Twin powers no small wonder at Mesa

On the shallow part of the Costa Mesa High water polo pool, twins stand tall.

Cody and Dustin say they are 6-foot-5. From looking at them in the water, two feet of them are above water.

Somehow they’re not supposed to touch the bottom of the pool with their feet.

This is just a practice. At home matches, they’ve learned how to adjust their knees in every awkward way.

But back in ninth grade, the brothers were nowhere close to being the Twin Towers they are today.

In one match that year, they were actually scared. The sport was foreign to the duo.

Lightning was not.

“We’re in there [in the water] and all of a sudden like lightning starts striking,” Dustin said. “[I said] ‘Coach [Tim Postiff], I don’t want to play anymore.’ He’s like, ‘Nope. You’re playing. We’ll make the other team forfeit before we do.’ ”

Officials ordered both teams out of the pool. Cody said the teams headed for the showers, thinking the match was over.

“They called us back out,” Cody said. “[Postiff] would not give up. I was like freaking out. I’m a freshman and I’m like going to die before I see my senior year.

“Even the car alarms were going off in the parking lot.”

Reluctantly, they returned to the pool and survived. The opposing team forfeited.

Ever since, the Serranos have never given up.

They’ve lost matches in double figures. They haven’t won a league championship in their first three years.

But they think it is possible this season.

Whether or not the Mustangs claim their first league crown since 2004, water polo has meant so much to the Serranos.

Without it, their lives for sure would be different.

“I’d be lost,” said Dustin, whose team opens the season at Tesoro Tuesday. “The sport helps me out so much. It makes me dedicated.”

Cody feels the same way.

The two are so close that they often start or finish each other’s sentence. It can get puzzling.

At times, Coach Justin Taylor said the Serranos fool people.

“They switch cap numbers to kind of mess with the other kids on the other team,” said Taylor, who led the Mustangs to 15-11 overall and 2-4 in the Orange Coast League, good for third place. “Cody wears No. 8 and Dustin wears No. 18, which even makes it more confusing.”

It’s hard to tell them apart.

They’re not identical twins, but you wouldn’t know it by sizing them up. Everything looks the same.

The build is lanky.

The hairdo is floppy.

The grade-point average is 3.2.

The look is surfer.

At least they don’t wear matching outfits anymore.

“From like kindergarten [our parents dressed us],” Cody said. “I got sick of it because everybody was always like, ‘Oh, you guys wear the same stuff.’ ”

The only item that matches now is the Speedo.

Their positions differ a bit. Cody is a two-meter attacker and Dustin a two-meter defender.

Defensively, the two are stingy. Dustin was the team leader with 78 steals and Cody was second at 71.

When it comes to scoring, Cody won that battle by 20 goals with a 56-goal total.

As for who would win a fight in the pool, just take a look.

“It gets rough in there sometimes,” Dustin said. “We try to beat each other up.”

“I’ll get [upset],” Cody said. “I want to throw a punch or an elbow at him.”

The two know that they can’t in the shallow part at Costa Mesa. That’s because everyone can see.

COSTA MESA

Coach: Justin Taylor (second year)

2007 record: 15-11, 2-4 Orange Coast League, third place

Returning starters: 2M Cody Serrano (Sr.); 2M Dustin Serrano (Sr.); U Garrett Frazier (Sr.); GK Jackson O’Connor (Jr.)

Key newcomers: D Travis Wright (Sr.); U Marlo Afuang (Jr.); D Chingiz Bigalimov (Jr.); U/GK James Wanbaugh (Sr.); U Joey Dinh, (Jr.); U Jordan Briand (Sr.); U Hung Nguyen (Jr.)

Key dates: at Estancia, Oct. 15; at home against Sage Hill, Oct. 22; at Laguna Beach, Oct. 29; at Tustin, Oct. 30

Outlook: Cody and Dustin Serrano return after combining for 149 steals. Taylor is counting on the twins to lead the Mustangs to the playoffs, something they haven’t done in the two years in the Orange Coast League. They have a better shot as Taylor said three league teams receive automatic postseason berths with Godinez making it a five-team league. Mesa lost its top two scorers, Skyler Twohig (94 goals) and Sam Edman (62 goals), to graduation. Taylor said second place in league will be between Mesa and Sage Hill School, which beat the Mustangs twice last year.

CORONA DEL MAR

Coach: Barry O’Dea (fourth year)

2007 record: 18-9, 7-0 in Pacific Coast League, first place

Returning starters: 2M Lucas Reynolds (Sr.); 2MD Carter Taylor (Sr.); D Ryan Schiefer (Sr.); D Max Bergeson (Jr.); G Isle Anderson (Jr.)

Key newcomers: D Blake Terry (Jr.); D Andrew Fisher (Jr.); 2M Chase Watson (So.); 2m/U Jim Krolop (Jr.); 2M Ryan Akiba (Sr.)

Key dates: at South Coast Tournament, Sept. 25-27; Southern Cal Tournament, Oct. 9-11; at home against El Toro, Oct. 17; at home against Newport Harbor, Oct. 25

Outlook: The hard thing for O’Dea will be who to play this year. The Sea Kings will be deep as O’Dea plans to use 15-17 players. He was impressed with how many of the Sea Kings performed at a summer tournament in Slovakia, where they were the only team from the U.S. competing and beat a team from Hungary and Lithuania and wound up finishing second to the host country. CdM, ranked No. 3 in the CIF Southern Section Division I preseason poll, returns all but two starters from last season and O’Dea believes the program has a legitimate shot at winning a section championship.

ESTANCIA

Coach: John Carpenter (29th year)

2007 record: 5-12, 0-6 in Orange Coast League, fourth place

Returning starters: 2M Shane Lyons (Sr.); 2M/U Danny O’Neil (Sr.); U Francisco Gonzalez (Jr.); D Charlie Umanski (So.)

Key newcomers: G Conner Graham (So.); D Austin Knott (So.); G/U Eric Michelson (Sr.); U Roy Smith (Jr.); U Matthew Thome (So.); U Asher Twardowski (So.)

Key dates: at Laguna Beach, Oct. 1; at home against Costa Mesa, Oct. 15

Outlook: If there’s ever a year to win a league game in the Orange Coast League, Carpenter feels this is the one for Estancia. The Eagles are 0-12 in league play, but they should record their first win in the three-year-old league against Godinez, a first-year varsity program. Gone is the firepower of a year ago with Jeff Crosson and Tyler Wayman, who each led the team with 36 goals, graduating. Carpenter expects more of a balanced attack with Gonzalez, Lyons and O’Neil leading the way. Carpenter said Lyons only scored twice in 2007, but added that he’ll be in the 20-goal range this year.

NEWPORT HARBOR

Coach: Jason Lynch (eighth year)

2007 record: 30-4, 5-0 in Sunset League, first place

Returning starters: 2M David Linden (Sr.), D Andy Hayes (Sr.); U Matt Russell (Jr.)

Key newcomers: D Zach Lucas (Jr.); D Jack Yeager (Jr.); 2M Blake Kelly (Jr.); 2M Zach Osadche (Sr.)

Key dates: at home against Foothill, Sept. 13; at South Coast Tournament, Sept. 25-27; at home against Los Alamitos, Oct. 8; at Southern Cal Tournament, Oct. 10-11; at Corona del Mar, Oct. 25

Outlook: Lynch is well aware what winning the CIF Southern Section Division I championship in 2007 brings: a bullseye. Everyone will be gunning for the Sailors, ranked No. 9 in CIF Division I, after they claimed their first title since 2000. The program lost quality players in driver Clinton Jorth (UCLA), the Sunset League Player of the Year, two-meter defender Brandon Parole (USC) and goalie Myles Christian (UC Santa Barbara). Lynch isn’t worried about the offense because Linden, Russell and Osadche can score and the team has a left-handed threat in Yeager. Defense is the area in which Lynch said the team misses Jorth and Parole, two players capable of locking down the opposing team’s best player.

SAGE HILL

Coach: Tom Norton (third year)

2007 record: 12-7, 4-2 in Orange Coast League, second place

Returning starters: 2M Tucker Pettis (Sr.); D Andrew Dorne (Jr.); U Jake Blitzer (Jr.); D Michael Ljiung (Sr.)

Key newcomers: D A.J. Wolfson (Jr.)

Key dates: at home against Laguna Beach, Oct. 8; at Costa Mesa, Oct. 22; at home against Estancia, Oct. 29

Outlook: The Lightning lost five players to graduation and one player transferred. Despite the losses, Norton said Sage is looking to return the playoffs for the third straight year and win the program’s first playoff game. Pettis, a three-year starter, will be expected to lead. The favorite in league again is Laguna Beach. The Lightning came close to beating the Breakers in one match last season. Second place in league is more realistic and Norton is counting on Costa Mesa to be in contention. The schools this year will only play once in league, making the match against Mesa a pivotal one.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].