CORONA DEL MAR — Corona del Mar High baseball coach John Emme took a bit of a chance saving his ace Andrew McCormack to open the CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs.

But the choice didn't seem like any sort of risk because of Billy Macdonald.

The senior pitcher delivered a complete-game, three-hit shutout to help lead the Sea Kings to a 5-0 win over Beverly Hills (14-11) in a wild-card game Tuesday at CdM.

"We rolled the dice and came up aces," Emme said.

Macdonald struck out two and walked six. The CdM defense also played well. Junior Hunter Heckendorn had seven assists at third base and the Sea Kings (16-11) recorded three double plays.

Senior Brooks Bingham produced a pinch-hit run-scoring single in the fourth inning with two outs, driving in senior Aaron White, who singled to reach.

Senior Cort Hastings drove in Heckendorn for the second run in the fourth inning. Heckendorn got on board after being hit by a pitch.

Junior Max Stone went three for four with a run batted in.

Senior Brett Thompson and McCormack, the senior playing first base, each drove in a run.

"It was a fantastic all-around effort," Emme said. "[The Sea Kings] played flawless defense and Billy-Mac did the job we needed him to do."

CdM will play at Lancaster Friday at 3:15 p.m., when the Stanford-bound McCormack gets the start. Lancaster (15-10) is the Golden League champion.

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