Santa Ana College

Ryan Webster scored a team-high 23 points to lead Orange Coast College to a 97-86 victory over host Santa Ana College in an Orange Empire Conference men's basketball game Friday. Brice Buchanan added 19 points, followed by Stephon Seales (16) and Mark Meyers (15). Orange Coast (7-21, 4-10 in the OEC) took a 45-43 lead at halftime and made 19 of 29 shots in the second half (65.5%). Santa Ana College could sink only 15 of 40 (37.5%) after the break.

est-polo-no-pool-briefThe Estancia High boys' water polo team is starting to feel like a bunch of vagabonds. Extracted from their own faulty pool this season, the Eagles had been playing their home games at Costa Mesa High. Wednesday, they found out they would have to find another site after a pump at Costa Mesa's pool broke down. The team's next stop will be Santa Ana College for today's Golden West League showdown against Costa Mesa. Estancia Coach John Carpenter said he expects the game to begin around 2:45 p.m. The pools at Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar were unavailable because the schools are hosting a freshman-sophomore tournament.

SANTA ANA - The Orange Coast College men's track and field team holds a 22-point lead before today's final day of the Orange Empire Conference Championships at Santa Ana College. The OCC women's team is in scond place, 37 points behind Fullerton. Pirates sophomore Steven Taeleman won the decathalon with 5,245 points in the event, while freshman Robert Hullinger grabbed the shot put title with a 44-9 1/3 throw. Coast freshman Donnie Deschenes became the OEC champion in the javelin throw with a 173-3 mark.

SANTA ANA - Santa Ana College's duo of Greg Gray and Zach Fray combined for 55 points and 16 rebounds as the Dons knocked off Orange Coast, 105-82, in Orange Empire Conference men's basketball action Friday night. Chad Hagedorn led the Bucs (13-14, 2-10 in conference) with 21 points and eight rebounds, Dave Elliott added 19 points, while David Castleton chipped in with 18. The Dons (23-6, 9-3) led by 13 after the first half and never looked back.

COSTA MESA - Santa Ana College's baseball team came to Orange Coast College Tuesday and handed the host a 14-6 loss the Pirates' second Orange Empire Conference setback. Santa Ana (12-1-1, 1-1 in conference) scored 11 runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings to break the game wide open, taking advantage of four OCC errors. Tony Alcantar went 3 for 5 and knocked in three runs with a home run and double for the Dons. Jason Reuss hit a two-run homer, his fifth of the season for the Pirates and Chris Laws went 3 for 4 with one RBI and one run scored for OCC (5-8, 0-2)

Usually in a class of firefighters, some are bound not to make it through the grueling, yearlong training. But not this time. Newport Beach firefighters welcomed all eight recruits into their ranks on Thursday at a special ceremony. “It was a tough process but you pull together and do what you’ve got to do,” firefighter Ryan O’Leary said. “There were times when you get a little discouraged, but you see the light at the end of the tunnel and know your hard work paid off.” O’Leary, 23, a Mission Viejo resident, studied firefighting at Santa Ana College, studied emergency medical training at Saddleback College and worked as an ambulance operator for Huntington Beach.

Speakers rail against CenterLine project Opponents of the CenterLine light rail system rallied against the project in Irvine Wednesday night. The rally was an opportunity for opponents to consider their options, said Costa Mesa resident Mike Berry. In June, 52% of Irvine voters opposed the CenterLine route, but they didn't reject the concept of a light rail. Voters rejected an initiative that would have banned the city's participation in any light rail system.

William “Bill” S. O’Brien, born October 3, 1938, died June 26, 2009. A native of California, his parents Harold and Gibba O’Brien settled in Laguna Beach, where young Bill grew up. He graduated from Laguna Beach HS Class of 1957, with many awards and honors. He was kind, modest, and exceptional athlete, and in his senior year, was Orange League Footballs high score champion, with 136 season points; he was selected t All-CIF first team, and placed in Helm’s HS Hall of Fame.

Flo Luppani featureFormer Orange Coast point guard will guide Santa Ana College's Dons against Pirates tonight in crucial conference clash.By the time Flo Luppani arrived at Orange Coast College as a women's basketball recruit out of Woodbridge High, her career path was already clear. Tonight, that path leads her back to OCC, where she will coach the Santa Ana College women's basketball team against the Pirates and her old coach, Mike Thornton. The Orange Empire Conference game tips off at 7:30.

Steve Virgen COSTA MESA -- Before classes start Monday and while teams train for the upcoming season, Orange Coast College has announced the hiring of three new coaches and the promotion of another. Larry Moore is the new coach of OCC crew, Marco Ochoa will be an assistant coach for the Pirates' cross country teams and Scott Orloff will be a defensive line coach for the football team. In addition, Doug Smith, an offensive line coach for the past two years, will work as a full-time assistant football coach and faculty member in the school's physical education program.

SANTA ANA - The Irvine Valley College men's basketball team opened up Orange Empire Conference play Friday night against Santa Ana College, and it was a good thing the game wasn't scored on style points. Santa Ana likes to drag its opponents into the dirt and make it a scrap, and Friday's matchup certainly was grimy. Irvine Valley (14-3, 1-0 in conference) made just 16 of 56 field goal attempts (28.6%) including a dismal one for 20 from beyond the three-point line, but still managed to emerge on top with a 46-40 victory.

SANTA ANA — The Orange Coast College baseball team failed to deliver a knockout blow early and the Pirates paid for it as Santa Ana rallied from a six-run deficit to win, 8-7, on Saturday at Santa Ana College. Costly baserunning mistakes early and erratic defense late proved to be too much to overcome for the Pirates (14-13, 6-7 in the Orange Empire Conference). Santa Ana (21-7, 11-2) responded to its 6-0 deficit with three runs in the fifth, three runs in the seventh and two in the bottom of the ninth.

Talk to Richard Gomez about the sport of handball, and the information comes back at you about as fast as he hits the rubber ball off the walls on some of the handball courts at Cost Mesa High School. If anybody should know, it would be Gomez, about as fit a 50-year-old you’re ever going to find — a guy who played for Santa Ana College in the late 1970s. In charge of the high school’s campus security, Gomez, who was born and raised in Santa Ana, played the sport passionately for years before he got a job at Costa Mesa High School in the late ’90s and started organizing full-fledged student tournaments.

William “Bill” S. O’Brien, born October 3, 1938, died June 26, 2009. A native of California, his parents Harold and Gibba O’Brien settled in Laguna Beach, where young Bill grew up. He graduated from Laguna Beach HS Class of 1957, with many awards and honors. He was kind, modest, and exceptional athlete, and in his senior year, was Orange League Footballs high score champion, with 136 season points; he was selected t All-CIF first team, and placed in Helm’s HS Hall of Fame.

The last thing Kasey Peters thought he’d be coveting on fall days in Billings, Mont. is ice. But when his week-day practice regimen calls for a couple hundred spirals a day, the junior trigger man for the Rocky Mountain College football team’s spread offense said his arm can sure use any restorative measures available. “On game days, my arm is never tired, because of the adrenaline,” said Peters, a former Newport Harbor High quarterback who led the NAIA in passing entering Saturday’s home loss to defending national champion and No. 1-ranked Carroll College.

After helping the Orange Coast College baseball team to a second place finish in the Orange Empire Conference, four Pirate players earned first-team honors on the All-Orange Empire Conference team, as selected by the coaches from each school. Freshman third baseman Drew Hillman, freshman catcher Jourdan Watanabe, sophomore centerfielder Cory Olson and sophomore pitcher Brandon Dixon all earned first-team honors. No OCC player received a spot on the second team. Hillman hit .354 in conference for the Pirates and led all OEC hitters with 27 RBIs.

COSTA MESA — Even falling for one of the oldest tricks in the book wasn’t going to stop the Santa Ana College baseball team Thursday. Orange Coast freshman shortstop Ryan Dunn took the throw back into the infield after an eighth-inning Dons double. The umpire turned around to dust off home plate, but Dunn kept the ball, went over and tagged an unsuspecting Kyle Hardman and the hidden-ball trick was successful. “When the home-plate umpire cleans off the plate, it’s usually timeout,” Santa Ana Coach Don Sneddon said.

Usually in a class of firefighters, some are bound not to make it through the grueling, yearlong training. But not this time. Newport Beach firefighters welcomed all eight recruits into their ranks on Thursday at a special ceremony. “It was a tough process but you pull together and do what you’ve got to do,” firefighter Ryan O’Leary said. “There were times when you get a little discouraged, but you see the light at the end of the tunnel and know your hard work paid off.” O’Leary, 23, a Mission Viejo resident, studied firefighting at Santa Ana College, studied emergency medical training at Saddleback College and worked as an ambulance operator for Huntington Beach.

Rob Stillman has coached several players throughout his 15-plus years with Little League baseball. So it is meaningful when he says that this year's Costa Mesa National Major Division All-Stars is one of the best he's ever coached. The CMNLL All-Stars defeated Costa Mesa American's All-Stars twice last week, 17-1, and 29-0, to win the Mayor's Cup. But the season's not over for them just yet. Today, they will play in a United State Specialty Sports Assn. tournament at Big League Dreams Park in Chino Hills.