OC Varsity » Recruiting

Baseball: Valencia player signs with San Diego St.

STEVE FRYER, ocvarsity.com — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:43:00 +0000

Carl Robinson, a senior left-handed pitcher at Valencia, signed a letter of intent with San Diego State, Valencia coach Mike Scheetz reported. Robinson was All-Empire League first team as a sophomore and a junior.

Baseball: Three Fullerton players commit to Division I schools

Damian Calhoun, OCVarsity.com since 2004 — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:57:08 +0000

Fullerton seniors Christian Belleque, Dominic Ficociello and Michael Lorenzen have all committed to Division I colleges, Coach Marc Price confirmed in an e-mail today.

Belleque (9-2, 2.06 ERA, 78.1 IP, 99 K, 4 BB) has committed to Fresno State.

Ficociello, who is also the quarterback for the Fullerton football team, is headed to Arkansas. Ficociello had a .495 batting average with 10 home runs, 36 RBIs and 17 doubles last season.

Lorenzen (.451, seven home runs, 15 doubles and 20 stolen bases) has committed to Cal State Fullerton.

All three earned first-team All-Freeway League honors last season. Ficociello and Lorenzen were selected to the second team All-County team.

Baseball: JSerra junior outfielder commits to CS Fullerton

Damian Calhoun, OCVarsity.com since 2004 — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:41:29 +0000

JSerra junior outfielder Clay Williamson has committed to CS Fullerton, Lions coach Brett Kay confirmed today.

Williamson posted a .280 batting average with 18 RBIs last season. He is the ninth Division I commit off of last season's Trinity League championship team.

The list includes returning players Bret Dahlson (Loyola Marymount), Austin Hedges (UCLA) and Grahamm Wiest (CS Fullerton), and graduates Colton Plaia (Loyola Marymount), Quinn Renner (St. Joseph's), Joe Kurrasch (Cal), Matt Paradise (Santa Clara) and Todd del Toro (Air Force Academy).

More recruiting news.

Girls baskteball: San Clemente's Cassie Harberts commits

Damian Calhoun, OCVarsity.com since 2004 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:21:50 +0000

San Clemente senior forward Cassie Harberts told OC Register reporter Mark Garcia that she has committed to Arizona State. Harberts was a second team Register all-county performer last season.

Harberts, who was on the California All-Juniors first team this past season, said she had coaches from Connecticut, Cal, USC, Oklahoma and Arizona State make in-house visits.

Harberts led the Cal Swish team to championships of three national tournaments and was named MVP of the Oregon National Invitational during the summer.

Baseball: All-County shortstop Campbell picks college

Damian Calhoun, OCVarsity.com since 2004 — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:49:17 +0000

Mater Dei senior shortstop Derek Campbell has committed to Oklahoma State, Monarchs coach Burt Call confirmed today.

Campbell earned second team All-County honors last season. He posted a .340 batting average last season with seven home runs and 21 RBIs.

The Monarchs advanced to the CIF-SS Division I finals last season.

Basketball: MD's Franklin draws interest from UCLA, UConn

STEVE FRYER, ocvarsity.com — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:35:42 +0000

Mater Dei's All-County senior guard, Gary Franklin, recently had visits from UConn coach Jim Calhoun and UCLA coach Ben Howland and he will make a recruiting visit to Baylor this weekend.

Franklin had committed to USC but backed off during the coaching change at the school.

The early signing period for basketball and a bunch of other sports is in November.

Baseball: Wagner on the Oregon trail

STEVE FRYER, ocvarsity.com — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:15:42 +0000

Former Santa Margarita baseball player Nick Wagner has signed with Oregon, coached by former Cal State Fullerton coach George Horton, Nick's father Bob confirmed Friday.

Wagner was drafted this past June in the 44th round by the Toronto Blue Jays but has opted for college baseball.

Wagner was All-Trinity League first team this past season as a senior. He is a multi-position player, and likely will pitch and play outfield and infield positons at Oregon.

San Clemente's Harberts narrows list to five colleges

STEVE FRYER, ocvarsity.com — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:32:50 +0000

San Clemente forward Cassie Harberts, among the nation's top recruits for the 2009-10 senior class, has narrowed her college choices to five schools: UConn, USC, Arizona State, Oklahoma and Cal.

San Clemente coach Mary Mulligan-Crapo e-mailed that the 6-foot-3 Harberts had a recruiting visit from UConn coach Geno Auriemma this past weekend, and has visits lined up this fall to those five faves.

Harberts was on the California All-Juniors first team this past season.

She has had a great summer, leading the Cal Swish team to championships of three national tournaments and was named MVP of the Oregon National Invitational.

Recruiting: Mater Dei's Chris Ward narrows list to two

Damian Calhoun, OCVarsity.com since 2004 — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:50:39 +0000

Mater Dei senior offensive lineman Chris Ward said Monday that he has narrowed his list down to two colleges: UCLA and Cal.

Ward had also been offered by Washington, Washington State, Arizona and Stanford.

"I'm not going to rush it (the decision) before the season," he added. "I will make it when I'm 100 percent sure."

Ward missed three games last season with a knee injury. He's looking forward to this season.

"I feel great," he said.

Ward will also see time on the defensive line this season for the Monarchs.

Note: You can follow my blog throughout the season at twitter.com/DamianCalhoun

Football: Cecil Whiteside listed among ESPNU's top 150

Damian Calhoun, OCVarsity.com since 2004 — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 05:05:25 +0000

Newport Harbor linebacker Cecil Whiteside is ranked No. 146 in ESPNU's top 150 recruits. Whiteside, who has committed to Cal, is the only county player on the list.

Whiteside was a second team all-county performer last season for the Sailors. He earned first team All-Sunset League honors at linebacker last season. He also had 33 receptions for 429 yards and seven touchdowns at wide receiver.

There are 17 California players on the list.