RECRUITING NOTEBOOK : Carey, Kirschke Head List of Signees

They are signed and sealed. Now they have to deliver.

Twenty-six Orange County high school football players signed letters of intent with colleges on national signing day Wednesday.

At the top of the list were Los Alamitos quarterback Tim Carey, who signed with Stanford, and Esperanza defensive tackle Travis Kirschke, who’s headed to UCLA.

Carey was The Times’ county back of the year and Kirschke was The Times’ lineman of the year. Both players are SuperPrep Magazine All-Americans.

Stanford Coach Bill Walsh boosted his passing game by signing Carey and Parade Magazine All-American Scott Frost of Wood River, Neb. Former El Toro standout Steve Stenstrom, the starter the last two seasons, has two years of eligibility left.

They should have plenty of targets over the next four years. Stanford signed four All-American receivers Wednesday--Brian Manning of Kansas City (Mo.) Ruskin High, Leroy Pruitt of Blue Springs High in Lees Summit, Mo., Alistair White of Glendale (Ariz.) High and Charles Young of Seattle Bishop O’Dea High.

Walsh got help on defense as well, signing two All-Americans from the county--Rancho Alamitos linebacker Leon Vickers and Esperanza defensive end Bryan Werner.

ESPN’s Scholastic Sports America show ranked Stanford’s class No. 1 in the Pac-10 and fourth nationally behind top-ranked Florida State, Michigan and Alabama. UCLA was ranked fifth in the Pac-10.

Kirschke, considered one of the top players in Southern California, was one of three county recruits to sign with UCLA, joining Sunny Hills linebacker Brian Willmer and Irvine offensive lineman Sean Gully. In a survey of Pac-10 coaches, eight of them said Kirschke and Willmer would be impact players by their sophomore seasons.

Cal, ranked second in the Pac-10 recruiting, signed two county players--SuperPrep All-American quarterback Pat Barnes of Trabuco Hills and Edison offensive lineman George Roberts.

Barnes turned down Notre Dame, committing to Cal with the understanding that the Bears wouldn’t pursue any other quarterbacks. The Bears kept their word--Barnes was the only quarterback to sign with them Wednesday.

“Cal got a fantastic class,” said Rick Kimbrel, editor of BlueChip Illustrated magazine. “They have two great impact players in Barnes and (Pittsburg, Kan., defensive end) Regan Upshaw.”

Fresno State, benefiting from a 24-7 victory over USC in the Freedom Bowl, signed the most county players--Servite defensive back A.J. Gass, Rancho Alamitos flanker Marshall Brown, El Modena linebacker Ryan Holmes and Brea-Olinda offensive lineman Chris Conrad.

But the Bulldogs lost one recruit, Servite offensive tackle Jeff Malone, to Arizona. Malone originally committed to Fresno State along with Gass in mid-January, but reconsidered when Arizona offered a scholarship last week.

Esperanza lineman Travis Pulliam turned down scholarship offers from Utah, Oregon State, Villanova and Northern Arizona and committed to Princeton.

Waiting list: Some of the county’s top players haven’t signed. Among them are Rancho Alamitos running back Jeff Byrd, the county’s single-season rushing leader, and Los Alamitos’ George Sagen, the county’s top receiver.

Sagen, who received some interest from Colorado and Nevada, said he will likely play at a community college or Division II school next season. Byrd is considering Yale and Dartmouth, which don’t offer athletic scholarships, and is hoping to schedule a visit to Hawaii.

Irvine running back Scott Seal turned down a scholarship to San Jose State and is being recruited for baseball by UCLA and Cal. Irvine linebacker Ryan Jones turned down Oregon and Fresno State to pursue a baseball scholarship.

A catch: One Southwest Conference recruiter said he’s surprised Sagen hasn’t received more interest from Division I schools.

Sagen, 6 feet and 180 pounds, said schools are bypassing him because of his speed. Sagen runs 40 yards in 4.7 seconds.

But the recruiter said Sagen has skills to make a great college player: he runs precise routes, has courage to make a catch over the middle and take a hit, and has an excellent spin move.

“Speed is overrated,” the recruiter said. “But schools will take a chance on a guy who has bad grades, a bad attitude--you know there’s no way he’ll make it--just because he has good speed.

“Then you see a guy like Sagen, who will wind up being the next Steve Largent, and they won’t do it (sign him). If we had a scholarship open for a wide receiver, we would take a real hard look at him.”

Sagen might want to keep in mind what happened to another county wide receiver a few years ago--El Toro’s Scott Miller.

Few colleges showed interest in Miller, so he played two seasons at Saddleback College. Miller, who had outstanding speed, then signed with UCLA.

After two seasons with the Bruins, Miller was drafted by the Miami Dolphins. He played in the AFC championship game last month.

Volleyball: Laguna Beach, which finished second in the Southern Section and State Division I tournaments to Corona del Mar, had three of the 13 volleyball players who signed Wednesday.

Artist outside hitter Rachel Wacholder, a two-time Times’ county player of the year, signed with Colorado, middle blocker Anne Swayne with Oregon and setter Erin Bratcher with Oregon.

Corona del Mar outside hitter Lori Newcomer, who led the Sea Kings to a No. 1 national ranking, signed with Alabama.

Recruiting Notes

Mater Dei led the county for the second time in four years with four recruits. Servite and Esperanza had three each. . . . The signing period lasts until April 1.

Orange County Signings

FOOTBALL

Player Pos. School Ht. Wt. Brian Barajas DB Mater Dei 5-11 170 Pat Barnes QB Trabuco Hills 6-4 207 Marshall Brown QB-WR Rancho Alamitos 6-0 175 Tim Carey QB Los Alamitos 6-4 175 Chris Conrad OL Brea-Olinda 6-7 270 Brian Davies OT Irvine 6-3 235 Sean Dumas OL Servite 6-2 240 A.J. Gass DB Servite 6-3 185 Parker Gregg LB Mater Dei 6-1 228 Sean Gully OT Irvine 6-5 245 Ryan Holmes LB El Modena 6-3 235 Ray Jackson DB Mater Dei 6-2 202 Matt Johner QB Estancia 6-1 180 Travis Kirschke OG-DT Esperanza 6-5 255 Micah Knorr P-PK Orange 6-1 160 Jeff Malone OT Servite 6-3 235 Kyle Murphy DT Edison 6-4 255 Sean O’Brien QB-DB Santa Margarita 6-4 214 Tony Parrish DB-RB Marina 5-11 181 Travis Pulliam OG Esperanza 6-2 252 Beau Ralphs DT Newport Harbor 6-2 247 George Roberts DT Edison 6-4 245 Blake Spence TE Capistrano Valley 6-4 230 Nicky Sualua RB-DT Mater Dei 5-11 225 Leon Vickers LB Rancho Alamitos 6-1 200 Bryan Werner LB Esperanza 6-5 246 Brian Willmer TE-LB Sunny Hills 6-3 225

Player College Brian Barajas Villanova Pat Barnes California Marshall Brown Fresno State Tim Carey Stanford Chris Conrad Fresno State Brian Davies Utah State Sean Dumas Navy A.J. Gass Fresno State Parker Gregg Pennsylvania Sean Gully UCLA Ryan Holmes Fresno State Ray Jackson Washington State Matt Johner Kansas Travis Kirschke UCLA Micah Knorr Utah State Jeff Malone Arizona Kyle Murphy Arizona State Sean O’Brien Arizona Tony Parrish Washington Travis Pulliam Committed to Princeton Beau Ralphs Villanova George Roberts California Blake Spence Oregon Nicky Sualua Ohio State Leon Vickers Stanford Bryan Werner Stanford Brian Willmer UCLA

GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL

Player Pos. School Ht. College Karen Benkovsky OH Cap. Valley Christian 5-8 Washington Annie Blackburn MB Marina 5-11 Portland Pattie Boland OH Mater Dei 5-9 California Erin Bratcher S Laguna Beach 5-8 George Mason Kathleen Bunce OH Cap. Valley Christian 6-1 Loyola Marymount Rachel Hochgesang OH Sunny Hills 6-1 Oregon State Alicia Liniger MB Edison 6-4 California Heather Lowe MB Cypress 6-0 Santa Clara Dana Netherby OH San Clemente 5-9 Washington Lori Newcomer OH Corona del Mar 5-8 Alabama Anne Swayne MB Laguna Beach 6-1 Oregon Sarena Syphers MB El Modena 6-1 Hofstra Rachel Wacholder OH Laguna Beach 5-8 Colorado

WATER POLO

Player Pos. School Ht. College Jeremy Braxton-Brown 2M Capistrano Valley 6-4 UCLA

Note: Signing period for the three sports is today through-April 1.