Prep Review : Edison’s Carter, Motivated by Loss, Recovers for Another Victory

Kaleaph Carter of Edison High School isn’t the type of athlete to let a loss ruin everything.

Carter lost the state discus title Saturday to John Wirtz of San Jose Leland, but he used the defeat as motivation in the shotput at the California Interscholastic Federation state track and field championships in Norwalk.

Wirtz, who leads the nation at 199-feet 10-inches, threw 192-10 for the victory. Carter threw 186-2, a personal record by nearly eight feet, to finish second.

“I’ve never been so mad,” Carter said after the event. “I don’t care if (Wirtz) threw 205 feet. The purpose of this meet is to win.”

Tony Ciarelli, Edison throwing coach, said that Carter often uses such defeats constructively. “Hopefully, for him it’ll have a positive effect,” Ciarelli said.

It did. Two hours after the discus competition, Carter, a two-time state runner-up, won the shotput.

Though he threw his winning mark of 64-0 1/2 in Friday’s preliminaries--Friday’s marks carried over into Saturday’s finals--three of his other throws would have have won the competition anyway.

Carter’s Saturday series--62-7, 63-3, 59-2, 63-5 1/2--easily bettered the second-place mark, 62-3, by John Hicks of Hollister San Bonito.

Carter, ranked fourth in the nation, will compete at the prestigious Golden West Invitational Saturday at Sacramento.

Whattathrill: Garden Grove High School hurdler Anthony Hale said his career-best performance at Saturday night’s state track and field meet wasn’t nearly as thrilling as the post-race ceremonies.

Hale, who placed sixth in the 300-meter hurdles in 37.37 seconds, received a congratulatory handshake from two of his biggest idols--Rafer Johnson, two-time U.S. Olympic decathlete, and Mark Schilling.

Mark who?

Mark Schilling, the former Garden Grove High star who in 1972 set the current state record in the mile run at 4:04.0.

“He’s the legend of Garden Grove High School,” Hale said. “I was overwhelmed.”

Inspiration or exaggeration? Although the Southern Section baseball championships went by Saturday without any athlete hitting a home run at Anaheim Stadium, El Toro Coach Dan DeLeon showed his Chargers how it’s done.

“I cleared the fence at the Big A,” DeLeon said. “For the rest of my life I can tell my kids I homered at the Big A.”

DeLeon did hit a home run, but he did so from the pitcher’s mound and with the help of a fungo bat.

Perhaps a true homer would have been more inspirational. El Toro lost to La Mirada, 8-4, in the 3-A title game.

Zzz-less, for the moment: Moments after his team’s 3-2 loss to Diamond Bar Saturday in the Southern Section 5-A baseball final, Esperanza baseball Coach Mike Curran said: “When you lose games like this, it’s hard to sleep. . . . It’s not going to be easy for me to get over this one.”

The Aztecs, the 4-A champion in 1986, lost, 1-0, to Lakewood in last year’s final.

Sunday afternoon, Curran wasn’t quite over the loss, but that didn’t stop him from thinking of his team’s immediate future.

“It’s tough when everybody keeps telling you what a great a game it was (because) it wasn’t for me,” Curran said. “I like the effort we put out, but it’s tough losing two years in a row by one run. . . . But hey, we have an American Legion game Tuesday (against Magnolia at home), so the real world’s coming back at us real quick.”

Back to big time: Michele Granger, Valenica High’s superstar softball pitcher, didn’t waste any time getting back to the mound after her high school career ended Wednesday in a 1-0 loss to La Mirada in a 25-inning Southern Section 3-A semifinal.

“She’s at a (American Softball Assn.) tournament in Las Vegas,” Mike Granger, Michele’s father, said Sunday. “She left Friday evening.”

Granger, who struck out 40 in her final high school game that ended partially as a result of two infield errors, pitches for the Orange County Majestics, the defending national champion. Granger was the most valuable player last season.

Saturday at Las Vegas, the Majestics won three games, including a no-hitter with 18 strikeouts by Granger.

In high school, Granger set several records, including national career records for strikeouts (1,635), no-hitters (36) and perfect games (9).

“But she throws a lot harder in (ASA) than in high school,” Mike Granger said.

Add Granger: Back in April, Granger admitted that it was often difficult to concentrate on the high school level, where she doesn’t have to play with the same intensity as on the national or international level.

“It’s unfortunate,” Granger had said. “I’ve really got to get back a little bit more emotion in my game . . . “

After last Wednesday’s loss, Granger said she never really managed to regain her intensity for high school softball.

“It was too late for me to get it back, honestly,” she said. “It just didn’t happen.”

Championship, at last: Sue Hall, Kennedy’s first-year softball coach, has been chasing a Southern Section championship for the past three years.

Hall, who coached at Woodbridge the last two years, coached the Warriors to two consecutive finals. Woodbridge lost to Cresenta Valley in 1986, and tied Laguna Hills, 0-0, for a share of the championship in 1987.

Before Kennedy played La Mirada for the Southern Section 3-A title Friday, Hall said: “I’ve been in the finals for three years in a row. I’ve lost and I’ve tied. I feel like it might finally be the time to win one.”

Kennedy delivered, defeating La Mirada 1-0. The Fighting Irish finished the season 26-5 overall, with a 14-game winning streak.

Sad--but smart--decision: Kennedy first baseman Deanna Mayes, the mainstay of the Fighting Irish defense, had a tough decision to make Friday before Kennedy’s Southern Section 3-A championship game against La Mirada.

Mayes, also the team’s leading hitter at .333, suffered a severely bruised right thigh when, running to catch a pop fly, she collided with a baserunner in a second-round playoff game against Sunny Hills May 25. Mayes’ doctor warned her not to play as further trauma to the injury may cause career-threatening damage.

Mayes decided not to play, but looked on as Kennedy defeated La Mirada, 1-0. Right fielder Gina Alcoser replaced Mayes at first.

“It’s great they won,” Mayes said leaning on a crutch and in tears after the game. “I just wish I played.”

Her career’s hardly finished yet. Mayes signed a national letter of intent to attend Nebraska in the fall.

College commitments: Last week, many top area track and field athletes make commitments to attend colleges in the fall. They include:

Corona del Mar miler Jim Robbins to UCLA; Mission Viejo sprinter Sheri Bertell to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo; Marina hurdler Marc Kallick to San Diego State; Mater Dei hurdler George Lynch to UCLA; La Habra distance runners Terrence Mahon (Oregon) and Sita Jones (UC Irvine); Marina distance runner Shanon Winkelman to UC Riverside; Garden Grove hurdler Anthony Hale to Rancho Santiago; Esperanza hurdler Danielle Reaves to Alabama, and Newport Harbor pole vaulter R.W. Henson to Pennsylvania.

Prep Notes

Jim Tomlin, Corona del Mar boys’ track and field coach, said Wednesday he’s taking a year off from coaching after 11 years with the Sea Kings. Tomlin, who has won eight league championships, will be replaced by Bill Sumner, Corona del Mar’s boys cross-country and assistant track coach. . . . Tim Leary, Dodger pitcher, and Rick Down, Angel coach, will be the guest speakers at the 10th Pro Skills baseball camp beginning June 27 at El Toro High. The camp, open to boys and girls in grades 3-11, is directed by Dan DeLeon, El Toro baseball coach. Tuition is $94 each. For more information, contact the Saddleback Valley Unified School District’s recreation department at 586-1234. . . . Representatives from Buena Park, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Katella, Los Amigos, Magnolia, Trabuco Hills and Villa Park were honored Sunday at Dodger Stadium in the sixth “Shake for Sportsmanship” award program sponsored by the Dodgers and Adohr Farms. . . . Matt Werner, a returning all-Empire League defensive lineman at Esperanza, was named co-lifter of the 11th Orange County Powerlifting Invitational. Werner became the first county athlete to dead lift more than 610 pounds in the meet. . . . For the record: Mission Viejo sprinter Sheri Bertell placed fifth in the 200 meters (24.93) at the State meet Saturday night. It was reported in Sunday’s editions that Bertell placed fifth in the 100 meters.