Daily Pilot High School Male Athlete of the Week: Bair shines for Chargers
Nine days into the New Year Dominic Bair did not feel too well. He had migraines, thinking he might have come down with the flu.
He still went to the Edison High boys’ soccer practice on that Monday, and what eventually sidelined him wasn’t the flu, it was an injury.
While trying to get around a defender, Bair stepped on top of his teammate’s foot and rolled his right ankle. Bair, one of the top goal scorers in Orange County, fell to the turf.
Last season Bair hurt the same ankle during practice, almost doing the same thing. When he heard a crack, Bair knew the sound wasn’t good. Everyone around him could tell it wasn’t good either because Bair was in a lot of pain.
“We were all very nervous,” Edison Coach Charlie Breneman said. “We thought it was more significant.”
Later that night, Bair’s ankle grew. From the swelling, it looked serious, serious enough to get it checked out.
Bair went to urgent care the following morning. The news he got wasn’t what the senior wanted to hear.
“The original X-ray showed a fracture in my fibula,” Bair said. “I had been told, ‘Out for the season.’ I was like, ‘What do I have to lose? I might as well go [get a second opinion] and be sure about it.’”
Bair went to his orthopedist that afternoon, and he liked what the doctor told him.
“He looked at the exact same X-ray,” Bair said. “He kind of looked back at some X-rays, and he just determined that it was a growth plate in my right fibula. He basically just told me it was a sprain and that I stretched a ligament out in the outside of my right foot. He told me [I would be out] a few weeks, so I’m thinking, ‘OK, a week, maybe a week and a half, because I want to go back as soon as possible.’”
To Breneman, the news of Bair only suffering a sprain felt like a small miracle. The quick recovery by Bair made it look like a miracle.
A week after injuring his ankle, Bair began to jog. As for why he rushed back, seeing his team lose for the first time in the Sunset League had a lot to do with it.
Four days after Bair went down, Newport Harbor, which went winless in league last season, blanked the host Chargers, 2-0. The following week, Bair returned in time for Edison’s next contest, the one against defending league champion Los Alamitos.
“I probably came back too soon,” Bair said. “I think the hardest part is mentally I knew what I wanted to do and I knew what I could be successful at, but my body couldn’t keep up.”
For a striker like Bair, his speed is what makes him a dangerous player. He lacked that burst, and for the second time in as many matches, Edison lost, falling to the Griffins, 2-1 at home.
Through the first round of league, the Sailors, not the Chargers, the favorites to finish first, were perfect and at the top. While Edison trailed Newport Harbor, Breneman said the Sailors wouldn’t go undefeated.
Breneman has been coaching at Edison for 17 seasons, 12 at the helm, and he has never seen a school go undefeated in league.
Newport Harbor came back down to earth, losing its final five matches in league to take third place. The team that closed out the second half of league without a blemish was Edison, and Bair played a vital role to the success.
Bair returned to form last week, scoring two goals and assisting on another in Edison’s 4-0 win against Huntington Beach and scoring both goals in a 2-0 shutout of the Sailors. The results put the Chargers in position to lock up first in Wednesday’s league finale, a position they found themselves in last season.
Unlike last season, when Edison lost to rival Fountain Valley, 2-1, in overtime, costing it first place, Bair and the Chargers took care of business in the last match of the regular season. They went on the road and edged Los Alamitos, 2-1, to win the league title.
Bair assisted on the game-winning goal, finding Brian Piscopo in the 78th minute to give Edison its first league crown since the 2013-14 season. Bair was a freshman back then, and he has turned into one of the top players in the area.
Bair has 15 goals and seven assists on the season. He can add to those totals in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs. The Chargers (18-4-1, 8-2 in league), who are ranked No. 9 in the division, find out Monday who they will open the first round with next Friday.
One thing is for sure, Bair and the Chargers head into the postseason with a lot more confidence than last season. Losing to Fountain Valley and losing out on a league title in the league finale last season affected the Chargers.
“It was in the back of our heads. It was sitting there,” said Bair, whose team lost to La Cañada St. Francis, 2-1, in the first round.
With Bair flying around, Breneman believes the Chargers can make a deep run in the playoffs. Edison last reached the section finals in the 1999-2000 season, when it shared the Division II crown with Mater Dei.
“He’s a game-changer,” Breneman said of Bair. “Psychologically he makes a difference for our team. He gives everyone else confidence, that we’re going to score a goal.
“[The playoffs are] always tough. You need to be good, you need to be deep like we are, but you also need a little bit of luck, a little help along the way.”
For Breneman, not losing Bair for the season has already been a blessing.
Dominic Bair
Born: Jan. 22, 1999
Hometown: Huntington Beach
Height: 5-foot-9
Weight: 155 pounds
Sport: Soccer
Year: Senior
Coach: Charlie Breneman
Favorite food: Pasta
Favorite movie: “The Shawshank Redemption”
Favorite athletic moment: “Winning State Cup with my [Wolfpack] club team.”
Week in review: Bair scored four goals and assisted on another, helping Edison to two shutout wins in Sunset League play.
Twitter: @ByDCP
