YOUTH SCENE

SOCCER

AYSO Region 120

Under 14 boys (APP)

Costa Mesa wins Area Q title: The Costa Mesa boys’ gold team won the Area Q championship, going without a loss in three playoff games in advanced play program.

Costa Mesa’s first playoff game was against Irvine, winning 3-1. Richie Bello scored the first goal of the game, Bryan Zamudio scored the second goal on the assist by Eddie Saavedra and Jordan Young scored the last goal on another assist by Eddie Saavedra. Defenders Juan Vences, Teddy Prescott, and Jason Anaya did a great job keeping the ball up the field. Keeper Edgar Vega blocked several attempts by Irvine.

Their second playoff game was against another Costa Mesa team led by Bob Knapp. The final score of the game was 3-0. Jovany Castillo made some great defensive plays and Bryan Zamudio made the first and third goals of the game. Edgar Rodriguez scored the second goal on the assist by Christian Rodriguez.

In the championship game, Costa Mesa played against one of their toughest competitors, Tustin. The teams were closely matched and both teams worked to gain possession of the ball. Keeper Edgar Vega blocked countless attempts by Tustin. The game remained scoreless despite goal attempts by both teams. Since Costa Mesa was ahead by two points in the championship tournament, they were able to win the Area Q championship for their age division in the gold bracket.

Girls under 12 (Spring Select)

Costa Mesa girls shine: The Costa Mesa girls’ under 11 team, playing up, ended the Select Season at 6-0-2. The season was excellent, considering the girls faced older competition. Victories included Southern Irvine, Tustin and previously undefeated Newport Beach, along with a tie against the girls’ under 12 APP Costa Mesa girls.

All of this came in the toughest Gold Bracket.

AYSO Region 97

Girls under 12Newport Beach Breakers 2,CdM 2: Newport played in the Gold division of the season-ending tournament at UC Irvine. They tied Corona Del Mar after trailing for most of the game. Newport scored first on a goal by Sarah Daly. Corona Del Mar then scored twice in the second quarter. Late in the fourth quarter, Newport got the tying goal from Alex Steiner. She had a free kick well outside the Corona Del Mar box, and hammered in a high hard shot. Newport defenders Mollie Friend, Brinley Siemonsma, Katherine Maddox, and goalies Lane More and Kirsten Rohan, made many key stops. Paige Tennison, Delaney McCardle, Madison Mastera, Taury Hlinka, Hannah Nance, and Kelsey Long kept pressure on the Corona Del Mar goalie. The tie kept Newport at the top of their division.

(Spring Select) playoffs

Newport Beach Breakers 4, Costa Mesa 1: Newport’s win kept them in the running for the championship of the Gold division tourney at UCI. Sarah Daly, Taury Hlinka and Madison Mastera scored goals for Newport in the first half. Madison Mastera scored for Newport again in the second half on an assist by Hannah Nance. The great defense played by Kirsten Rohan, Mollie Friend, Alex Steiner, Brinley Siemonsma, Katherine Maddox and goalie Lane More kept Costa Mesa away from taking many goal attempts. Newport attackers Paige Tennison, Delaney McCardle and Kelsey Long had several near misses at the Costa Mesa goal.

Boys under 10 (Spring Select)

Gold division

Newport-Mesa 5, S. Irvine 2: The Newport-Mesa boys’ under-10 team completed its undefeated season with the championship game at UC Irvine. The teams, which had met earlier in the season with Newport-Mesa coming out on top, fought hard in an evenly matched first half which ended at 2-2 thanks to goals by forward Byron Gutierrez and mid-fielder Chaz Beek. Newport keeper Ryan Braun was diving every which way to stop the offensive threats of South Irvine.

Irvine could not stop the aggressive play of Newport-Mesa in the second half as they netted three goals, two from Kevin Tellez and the other from Cash Swank. Thanks to solid defensive efforts from David Schaefer, Dominik Folkner and Riley Gaddis, South Irvine could not post another score leaving the gold for the boys from Newport-Mesa. This undefeated Spring season comes on the heels of a championship victory in the Fall.

“I am super-proud of these boys who have proven they are the best in Area Q,” said Jeff Braun, coach Newport-Mesa. “We are looking forward to the Fall as a U-11 team and will appreciate the competition from other Southern Californian teams.”

Silver division

Newport 2, Tustin 1 (OT): Newport overcame a 1-0 deficit late in the fourth quarter by a penalty kick made by Bryce Uhl. In the first overtime period a direct kick was made by Luke Mueller. Strong defense from Brett Tafoya, Charlie Crook, and Cobi Foster secured the 2-1 victory. Aggressive and skillful play throughout the game from goalie Harrison Vandervort and striker Sawyer Farmer helped lead Newport to the championship win.

Boys under 10

Recreational

Dominators: The Dominators concluded their outstanding season with yet another overwhelming effort. They were powered by leading goal scorer Riley Brockman with four goals for the game and another four more combined between Mikey Ischinger, Devon Patterson and Ryan Balkey, who also led the team with three assists. Stifling defense and terrific team play by Reef McCoy, Joseph Adams, Simon Young, Micah Adelsohn and Iggy Nieves prevented the offensive-minded Blue Lightning from scoring only one goal for the game. It was a terrifically executed team game and a great way to end the spring season.

Girls under 8

Tidal Waves: The final goal of the season for Tidal Waves was scored by Hannah Alderson, playing in her first soccer season. Alderson had tremendous support from offensive players Julia Ackerman, Brianna Smith, and Destry Comp. Sienna Amoroso and Lauren Henke teamed up in defense to keep the opposing team away from keeper Isabella “Coco” Morris. Missy Taylor, Maile Raventos, and Vanessa Crandall turned several balls upfield for the Waves with aggressive tackling and precision passing. Emma Hammond put on a dribbling display, moving the ball into scoring position.

Boys under 6Silver Sharks vs. Aliens: Julian Hernandez and Tyler Lowell put a lot of pressure on the Aliens offensively. Zach Minyard and Jonathan Starkmade made great runs and awesome passes in the midfield for the Sharks, and Arden Ozdere and Elliot Harrington anchored the defense as usual in this great battle. Mark Sanchez provided a “goal of the year” candidate as he scored all the way from midfield.

BASEBALL

Costa Mesa

National Little League

Farm Division

Padres 19, Cardinals 18: The Padres earned another victory in a tough game against the Cardinals. In the bottom of the fourth, the Padres sent their entire line-up to bat. Tristin Ospina nailed one to deep left field for a triple along with solid hits from Charlie Godshall and Mathew Ingram. The Padres scored eight runs to tie the score at 15-15.

In the fifth and final inning, the Padres defense retired the Cardinal’s line-up with a spectacular triple play. Kyle Fitzgerald caught a pop fly then touched first base before the runner could tag up. He then sent the ball to Bradley Seigel, a pitcher who ran to third before the runner who had headed to home came back to the base. The Cardinals did score three to take the lead once again, 18-15.

But in their last ups, the Padres delivered rock-solid hits to the outfield and sent three runners home to tie the score again at 18-18. With two outs, Travis Hastings then kept his focus and nailed one past the shortstop to allow the winning run to score.

Newport Harbor Baseball Assn.

Mustang Division

BMW wins title: The BMW team won six straight games to claim the championship.

The outstanding pitching by Taso Marcopulos, Cole Brockhoff, Blake “Lefty” Bauer and closer Garrett Davis kept the games tight. Hits by Cameron Jabara, Grady Kimme, Daniel Stacy, David Fisher and Josh Lewis kept the games alive. Dylan Kaplan provided solid catching behind the plate. The game-winning hits by Blake Jessen against Citrus Motors and Sun Cal and Dylan Kaplan against Kincaid Construction and PRES Company lead the team to victory.

BASKETBALLAll-NetEighth-grade division

Newport-Mesa Elite 44, South Coast B8 36: The Elite picked up their second win of the season with an eight-point victory over South Coast. They were paced by scoring leader Ryan Andrews’ 23 points, 14 rebounds and four steals while Chris Whitelegge added nine points, five steals and five rebounds. Defensive stopper Adam Spies led the team with six steals and added 11 points and six rebounds. Spencer Rautus, Taylor Wildman, Alex Turney and Justin Ruffalo all played well in the win.

Fullerton Hustlers 50, Newport-Mesa Elite 49: In a thrilling game with several lead changes, the Elite came up just short in Fullerton. Adam Spies played his best game of the season hitting three three-pointers and ending up with 15 points, four steals and six rebounds while Chris Whitelegge added 14 points, six rebounds and two steals.

Spencer Rautus hit a big 3-pointer to balloon the first-half lead to 10 points, but the Elite could not hold onto the lead down the stretch.

Ashton Meginnis and Ryan Andrews manned the paint throughout the game, combining for 11 points, 17 rebounds and three blocks, while Alex Turney and Taylor Wildman shut down the Hustlers’ point guard, holding him to just four second-half points.

Justin Ruffalo played some key minutes in the game, grabbing three rebounds in the first half.

Area Q