Local trio made of Steel

The Orange County Steel, a 12-and-under travel baseball team, which

contains three Newport Harbor Baseball Association players, went

6-1-1 in winning the United States Specialty Sports Association

championship for Southern California in Chino Hills on Aug. 22.

Jacob McCann, who earned Newport-Mesa Dream Team accolades this

spring, tossed a three-hit shutout in the Steel’s 14-0 victory over

the Coastline Colts in the semifinals. The Steel went on to win the

championship in the 32-team field with a 14-10 victory over the

Southern California Angels.

Alex Maddox, another Dream Team selection, Dillan Freiberg and

McCann -- all Newport Harbor all-stars this spring -- make up the

Newport Beach contingent on the 14-player squad, which departed

Thursday for Cooperstown, N.Y.

The Steel began play in the 72-team Cooperstown Dreams Park

invitational tournament Saturday, which features international teams.

Teams are guaranteed seven games. The first four days dedicated to

pool play before the tournament enters its single-elimination phase

through the championship game.

The Steel is one of 30 California teams, including top-ranked

Chino Hills, entered into the tournament.

CdM sparkles in Hawaii

* WATER POLO: The Corona del Mar under-14 girls water polo team

finished second and the boys were fourth in the 36th annual Hawaiian

Invitational water polo tournament, completed Aug. 15 in Honolulu.

The girls team included: Kate Baldoni, Kate Berry, Cameron Cline,

Nicole Giove, Heather Van Hiel, Melissa Hohl, Victoria Kennedy,

Kelsey Larson, Elise Molnar, Brittany Rovzar, Sarah Wesley, Amy

Youngman and Margo Money.

The boys team included: Ryan Akiba, Teddy Bandaruk, Andy Bender,

Alex Colvin, Kevin Cox, Daniel Dichiro, Travis Leyton, John Lockhart,

Emery Molnar, Gio Morrelli, Andrew Nickel, Tucker Pettis, Kristoffer

Wesley and Kai Youngman.