PREP FLASHBACK : THIS WEEK IN COUNTY PREP SPORTS HISTORY

10 YEARS AGO

Jeff Pries stepped off the basketball court and onto the baseball diamond to help Corona del Mar take over first place in the Sea View League.

Pries, who helped Corona del Mar to the Southern Section Division 3-A title in boys’ basketball (a 69-54 victory over Tustin), made the transition from sneakers to spikes without a hitch.

Pries pitched five innings to get the victory as the Sea Kings defeated Costa Mesa, 5-2.

5 YEARS AGO

Many teams had most of the week off for spring break, but Tustin pitcher Steve Surico found himself working the first game of a Friday doubleheader against Serra.

Surico, a senior left-hander, didn’t seem to mind. He pitched a no-hitter and struck out 11 batters as Tustin won the first game, 7-0. Surico improved to 3-0 and, despite walking three, Surico did not allow a batter to reach base after the third inning.

The Tillers were 9-0 after the no-hitter, but they nearly suffered a letdown. Tustin needed eight innings and a six-run seventh inning to defeat Serra, 7-6, in the second game.

1 YEAR AGO

It’s pitchers such as Kennedy’s Cheryl Longeway who make people yawn when they hear about a no-hitter in high school softball. The Longeways of high school softball are so good that the no-hitter has become commonplace. It takes a perfect game to get noticed.

Longeway gets noticed. She struck out 15 batters and pitched a perfect game as Kennedy defeated Rancho Alamitos, 9-0, in a Garden Grove League game. Two days later, Longeway pitched a two-hitter, struck out nine and did not allow an earned run in a 3-2 victory over Bolsa Grande.

The victories improved Longeway’s record to 6-1 with a 0.46 earned-run average, but she was anything but complacent.

“Sometimes I’ll get a batter out with a good rise (pitch) and the next time I face her she might be looking for it. Then I throw it and it won’t rise or it will curve out a little so she misses again. I don’t know if it’s going to rise or curve--I get lucky.”