U.S. takes on Greece

The U.S. men’s water polo team, which features five former UC Irvine

standouts, will be facing Greece in the FINA World League Super

Final, which consists of six teams, today at 8:30 p.m. at the Charter

All-Digital Aquatic Centre in Long Beach.

Team USA, which includes UCI products Ryan Bailey, Jeff Powers,

Omar Amr, Dan Klatt and Genai Kerr, will be vying for $100,000 in

first-place prize money. The championship game will take place Sunday

at 8 p.m.

The Americans finished 5-7 in FINA World League play. They earned

an automatic tournament bid as host, but finished third in their

bracket, capping the season with an 11-10, come-from-behind, shootout

victory over Serbia and Montenegro last weekend.

Earlier this year, the U.S. took three out of four games from the

Greeks on their home soil. Last summer, the U.S. was knocked out of

medal contention at the World championships by Greece, but Team USA

came back to top Greece in the semifinals of the World League Super

Final and went on to finish third in that tournament.

Bailey has become a force for the U.S. at center forward. He

scored five goals to lead Team USA to an 11-9 victory over top-ranked

Hungary July 5 at Corona del Mar High.

Bronco All-Stars rolling into section tourney

* YOUTH BASEBALL: The Newport Harbor Baseball Association Bronco

(11-12-year-olds) A All-Stars begin play in the eight-team sectional

tournament against Garden Grove at 5 p.m. tonight at York Field in

Whittier.

Newport won two straight, including a 16-7 triumph over La Mirada,

Sunday, to advance out of the district round.

Ryan Albert tossed a complete game and allowed three earned runs

against La Mirada and has struck out 55 batters in 29 innings in

all-star play.

Through Sunday, Newport has gone 13-7-1 in the postseason,

including wins in eight of its last 10 games.

Alex Maddox and Justin Todd have each hit three home runs while

Todd, Austin Wobrock and Jack Yeager have led Newport on the mound.

Maddox and Jacob McCann have been consistent hitters for Newport,

which has averaged 10 runs a game during all-star play, Newport

Manager Rich Hogan said.

First baseman Austin Deyan and left fielder Dillan Freiberg have

shined defensively, Hogan said.

Hogan also praised the contributions of Chad Seeber and Kyle

Holgate.

If Newport defeats Garden Grove, it would play at 12:30 p.m.

Saturday while a loss would send it into the loser’s bracket and a

game at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in the double-elimination tournament.

The top two teams advance to the South Region tournament.