Esperanza’s junior outfielder/shortstop Bryanna Castro committed to McNeese State, Aztecs coach Ed Tunstall announced on Friday.
Castro is batting .368 with two homers, three doubles, 12 stolen bases, 20 runs and nine RBI this season.
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I did a live blog for the Century League showdown between No. 4 Esperanza and No. 5 Canyon on Tuesday at Esperanza High. Here’s how it all went down:
LIVE FROM ESPERANZA HIGH
I have set up the Mobile OCVarsity Press Row at Esperanza High today where the Aztecs will play host to Canyon in a big Century League showdown.
Both of these teams are playing very well right now. The Comanches, ranked No. 5 in the county and No. 16 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports, are 9-3 overall and 2-0 in league. Esperanza, ranked No. 4 in the county and No. 8 in the state, is 10-1 and 1-0 in league.
Esperanza had a big week last week with a league victory over El Modena and victories over Tesoro and Ocean View to take the Timberwolf Classic title. Canyon whacked its bitter rival El Modena last week.
Both these teams have fine pitching. South Carolina-commit Hayley “The Matrix” Copeland will be in the circle for the Aztecs and Utah-commit Hailey Hilburn is throwing for the Comanches. Esperanza third baseman Brynley Steele is red hot and is this week’s reigning OCVarsity player of the week.
Esperanza catcher Maddie Roth committed to Utah, Roth’s father, Joe, announced.
Roth, a sophomore, batted .356 with 20 RBIs as a freshman. Roth is considered one of the top defensive catches in the county. Last season, she had a .993 fielding percentage.
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More recruiting news from the OCVarsity blog:
Esperanza will announce Tuesday that Gary Bowers is the school’s varsity head coach.
Bowers’ hiring already is on the Esperanza football website coaches page.
Bowers is an Esperanza alum, class of 1997. He wan an All-Sunset League offensive lineman. Bowers went on to play at Fullerton College and Tarleton State in Texas.
Bowers has been on the coaching staff at El Dorado, Los Alamitos and, last year, at Fullerton College.
More football news from the OCVarsity blog:
Here are the Irvine Novaquatics’ entries for the Speedo Winter Junior National Championships, which start Thursday at University of Tennessee and include Esperanza’s Michaela Merlihan, left:
Brittany Kampfer of Mater Dei (14) NOVA-CA
# 3 Women Senior 500 Free 4:22.70L
# 17 Women Senior 200 Free B * 1:54.04
# 25 Women Senior 1650 Free 17:12.70L
USC’s men’s water polo team improved to 27-0 by defeating visiting Cal, 9-5, in the finals of the MPSF tournament Sunday afternoon.
USC’s Mace Rapsey scored a game-high four goals as the Trojans earned an automatic berth to this week’s NCAA tournament at USC.
In the third-place match UCLA defeated Stanford, 10-9, in overtime on a goal by left-hander Daniel Lenhart (Esperanza) and later earned an at-large entry to the NCAA tournament.
Air Force and St. Francis of New York round out the field for NCAAs, which are Saturday and Sunday at USC.
Please send water polo news to Dan Albano at dalbano@ocregister.com
Greg Kemp confirmed today he resigned as varsity football head coach at Esperanza.
Kemp, 41, just completed his fourth season as the Aztecs head coach. He said he resigned to create more time to spend with his family, which includes children of ages 10 and 8. Kemp, who said he will continue to teach science and physical education at Esperanza, also plans to continue his pursuit of an administration credential.
Kemp’s teams were an aggregate 20-22 in his four years. Kemp was an assistant coach for 13 years at Esperanza, under predecessors Gary Meek and Bill Pendleton, before becoming head coach in 2009.
Esperanza finished 6-5 this season. The Aztecs tied for third place in the Century League, with a 3-3 league record. They lost to Edison, 27-2, in the first round of the Southwest Division playoffs.
Pendleton and Meek still are on the Esperanza coaching staff, as assistants. Another assistant coach is Jeoff Meek, Gary’s son, who was a head coach at Saddleback.
Follow Fryer at twitter.com/stevefryer
More football news from the OCVarsity blog:
Esperanza freestyle swimmer Michaela Merlihan, who helped the Aztecs capture the CIF-SS Division 2 title in the spring, has committed to UCLA, reports Matt Slevcove, her coach with the Aztecs.
The senior made recruiting trips to Westwood, Arizona and Louisville. She picked the Bruins for several reasons.
“It’s conveniently close to home so my parents can continue to watch me race,” she said in a text message. “The campus is absolutely beautiful and I love the coaches and the team! It’s honestly the one school I would go to if I wasn’t an athlete because of the quality of education and all the extra curricular activities conveniently located around the school.
“And I couldn’t be more proud to say that I am going to be a Bruin!!”
NO. 23 YORBA LINDA (3-0) VS. NO. 20 ESPERANZA (3-0)
Where, when: Yorba Linda High, 7 p.m.
Outlook: This is the first meeting of these neighboring schools. Esperanza for decades got all of the football-minded kids in the Yorba Linda/Anaheim Hills/north-of-the-91 area. Well, the public-school ones. That area has been a Servite garden, too. A few years ago, Yorba Linda opened and many kids who would have gone to Esperanza now are going to Yorba Linda. Yorba Linda hired a fine coach, Jeff Bailey, and the Mustangs have gone 14-8 in two years of varsity football, including 10-2 last season. They beat El Modena and El Dorado in their first two games, and really impressed in last week’s 35-7 triumph over Brea Olinda. Esperanza worked the comeback trail to beat Capistrano Valley, 27-21, last week. That’s a good victory over a good team. Esperanza running back Troy Poole is averaging 140 yards a game and 9 yards a carry. The other Aztec Troy, quarterback Deluca, has completed 75 percent of his throws for 149 yards a game. Yorba’s offense has no single star, doing it so far with a mixture of guys. The feeling here is that Poole has his best game of the year and Esperanza wins. And let the rivalry begin!
Winner: Esperanza
More football news from the OCVarsity blog:
For the first time in OCVarsity Pickapalooza Deathmatch history, I was defeated.
That’s right, the unthinkable happened. Capistrano Valley blew a 15-point lead with 11 minutes remaining, allowing Esperanza to rally for three scores and pull out an unbelievable 27-21 come-from-behind victory. Props to the Aztecs for never giving up.
Because of Esperanza’s heroics, Jenn Schroeder, a former All-County catcher and Esperanza alum, becomes the first challenger to take down the big dog in an officially sanctioned OCVarsity Pickapalooza Deathmatch. Schroeder hangs on to her 100 percent authentic Mexican sombrero and claims my Party Time Pop Star Hannah Montana guitar clock. I know, it seems sacrilegious that the Party Time Pop Star Hannah Montana guitar clock will no longer reside in The Chillatorium in San Clemente.
I felt like Teddy KGB from the 1998 classic “Rounders” as I watched the updates from the Capo-Esperanza game coming in.
“Hanging around, hanging around,” Teddy KGB said. “Kid’s got alligator blood. Can’t get rid of him.”
Finally, like Teddy KGB, reality set in and I knew Schroeder would be the new owner of my Party Time Pop Star Hannah Montana guitar clock.
“He beat me … Straight up … Pay him … Pay that man his money,” Teddy KGB said.
Congratulations to Schroeder and the Aztecs on achieving OCVarsity Pickapalooza glory.
Now, like any true champion, it’s time to pick myself off the canvas and come out swinging. This week, I’m opening up the OCVarsity Pickapalooza Deathmatch to the OCVarsity universe. This week, the Deathmatch game is Edison vs. Servite on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Cerritos College. I’m taking Servite. CREEDO!!!
I’m putting up my personal Mjolnir. That’s right, the hammer wielded by Thor, the God of Thunder, himself. If you are going for the Chargers and you think you have what it takes to challenge me in a no-holds barred OCVarsity Pickapalooza Deathmatch, e-mail me at carias@ocregister.com or hit me up on Twitter @LosOCVarsity with what you are willing to put on the line. You have until Tuesday at 5 p.m. to make your pitch.
Follow me on Twitter @LosOCVarsity.
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