Santiago

NEWPORT BEACH - The Newport Harbor High softball team, missing five players from its roster, split a nonleague doubleheader with visiting Santiago Saturday. The Sailors (9-7) won the first game, 4-1, as sophomore pitcher Stephanie Ciralli earned her fourth win of the season when she did not allow a hit in four innings. Newport sophomore Athena Vasquez went 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs and freshman Jennifer Gummerman had an RBI. The Tars then lost the second game, but Gummerman went 2 for 3 and she scored a run to tie the game, 2-2, in the fourth inning.

GARDEN GROVE - Estancia High's boys swim team won it's second dual meet by crushing host Santiago, 125-16, Tuesday in a nonleague matchup. The Eagles (2-0) took the top three spots in every event. David Collier, Phil Westfall and Matt Thorpe each won two races for Estancia. Collier took the 200-yard freestyle and 500 freestyle, Thorpe won the 50 and 100 freestyle sprints and Westfall won the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly events. Nonleague Estancia 125, Santiago 16 200 medley relay - not available 200 free - 1. Collier (E)

SCORE BY QUARTERS Santiago 0 14 0 0 - 14 Costa Mesa 0 0 0 0 - 0 SECOND QUARTER Sant -- Jordan 1 run, (Bravo kick), 8:35. Sant -- Merchant 61 run, (Bravo kick), 6:04 A -- 550 (est.) INDIVIDUAL RUSHING Sant -- Lopez, 20-158; Jordan, 16-132, 1 TD; Merchant, 2-74, 1 TD; Solares, 4-4; Boyd, 1-9. CM -- Lepper, 27-87; Huynh, 3-19; Waldron, 5-minus-11.

CORONA DEL MAR — Memories linger from 2008 for the Corona del Mar High girls’ volleyball team. It was only a year ago when the Sea Kings gathered momentum on their way to the championship match in CIF Southern Section Division II-AA. But then Redlands East Valley swept CdM to win its second straight CIF title. For many on this year’s CdM team the memory is painful, yet a motivating factor. The Sea Kings have used that loss to fuel their energy this year. On Saturday night, they took one step closer to returning to the title match.

Tony Altobelli COSTA MESA - Costa Mesa High's baseball team likes to walk on the wild side, much to the dismay of Coach Kirk Bauermeister. "I told the players afterward that we seemed to come alive when the sixth and seventh innings come around," Bauermeister said following Thursday's 7-7 tie with Corona-based Santiago in the Costa Mesa Tournament. Considering the fact that the Mustangs (1-1-1) allowed 11 hits and 12 walks, a 7-7 tie isn't too shabby.

GARDEN GROVE - Estancia High's Somer Flaherty, Jennifer and Lauren Cassity each won two events as the Eagles' girls swim beat host Santiago, 114-30, Tuesday in a nonleague meet. Flaherty won the 200-yard and 500 freestyle events while Jennifer Cassity won the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke races while her sister Lauren took the 50 and 100 sprints. All three were also on the winning 200 individual medley and 50 sprint relay squads. Estancia (1-1)

WESTMINSTER — One last time, they stood together, the football players of Costa Mesa High, singing their fight song. They sang low and off key, perhaps symbolic of what had just taken place on the field Friday night at Bolsa Grande. The Mustangs struggled to find rhythm, as Santiago used a ball-control style offense to wither Costa Mesa. The Cavaliers used up roughly 31 minutes to score a 24-6 victory in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs.

GARDEN GROVE — After the game, Abby Koff told Estancia High girls' basketball coach Tommy Rausch how happy she was to be on the winning side of a blowout. With a 49-25 nonleague victory over Santiago Monday, the Eagles won by 20 or more points for the second time this season. That's something Estancia (5-7) didn't do a single time last season, when it finished 3-20. Estancia wants to see more blowouts this season. Rausch, in first year as coach, preaches for his team to play hard until the end, despite the score.

COSTA MESA ? Jeremy Osso has stressed focusing on the positive when it comes to the exploits of his Costa Mesa High football team. In that case, the cup is one-sixth full in regard to the offense after the Mustangs, 14-0, nonleague loss to Santiago (4-0) at Orange Coast College Thursday. That's the fraction of the game Costa Mesa (1-4) spent with the ball on one drive spanning from the third quarter to the middle of the fourth. It began at the Mustangs' own nine-yard line with the team down two touchdowns.

GARDEN GROVE — Halfway through its regular season, the Costa Mesa High football team will find out if what happens in Garden Grove stays in Garden Grove. Coach Jeremy Osso hopes not for the defense, which allowed a season-low 20 points in Friday night’s 20-9 nonleague loss to Santiago at Garden Grove High. But the lack of offense can stay just off the 22 Freeway for the Mustangs (0-5), who lost their second consecutive game in the city and are still failing to put many points on the board.

IRVINE - It was just that last finishing touch that was missing from the Newport Harbor High boys' soccer team in its second match of the Irvine Tournament at Hicks Canyon Park Friday night. Knowing that, Newport Harbor's Henry Ramirez did all he could to squeak in a goal when he saw an opening in Santiago's defense late in the game. Unfortunately, the near-miss theme continued to plague the Sailors, as the midfielder's header rolled just to the side of the goal and out of play. Five minutes later, the whistle ended the game as a scoreless draw.

MEN'S SOCCER Orange Coast 5, Santiago Canyon 0 ORANGE - Jorge Sanchez and Brandon Brennan each had two goals and an assist for the Pirates in the Orange Empire Conference game Friday. Baji Chela added a goal and three assists and goaie Connor Nelson made three saves in his shutout for OCC (8-3-3, 4-2-2 in conference). The Pirates return to action on Tuesday at home against Norco College at 3 p.m. * WOMEN'S SOCCER Orange Coast 4, Norco 0 COSTA MESA - Sara Gomez had two goals and an assist for the Pirates in the Orange Empire Conference game Friday.

ORANGE - To reach the Santiago Canyon College soccer field, one must weave through a meandering campus, ascend five stories of stairs and follow a path lined with marshy bushes to a fenced-in plateau that seems to sit atop the horizon like a sod-covered cloud. For visitors, the ascent is apropos. It is thus, because the host Hawks women's team has hovered atop the Orange Empire Conference since the first of their eight straight titles in 2004. This season, all Santiago Canyon has done is refuse to lose.

COSTA MESA - There is a long line of trash-talking wide receivers in professional football. Costa Mesa High senior quarterback Noah JeyaRajah prodded senior receiver Markiece Traylor a little bit after Thursday night's 45-14 nonleague victory over Garden Grove Santiago, telling Traylor it was all right to talk himself up a little bit. Traylor just smiled. The Mustangs said what they had to say on the field, where Coach Wally Grant's squad earned its first victory of the year at Jim Scott Stadium.

Costa Mesa vs. Santiago When/where: Thursday, 7 p.m. at Jim Scott Stadium Key Mustangs: Jr. MLB/FB Oronde Crenshaw (18 tackles; 11 yards rushing); Sr. RB/CB Justin Smith (28 yards rushing; 13 tackles); Sr. QB Noah JeyaRajah (28 yards passing, 14 yards rushing). Key Cavaliers: Jr. QB/SS Richard Sagastume; Sr. OL/DL Martin Bui; Sr. RB Jesus Padilla Breakdown: The Mustangs (0-1) will try to rebound from a 10-0 season-opening loss to Western, while Thursday's game is the nonleague season opener for Santiago ... Costa Mesa is expected to be without senior left guard Oscar Reyes, who broke his ankle prior to the Mustangs' season opener ... Costa Mesa defeated Santiago, 42-7, last year behind 266 rushing yards ... The Mustangs also sacked Santiago's returning quarterback, Sagastume, nine times in that contest ... Santiago leads the all-time series with Costa Mesa, 9-8, and had won five straight against the Mustangs before last year's game ... Costa Mesa's victory over Santiago last year began an eight-game winning streak.

GARDEN GROVE - With so many offensive and defensive highlights, a spectator might be hard-pressed to draw the line and name one standout performer in the Costa Mesa High football team's 42-7 victory over Santiago on Thursday night at Garden Grove High. Costa Mesa Coach Wally Grant didn't have to draw the line after his first win as a varsity head coach at his alma mater. After watching the Mustangs rush for 266 yards in the nonleague win, he just named the whole offensive line as standout performers.

High School Football When/where: Tonight, 7 at La Palma Park Key Mustangs: Sr. RB-DE Tyler Sheffner (10 carries, 42 rushing yards, two overall touchdowns); Sr. OT-DT Andrew Albers; Jr. QB Nathan Alvis (19 for 38 passing, 266 yards, two touchdowns); Jr. WR Trace Curet (five receptions, 78 yards). Breakdown: The Mustangs (0-2) rallied to get a chance at victory last week against Santiago after a lopsided loss to Buena Park in the opener … Katella (1-0) is coming off a 55-20 win over Sunny Hills in which it rolled up 427 rushing yards … Costa Mesa has struggled to get its ground game going, but Alvis has proved to be a dangerous weapon and continues to mature in his first season as the starter … Mesa got a big lift against Santiago with the return of Sheffner, who provides punch as a ballcarrier and is also a threat catching passes … A loss would mark the sixth time in the last seven seasons that Costa Mesa began the season 0-3. — Barry Faulkner

COSTA MESA — Costa Mesa High football coach Jeremy Osso said it was a gut check at halftime that helped his Mustangs flirt with a comeback victory over Santiago Friday night at Estancia High. But it didn't hurt that the Mustangs regained their heart and soul in the person of senior Tyler Sheffner. In the end, Mesa came up short in a 26-21 setback that dropped them to 0-2. Sheffner, who missed the season-opening loss with an ulcer and whom Osso said would not return until next week, entered the nonleague game in the second quarter.