O.C. team's long streak to be tested
Taking a look around Orange County high school sports:
•Unlike too many teams in football, boys water polo teams don't duck the tough competition. Mater Dei's 54-match winning streak will get tested in this weekend's 32-team South Coast Tournament, which is at Corona del Mar, Foothill, Newport Harbor and Servite. The top four teams in the Division 1 rankings are in it: No. 1 Mater Dei; No. 2 Newport Harbor; No. 3 Loyola of Los Angeles and No. 4 Los Alamitos.
•Girls volleyball teams also seek out opportunities to play against the best. The Dave Mohs Memorial Tournament that begins Friday at Edison and concludes there Monday is typically deep. Six teams that are in the CIF-SS Division 1AA top 10 are in it, including No. 1 Santa Margarita and No. 2 Redondo Union, and so is 1A's top-ranked Laguna Beach.
•With the assistance of reader Mike Duncan of Buena Park, we added up the number of NFL players who played their high school football in Orange County. It is 31 players from 19 schools. The school with the most NFL guys is Servite, with four, followed by three apiece from Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo and Tustin and two each from Brea Olinda and Western.
•Seeing that 19 schools have produced NFL players serves as a reminder that a student-athlete does not have to be at one of the county's elite private or public-school programs to be on the path to a pro sports career.
•Mission Viejo football lineman Erik Bunte, who started the season at Santa Margarita then transferred, will be honored before the Diablos home game Sept. 28. He will be presented the game jersey he will wear at the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl on Jan. 4 at The Home Depot Center.
•Mission Viejo defensive back/receiver Max Redfield was presented his jersey for the Under Armour All-America Game earlier this week. The game will be played Jan. 4 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla.
•Cox3's football game of the week, Corona del Mar vs. Capistrano Valley, will be televised Friday at 11:30 p.m. and Saturday at 1 and 8 p.m.
•Santa Margarita football is flying high despite losing good transfers, and so is Orange Lutheran. The Lancers are 4-0, although quarterback Ian Fieber left the school and is doing well at Mission Viejo. Another ex-Lancer, La Habra sophomore running back Carlos Martin, is averaging 68 yards a game and 5 yards a carry, and has rushed for seven touchdowns in four games.
•CalHiSports, which does such a great job on state rankings, all-state teams, and record keeping, has a new Internet football home. Go to calhisportsfootball.wordpress.com for the latest.
•Nick Pallas, All-South Coast League second team in basketball at Tesoro last season as a freshman, has transferred to JSerra. Pallas, 6-foot-7, averaged 12 points a game for Tesoro.
•Pallas was among several county players singled out as top players at the Fullcourt Press Fall Showcase earlier this month at Ribet Academy in Los Angeles. The others: Ocean View sophomore Tyler Burch; Orange Lutheran sophomore Roger Printup; Mater Dei freshman Anthony Coleiro; Mater Dei junior Stanley Johnson; and Canyon senior JoJo Ballestero.
•Villa Park continues to search for a varsity wrestling coach, since last year's county coach of the year, Aaron Cross, resigned in May. It is a walk-on position. (A walk-on is a coach who is not a full-time faculty member.) Applicants can contact Villa Park athletic director Tom Fox for more information at tfox@orangeusd.org.
•Former Edison baseball coach Matt Mosiello this week was named baseball coach at Vista Murrieta.
•Many baseball commitments this week: Cypress senior pitcher Kevin Lillicrop, to Point Loma Nazarene (he was Empire League pitcher of the year this past season); Esperanza junior shortstop Tristan Hildebrandt to Oklahoma; Mater Dei sophomore shortstop Brandon Perez to Oregon; Santa Margarita senior pitcher Austin Ponzi to Long Beach State; and Santa Margarita junior pitcher Griffin Canning to UCLA.
•Several donors have stepped forward to help Los Amigos baseball replace gear that was stolen earlier this month. Beach Pit BBQ in Costa Mesa will donate to Los Amigos baseball 20 percent of all sales from 1-3 p.m Saturday. The restaurant will also have a silent auction of items including baseballs signed by Tim Salmon and Bob Feller.
•Mater Dei on Friday will retire the No. 29 uniform number of Ty Moore. This past spring, Moore hit the player of the year trifecta, winning the honor for Orange County, CIF-Southern Section Division 1 and California. He is at UCLA.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
