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Baseball Evens Up in League Play
The Sea View League baseball standings tightened up through the second week of play, including a solid bounceback from San Clemente.
After dropping its first two games of league play to Aliso Niguel, San Clemente (6-7, 2-2) swept two games from El Toro (3-9, 0-2) last week. The Tritons shut out the Chargers, 1-0, at home last Wednesday, March 13, and earned a road win at El Toro, 3-1, last Friday, March 15.
Junior starter Mike Erspamer tossed a two-hit, complete-game shutout in the opener against El Toro with three strikeouts and four walks. Sophomore Kai Cesare picked up the go-ahead RBI in the third inning to score senior Jake Wood, who got on base with the only extra base hit by either side.
At El Toro, all the scoring came in the fourth inning, as San Clemente got three across in the top of the inning and held the Chargers to just one run in the bottom of the inning. Junior Kaden Raymond brought home sophomore Dax Conrad and junior Cade Cerone on a double, and senior Pearce Brown scored an unearned run. Brown backed up that inning with another complete-game effort for the Tritons on the mound, with three hits allowed and six strikeouts.
Elsewhere in the Sea View League, San Juan Hills (11-1, 2-0) took two games from Aliso Niguel (9-4, 2-2) to bolt up to the top of the league. San Juan Hills is ranked No. 1 in CIF-SS Division 4, and Aliso Niguel is ranked No. 10 in CIF-SS Division 2.
San Clemente stepped out of Sea View League play for the week for action in the Anaheim Lions Tournament and one nonleague contest.
In tournament play on Saturday, March 16, San Clemente fell to Ramona, 7-1, but the Tritons came back with a 9-5 win over Walnut. San Clemente then fell at home on Monday, March 18, to Capistrano Valley Christian, 6-1.
San Clemente continued in tournament play on Wednesday, March 20, against Key West High of Florida, but results were not available at press time.
San Clemente plays at Corona del Mar in a nonleague game on Thursday, March 21, before concluding the Anaheim Lions Tournament on Saturday, March 23, against Long Beach Poly.
The Tritons step back into Sea View League play with a pair of huge tests against San Juan Hills. San Clemente is at San Juan Hills on Wednesday, March 27, and hosts the Stallions on Friday, March 29.
Track & Field Hosts Triton Invitational, Grabs Podium Spots
It was a fairly successful Saturday for the San Clemente track and field program in their home Triton Invitational last weekend, March 16.
San Clemente’s boys dominated the 3,200-meter run by securing all three podium positions, plus five runners in the top seven places. Senior Brett Ephraim, who paced the Tritons’ CIF-SS and State cross country championships in the fall, took the gold at 9:24, with sophomore Dallin Harrington finishing second at 9:25 and senior Kai Olsen earning bronze at 9:31.
Senior brothers Taj and Pierce Clark finished sixth and seventh, respectively, at 9:40.52 and 9:40.62.
Chloe Waters grabbed the lone win for the Tritons on the girls side, as the junior won the 100-meter hurdles in 15.58. Waters also finished fourth in the 300-meter hurdles at 48.72.
Elsewhere on the track, sophomore Jacob Prayer finished third in the boys 200-meter sprint at 22.26 seconds, and San Clemente finished second in the girls 4x800-meter relay at 11:22.
In the jumps, senior Andre Jones earned a pair of silvers in the boys long jump and triple jump. Jones set a personal record in the long jump at 21 feet, 5 inches, and he posted a mark of 44 feet, 5 inches in the triple jump.
Senior Dexter Brice set a personal record in the boys pole vault with a second-place clearance of 15 feet, 6 inches, and sophomore Henri Huntington set a personal record in the high jump with a third-place mark of 6 feet, 2 inches.
San Clemente hosted San Juan Hills in a nonleague dual meet on Wednesday, March 20, but results were not available at press time. The Tritons host Aliso Niguel in a South Coast League meet next Thursday, March 28.
Orange County Championships are April 13 at Mission Viejo.
Girls Lacrosse Prepped for Start of League Play
The three-time defending South Coast League champion San Clemente girls lacrosse team is ready to go for another charge through league play.
The Tritons (7-2) are ranked No. 5 in CIF-SS Division 1 with their only two losses coming on the road by one goal in overtime against No. 3 Redondo Union and on the road at San Marcos, a CIF-San Diego Section Open Division team last season.
San Clemente has not lost a South Coast League game since 2019, and the Tritons have won the league in five of the past six seasons, all of which were undefeated league runs. Last season, San Clemente outscored its league opponents by a 121-goal margin, 159-38, in eight games.
Coming off of a 19-13 win over Edison on Tuesday, March 19, San Clemente will begin South Coast League play against Aliso Niguel at home on Thursday, March 21. Last season, the Tritons allowed just one goal to Aliso Niguel two games–a 20-1 win and a 24-0 shutout win.
Aliso Niguel (7-4) has already surpassed last season’s win total of five and is ranked No. 9 in CIF-SS Division 3.