NOTEBOOK : Hongslo’s Good Deed Rewarded

Irvine catcher Dave Hongslo realized one of his dreams Saturday when he met Dodger Manager Tommy Lasorda before the Freeway Series game between the Dodgers and Angels.

What made it especially gratifying for Hongslo is how the meeting came about.

Hongslo’s aunt, Teresa Click, has been battling leukemia for seven years. Last year, when she needed monthly treatments at Long Beach Memorial Hospital to dissolve two blood clots, Hongslo took her to the hospital, watched her daughters, Janette and Jill, then picked up Click. Although Irvine Coach Bob Flint told Hongslo to take time away from baseball if he needed to, Hongslo did not miss a game.

Grateful for his help and looking for a way to thank him, Click--upon learning of Hongslo’s wish to one day meet Lasorda--wrote a letter to the Dodgers four months ago asking if it was possible. Although she did not expect an answer--she figured Lasorda was usually deluged by requests--the letter caught Lasorda’s attention and the Dodgers’ staff arranged Hongslo’s visit.

In addition to getting his picture taken with the manager before the game, Hongslo received an autographed bat that was cracked during batting practice. The inscription read “To David, a future Dodger, God Bless You--Tommy Lasorda.”

It was a big deal for the Irvine catcher, who has been on the varsity three years but is relegated to being a designated hitter this season because of a shoulder injury that prevents him from throwing.

“Aunt Terry has helped me put life in order; she is the neatest person you’ll ever meet,” Hongslo said. “Even though she knows she is dying she holds her head higher than anyone I’ve ever known. She has taught me to never give up.

“Saturday night was one of the biggest thrills of my life. And her being with me made it all the more neat.”

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Marina’s Shandy Robbins and Capistrano Valley’s Jennifer Garrett will play for the South team in the inaugural North-South Basketball Classic at the Bren Center. The game features some of the top seven players in the state. It will be played May 7.

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How has Huntington Beach won two consecutive section Division I championships in boys’ volleyball? Coach Rocky Ciarelli has built a strong program from top to bottom.

Huntington Beach’s frosh-soph squad won 63 consecutive matches until Friday. Esperanza snapped the streak by defeating the Oilers in three games at Huntington Beach High. It was the first frosh-soph loss for the Oilers since 1990.

Frosh-soph Coach Roy Crump, who started with Ciarelli in 1986, had won 84 consecutive matches. Crump took off one season and did not coach the frosh-soph team in its last defeat.

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San Clemente junior setter Brandon Taliaferro likely will sit out the next two weeks with an ailing shoulder, Triton Coach Mike Hurlbut said Monday.

Hurlbut said he hopes Taliaferro, who missed three matches last week, will be ready for the second half of league play or the playoffs. Taliaferro, a second-team all-county selection last season, is suffering from a chronic injury that has plagued him since last summer.

Senior Mike LaDue, a third-year varsity player, has filled in at setter and helped the team win two South Coast League matches last week. The Tritons also lost to Loyola, the top-ranked team in Division I, in four games Saturday.

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Highlighting this week’s schedule are two top-10 matchups tonight. Seventh-ranked El Toro (4-5, 2-0) plays at fourth-ranked Irvine (7-1, 2-0) in the Sea View League and 10th-ranked Capistrano Valley (4-4, 2-0) plays at fifth-ranked San Clemente (7-2, 2-0) in the South Coast League.

Other key matches include eighth-ranked Woodbridge (5-3, 0-2) at El Toro, in the Sea View League Thursday and sixth-ranked Tustin (4-1, 2-0) at Ocean View (6-2, 1-1) in the Golden West League Friday.

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Mater Dei’s Schea Cotton may have been the Southern Section Division I boys’ basketball player of the year, but he couldn’t even make an the All-South Coast League team.

Cotton, who played in only five league games, didn’t not make the first or second teams, which are voted on by the league’s coaches.

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The first Fountain Valley softball tournament, the Barons Classic, was largely a success. Spread out over two Saturdays, it attracted some of the county’s best teams--Pacifica, Mater Dei, Marina--and at least another, Foothill, would like to get in.

“We had 14 of the 16 teams by the time school started,” Fountain Valley Coach Cary Baker said. “I think coaches like the format; it’s not dragged out. There’s a lot of people that want to join next year, but I don’t want to go more than 24 teams ever, because then we couldn’t do it over two Saturdays.”

There were 16 teams in the inaugural tournament, the games stayed on schedule and many coaches raved about the Mile Square Park facility.

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Rosary’s Julie Luna suffered the epitome of bad luck Saturday when she lost a no-hitter against Troy. She lost the game, not the no-hitter.

Troy beat Luna, 2-1, in the second game of a doubleheader by scoring once in the second inning and once in the third. The Warriors got on the board when a passed ball allowed a batter to reach first base on a strikeout, and reached third base on two passed balls; a groundout scored the run.

The second run scored after a leadoff walk, a grounder and an error.

Two runs, too much.

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Among the premier softball games this week is today’s matchup that has fourth-ranked Marina at No. 8 Los Alamitos at 3:15 in the first Sunset League meeting between the two powers. Third-ranked Mater Dei plays at No. 6 San Clemente on Friday in a key South Coast League game.

Staff writers Martin Henderson and Michael Itagaki contributed to this story.