Alaska

COSTA MESA — During the fourth quarter it seemed Davon Joyner was mired in a funk. But the Estancia High junior waited until the final second to redeem himself and lift his boys’ basketball team to an emotional victory. Joyner made good on a driving layup at the buzzer to give the Eagles a 57-55 win over Dimond of Anchorage, Alaska in the consolation quarterfinals of the Estancia Coast Classic Monday. “I was excited because I knew I kind of played bad in the fourth quarter,” Joyner said of his game-winner.

BY BARRY FAULKNER A 2009 baseball season the produced a considerable bang, was followed by a veritable whimper with the recently completed summer leagues for collegiate players. Just after helping UC Irvine with the program’s first Big West Conference championship and earn the No. 1 national ranking for six weeks before bowing out of the NCAA tournament in its own regional, several Anteaters produced modest individual success. In addition, members of the Orange Coast College unit that claimed the program’s first state title since 1980, were less than noteworthy in their respective summer assignments.

Brian Hernandez and Drew Hillman are among the candidates to win the third base job for the UC Irvine baseball program next season. So it’s convenient, perhaps, that they can keep an eye on one another competing in the Cape Cod League this summer. Hernandez, who redshirted last season due to eligibility issues, and Hillman, who helped lead Orange Coast College to the state championship as a sophomore in 2009, are among several players with local ties honing their games in various locales, including Alaska and Hawaii.

Several UC Irvine baseball players have extended their summer league seasons as their teams have advanced to playoffs. Christian Bergman and catcher Francis Larson, both of whom will be juniors in 2009, earned all-league recognition in the Alaska Baseball League. Bergman, pitching with the Anchorage Bucs, was named to the first-team ABL All-Star team after posting a 4-2 record with a 1.34 earned-run average. The right-hander struck out 34 in 62 1/3 innings while allowing just nine earned runs.

The barking sea lions that lounge on the bell buoy at the entrance of Newport Harbor have always been a highlight of any tour for Eric Stallcup’s guests. The boat captain has been giving tours of the harbor to tourists and locals for almost 21 years with the Fun Zone Boat Co. “They’re out there 99.9% of the time — everybody comes to see the sea lion,” Stallcup said. But Stallcup spotted an unusual looking sea lion perched on the buoy last week that marine scientists say would be more at home off the coast of Alaska than in Newport.

IRVINE — From a place where darkness blankets the horizon about 20 hours each winter day, Alaska Fairbanks traveled nearly 2,500 miles to lighten the pre-conference load for the UC Irvine men’s basketball team. The Division II Nanooks showed plenty of crannies in their zone defense in the first half Saturday, allowing the sharpshooting hosts to build an early lead and cruise to an 87-53 triumph before 3,155 at the Bren Events Center. The 35-point margin of victory was the largest since a 94-40 win over Mississippi Valley State on Nov. 11, 2005.

Longtime Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce member Art Gronsky died Friday. He was 87. Gronsky, a former Newport Beach Citizen of the Year and a frequent volunteer at community events, fell ill while on vacation in Alaska and was reportedly in a coma ever since. A spokeswoman for Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage confirmed Friday morning that Gronsky was in critical condition, but declined to discuss the nature of his illness or how long he had been in the hospital. Wally Ziglar, a longtime friend who has been in touch with Gronsky’s companion by phone, said the Balboa resident had fallen ill on Monday and not regained consciousness.

Longtime Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce member Art Gronsky, 87, is in critical condition at a hospital in Alaska, a spokeswoman said Friday morning. Gronsky, a former Newport Beach Citizen of the Year and a frequent volunteer at community events, fell ill while on vacation in Alaska and has reportedly been in a coma ever since. A spokeswoman for Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage confirmed Gronsky’s condition but declined to discuss the nature of his illness or how long he had been in the hospital.