Orange County scores and player stats for Saturday, May 4

• May 5, 2024

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Scores and stats from Orange County games on Saturday, May 4

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SATURDAY’S SCORES

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

CIF-SS PLAYOFFS

Semifinals

DIVISION 5

Sage Hill def. Flintridge Prep, 25-20, 25-18, 25-14

DIVISION 6

Samueli Academy def. Malibu, 26-24, 25-23, 25-23

GIRLS LACROSSE

CIF-SS PLAYOFFS

DIVISION 1

Quarterfinals

Redondo Union 20, San Clemente 8

Marlborough 15, St. Margaret’s 9

DIVISION 2

Quarterfinals

Santiago/Corona at Trabuco Hills, Monday, 7 p.m.

DIVISION 3

Round 2

Orange Lutheran 22, Segerstrom 2

Northwood 16, Saugus 3

​ Orange County Register 

Orange May Parade marches through Old Towne

• May 5, 2024

The Orange community celebrated with the power of The Force on Saturday.

The Orange May Parade adopted a Star Wars theme this year — there’s a trend of celebrating “May the Fourth Be With You” on May 4, a play on the famed Star Wars phrase — and this year’s theme was, “Come to the Orange Side!”

The May Parade in Orange started in the 1930s and marched on for decades before ending in the ’90s for lack of funding. Several years ago, the Orange Chamber of Commerce rekindled the tradition and this year close to 100 entries were featured.

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​ Orange County Register 

UCLA men’s volleyball repeats as NCAA champs with victory over Long Beach State

• May 5, 2024

LONG BEACH — There were enough twists and turns at the NCAA Championships on Saturday afternoon to write a bestseller.

The top-seeded UCLA men’s volleyball team ultimately wrote the final chapter with a four-set victory over second-seeded Long Beach State in front of a sold-out crowd at the Walter Pyramid, giving the Bruins their second straight national title and 21st in program history.

The 25-21, 25-20, 27-29, 25-21 victory also clinched the 122nd national title for the UCLA athletics department.

“This was a hard match and a well-deserved win,” UCLA coach John Speraw said.

Ethan Champlin had 15 kills and six blocks for the Bruins (26-5), who hit .297 as a team. Cooper Robinson had 12 kills and just two hitting errors and Merrick McHenry had 10 kills and five blocks. Ido David served three of UCLA’s six aces while also contributing nine kills and four blocks.

“They served the ball great, played good blocking defense,” Long Beach setter Aidan Knipe said of UCLA.

Speraw also singled out senior libero Alex Knight, who had 31 service receptions without an error, and sophomore outside hitter Zach Rama, who substituted into the game late in the fourth set and delivered back-to-back kills to give the Bruins a 22-20 lead before his third kill of the match made it 23-21.

Sotiris Siapanis led Long Beach with 12 kills, but he also committed seven hitting errors for a .161 hitting percentage. Skyler Varga had 11 kills, but 10 of his swings were errant, leaving him with a .034 hitting percentage.

LBSU hit .214 as a team, well off its .348 mark on the season.

The loss also ended a 19-match winning streak for LBSU at the Pyramid.

“We will be back to fight another day,” Long Beach coach Alan Knipe said. “The match tonight doesn’t define them. The fight of the third set defines them, the three straight Finals Four appearances, the (semifinal) match against Grand Canyon, the reverse sweep against UCLA at UCLA two years ago, that’s what defines them. … I could be happier for them, but I absolutely could not be prouder.”

Long Beach (27-3) erased an early three-point deficit in the opening set and moved ahead 12-9, prompting Speraw to use his second and final timeout.

The Bruins regrouped and scored four straight to move ahead 16-14. Long Beach evened the score three times before another four-point run moved the Bruins back ahead 22-18 on an off-speed kill by Champlin.

LBSU scored the next two points before another kill by Champlin was followed by his one-hand dig. He then finished off the play by bouncing another spike off the floor, giving UCLA set point before McHenry closed the set with a kill.

“The first story was the amount of guts we had to be down early in their gym against a team that was feeling pretty good early,” Speraw said. “For me to not have any more timeouts, and for us to come back and win that set pretty handily, I thought was a complete and total team effort and a tremendous start to the match.”

Early passing errors by Long Beach in the second set caused it to fall behind 7-2, and Long Beach never got closer than three the rest of the way.

Clarke Godbold came off the bench midway through the set and served an ace to cut it to 23-19, but his next serve went into the net, giving the Bruins set point at 24-19. After a service error by UCLA, Robinson finished it with a kill that went off the block and out of bounds.

“We weren’t’ good enough long enough tonight and there’s no way around that,” Alan Knipe said.

The third set featured 18 ties and seven lead changes.

Long Beach built a 23-21 lead, but the Bruins scored four straight points to reach match point.

Godbold answered with a kill to tie it back up and, after UCLA warded off two set points by LBSU, David’s service error gave Long Beach set point again. This time, DiAeris McRaven put down a block to give LBSU the win.

“I thought we weathered that incredibly well and battled, battled, battled in a set where I didn’t feel like we had the momentum, but we somehow managed to get to match point,” Speraw said. “That swing that Godbold took, it went right through (the block), so when you almost win it and you don’t, it’s really tough emotionally.”

Long Beach got off to its best start in the final set, taking an early 3-1 lead, but UCLA would score four in a row to move ahead 8-6.

The Bruins extended the lead to 18-15 before Long Beach knotted it back up at 18, 19 and 20-all.

Rama’s kill moved UCLA ahead 23-21 before Varga was called for a net violation on a kill attempt, giving the Bruins match point.

Varga’s two-hand stuff then went wide and the Bruins dogpiled in the middle of the floor for the second straight season.

“I didn’t have anything left to give in that fourth set,” Champlin said.”I was trying my best to have some energy. I was lightheaded, I couldn’t feel my legs. If we would have gone five, it wouldn’t have gone too well.”

​ Orange County Register 

Santa Margarita boys and girls continue Division 1 reign at CIF-SS swimming finals

• May 5, 2024

Santa Margarita boys and girls win the CIF Southern Section Division 1 swimming championships, and celebrated with jumping to the pool on Saturday, May 4, 2024 at the Mt. San Antonio College Aquatic Center. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)

WALNUT — The Santa Margarita and Loyola boys swimming and diving teams have developed a rivalry the past five seasons that probably ranks among the most competitive in the CIF Southern Section.

The Eagles and Cubs battled again for first place Saturday at the Division 1 championships at Mt. San Antonio College.

Santa Margarita came out on top again, capturing the team title over Loyola for the fourth consecutive season.

The Eagles finished with 382 points and the Cubs were second with 345 points.

The Northwood, JSerra and Tesoro boys teams finished fourth, fifth and sixth with 281, 181 and 126 points, respectively.

“The seniors in particular have just been such tremendous leaders all the way, showing the younger guys what it takes to move on next year,” Eagles co-head coach Ron Blanc said. “But it took us 35 years coaching to win a boys title and now the guys have won four in a row.”

Santa Margarita swimmers and coaches hold up four fingers after the boys team won its fourth consecutive Division 1 title at the CIF-SS swimming and diving championships Saturday, May 4, at Mt. San Antonio College. (Photo by Lou Ponsi)

In the boys’ 200-yard medley relay, the Santa Margarita team of Ramon Jiang (50 backstroke), Nathan Wu (breaststroke), Daniel Verdolaga (butterfly) and Jerry Yan (freestyle) won in a Division 1 record time of 1 minute, 29.08 seconds. The record had been 1:29.30, which the Eagles set last year.

The last boys race of the meet, the 400 freestyle relay, was also the day’s best race. The Northwood foursome of Derek Hitchens, Elson Lee, Will Chen and Andrew Maksymowski were in a virtual tie for the entire race with Santa Margarita’s Ramon Jung, Daniel Verdolaga, Adam Lee and Hunter Cehelnik.

The Timberwolves won, touching in 2:59.15, and the Eagles finished second in 2:59.37.

Fountain Valley sophomore Peter Vue, one of the highly seeded younger competitors in the meet, finished second to San Marino standout Daniel Li in the 100 free.

Li, a Stanford commit, won in 53.05 and Vu finished in 54.63.

“I’ve been having a good block of training the past few months,” Vu said. “I just want to see what I can do and go as fast as I can and I think I did well.”

There were no surprises on the girls side, with Santa Margarita dominating the field and winning its 10th consecutive Southern Section title.

The Eagles scored 439 points, more than doubling Mira Costa’s second-place score of 180.

JSerra, Fountain Valley and Portola were fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively.

“It’s legendary,” Eagles co-head coach Rich Blanc said. “It’s just one for the history books. We never talk about (it). Each team wants to create their own identity and have their own success and then carry that forward to future generations.”

The Eagles’ Teagan O’Dell, perhaps a future Olympian and the top swimmer in the meet, broke her own Division 1 record in the 200 individual medley, winning in 1:53.63, about four-tenths of a second faster than the record she set last year.

However, O’Dell fell just short of besting the national high school record of 1:53.38, which she also holds.

Teagan O’Dell of Santa Margarita High School competes in the girls 200-yard individual medley for the CIF Southern Section Division 1 swimming championships, beating her own record on Saturday, May 4, 2024 at the Mt. San Antonio College Aquatic Center. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)

“It wasn’t a goal to break the (national) record … but I couldn’t have been happier with going 1:53.63 today,” O’Dell said. “I’m happy with it. The goal was to kind of just come in and have fun with it and just be in the moment here before I have to focus for (Olympic) trials here in about a month.”

O’Dell said she will not compete in next week’s CIF State Championship meet to focus on the Olympic Trials in Indianapolis in June.

The Cal commit was 14 years old the first time she swam in the Olympic Trials.

“Yeah, so going back three years later now, I’m so excited to just be there,” O’Dell said, “see some friends that I haven’t seen in a while, and just see some really awesome things.”

Fountain Valley freshman Alyssa Ton, one of the Barons’ young standouts, won the 200 free in 1:45.96, finishing just ahead of Portola sophomore Ava DeAnda (1:46.70).

“She’s a talented athlete,” Fountain Valley coach Nathan Wilcox said. “I think she’s going to have a long, successful career. We’re just making sure we manage everything the next four years and make sure we come back and work on getting better every year.”

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​ Orange County Register 

‘CicloIrvine’ brings car-free open streets to Irvine

• May 5, 2024

Lively music, light conversation and the sound of footsteps replaced the noise of car tires on the pavement as people walked, ran, pedaled and skated along nearly two miles of car-free roadway.

Dubbed “CicloIrvine,” the open streets event, the Saturday event took place along Barranca Parkway and Harvard Avenue in Irvine.

Live music, strolling mariachis and several performances — including from the Southern California Youth Dragon and Lion Dance Team, Kibou Taiko and Focus Dance Theater — entertained participants on two stages at either end of the route.

CicloIrvine was inspired by ciclovia (Spanish for cycleway), the weekly street closure event originating in Bogota, Columbia. It was the first open streets event in Irvine, although ciclovia events have been hosted locally in Santa Ana, Garden Grove and Los Angeles.

​ Orange County Register 

Kyle Frey rides Gold Phoenix to Whittingham Stakes win at Santa Anita

• May 5, 2024

ARCADIA — Gold Phoenix’s victory in the Charles Whittingham Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday was a consolation prize for trainer Phil D’Amato and something bigger for jockey Kyle Frey.

“(It means) everything, especially with my family here,” Frey said in the winner’s circle, holding two small children. “God has really taken me a long ways. I’m just grateful and eager to see what else is in store.”

Replacing Juan Hernandez aboard Gold Phoenix, Frey helped the 6-year-old gelding get the smoothest trip to win a four-way photo over Price Abama, Planetario and Offlee Naughty in the $200,000, Grade II Whittingham, a 1 1/4-mile turf race.

Gold Phoenix paid $13.80, and the all-D’Amato exacta with Prince Abama paid $63.60 for $1.

That might help soothe whatever disappointment D’Amato felt after the Kentucky Derby, run less than an hour before the Whittingham. D’Amato’s Santa Anita Derby winner, Stronghold, finished seventh behind winner Mystik Dan in the Derby. The other California horse, Michael McCarthy-trained Endlessly, was ninth.

Frey, the 2011 Eclipse Award winner as America’s top apprentice rider, can give them all lessons in dusting yourself off after a setback. Last year, the now 32-year-old Californian took a break from riding from July to September, and told Daily Racing Form writer Steve Andersen he needed a mental break from self-imposed pressure to succeed.

Frey wound up winning his first Grade II stakes later last year with Wynstock in the Los Alamitos Futurity. Saturday’s Whittingham was his second Grade II. He hasn’t won a Grade I.

He went into the weekend leading Santa Anita jockeys with eight wins at the track’s Hollywood Meet.

While Hernandez stuck with 2023 Whittingham winner Offlee Naughty, Frey got the call to ride Gold Phoenix, a Grade I winner in the Kilroe Stakes at Santa Anita last year with jockey Kazushi Kimura.

It was a reunion for Frey and Gold Phoenix, who hadn’t teamed up since 2022, when the Irish-bred was a different animal.

“He was pretty green at the time and still figuring things out,” said Frey, remembering a slow start that the horse’s connections blamed on him. “He just has those off days.

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“Today I was ready for it. I made sure I got him on his toes in the post parade, and then before we got to the gate I gave him a little cluck to make sure he was attentive. Luckily, (he) got out good, sat right behind the leaders.”

Gold Phoenix, owned by Little Red Feather Racing, Sterling Stables and Marsha Naify, increased his earnings to $1,342,257 with his seventh win in 19 starts.

Next could be the July 28 Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar.

​ Orange County Register 

Could Dodgers’ Mookie Betts lead majors in hits, runs and walks?

• May 5, 2024

LOS ANGELES — It’s a trifecta that hasn’t been accomplished since 1876 when Ross Barnes led MLB in runs, hits and walks over a 66-game schedule for the Chicago White Stockings.

But Mookie Betts entered Saturday first in hits, second in runs scored (behind Ronald Acuna Jr.) and tied for first in walks (with Juan Soto).

That Betts, a former batting champion (2018), could lead the majors in hits is not hard to imagine. That he could also lead in runs scored (he has led his league three times) with Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith batting behind him is certainly conceivable.

But how is the player batting in front of two-time MVP Ohtani (who led the majors in OPS and the American League in home runs last season) leading the majors in walks?

“That’s a great question,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said.

“I don’t think it is intentional that pitchers want to walk him. I think he has a really good eye coupled with really good bat-to-ball skills so he can spoil some really good pitches and buy himself another pitch and then they don’t execute.”

Betts said he was unaware of his walk total. But it didn’t make sense to him either that pitchers were putting him on base so frequently with Ohtani looming on deck.

“That sounds weird. That sounds really weird,” Betts said. “I didn’t know (that he led the majors in walks). … It’s just being the best I can be, trying to get a good pitch to hit. That’s only right now. It’s just a month in. A lot of things change obviously. But right now it’s helping us win ballgames.”

Betts’ willingness to take so many walks is just another facet of an MVP-caliber start to his season, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. And Roberts doesn’t think Ohtani’s presence behind him in the lineup is a factor one way or the other, saying that is “overplayed” in discussing lineup construction.

“Because the pitchers, certainly in Mookie Betts’ case, are going to attack him and try to get him out the best way they can, regardless of who’s hitting behind him,” Roberts said. “So for Mookie to value the on-base, controlling the strike zone, which we talk about, speaks to when it’s in the strike zone, he’s getting hits. And when it’s not, he’ll take his walk.

“A couple things (are factors in his walk total). He posts. He plays every day. He’s at the top of the order, and he just conducts professional at-bats. And that’s a perfect recipe for an MVP-type player.”

PORSCHE PLAN

As Shohei Ohtani neared his franchise record for the most home runs hit by a Japanese-born player, Roberts joked that Ohtani should gift him a Porsche when he breaks the record – as Ohtani gifted Joe Kelly’s wife for her support in getting uniform number 17 (previously Joe Kelly’s number).

Ohtani tied Roberts when he hit his seventh home run of the season last weekend in Toronto and Saturday he presented Roberts with a brand new Porsche.

“It’s on my desk as we speak,” Roberts said.

The gift was a miniature, toy version of a Porsche Taycan.

“So I can’t say he never gave me anything,” Roberts said.

Ohtani is a brand ambassador for Porsche Japan.

COMING SOON

Right-hander Blake Treinen has completed his rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City and joined the Dodgers for the weekend series against the Atlanta Braves. Roberts said it looks “promising” that Treinen could be activated from the Injured List on Sunday.

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Treinen has not pitched in a major-league game since Sept. 2022. He underwent shoulder surgery that November and missed all of the 2023 season (though he made three appearances in the minor leagues on a rehab assignment). He was set to open the season on the Dodgers’ active roster this spring but was struck by a line drive during a Cactus League game in the final days of spring training.

ALSO

Outfielder Jason Heyward took batting practice on the field with the team during Saturday’s pre-game workout. It was Heyward’s first time hitting on the field since he went on the IL with a lower back strain. He hasn’t played since March 30.

UP NEXT

Braves (LHP Max Fried, 2-0, 4.02 ERA) at Dodgers (LHP James Paxton, 3-0, 3.51 ERA), Sunday, 1:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA, 570 AM

​ Orange County Register 

Why a bountiful fruit tree in your garden is a delight until it isn’t

• May 4, 2024

Q. About 3 1/2 years ago we planted a Fuyu Persimmon tree from a local nursery near Moreno Valley. It grew rather quickly, and last year, there was a large quantity of beautiful, tasty persimmons. However, the yield was heavy enough that a couple of the larger branches broke off. Toward the end of the season, we tied up some of the branches to the stake. Now, this year, over the early spring, most of the upper branches are brittle, gray, and frankly, dead. To my surprise, there is one healthy-looking tree stem with green leaves low on the tree where it bifurcates into branches. Everything above appears to be dead. Should I cut back everything above the green stem and wait a couple of years to see if it returns, or just remove the tree and bid it adieu? 

Most fruit trees, persimmons included, can end up overbearing once they approach maturity. This might seem like a good thing since you’re getting a lot of fruit. The problem is that the fruit may not be the highest quality since the tree has only so much energy to put into fruit production. Fruit can end up being smaller and not as sweet as it could be. Another issue is branch breakage, which is what you’ve found out.

Thinning fruit may be tedious, but it is essential for your tree’s health. Once the flowers are gone and you see itty bitty fruit, go ahead and start pulling them off. Be ruthless! Leave at least 6 inches (and preferably more) between each fruit. This will take several passes since there’s always one or two branches that get missed.

If an overloaded branch breaks, but the fruit is nearly ripe, sometimes you can salvage the fruit by propping up the branch. Hopefully there’s enough energy in the leaves and branch to allow the fruit to ripen. If not, well, it was worth a shot. Once the fruit has been harvested, remove the broken branch.

In your case, it sounds like there was considerable damage to most of the branches. The low branch may produce fruit eventually, but it is likely to be coming from the rootstock. I recommend removing this tree and replacing it.

Q. At what point should tree stakes be removed? I’ve seen some trees in my neighborhood that are pretty big but are still staked.

Trees should be loosely staked when they’re young and newly planted. Allowing the tree some sideways movement will make the trunk thicker and stronger so it can stand up without help after a year or two. If the trunk is bigger than the stakes, or if the stakes have been pulled up out of the ground by the tree, it’s time to remove them.

Los Angeles County

[email protected]; 626-586-1988; http://celosangeles.ucanr.edu/UC_Master_Gardener_Program/

Orange County

[email protected]; http://mgorange.ucanr.edu/

Riverside County

[email protected]; https://ucanr.edu/sites/RiversideMG/

San Bernardino County

[email protected]; 909-387-2182; http://mgsb.ucanr.edu

​ Orange County Register