Would you believe there are different levels to losing? It happens in baseball, especially when it's a tight game without errors. That's not that painful of a loss.

Last year, Corona del Mar High experienced frustrating losses, as opposed to losses in hard-fought games. This year, the Sea Kings' first loss came Friday, when they ran into a slightly better team in the Newport Elks Tournament Foothill Division championship game.

Senior pitcher Matt Torretto delivered a complete-game shutout with one strikeout, giving up three hits and three walks to lead Trabuco Hills to a 3-0 win.

The Mustangs (7-1-1), who reached the CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinals last year, return four varsity players this season, with Torretto as the top pitcher.

The loss didn't seem to sting the Sea Kings as much, as they fell to 4-1. Last year, CdM started the season, 0-10.

"When you get beat by a baseball team in a baseball game it's not nearly as bad as giving games away," CdM Coach John Emme said. "We didn't give this game away. They came out and they out-pitched us and out-clutch-hit us. That's a good baseball game. It stinks to lose, but you can live with that a lot better than kicking the ball around."

Nick Premer, a junior third baseman, led CdM with two hits. Junior center fielder Brenden Hueston singled in the fifth inning for the Sea Kings.

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