Taking a look around Orange County high school sports:
• Track and field athletes usually are at their best this time of year, with CIF-Southern Section championships and the state meet coming up. It will be interesting to see what Esperanza freshman shot put and discuss thrower Bronson Osborn will do in the Division 3 prelims Saturday at Estancia and, if he qualifies as expected, in next week’s CIF-SS Finals. Osborn’s shot put mark of 60 feet, 31/2 inches is the best mark among freshmen this year in the nation.
• Esperanza has a couple of other fine throwers. William Troung, a senior, has the fourth-best shot put mark in CIF-SS at 61-0. Senior Garrett Sweetser’s 55-5 1/2 is No. 17 on the section shot put list.
• Esperanza, with Osborn and Truong, is the first county school to have two shot putters over 60 feet the same season since Newport Harbor had Terry Albritton and Randy Stevens go past 60 in 1971.
• Familiar football names on the list of the section’s top shot putters: Mater Dei All-County defensive lineman Malik McMorris is No. 6 in the section at 59-2; and Mission Viejo All-County defensive lineman Michael Mathewes is No. 11 in the section at 57-2.
• CIF-SS track and field has prelims Saturday in four divisions at four sites. The Division 1 prelims are at Trabuco Hills. The Division 3 prelims are at Estancia.
• Tuesday was a big day for some county freshmen. Capistrano Valley freshman Camryn Hidalgo won the CIF-SS Division 1 girls diving championship, Crean Lutheran freshman Colten Young won the Division 3 boys diving title, and Orange Lutheran softball freshmen Maddy Dwyer and Noelle Hee led the Lancers to an 8-4 win over Rosary that earned them the Trinity League championship.
• Nobody bats 1.000, so here are a couple of corrections: Domenic Colacchio plays third base for Aliso Niguel and is hitting over .500 in Sea View League games; and the correct spellings for two Buena Park football players who are getting some recruiting interest are Keven Dixon and Jaylinn Hawkins.
• Servite’s Zachary Huarte was selected to play in the Orange County All-Star Baseball Game on June 9 at La Palma Park. The Huarte family has some history there: Zachary’s grandfather John Huarte played football and baseball there before going on to win the Heisman Trophy at Notre Dame, and his great-great grandfather Joseph Huarte managed Orange County’s first pro baseball team, the Anaheim Aces, at La Palma Park in 1941.
• Fountain Valley baseball players Saturday will help coach the Challenger Division kids in District 62 Little League. The Challenger program is a baseball league for disabled youth. Watching a Challenger Division game, better yet assisting in one, is a life-changing experience for the open-minded.
• The scholarship offers to San Clemente quarterback Sam Darnold, a senior this fall, are piling up. Colorado State is the latest to be added to a list that includes but is not limited to Harvard, Nevada, San Diego State, Tennessee and Utah.
• Pacifica baseball catcher/outfielder Nick Howard signed with Northwest Missouri State. Howard was Pacifica’s starting quarterback this past football season. Ocean View pitcher Dustin Fisher committed to Gettysburg College.
• Mario Soto, who did not play basketball his senior year after transferring from Mater Dei to Saddleback Valley Christian, signed with Concordia University. To become eligible at Saddleback Valley Christian, Soto attempted to get a hardship waiver based upon his allegations that he was bullied and mistreated at Mater Dei. The CIF-SS denied the waiver and Soto could not play at Saddleback Valley Christian.
• The Mission Viejo varsity boys basketball coaching position will attract some excellent candidates. Perry Webster, an All-County guard at Mission Viejo a few years ago, is interested. Troy Roelen, who coached the Diablos for 12 years and was a county coach of the year, resigned the position when the Saddleback Valley Unified School District began a policy that disallows a head coach to also be athletic director; Roelen remains as the school’s athletic director.
• Webster, 25, has been an assistant coach at Saddleback College the past two seasons. “My dream is not to be a public high school basketball coach,” Webster said. “But Mission Viejo is a place I love and care about so it is intriguing to me.”
• Webster lacks a teaching credential. At Mission Viejo he would have to be a walk-on coach, which is a coach who does not have a full-time position on a school’s staff or faculty. Oftentimes schools prefer to have an on-campus person in charge of the higher-visibility sports programs.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
