Conference Teams Stronger Than Ever

The domination of the Orange Empire Conference baseball teams in nonconference games is getting ridiculous.

Consider this: Cypress, Fullerton, Rancho Santiago, Riverside and Saddleback have combined for a staggering record of 60-6.

Riverside heads the list at 14-0 and Saddleback is 11-0. Cypress is 13-2 and one of its losses is to Riverside, 3-2.

Rancho Santiago, the two-time defending state champion, is 11-1 and Fullerton is 11-3.

Conference play starts Saturday.

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Doing it all: Saddleback sports information director Jerry Hannula turned in an impressive performance as the Gauchos beat visiting Fullerton, 75-66, Friday.

Hannula kept the official book and complete statistics for each team. He also ran the 35-second clock and called for the buzzer when substitutes went in--all without a hitch.

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Men’s volleyball: Orange Empire Conference play starts this week with some key Orange County matchups.

Irvine Valley is at Golden West at 7 p.m. Wednesday then Golden West is at Orange Coast Friday in a rematch of last year’s state title match won by Golden West. The Rustlers also won the state title in 1995.