Year in review: the top sports stories of 2022
The Daily Pilot covered many of the best moments in athletics in the cities of Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach and Newport Beach again this year.
In 2022, local teams soared to new heights, contributed to the growth of emerging sports, and some individuals put their names in the history books and left indelible marks on their athletic programs.
Below are some of the sports stories that stood out over the last 12 months:
Historic season for Laguna Beach football
After 76 years, the Laguna Beach High football team won its first CIF title since 1946.
The Breakers won at Diamond Bar 36-28 in the Division 9 title game. Sophomore quarterback Jackson Kollock, a transfer from Santa Margarita, shined late in the season for Laguna Beach, helping lead the Breakers to nine straight wins. He threw three touchdown passes in the CIF title game, while Nick Rogers, Jackson Rodriguez, Jeremy Kanter, Micah Chavez and Ryner Swanson were some of the other key players for Coach John Shanahan’s squad.
Laguna Beach’s season ended with another memorable game, losing 56-55 to Granada Hills Charter in the CIF State Southern California Regional Division 4-A bowl game.
Sage Hill girls’ basketball wins state title for encore
The Sage Hill girls’ basketball team put another feather in its cap this season in winning the CIF State Division II championship, 51-47, over Fresno San Joaquin Memorial. Emily Eadie, Zoie Lamkin, Kat Righeimer, and Annabelle Spotts, currently in their junior season, will always be connected to Kobe Bryant and the eight others who were killed in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020, but they continue to do the late members of their Mamba Sports Academy team proud. This year’s success built on that of their first with the Lightning, when Sage Hill captured its first CIF Southern Section title in beating Ontario Christian, 62-55, in the Division 3AA final.
CdM’s Jason Plumb ends Orange County’s state title drought in long jump
Corona del Mar’s Jason Plumb had a historic senior track and field season. It had been nearly a century since Orange County’s last victor in the long jump in the CIF State track and field championships. There had been four prior state champions in county history, with Fullerton’s Fred Osborne the last to do it in 1925. Plumb ended the drought with a lifetime-best leap of 24 feet, 5¾ inches at Clovis Buchanan High on May 28. The Cal commit also won the long jump at the Orange County Championships.
Estancia baseball wins first CIF title
It was a memorable spring for the Estancia baseball team, which beat Anaheim 2-1 in 11 innings at Cal State Fullerton to win the CIF Southern Section Division 6 title, the program’s first.
Senior Trevor Scott and sophomore Andrew Mits led the way on the mound for Coach Nate Goellrich’s Eagles, who allowed just three total runs in five CIF games. Junior outfielder James De La O and senior infielder Jack Moyer joined them on the Daily Pilot Baseball Dream Team for Estancia, which also claimed the program’s first regional baseball title.
Huntington Beach and Newport Harbor also won baseball regional titles to conclude a highlight season on the diamond.
Newport Harbor water polo excellence continues
Coach Ross Sinclair’s Newport Harbor girls’ and boys’ water polo teams captured both CIF Southern Section Open Division titles in the 2022 calendar year.
The girls’ team beat Surf League rival Laguna Beach for the Open Division title, and again for the CIF Southern California Regional Division I title. USC-bound Morgan Netherton earned CIF Player of the Year honors and shared league MVP honors with teammate Taylor Smith, now at UCLA.
It was the Sailors’ first title in the top division since 2012 and highlighted a standout season for local teams overall, with CdM winning the Division 1 title and Edison making the Division 2 final.
Newport’s boys beat JSerra for the Open Division title, their second straight crown, led by co-CIF Players of the Year Ben Liechty, a senior left-hander bound for UCLA, and junior center Peter Castillo.
Area wrestling on the rise
With the contesting of the first CIF State individual girls’ wrestling championships this season, the growth of girls’ wrestling was more apparent than ever. Riding a wave of bonus points from finishing matches with pins, Marina was crowned as the first girls’ team champion, besting Gilroy 92.5-68 for the title. Kaelani Schufeldt (101 pounds) and Alexandra Lopez (143) were state finalists for the Vikings. The area also had 11 boys’ wrestlers advance to the state meet, led by Fountain Valley’s TJ McDonnell, an Oregon State commit who brought home a third-place medal at state. Corona del Mar’s boys’ team also advanced to the CIF dual meet wrestling finals for the third consecutive year, winning their second title in that span.
Aaron Pines leaves lasting legacy
Hearts broke when it was learned that Aaron Pines, 34, a math teacher at Edison and the head baseball coach at Los Amigos, had lost his battle with cancer just two days before Christmas. Despite his ailments, Pines carried out his coaching duties with Los Amigos, leading the Lobos to a 23-5 record and the No. 1 overall seed in the Division 7 playoffs. Los Amigos won the Garden Grove League title, which marked the first league title for the program. Another special moment occurred during the regular season, when Pines coached against his brother, Greg, in a game versus Rancho Alamitos.
Dan O’Shea leaves Corona del Mar football
The CdM football team will go through transition after Dan O’Shea resigned as head coach earlier this month, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family. Kevin Hettig, who was the offensive coordinator, assumed head coaching duties.
O’Shea led the Sea Kings to an 80-18-1 record across eight seasons, including the 16-0 team in 2019 that won CIF Southern Section Division 3 and CIF State Division 1-A titles.
He was also defensive coordinator on the 2013 CdM team, which became the first 16-0 team in state history.
Back Bay lacrosse teams win CIF titles
Teams from both Back Bay rivals earned CIF Southern Section lacrosse championships, as the Corona del Mar boys and Newport Harbor girls each got to take home a title plaque.
CdM’s boys beat Foothill for the Division 1 title, pulling away late for a 10-4 win. Lucas Newton recorded a hat-trick in his last high school game before heading to Villanova, and Nicolas Peloso had two goals and an assist.
The Newport Harbor girls beat Murrieta Mesa 11-6 to win the Division 2 final, earning a win over rival CdM — last year’s Division 2 champion — in the semifinals on the way to the title. Caroline Close had three goals in the title match to lead the Sailors, with Lucy Toohey and Olivia Gritzmacher scoring twice each.
Newport Harbor boys’ volleyball back on top
A battle of blue-blood programs deserves a storybook ending. With one final strike from junior outside hitter Jake Read, Newport Harbor edged Los Angeles Loyola 15-25, 25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 15-12 in an instant classic of a Division 1 boys’ volleyball final. Newport Harbor added a fifth section title to its trophy case. James Eadie, a senior middle blocker for the Sailors, and Dillon Klein, a senior outside hitter for the Cubs, shared CIF Division 1 Player of the Year honors, while Newport Harbor’s Eric Vallely was named Coach of the Year.
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