Dana Hills sophomore Hans Crouse was tagged with the loss against El Toro on May 13. Photo: KDahlgren Photography
By Steve Breazeale
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Despite Loss, Dolphin Baseball Punches Ticket to Playoffs
It was not the best timing to have a hiccup of a game for the Dana Hills baseball team.
The Dolphins, who needed a win over El Toro on the final day of the season to wrap up second place in the South Coast League and avoid a wild card play-in game or a match against a top seed, were instead handed a lopsided 8-2 loss.
Dana Hills (24-7, 6-6 league) settled for third place in league, behind first-place Capistrano Valley and Aliso Niguel.
The Dolphins were bailed out of a worst-case scenario, where they would miss the playoffs entirely, thanks to Capistrano Valley defeating Aliso Niguel 2-1 on May 13. The Dolphins, Aliso Niguel and Tesoro all finished league play with a 6-6 record, but Dana Hills and Aliso Niguel each held the season tiebreaker over Tesoro, which left the Titans on the outside looking in at fourth place.
The top three teams from the South Coast League will represent the group in the postseason.
For a moment it looked like the Dolphins had a good chance against El Toro, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning behind an RBI double and an RBI single from David Clawson and Shawn Kany, respectively.
But El Toro (17-14, 5-7) responded by sending eight batters to the plate in the bottom of the third, collecting RBI hits from Tyler Lasch, Andy Krear and Josh Zamora.
The one-run cushion would be all Chargers starting pitcher Kaleb Fossum needed. The senior left hander turned in a complete game effort, allowing six hits, three walks while striking out five. He worked quickly and displayed a quick-pitch, slide-step maneuver that held the Dolphins baserunners on and agitated the Dolphins batters.
Crouse pitched 5 2/3 innings and gave up 11 hits and seven runs. The Chargers were especially effective in getting to Crouse and the Dolphins defense with two outs. El Toro scored a total of six runs in two-out situations.
The eight runs allowed was the most the Dolphins had given up all season.
“It was the worst game we played all year, from top to bottom,” Dana Hills head coach Tom Faris said. “You play the worst game of the season on the last day of the season it’s not going to help (going) into the playoffs. The good thing is it will be erased and we can start fresh. It’s a brand new season.”
Dana Hills entered their final three-game stretch coming off back to back league losses. But the Dolphins pulled off an extra inning win over Capistrano Valley and a 1-0 victory over the Chargers on May 12.
The CIF-SS Division 1 playoff brackets will be released on May 18 at 9 a.m.
Dolphins Volleyball Advance to Second Round of Playoffs
The Dana Hills boys volleyball team breezed past JSerra Catholic in the opening round of the CIF-SS Division 1 Championships on May 12, earning a clean three-set sweep, 25-13, 25-10, 25-23.
Dana Hills (29-3, 8-0) was scheduled to play Los Alamitos out of the Sunset League in the tournament’s second round on May 14. Results were not available at press time. The winner will go on to play the winner of the Palos Verdes/Loyola match in the quarterfinals on May 16. Loyola is the No. 2 overall seed.
The Dolphins could have earned a much higher seed in the postseason had it not been for two late-season losses to Campolindo and Westlake in the Redondo Union Classic tournament on May 2. The Dolphins entered the tournament with only one loss on their resume.
Dana Hills, ranked No. 7 in the final coaches poll of the season, and Los Alamitos played each other this season during the Orange County Championship Tournament on March 21. The Dolphins swept the Griffins in two sets.
Softball Closes Out Season with Consecutive Wins
The Dana Hills softball team closed out their 2015 season with back-to-back wins over Capistrano Valley and El Toro on May 11 and May 13, respectively.
The Dolphins (13-12, 2-6) earned a convincing 5-0 win over the second-place Cougars. Dolphins junior Samantha Williams went 4-4 at the plate, drove in one run and scored three times. The Dolphins bats collected 12 hits. Sophomore pitchers Carlee Russo and Serafine Parrish combined to throw a six-hitter.
Dana Hills’ final game of the season came down to the final at-bat. The Dolphins trailed El Toro 8-6 heading into the seventh inning but scored three runs for a walk-off win.
Williams went 3-5 with an RBI and freshman Tori Sickmeier went 2-3 with an RBI and two runs scored in the win.
The Dolphins quickly found themselves in a hole after giving up four runs in the first inning and started to chip away by scoring four in the second and two in the fifth before their seventh-inning comeback.
Dana Hills finished fourth in the five-member South Coast League.
Feagler Places Fourth at CIF Golf Individual Regional
Dana Hills’ Clay Feagler shot a 2-under-par 70 at Skylinks Golf Course in Long Beach as part of the CIF-SS Southern Individual Regional on May 11, finishing in a tie for fourth place.
Feagler, who was the Dolphins top golfer all season, was the reigning Southern Individual Regional champion and was attempting to defend his title. Feagler matched his winning score of 70 from last year, but it was not enough to catch Marina High School’s Patrick Pockels, who shot a 67 (-5).