Shadowlands

Looking back, 5 years ago this week.

Newport Harbor High junior Molli Mullen, whose softball season ends

early after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, still manages to

compile enough statistics to earn Player of the Year laurels on the Daily

Pilot All-Newport-Mesa District Dream Team. Mullen, a three-time

all-district selection, hits .352 and wins six of 11 pitching decisions,

including a no-hitter and three one-hitters to help the Sailors claim the

mythical district championship over Corona del Mar, Costa Mesa and

Estancia. Mullen has a homer (a grand slam), one double, six RBIs and

nine runs for her father and Harbor Coach Mike Mullen, splitting time

between the pitching circle and right field. She also fans 67 in 64

innings and forges a 2.63 ERA. Also on the Dream Team is the Sailors’

Mindi Alford, Jill Nelson and Stephanie Gosselin, CdM’s Linda Van Hook,

Erika Zoelle and Hayden Aley, Estancia’s Jill Black and Costa Mesa’s

Julie Collett, Niki Montgomery and Kim Daniels.

Costa Mesa’s Matt Broesamle and Corona del Mar’s Chad Johnson share

Player of the Year laurels on the 1996 Daily Pilot All-Newport Mesa

District Dream Team in baseball. Broesamle, the 1995 District Player of

the Year, , leads representatives from all four area schools in batting

average (.452), hits (33), and, RBIs (29), while sharing leadership in

pitching victories (seven) and doubles (11). Johnson, who is snubbed by

Sea View League coaches in their all-league voting, matches Broesamle’s

seven mound victories, striking out 76 in 77 2/3 innings. He also hits

.372 with eight home runs. Also on the Dream Team are Costa Mesa’s Jeremy

Starns and Mike Adelmund, CdM’s Royal McMackin, Reuben Gulledge, Bryan

Bear and Kevin Stuart, Estancia’s Joey Herman and Abel Flores and Newport

Harbor’s Garrett Nuzum, Gavin Tomalas and Joe Urban.

Corona del Mar’s Derek Newcomer tops the All-Newport Mesa District

Dream Team as Player of the Year in boys volleyball. Newcomer, who

amasses 735 assists in 51 games (14 per game), is one of four repeat

selections on the squad, which is composed for the first time entirely of

representatives from Back Bay rivals CdM and Newport Harbor, including

Sailors Cameron Black, Wes Badorek, Travis Nelson and Matt Caldwell and

Sea Kings Blair Hoppe, Brian Coleman and John Coon.

Looking back, 10 years ago this week.

UC Irvine’s Buffy Rabbit, a Newport Harbor High product, qualifies for

the NCAA track and field championship finals in the 3,000-meter race. She

finishes fourth in her heat in 9:17.10.

Orange Coast College finishes eighth in the national collegiate

sailing championships hosted by Tulane University at Southern Yacht Club

on Lake Pontchartrain. OCC takes fifth in the A Division with skipper

Beth Marangola and crewmember Stephanie O’Brien. The Pirates take 10th in

the B Division with skipper Suzie Thomas and crewmember Gwyen Smith.

In CIF Southern Section circles, a formal set of reasons are

established to back the voting to insert Santa Margarita, Mater Dei and

Servite/Rosary into the public ranks of Orange County leaguing, beginning

in the fall of ’92. CIF Southern Section Commissioner Stan Thomas,

however, admits he remains in a state of limbo. “It’s my personal opinion

that the issue is over,” Thomas says.

Tuning up for Wimbledon, veteran tennis pro Robert Van’t Hof savors

the taste of champagne flowing through his lips after completing a

smashing doubles victory in the 30th Adoption Guild Tennis Tournament.

Van’t Hof, of Newport Beach, teams with longtime partner and fellow USC

alumnus Tim Pawsat to win the Men’s Open final over former UCI standouts

Mike Briggs and Trevor Kronemann, 6-4, 6-4. Van’t Hof, who splits the

$6,000 Men’s Open purse with Paswat, also pockets half of $5,000 with

Noel Porter after defeating Ian Aler and Danielle Scott in a rousing

mixed open final before an estimated 3,000 fans.

-- compiled by Steve Virgen