Injury Doesn’t Stop Lopez

Veronica Lopez had a gutsy performance for Canyon’s softball team.

Lopez competed Wednesday in the Home Runs for Heroes contest as part of the Canyon Michelle Carew Memorial Classic. She had suffered an injury, believed to be a slight tear in a knee ligament, in a qualifier for event.

Without swinging a bat in 2 1/2 weeks, Lopez scored 13 points as Canyon defeated La Quinta, 37-5, in the semifinals of the home run-hitting contest.

Because of Lopez’s performance in the home run contest, she and Coach Lance Eddy decided she would compete later in the day in their final tournament game, a 3-1 victory over Katella, with one provision--she wouldn’t run.

She didn’t need to.

With two outs in the first inning and a runner at second, Lopez jogged out a double down the right field line and was replaced for a pinch-runner. In the seventh, with two outs and a runner at first, Lopez reentered; she jogged to third base on a drive to right center field.

She received the tournament’s first Most Inspirational Award.

In the other semifinal, El Dorado’s Samantha Kimura, Jill Jessen (23 points, four HR) and Tiffany Smith upset Brea Olinda, 36-17. Brea had qualified for the semifinals with a county-best 39 points.

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More all-star basketball games take center stage this weekend.

The first Eddie Jones Southern California All-Star Classic, a triple-header Tuesday at the Long Beach State Pyramid, features several standout high school and community college players from Orange County.

Guard Wes Bunn, Jr. (Cypress), forward Ben Jones (Sonora) and center Mike Vukovich (Mater Dei) will play in the opening high school all-star game at 5 p.m. Bunn has signed with Southern Utah, Jones will attend UC Irvine and Vukovich is headed to UC Santa Barbara.

Guard Kevin Augustine of Mater Dei, who has signed with USC, will be showcased in the premier high school game at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for students and will be available at the door.

The 32nd annual Costa Mesa Downtown Kiwanis Orange County boys’ and girls’ all-star games will be held Saturday at Orange Coast College. The girls’ game begins at 5 p.m. and the boys’ game begins at 8. Spectators can see both games for the same price: $7 for students and $12 for adults. For information call (714) 589-7573.

In another event Saturday, Duke signee Chris Burgess of Woodbridge and Kansas-bound center Eric Chenowith of Villa Park will play in the Nike Hoop Summit in Orlando, Fla. The game will be televised by CBS at 10 a.m.

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Former Pacifica girls’ basketball coach Matt Murphy said he’s excited about being hired as the women’s coach at Golden West College--which did not have a program last year because it didn’t have enough players. That probably won’t be a problem with Murphy, who won two Garden Grove League titles and directed the Mariners to a 40-13 record. Eight players return from last year’s Pacifica team, including one of the county’s ninth-leading scorer, Jaymee Pendergast (17.9 points).

“Whoever gets it is going to be pretty lucky,” Murphy said. “ The league definitely is not the strongest in the county, and with all those returners, it should be pretty nice.”

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The Garden Grove League, the county’s only alignment made up exclusively of high schools belonging to the same school district, is often overlooked. But on Wednesday the seven-team circuit sports one of the more important boys’ volleyball matches of the season when league-leaders La Quinta (9-2, 5-0) and Bolsa Grande (7-2, 5-0) tangle. The winner takes sole position of first place at the midway part of the season.

The match begins at 5:30 p.m. at Bolsa Grande.

Times staff writer Paul McLeod contributed to this report.