Huntington Beach pitcher Hagen Danner and Mater Dei pitcher Nick Pratto were among the Orange County players selected to participate in the U.S. 17U National Team Development Program.
The players were invited to a training camp Aug. 11-15 in Cary, N.C.
Also selected were Aliso Niguel catcher Blake Sabol, Mater Dei catcher David Clawson and Mater Dei outfielder Josh Stephen.
Selected as alternates were Dana Hills pitcher/outfielder Marrick Crouse and El Dorado pitcher Nick Sprengel.
GOLF: BREA’S LEE HELPS RETAIN WYNDHAM CUP
Brea Olinda senior Amy Lee defeated Anna Newell, 3 and 1, in a singles match Thursday in Plymouth, Mass., to help the West rally to tie the East, 25-25, and retain the Wyndham Cup.
On Wednesday, Lee teamed with Diamond Bar’s Bethany Wu to post a 1-up victory in a foursome match. …
Derek Uyesaka has been selected to coach the Mater Dei boys and girls golf teams this season, replacing Ollie Martin, who retired in June.
– DAMIAN DOTTORE
WATER POLO: COMPETITIONS SET TO START
Laguna Beach’s girls water polo team is the top seed for the California State High School Championships next week in Orange County. The Breakers are the reigning CIF Division 1 champions in the Southern Section.
The 32-team girls tournament and 48-team boys championships run July 18-20. The boys final is scheduled for July 20 at Foothill at 3 p.m. The girls title match is set for the same day at Corona del Mar at 3 p.m.
Mater Dei’s boys and Foothill’s girls are each seeded second. …
Several county water polo players are representing the United States at the UANA Junior Pan American Championships at Riverside City College, which started this week and end Tuesday.
The U.S. men’s youth team includes Huntington Beach goalie Alex Wolf, Dana Hills’ Bennett Williams and former Mater Dei player Kent Inoue.
The U.S. women’s youth team, coached by Laguna Beach’s Ethan Damato, features goalie Carlee Kapana of Newport Harbor, Foothill’s Cana Manzella, San Clemente’s Amber McCutcheon and Laguna Beach’s Aria Fischer along with former county players Sydney Blubaugh (Mater Dei), Haley Wan (Santa Margarita) and Brianna Daboub (Mater Dei).
The women’s gold-medal game is Tuesday at 10:20 a.m. and the men’s final follows at 3 p.m.
-DAN ALBANO
TRACK: MERRITT FOURTH IN U.S. JUNIOR EVENT
Santa Margarita’s Kaitlyn Merritt finished fourth in the girls pole vault, with a clearance of 13 feet, 7 1/4 inches, last weekend at the USA Track & Field Junior Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore.
The event featured the best high school athletes and college freshmen younger than age 20.
BASEBALL: WOODBRIDGE’S ABE COMMITS
Woodbridge pitcher/outfielder Kai Abe committed to UC Davis, Woodbridge coach Tim Murray announced. Abe was All-Pacific Coast League first team as a senior this past season.
FOOTBALL: TV INFO FOR O.C. ALL-STAR GAME
Time Warner Cable Community will televise taped coverage of the Brea Lions Orange County All-Star Game today in print on Saturday at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. For the Time Warner Cable systems in Orange County, the game will be shown on channel 84.
Cox3, available on Cox Cable systems, will televise taped coverage of the game several times. First telecasts are July 18 at 11 p.m. and July 19 at 1 p.m.
FOOTBALL: PUGA TAKING A SEASON OFF
Willy Puga plans to take the 2014 football season off. When Puga resigned as Garden Grove’s head coach after the 2013 season he said he would pursue other head coaching or assistant coaching opportunities.
Now, he is thinking of being a spectator.
“I’ll probably just take the year off and catch a bunch of different games,” Puga said.
Puga coached Garden Grove for four seasons. The Argonauts won three league championships and played in three CIF championship games during Puga’s tenure.
He said he interviewed for the Lakewood head coaching job that went to former Laguna Beach head coach and Mater Dei alum Jimmy Nolan.
Puga works for a plastics manufacturing company in Gardena, so any coaching job for Puga, he said, would have to be in the general vicinity. Puga at Garden Grove was a walk-on coach, which is a coach that is not a full-time faculty member.
– STEVE FRYER
BOYS BASKETBALL: Notes and updates
Among the players trying to make the Santa Margarita boys basketball starting lineup next season is Race Parks, a 6-8 incoming freshman who is the son of former NBA and Duke player Cherokee Parks. …
Zac Jervis, who averaged 10 points last season at Brea Olinda, has transferred to Orange Lutheran, his father, Jerry, confirmed. …
Among the champions of summer boys basketball tournaments: Santa Margarita beat Edison in the finals of the Newport Harbor tournament; and Servite beat Edison in the finals of the Larry Walker Memorial Classic at Servite.
– STEVE FRYER
