Dolphins earn championships

All three of the Mariners Christian School boys’ volleyball teams advanced to the championship games of the Christian Athletic League of Orange County Friday at Liberty Christian in Huntington Beach.

The Dolphins brought home two out of three championship titles in seventh-grade Division II and eighth-grade Division I.

In the eighth-grade Division I championship Calvary Chapel and Mariners continued the excellent rivalry between the two schools with yet another matchup in the final.

The two teams saw each other in the football championship earlier this year. The Dolphins of Mariners ended up pulling out the championship in three games.

Coach Bahadoor earned his 12th title for the school since taking over the volleyball coaching position some 13 years ago.

“I was very proud of all the players tonight,” Coach Bahadoor said. “They fought back after a tough loss in the second game to pull it out. This group has been a real pleasure to work with.”

Highlights from the match included excellent hitting from Clay Carr, Will Fortier and Brett Olson.

Setters Matt Elmajian, Chase Jackson and Jared Daniels were excellent and Dale Peffer, Daniel Munoz made some key defensive plays. Other positive contributions came from Ethan Hold, Jeremy Fukushima, Blake Smith and Rory Fleming.

The match against Calvary was the second in the playoffs as the Dolphins boys beat Calvary in the match leading up to the final.

Seventh-grade Final The Mariners seventh-grade team played Anaheim Vineyard in the Division II final match. During the season, the teams split the matches, each winning at home.

This match was also decided in three games as both teams brought their “A” game.

David Shaeffer and Nick Whitelaw provided great sets, while Matt Marchiorlatti, Stephen Mantei and Jake Haar provided the attack with excellent hitting all night.

Peter Seidner, Brett Beaudette along with Grant Midstokke made some excellent defensive saves. Davis Hanscom and Jackson Rhodes served consistently all night.

Alumni Coach Ryan Hilts led the team to the championship in this, his first year as a head coach at Mariners.

Leading up to the final match, the Dolphins posted the three straight defeats of Eastside Christian out of Fullerton in the CALOC divisional semifinal match.

Leading the Dolphins that match in kills was Haar with nine. Marchiorlatti contributed to the Dolphin offense by adding six kills of his own and three blocked shots on defense. Seidner had an excellent defensive game digging out several keep points.

The Dolphins finished the season 7-1.

Sixth-grade Team The sixth-grade team played up all season competing in the middle-school level against teams of seventh- and eighth-graders. In the final, the younger Dolphins battled it out in a three-game thriller against Shoreline Baptist of Fountain Valley.

The Dolphins won the first game, lost the second and were at match point in the third game.

Shoreline held tough and pulled out the win. It was a great accomplishment for the Dolphins considering that they were so much younger than the competition. Key players for the Dolphins included Steven Guder, Zac Mills, Sterling Miles and Brett Elmajian. Other positive contributions came from Nick Stary, Jonah Masumoto, Kyle Kofoed, Enzo Burtin, Nick Tofolli and David Collins.

Prior to the final match, the sixth-grade Dolphins battled Calvary Chapel in the Division III semifinal at Mariners May 12. The Dolphins had just played Calvary the week prior and suffered a 2-0 loss.

But the Dolphins came together to win two straight games to reach the final.

Costa Mesa Little League Blue Jays Edge Dodgers 3-2 The National Blue Jays scored a walk-off win against the American Dodgers in a Costa Mesa Little League Major Division game May 11.

Whitacre of the Blue Jays came up with a big single with the bases loaded to end the game.

The Dodgers ace Evan Larsen and the Blue Jays ace Noah Prevel started. The Dodgers’ Grady Conner, who drew a walk and stole second, scored after a base hit to right center field by Paul King ended up with an errant throw back to the infield.

The Blue Jays answered in the third inning, when Brad O’Heany singled in Whitacre.

The Dodgers’ William Leiby scored in the fourth inning after Larsen doubled to score him.