It’s all about the emotion

Sports are big in Newport-Mesa. From the youth levels and high school on to college and the pros, area residents look forward to seeing the photos in the sports pages every day.

With this in mind, the photo staff looks to capture the moments that sum up the game, or just look interesting.

The sports photo of the year comes from the camera of Mark Dustin. The Costa Mesa varsity baseball team needed a win against Calvary Chapel to capture the league title, its first in 30 years.

The game was close and ended after Nick Pederson grounded out to first. The shot captured at the end of the game summed it up, and the reader can’t help but feel the emotions experienced by both teams.

Action shots always bring the pages to life, but a really unusual moment like a highlight-reel play sticks in the memory a lot longer.

In the annual OCC vs. Goldenwest College football game, for instance, Mark Dustin captured OCC receiver Cameron Hall making a leaping one-handed grab in front of the Goldenwest sideline. During the CIF basketball playoffs, Kent Treptow captured an odd moment when Newport Harbor’s Kyle Caldwell pinned a rebound on the forehead of Huntington Beach’s Nicholas Becker.

But not all sports shots capture action, celebration or the agony of defeat.

Don Leach’s shot of a duck walking by an amateur golfer on the 17th green of Newport Beach Country Club during a Toshiba pro-am tournament shows one of that week’s funnier moments.

Capturing key moments, whether it’s action, celebration or just funny, is a priority of the Daily Pilot photo staff and it’s safe to say that 2009 will provide us with many new opportunities to make the sports pages shine.

For more of the best sports photos from 2008, click here.