2013 Top Stories Archive Stories

Jake Bauers needed a moment. The Marina senior had just seen one teammate thrown out at the plate in the seventh inning and another ground out to end the game while Bauers was on deck. As the Vikings gathered in the outfield grass of Dodger Stadium after their 1-0 loss in the CIF-SS Division 1 final to Harvard-Westlake of North Hollywood

COSTA MESA – The most recognizable running back on the South roster for the Brea Lions Orange County All-Star Game is Laguna Beach's Drake Martinez. But it will be two other running backs striving to prove they belong in the same regard during next week's annual all-star football game at Orange Coast College. Estancia's

IRVINE – University tennis star Gage Brymer and Santa Margarita pole vaulter Kaitlyn Merritt were announced as Orange County's 2012-13 athletes of the year Wednesday at the Orange County Register/OCVarsity Athlete and Coach of the Year awards. Former Mater Dei High and USC star Matt Leinart presented the awards following a speech i

Click through the slideshow to see the 2012-13 overall athletes of the year, plus the athletes and coaches of the year for every sport.

Taking a look, backward and forward, around Orange County high school sports ... •We had quite a competition, and plenty of staff debate, for county boys athlete of the year. It came down to Max Redfield of Mission Viejo, who was the county's top all-around male athlete as he was great in football, very good in basketball and plenty

IRVINE – Thomas Smith was warming up for his race at the Speedo Grand Challenge last month when he noticed two crutches on the pool deck at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center. For a swim meet that attracts chiseled, world-class athletes to rising teenagers, signs of fragility are rare. Smith, 15, who just finished his

Even on the drive to his last high school match, a spring day from 2011 remained in the back of Gage Brymer's mind. It's not that the University tennis star was still dwelling on the loss to Peninsula's Horea Porutiu that ended his bid for an undefeated sophomore season. But that defeat, the lone blemish on an otherwise perfect final thr

Santa Margarita pole vaulter Kaitlyn Merritt produced several spectacular achievements that brought her national notoriety during the 2013 track and field season. But the 16-year-old gymnast-turned-track star refused to let the attention distract her, using it instead to further fuel her dedication to master her craft. That combi

Ella Eastin made a lasting impression as a youth athlete. "She was always very aggressive," recalls her father, Jeff. Eastin ventured briefly into volleyball and basketball, the sport dear to her 6-foot-6 father. But she also discovered competitive swimming one summer with the Irvine Swim League. Before long, the attacks

Nick Worrell's athletic career might be over. Here he is, just a few weeks after helping Saddleback Valley Christian to a CIF-SS volleyball championship. He was league player of the year in volleyball, and basketball, too, and All-CIF in basketball. Worrell, a 6-foot-5 senior who is the Orange County Register's small schools athl

It was a surprise, a classy move and an emotional third-day MLB draft selection that brought tears to men in a front office and to a family that thought its big-league dream was over. In the 34th round, with the 1,020th overall selection, the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday selected Cory Hahn, the former Mater Dei All-America outfielder

Former USC and NFL receiver Keyshawn Johnson, left, now an ESPN football analyst, has been added to the Mission Viejo football coaching staff. Mission Viejo coach Bob Johnson confirmed Tuesday that Johnson will help coach Diablos receivers. Johnson’s son Rob also coaches receivers at Mission Viejo. Rob Johnson and Keyshawn Johnson we

ALL-CIF BASEBALL TEAMS (Selected by the Baseball Coaches' Association) DIVISION 1 Player of the year: Jack Flaherty, Harvard-Westlake Coach of the year: Matt Lacour, Harvard-Westlake First team: Tyler Cohen, Agoura; Mario Losi, Canyon; Myles Hager, Chaminade; Ryan

ALL-CIF SOFTBALL TEAMS (Selected by the Softball Coaches' Association) DIVISION 1 Player of the year: Erica Romero, Santiago of Corona Championship coach: John Perez, Santiago of Corona Tera Blanco, Marina; Alexis Osorio, ML. King; Janine Petmecky, Riverside Poly; Selena

ALL-CIF BOYS VOLLEYBALL (Selected by the Boys Volleyball Coaches' Association) DIVISION 1 Player of the year: Matt Butler, Huntington Beach Coach of the year: Michael Boehle, Loyola Matt Butler, Huntington Beach; T.J. DeFalco, Huntington Beach; Lucas Yoder, San Clemente;

DANA POINT Rising junior Ben Humphreys made a leaping interception in the end zone on the final play to help Mater Dei secure a 14-13 victory against Chaminade of West Hills in the finals of the Air Strike passing tournament at Dana Hills on Saturday. Humphreys and senior-to-be Jonathan Lockett

SOFTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR Alyssa Palomino, Mission Viejo, Infielder, Soph. Read about Palomino. SOFTBALL PITCHER OF THE YEAR

JSerra’s Dane McFarland had been told it was coming in one of two rounds, but that didn’t alter the emotions of hearing his name called in Major League Baseball’s First-Year Player Draft.    Selected in the 12th round (360th overall) by the Arizona Diamondbacks, McFarland was one of five Orange County high sch

BASEBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR Ryan McMahon, Mater Dei, Infielder, Sr. Click here to read about McMahon. BASEBALL PITCHER O

BOYS TRACK CO-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR Juan Gonzalez, El Toro Read about Gonzalez. BOYS TRACK CO-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR Kaitlyn Merritt, Santa Margarita Click here to read about Merritt. GIRLS TR

PLAYER OF THE YEAR Gage Brymer, University, Sr. Click here to read about Brymer. COACH OF THE YEAR

For being one of the biggest days of his life, Ryan McMahon didn't make it seem like he was preparing to receive big news. But as Mater Dei's star third baseman lay on the couch at his house Thursday night, he got the call of a lifetime. McMahon was the first of two county high school players drafted in the second round of the Ma

ALL-COUNTY BOYS GOLF TEAM ROBERT DENG St. Margaret's, Sr. The Register's Player of the Year. ROCKY PARKER St. Margaret'

The morning after concluding his high school career in the CIF championship game at Dodger Stadium, Marina standout Jake Bauers awoke at 5:30 a.m. to drive to Petco Park for a workout with the San Diego Padres. Apparently, it went well. The Padres drafted Bauers in the seventh round, 208th overall, of MLB's First-Year Play