OC Teams Trounce Redondo

The Mira Costa boys and girls clubs ran into familiar foes and familiar endings their matches for U.S. Lacrosse titles.

But that didn't kill the thrill of what the Sea Hawks had accomplished.

"Our big game was beating Cate," said Redondo coach Tom Borgia, referring to the Sea Hawks' win over the Santa Barbara club last week to advance to the title match. "There's nothing wrong with winning Bay League and L.A. County every year. We're very happy with our progress."

The loss to Los Alamitos was the second year in a row for Redondo to the Griffins for the championship. But the Sea Hawks had another outstanding season, running the table in the Bay League again for their second consecutive unbeaten campaign and finishing the season with a 20-3 mark.

Borgia couldn't be prouder.

"I've got some great athletes and wouldn't trade them for anyone," he said.

Mira Costa couldn't agree more. The Mustangs dropped the title again in a loss to Foothill in the title match.

Orange County Volleyball Teams Bounce Costa, Redondo

Mira Costa wasn't prepared for what hit at Mater Dei last Saturday night. Neither were the Mustang fans.

They stood in stunned silence after the Monarchs earned a five-game victory (29-27, 20-25, 25-14, 18-25, 15-9) over top-seed Mira Costa in the quarterfinals of the Division I playoffs at Mater Dei.

The Mustangs seemed flat at the start and it eventually cost them. They were hammered in third game before springing to life in the fourth. But Mater Dei used a flourish to capture the final game and the match.

The Mustangs never seemed like the same team after blowing the first game, one they dictated until Mater Dei surprised them in the end for a 29-27 win. Mira Costa led most of the way before the Monarchs seized the lead late.

In the fifth game, it was difficult for Mira Costa not to feel the pressure, the Mater Dei crowd playing a factor.

Mira Costa head co-coach Sean Shoptaw said all the right things after the loss, but he couldn't hide his disappointment. Still, the Mustangs might earn a berth in next week's Southern California regional playoffs.

"They played a great match," Shoptaw said of Mater Dei. "We played well for spurts but we just never got into a consistent rhythm and it showed. We never really had the consistency to play our game like we've been playing all year. Give them credit. They made life tough on us on every point."

Shoptaw, though, had nothing for praise for his team, which rolled to a 33-2 mark and considered a favorite to advance to the division final.

"This team was an absolute pleasure to coach," he said. "I love every one of these kids. There's not a bad thing to say about them. We had a great year, a year most people didn't think we'd have. I'm proud of them."

Meanwhile, Redondo's boys volleyball team also saw its season end in the quarterfinals of the Division I playoffs. Host Santa Margarita swept the Sea Hawks, 25-22, 25-18, 25-14, last Saturday.

Santa Margarita, which finished ahead of Mater Dei in the Trinity League, overwhelmed Redondo, which finished the season with a 28-8 mark. The Sea Hawks were runners-up to Mira Costa in the Bay League.

Costa, Peninsula Softball Punished for Slow Starts?

Peninsula coach Tim Hall took the high road, but Mira Costa's Richard Amberik questioned his team's draw in this week's CIF Southern Section softball playoffs. He had a point.

Despite finishing as co-champs of the Bay League, the Panthers and Mustangs didn't receive favorable draws for the Division III playoffs. Peninsula, which opened the playoffs with a 5-3 win over Paso Robles on Thursday, is now looking at a second-round clash with top-seeded Oaks Christian on Tuesday.

Hall won't say it, but Peninsula is probably being punished for an awful start, when it lost 11 of 14 before winning eight of 10 in the Bay League. Instead of crying the blues though, Hall sees the game with Oaks Christian as an opportunity for his club. Against Paso Robles, the Panthers passed a test with a group effort, led by senior shortstop Taylor Karp, whose two-run double in the third turned out to be the difference.

"The great thing about the playoffs is that you get to focus on playing well," said Hall, whose team improved to 13-13 with its victory over Paso Robles. "If you do that, you're going to go as far as you get.

"The team that really got a tough draw though was Mira Costa. They went in as a No. 2 seed, but that was because of a coin flip. We finished as league champions. For them to have to play a wild card game when there's some teams (in the division) that finished in second place in their leagues and didn't have to play a wild card doesn't make sense to me."

Winning will change that, Hall said. But the fact that he is the only coach now with a team still in the playoffs doesn't put much juice in the Bay League's case.

"Maybe our league isn't getting as much respect as we'd like, but that's in our hands now," he said. "There are (nonleague) games we can win if we want to earn respect. If we can make some noise this year in the playoffs, people are going to have to take notice in future years."

Amberik was still shaking his head Wednesday by his team's wild-card draw. That didn't prevent Santa Maria Righetti, an at-large entry and the fifth-place team from the Pac-7 League, from giving the Mustangs fits. The Warriors put Costa in a 6-1 hole and led 7-6 heading into the bottom of the eighth before catcher Katie Saunders rescued the Mustangs with a game-winning two-run double to score the Glover sisters, Kamyle and Taylor, and lift Costa.

Amberik, though, believed his club should have been hosting a first-round game instead of a wild card.

"You're darned right I was surprised," Amberik said. "We finished (as co-champs in league) and get 21 victories and they give us a wild card?"

Instead, Costa had to pack its gear and play a first-round contest at Lake Elsinore Lakeside, which eliminated the Mustangs with a 7-6 victory Thursday. Costa ends the season at 22-7-1.

Megan von Behren drove in four runs, Stafanni Lajeunese homered and Taylor Glover went 3 for 4 with a pair of runs in the loss.

Palos Verdes also was eliminated in a 6-4 loss at Chaminade on Thursday.

Redondo exited earlier than that, though, getting beat by Heritage, the No. 2 entry from the Sunbelt League, in a 5-0 defeat Tuesday. Not a good week for Redondo.

Baseball Teams Go Down

Maybe the CIF bracketologists got it right about the Bay League's baseball teams. Not to be cruel, but the proof is in the outcomes.

Redondo was the first to go, dropping a 3-1 setback to visiting Damien in a wild-card game Tuesday. On Thursday, West Torrance went down in flames to Yucaipa, Peninsula fell to Chino Hills (2-1) and Palos Verdes was on the short end of the stick at Chaminade (13-5).

For Palos Verdes, it's a bitter pill to swallow. The Sea Kings lost to Chaminade in the softball and baseball playoffs.

Sea Kings Advance in Tennis

Coach Danny Moscovici and his Sea Kings continued to march toward another appearance in the CIF Division I championship this week with a 10-8 decision over host Brentwood.

Singles players Jeff Hawke, Erik Lim and Jake Douglas won two of their three sets, but it was the doubles team of Brett Landon and Dylan Holt, who also took two of three, that put the Sea Kings over the hump.

Palos Verdes, which has won 17 straight matches, will host Harvard-Westlake in a semifinal showdown at 3 p.m. Tuesday.