PREP ROUNDUP : University Takes Command of Sea View Tennis Race by Beating Corona del Mar

IRVINE —  University Coach Josh Davis was worried throughout most of his team’s Sea View League boys’ tennis match against Corona del Mar Wednesday--and with every right.

After all, Davis was counting on the Trojans to defeat highly regarded Corona del Mar to take sole possession of the league lead.

Davis counted right as University upended the Sea Kings, 11-7, in a close match at University High.

“This is the biggest win of my career,” said Davis, who is in his second year of coaching the boys’ team. “And this win belongs to the players who went out there and got the job done.”

Even though University (9-1, 3-0 in league) took a 7-6 lead in the third round, Davis remained cautious. It was only when the Trojans reached 10 games, guaranteeing them the win, that he relaxed.

University senior Joey Frantz swept his singles matches and Steve Tze and Bryan Shapiro swept in doubles to give the Trojans the victory.

Before those victories, with the score tied, 6-6, Davis was worried.

“I was counting in my head how many games we could win and I came up with nine,” he said. “I thought Tze and Shapiro would sweep and Joey (Frantz) would, but John Bowerbank was a question mark. He came through beautifully, though.”

Bowerbank, a junior, won his matches against Corona del Mar’s Ed Bryant, 7-6, and Trenton Rhodes, 6-4, after losing to David Bain, the Sea Kings’ No. 1 player, 6-7, in the first round.

Frantz, a senior transfer from Georgia, won his matches, 6-2, 6-0, 6-4. Frantz (25-2) said he felt good in his match against Bain.

“I served real well and put the pressure on him right off the bat,” Frantz said. “I knew he was strong on the baseline, so I wanted to come into the net as much as possible.

“I felt really confident because I knew that was my strength against him. I didn’t want to sit back and hit grounders.”

It was the first victory for the Trojans against Corona del Mar in three years, according to Davis. Corona del Mar (9-4, 2-1) is the defending league champion.

Corona del Mar Coach Gary Salazar expects to be playing University for the league title when the teams meet again April 19.

“We’re still not out of it,” Salazar said. “We still have a chance since they are coming to Corona del Mar in two weeks.”

In Orange League boys’ tennis:

Western 13, Savanna 5--James Yu won, 6-1, 6-0, 6-0, and the doubles team of Tom Tran and Quoc Tran swept, 6-0, 6-1, 7-5, for host Western (6-3, 1-0).

Valencia 12, Brea-Olinda 6--The No. 1 doubles team of Steve Johnson and Ron Laquata and No. 2 doubles team of Huey Dang and Robert Bae swept their matches for visiting Valencia (1-0, 6-2).

In South Coast League boys’ tennis:

Mission Viejo 11, El Toro 7--Vince Cheng and Billy Casas swept, 7-6, 6-2, 6-0, in doubles for host Mission Viejo (7-4, 2-0).

Dana Hills 16, Capistrano Valley 2--The No. 1 doubles team of Brice Martin and Jeremy Driscoll swept their matches for host Dana Hills (10-0, 2-0).

San Clemente 16, Irvine 2--Host San Clemente (7-0, 2-0) swept all the singles matches.

In nonleague softball:

Marina 2, Mission Viejo 0--Marina’s Willa Parchen (3-2) struck out six and allowed only a second-inning single. Annie Presutti had two hits for host Marina (6-5).

Woodbridge 1, Trabuco Hills 0--Stacy Washington (5-1) pitched a one-hitter and struck out two for visiting Woodbridge (10-5). Debbie Nasitka had a run-scoring double in the third inning. Deanna Black had nine putouts at third base for Woodbridge.

Sunny Hills 5, Valencia 1--Bernie Sancuberta (4-3) had four strikeouts in four innings without allowing a hit and Brandi Northrup pitched two-hit ball with five strikeouts over the last three innings for Sunny Hills (8-4).

In Empire league golf:

El Dorado 217, Katella 227--Erik Wolf shot a 40 for El Dorado (8-1, 4-0) at Anaheim Hills.

In South Coast League golf:

Irvine 205, Mission Viejo 231--Irvine’s Brannon Rees and Rick Redding and Mission Viejo’s Justin Grandy shot four-over-par 40s at Rancho San Joaquin. Irvine is 8-4, 3-3.

In nonleague golf:

Dana Hills 417, Santa Margarita 431--Medalist Scott Richardson shot a 79 for Dana Hills in a match played at Dove Canyon and Laguna Niguel.

Western 384, Costa Mesa 499--Tiger Woods shot a one-over-par 70 for Western (6-1-1) at Dad Miller.

Corona del Mar 410, Capistrano Valley 427--Corona del Mar’s Scott Bemis, Steve Bemis and Brent Stulik shot 80s in a match at Marbella Country Club.

Trabuco Hills 197, Palm Desert 198--Trabuco Hills’ Roger Micone shot a par 36 at Coto de Caza.

Valencia 218, Foothill 220--James Lee shot a two-over-par 39 for Valencia (5-3) at Alta Vista Country Club. Foothill is 3-5.