By Zach Cavanagh
For in-game updates, news and more for all of the Dana Hills High School sports programs, follow us on Twitter @SouthOCSports.
Baseball Battling in South Coast League
The South Coast League is generally regarded as one of the toughest competitions in Southern California baseball, and through two weeks, the standings couldn’t be any tighter.
One game separates first from last in the five-team league, with three teams holding a .500 record as of press time.
Dana Hills (7-5, 2-2) is one of those teams in the middle, along with Capistrano Valley at 2-2-1 and El Toro at 1-1-1. Tesoro leads the pack at 2-1, with Mission Viejo one game back at 1-2.
The Dolphins have alternated tight wins and losses in league play.
Last week, Dana Hills toppled reigning league champion El Toro, 4-2, on Thursday, March 7. Because El Toro knocked off Dana Hills in the first round of last season’s CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs, so it was a small measure of revenge for the Dolphins.
After defeating San Juan Hills, 6-1, in an El Dorado Steakhouse Tournament game on Monday, March 11, Dana Hills locked up with Tesoro on Wednesday, March 13. The Titans prevailed, 1-0, to claim the league lead.
Dana Hills hosts Mission Viejo on Friday, March 15 before a nearly two-week break from its league schedule.
The Dolphins play Coast View rival Aliso Niguel in a road doubleheader on Wednesday, March 20 and play in two El Dorado Steakhouse games after that. Dana Hills returns to South Coast League play on March 29 at Capistrano Valley.
Boys Lacrosse Continues Unbeaten Start
The Dana Hills boys lacrosse team scored three wins in five days to continue its hot start.
The Dolphins (5-0, 1-0) posted wins over Santa Barbara, 11-8, on Saturday, March 9; Centennial of Corona, 14-9, on Monday, March 11; and San Juan Hills, 15-7, in their Sea View League opener on Wednesday, March 13.
First-year head coach Trent Cooper has dialed up the offense, with Dana Hills scoring 11 or more goals in each of its first five games of the season for an average of 13.8 goals per game. The Dolphins averaged only 8.3 goals per game last season.
Dana Hills’ league-opening win matched its league win total from last season, and the Dolphins are already halfway to their overall win total from last season. Dana Hills was 9-10 overall and 1-7 in league in 2018.
The Dolphins play their second road game of the season at Edison on Friday, March 15 before returning to league play at home against Aliso Niguel on Tuesday, March 19 and Capistrano Valley on March 26.
Track Shines as South Coast Defeats Trinity
The South County Classic pits two of Orange County’s better track and field leagues against each other, and this season, the public schools came out on top.
The Dana Hills boys finished second out of 11 teams, and the Dolphins girls finished fifth out of 10 teams as the South Coast League defeated the Trinity League in the boys (425.5-214.5) and girls (384.5-251.5) standings, respectively, at Trabuco Hills High School on Friday, March 8.
The Dana Hills boys stood out in the distance races and in the throws.
The Dolphins started their way up with junior John O’Melveny posting a personal-record 1:59.09 to take the 800-meters title. Junior Carrick Denker won at 1,600 meters with a time of 4:20.56, and senior Cole Stark posted the state’s second-best time in the 3,200 meters with a winning personal-record time of 9:21.95. Sophomore Gianni Viola took third in the 3,200 at 9:52.22, a personal record.
In the relays, the Dolphins won the distance medley relay (1,200-400-800-1,600) in 10:46.9. Dana Hills finished third in the 4×400-meter relay in 3:26.13.
Dana Hills took the top two spots in the discus as junior Jack West won at 140 feet, 8 inches and junior Mason McKhann earned second at 139 feet, 11 inches. Both marks were personal records.
Senior Nathan Pellini was third in the pole vault with a personal record of 11 feet, 9 inches.
On the girls side, it was the usual cast leading the way for Dana Hills.
Junior Anisa Rind earned silver in the 400 meters at 57.85, and junior Mia Lawrence finished third in the 400 with a personal record time of 58.08.
Dana Hills finished third in the 4×100-meter relay at 49.77 and second in the 4×400-meter relay at 3:58.9.
Dana Hills competes in the Laguna Beach Invitational on Saturday, March 16 and hosts Trabuco Hills in a dual meet on Wednesday, March 20.
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