days as a third baseman and the beginning of his career as a coach. In his college years, he thought pro baseball might be in his future. But that fateful game pointed Sears in a whole new direction. “I didn’t find coaching,” he said. “Coaching found me.” Now, with 18 years’ experience under his belt, Sears is embarking on his first season as head coach of the Laguna Beach High varsity team.

In a four-year span, Jeff Sears took the Laguna Beach High baseball program to places it had never been before. In the recently completed 2011 season, the Breakers won a league championship for the first time in 48 years, won a record number of games (27) for a single season and reached the quarterfinal round of the CIF Division 4 playoffs for the first time. But starting in 2012, the baseball program will be under new direction. On Tuesday, Sears became the new head baseball coach at Servite.

A Laguna Beach man threatened to bomb Sears in Laguna Hills after a heated exchange with a company phone operator. Police responded at 7:12 p.m. Friday to his home in the 200 block of Diamond Street to assist the Orange County Sheriff's Department in the investigation. The resident, described to be an 80-year-old man with a small dog, had called Sears to file a complaint regarding a repair. They transferred him to their call center in Florida where he got upset and threatened to bomb the Laguna Hills location.

This may be the year that the Laguna Beach High baseball team can accomplish big things. ?This process started three years ago,? Coach Jeff Sears said. ?Now it?s time to reap the benefits. We believe we?re a pretty good ballclub.? Laguna finished 14-14 last year, second in the Orange Coast League to Costa Mesa and lost in the CIF Southern Section Division IV first round to eventual-champion San Dimas. The Breakers have not won a league title in 47 years. ?We?re a baseball school, and our kids are starting to buy into that,?

LAGUNA BEACH — At 10 years old, Laguna Beach native Brandon Sears first competed in the Victoria Skimboards World Championship of Skimboarding with a Victoria “foamie” board. He’s been a mainstay at “The Vic,” making it to the final heat of the professional division several times but never coming out with a win. That changed Sunday, as Brandon C. Sears – also known simply as “BCS” – got his win, taking the professional division final at the 33rd annual event held over the weekend at Aliso Beach.

LAGUNA BEACH --- At 10 years old, Laguna Beach native Brandon Sears first competed in the Victoria Skimboards World Championship of Skimboarding with a Victoria “foamie” board. He’s been a mainstay at “The Vic,” making it to the final heat of the professional division several times but never coming out with a win. That changed Sunday, as Brandon C. Sears  – also known simply as “BCS” – got his win, taking the professional division final at the 33 rd annual event held over the weekend at Aliso Beach.

LAGUNA BEACH ? Forty-six years turned into 47 on Tuesday for the Laguna Beach High baseball team. The Orange Coast League title was so close, yet so far away after Costa Mesa topped the Breakers, 9-2, to clinch the league title outright. Laguna Beach hasn?t won a baseball league title since 1963, and that remains true, regardless of the result of Thursday?s game at Costa Mesa. The Mustangs hadn?t won a league title since 1978 themselves, and what Laguna Beach Coach Jeff Sears saw was a hungrier group from Costa Mesa.

COSTA MESA ? The anxiety was understandable. Both teams figured to have it in Thursday?s Orange Coast League baseball game between Laguna Beach High and Costa Mesa. After all, the winner would be in sole possession of first place in league with the first round down. But, to Laguna Beach Coach Jeff Sears, it appeared that the host Mustangs did a better job of handing that anxiety. It showed in the Mustangs? better at-bats, which they used to earn a 6-1 win that bounced the Breakers to second place.

The advantages of riding Aliso waves year-round was evident when the final round of the Professionals division in the 32nd annual Victoria Skimboards World Championships of Skimboarding came down to four Laguna Beach natives Sunday. The two-day event took place at Aliso Beach, which served up a mixture of sun and clouds and produced some gnarly three- to five-foot swells for competitors from all over the world to show off their skills. Brandon Rothe took the 2008 title, followed by last year’s winner Bill Bryan in second, Brandon Sears in third place, and Brendan “Noogie” Stevens in fourth.