Briefs: McBean to England

Aug. 23, 2016 10:30 PM PT

Former Corona del Mar High soccer standout Jack McBean has been loaned from the Los Angeles Galaxy to Coventry City FC in England’s League One for the remainder of the MLS season.

McBean signed with the Galaxy on June 22 after scoring 12 goals in 14 games for the Galaxy II of the United Soccer League. McBean still leads the USL with 15 goals in 17 games.

McBean, 21, made two MLS appearances and two more in the US Open Cup in 2016.

McBean originally signed with the LA Galaxy in 2011 as a Homegrown Player. The 6-foot striker has made 19 MLS appearances with two goals and two assists.

At age 16, McBean became the youngest player in LA Galaxy history to play in a game, start a game and score a goal. In his first appearance — at Houston on Oct. 23, 2011 — McBean scored a goal while playing the entire match.

In 2015, McBean signed a USL contract with LA Galaxy II, for which he excelled in two seasons.

Last year, the LA Galaxy II MVP had six goals and five assists for Galaxy II.

McBean also recorded an assist in USL postseason play, helping lead “Los Dos” to its first USL Western Conference Championship and USL Championship appearance.

— From staff reports

‘Eaters reunited

Former UC Irvine All-American Cameron Iwasa returns to Anteater Stadium on Wednesday, when his Sacramento Republic face the OC Blues in a United Soccer League game at 7:30 p.m.

Iwasa, 23, leads the Republic with 10 goals and also has two assists in 24 games this season. Sacramento (11-6-7) is tied for the Western Conference lead with 40 points.

Iwasa, who had six goals and six assists as a senior to lead the 2014 Anteaters to a 16-6-3 record and the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, will compete against former UCI teammates Mats Bjurman and Christian Santana with the Blues.

Bjurman, who played last season for UCI, has one goal and three assists in 18 games for the Blues (10-11-4), who play their home games at UCI.

Santana has played in 11 games this season, producing one assist.

— Barry Faulkner

UCI baseball honorees

Adam Alcantara, who will be a senior for the UC Irvine baseball team next spring, as well as incoming Anteaters freshman Christian Koss earned first-team All-West Coast League honors for summer competition.

Konnor Zickefoos, who has transferred to UCI after earning Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year laurels as a freshman third baseman at Chapman University last season, and Cameron Bishop, who will be a senior in 2017, were named to the second team.

Koss, out of JW North High in Riverside, played second base for the Yakima Valley Pippins. He hit .306 with 22 runs batted in and 12 stolen bases in 13 attempts in 180 at-bats over 45 WCL games. He had one home run and scored 28 runs, though he did commit 16 errors and struck out 34 times.

Alcantara, a first-team All-Big West Conference performer as a junior, hit .333 with three home runs and 16 RBIs in 114 at-bats for the Victoria (British Columbia, Canada) HarbourCats.

Bishop, a left-handed pitcher voted by scouts as the top prospect in the WCL All-Star Game, posted a 1.45 earned-run average in 31 innings for the Corvallis (Ore.) Knights, who won the WCL crown.

Bishop, who made six starts and appeared in seven games, struck out 43 and allowed just 18 hits to fashion a 1-3 record. He started the deciding third game of the league championship series against Bellingham on Tuesday {Aug. 16}. He left the game in the fifth inning, trailing, 3-1, but his team rallied for a 6-4 triumph to capture the best-of-three series.

Bishop also had five hits and three runs batted in while appearing in 12 games as a hitter.

Zickefoose, who hit .423 with seven home runs and 38 RBIs for Chapman last season, hit .300 with 16 RBIs in 120 at-bats for the Gresham (Ore.) GreyWolves this summer.

— Barry Faulkner

UCI lands three

A pair of West Virginia transfers are among a three-player recruiting class for first-year UC Irvine women’s basketball coach Tamara Inoue.

Yazzmeen “Yazzy” Sa’Dullah and Lauren Saikai were both freshman at West Virginia last season, who will sit out next season due to NCAA transfer rules.

The third member of the class is Brook Baymen, an incoming freshman out of JSerra High.

Sa’Dullah, a 5-foot-7 guard, played in five games for the Mountaineers last season after averaging 18.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game as a senior at Burbank High in 2014-15. She was ranked No. 31 among point guard nationally by ESPN HoopGurlz in 2015, when she was ranted the No. 6 prospect in California’s Class of 2015 by All-Star Girls Report.

She was Co-MVP of the Pacific League as a junior, when she averaged 20.3 points per game in league play and she twice earned second-team All-CIF Southern Section honors. She began her prep career at Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas.

“Yazzy’s athleticism and ability to score off the dribble is something I always appreciate in my program,” Inoue said. “Her excitement and energy will lift the team this year and bring even more competitiveness into practice, I can’t be more excited about having her here for the next four years.”　

Saiki, a 5-5 point guard, played in six contests at West Virginia. She finished the season with two points, six assists, two steals in 28 minutes of action. All-Star Girls Report ranked Saiki the No. 13 prospect in California in the Class of 2015, while ESPN HoopGurlz tabbed her the No. 76 guard in her class.

At Mark Keppel High, Saiki was the 2015 CIF Southern Regional Championship MVP, a three-time All-Almont League honoree as well as a member of the Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News All-Star Teams in 2015.

As a sophomore, she helped Keppel compile a 27-6 record and it was ranked No. 34 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports. She was a second-team All-CIF pick as a freshman.

Saiki played AAU basketball for California Storm Team Taurasi, which she helped claim the inaugural Nike Elite Youth Basketball National Championship before her senior year.

“To have Lauren in our program puts a huge smile on my face every day,” Inoue said. “Her unselfishness and ability to take over a game as a point guard is always welcome in my program.

Bayman, 5-6 guard, was a member of the 2015 CIF Southern California Regional Division 1 Champion. She was named her team’s Defensive Player of the Year twice. The Cavaliers were also Division 4 State Champions in 2013 and league champions three times with Baymen on the squad.

“Brooke is a worker,” Inoue said. “She is willing to do anything and everything to get better. The gym-rat mentality that she has expressed will allow her to be welcomed by her teammates and coaches.

“I am fortunate to have my first three commitments be such great competitors and more importantly great people who will represent UCI proudly,” Inoue said. I want to publicly thank two of my assistants, Krystle Evans and Cecilia Russell-Nava, for coming into this program with instant pride and working extremely hard to get these commitments.”

— From staff reports

OCC football social

A social gathering is being planned for Orange Coast football alumni and former Coach Dick Tucker on Sept. 16 at Garf’s Sports Lounge in Costa Mesa.

The get-together, for which those who played for OCC from 1962 through 1985, will be from 6-8 p.m. Garf’s is at 2046 Briston St.

A ceremony naming the OCC football playing surface Dick Tucker Field will be held Sept. 17 prior to the Pirates’ home nonconference game against Ventura at 6 p.m.

Former players are asked to RSVP via text message to Joe Scott at (714) 482-8603, or former head coach and current OCC assistant Mike Taylor at (714) 654-5333 or via email at coachtaylorhb@yahoo.com.

— From staff reports