Huntington Beach Water Polo Club teams have strong showing

Huntington Beach Water Polo Club teams turned in strong performances Saturday and Sunday at the Southern Pacific Zone Junior Olympic Qualifiers for age-group teams.

Tournament sites included the William Woolett Aquatic Center in Irvine, Beckman High and the Santa Ana YMCA.

The 10-and-Under coed team, boys’ 12U team, both the 14U boys’ Blue (A) and Orange (B) teams and the girls’ 14U team, competed at the event in order to qualify for Junior Olympics scheduled for last-summer in southern California.

Coach Brian Anderson said the highlight of the competition was the boys’ 12U team, which reached the division’s championship game before falling to Socal.

Huntington’s boys’ 14U team placed third in its division. The squad, which put in rigorous training hours in the months leading up to the qualifying tournament, beat United, Corona Del Mar, Orange County and Los Alamitos. Huntington lost to Socal in the semifinals.

“On defense we relied upon great talents of our goalie Alex Wolf and on the offensive end Stephen Marcin scored many great goals” Coach Uros Dzelebdzic said.

The 10U coed team showed its talent against club teams Anteater, Northwood and Los Alamitos. Key contributions came from Emily Tucker and Randal Macias.

The girls’ 14U team took 12th place in its division.

— From Staff Reports

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Majors Division

A first-inning home run by Jason Mayorga got the offense rolling and Braydon Salzman pitched another shutout as the Braves took down the Angels, 11-0, in Majors Division play at Ocean View Little League.

Michael Baker followed Mayorga’s homer with an RBI-single that scored Nathan Crocker. In the second inning, the Braves scored two more runs when Jacob Sievers and Salzman scored. In the fourth, Daniel Meyers had an RBI double and James Williams an RBI triple as the Braves increased their lead to 9-0.

The Braves scored their final two runs in the fifth.

The Braves and Angels completed a game Saturday that had been played earlier in the season that had ended in a 4-4 tie. The Angels scored the winning run after drawing a bases-loaded walk to earn a 5-4 victory.

— Jennifer Sievers, Community Correspondent

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Minor B Division

Lookouts 10, Mets 5: In a first-round playoff game in the division’s postseason tournament, the Lookouts took a 10-1 lead into the fifth inning Saturday and went on to defeat the Mets. Edison Chui and Nathan Skorheim knocked in runs and starter Tristan Kennedy, Skorheim and Lucas Pantel combined to strike out nine for the Mets.

Mudcats 12, Mets 10: The Mudcats rallied with two late runs to get past the Mets in a regular season game. Alec Muirhead had a two-run hit to the fence to ignite a Mudcats rally. Kai Nakamura and Jimmy Campbell had RBIs for the Mets.

— Laurie Skorheim, Community Correspondent

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Minor C Division

(no score kept)

Scrappers vs. Raptors: The Raptors set the tone for the game with strong hitting in the top of the first inning with a double by Quinn Ortiz scoring two runs. A double play by Ortiz and James Kent later prevented the Scrappers from scoring.

Solid hitting continued on both sides and Kent, Riley Bradley and Luke Melvin ran the bases for the Raptors. Jackson Potter of the Scrappers caught a fly ball and Owen Sideris of the Raptors made a double play at first base and had the final out in the game. Jaden Moore and Ryan Bandy made their pitching debuts for the Raptors and Jack McKelvey, Carson Jones and Jack Rockefeller rounded out the pitching line-up.

— Kathy Melvin, Community Correspondent

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Farm Division

(no score kept)

Sun Devils vs. Waves: The Sun Devils and Waves met for the second time this season and it was an impressive show. For the Waves, Max Milo made a great play at third base and Tyler Mangold made an unassisted double play at first. For the Sun Devils, both Kyle Palmer and Roman Cianca had long drives for doubles and Sean Carlin and Jaylene Duarte made several nice plays in the field.

— Kevin Carlin, Community Correspondent