Sailors put two in semis
Defending Sea View League boys singles champion Robert Khoury and
Newport Harbor High teammate Jake Fleming both advanced to today’s
semifinals at the first day of the league tennis championships
Wednesday at Heritage Park in Irvine.
Khoury, the No. 3 seed, defeated Kasra Menhaji of Aliso Niguel,
6-1, 6-0, in the Round of 16, then topped a Foothill competitor, 6-1,
6-2, in the quarterfinals. Khoury will meet No. 2-seeded Shimpei
Suzuki today at 1 p.m. at the same site.
Fleming, the No. 4 seed, will face top-seeded Michael McClune from
Woodbridge in another 1 p.m. semifinal. Fleming handled a Foothill
rival, 6-0, 6-0, then dispatched Barend Mitton, 6-2, 6-2, in a
quarterfinal.
The singles final will follow today’s semifinals, at approximately
3 p.m.
Newport Harbor’s Charlie Farmer defeated Eric Le from Irvine, 6-1,
6-0, in the Round of 16, before losing to McClune, 6-0, 6-4, in a
quarterfinals.
Newport’s Tyler Deck defeated Danny Desatnik from Woodbridge, 6-4,
6-4, in the Round of 16, before falling to Suzuki, 6-4, 6-3, in a
quarterfinal.
The Sailors’ doubles teams all lost in the Round of 16 Wednesday.
CdM’s Tilsen advances
* GOLF: Corona del Mar High junior Ben Tilsen shot 1-over-par 73
Wednesday to finish tied for fifth in the 36-hole Pacific Coast
League boys golf championships at El Prado Golf Course in Chino.
Tilsen, who shot 79 in Monday’s first round, advances to the CIF
Southern individual finals, scheduled May 17 at SeaCliff Country Club
in Huntington Beach.
Tilsen made four birdies in Wednesday’s round to earn his first
trip to the CIF individuals.
“I’m very proud of him, because he works really hard,” CdM Coach
Mike Starkweather said.
Sailors handle Hawks
* BASEBALL: The Newport Harbor High baseball team rallied from a
3-2 deficit with two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to
claim a 6-4 Sea View League victory over visiting Laguna Hills
Wednesday.
The win keeps the Sailors (12-10, 6-6 in league), who entered the
week one game behind third-place Woodbridge, in position to earn
their first CIF Southern Section playoff berth since 1990.
Woodbridge played the first of its two games against
league-leading Foothill Wednesday. Newport finishes its week Friday
at Laguna Hills, before playing Woodbridge twice next week, at
Windrow Park on Tuesday and at home Thursday.
Wednesday, senior Brandon Jasper’s ground-rule double plated the
first run of the fifth for the Sailors, who scored again on a
sacrifice fly by Taylor Young.
Leading, 4-3, the Tars added valuable insurance in the sixth.
Senior right fielder Andre Pinesett, who was 2 for 3 with two runs
and one RBI, sparked the rally with a triple. He scored on an errant
pickoff throw to third.
Junior Matt Erickson walked and stole second, and, with some
daring baserunning, scored from there when a groundball to shortstop
by senior Mike McLain produced a throwing error.
Jasper worked a scoreless seventh for his second save of the
season, as senior Joey Cantarella earned the win to improve to 6-3.
Jasper, as well as junior Sean Rowe, had RBIs for the winners.
*--*
Sea View League
Newport Harbor 6, Laguna Hills 4
Score by Innings
LH 000 030 1 -- 4 5 2
NH 020 022 x - 6 7 1
Easton and Schroeder; Cantarella, Keehan
(6), Jasper (7) and Sanchez. W --
Cantarella, 6-3. L -- Easton. Sv - Jasper
(2). 2B -- Jasper, Pinesett, Rowe. 3B --
Pinesett (NH).
*--*
Mesa blanks Panthers
* SOFTBALL: The Costa Mesa High softball team is still clinging to
remote hopes of cracking the top three in the Golden West League
after a 1-0 league win over visiting Orange Wednesday.
The Mustangs, forced to forfeit three league victories (over
Orange April 2, Estancia April 14 and Westminster April 19) improved
to 7-15, 3-6 in league.
Mesa has three league games remaining and with wins in all three,
along with a string of losses by the loser of Wednesday’s Ocean
View-Santa Ana contest, may still wind up at least tied for the
league’s third guaranteed CIF Southern Section playoff berth.
Jackie Butler led the way Wednesday for Mesa, yielding just two
hits and striking out 10, one off her career high, in a complete-game
shutout. She walked four, but did not encounter any trouble after the
Mustangs broke a scoreless tie in the fifth.
Freshman Danielle Morton and senior Uyen Mai began the rally with
singles then, with one out, sophomore Janae Rivera was hit by a pitch
to load the bases.
A fly out to left field was too shallow to score from third, but
freshman Christy Gregory walked to drive in the game-winning run.
Morton and Mai were both 2 for 3 to pace the Mustangs’ five-hit
attack.
Mesa finishes up with Estancia Friday, Westminster Monday and
Santa Ana Wednesday.
*--*
Golden West League
Costa Mesa 1, Orange 0
Score by Innings
Orange 000 000 0 -- 0 2 1
Mesa 000 010 x -- 1 5 1
Shule and Coan; Butler and Miller. W --
Butler, 6-8. L -- Shule.
*--*
Sage’s Cordier runner-up
* TENNIS: Sage Hill School junior Tristan Cordier, the No. 2 seed,
reached the Academy League boys singles final, but top-seeded John
Bowman from Brethren Christian proved too much in a 6-1, 6-1 victory
Wednesday at the Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club.
Cordier defeated Adrian Ang (Oxford Academy), 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7-4)
in the semifinals to qualify for the CIF Southern Section individual
tournament later this month.
Sage’s Nos. 1 and 2 doubles teams played for third place, with Ian
Livingston and Dan Chin defeating Michael Cassel and Michael
Garrison, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Sage’s No. 3 team of Conrad Whitaker and Tyler Ross fell to
Whitney’s Jason Liu and Tang Parkh, the top seed and eventual doubles
champion, 6-0, 2-6, 6-3.
Sage Hill (12-8, 6-2 in league), ranked second in CIF Division V,
begins the playoffs May 18.
Vanguard seeks titles
* TENNIS: The Vanguard University men’s and women’s tennis teams
will compete for Region II titles beginning today in Santa Barbara
The women’s team, ranked No. 2 in the NAIA and boasting a 21-1
record, is the top seed.
The men’s team, ranked No. 3 in the NAIA with an 18-4 record, is
seeded second in the four-team tournament.
The men’s and women’s teams will open play today at the city
municipal courts.
The Vanguard men open the Region II tournament with a 9 a.m.
first-round match against No. 3-seeded Point Loma Nazarene for the
second straight year. VU defeated the No. 12-ranked Sea Lions, 8-1,
in both Golden State Athletic Conference matches this season.
A Vanguard win would set up a possible rematch with No. 1-ranked
Azusa Pacific, which defeated the Lions in the Region II final in
2003.
The women’s team faces No. 4-seeded Westmont in the first round at
1 p.m.
VU has shut out the No. 20-ranked Warriors twice this season and
hopes to advance to the Region II title match Friday.
Saints hold off Eagles
* BASEBALL: Estancia High rallied for four runs in the final two
innings, but it wasn’t enough as host Santa Ana earned a 7-4 Golden
West League baseball victory Wednesday.
Estancia senior Eric Scheafer had three hits, while Brad Young and
Cullen Crom both went 2 for 3 for the Eagles (3-17, 0-10 in league).
It was Crom’s first action in two weeks, since he dislocated a
shoulder running the bases against Ocean View.
Mike McDaniels had two RBIs for the Eagles, who play crosstown
rival Costa Mesa Friday on the Mustangs’ diamond. Mesa defeated
Estancia, 5-2, in their first meeting. The annual Costa Mesa-Estancia
series winner receives the perpetual Paul Troxel Trophy, named for a
former coach for both programs who died in 1999.
*--*
Golden West League
Santa Ana 7, Estancia 4
Score by Innings
Est. 000 002 2 -- 4 8 2
SA 203 101 x -- 7 11 0
Hauser, Crom (3), McClanahan (6) and
Morley, Hauser (3); Contreras and DeLeon,
W -- Contreras. L -- Hauser, 1-4. 2B --
Scheafer (E), Crom E(), DeLeon (SA),
Mendoza (SA), Ramirez (SA).
*--*
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