Area Softball Players Chosen in Professional League Draft

Several former county standouts were selected Saturday in the Women’s Professional Softball League draft.

The four-team league, begun in 1997, includes two teams based in Akron, Ohio, and two in Plant City, Fla. Each will play a 40-game schedule beginning in June.

Topping the list of locals was Lindsey Collins, formerly of Fountain Valley High. Collins, a catcher at Arizona, was the second pick overall taken by the Akron Racers. The Tampa Bay FireStix selected UCLA pitcher/outfielder Courtney Dale with the first pick.

Arizona outfielder Lauren Bauer (Foothill High) was the 10th pick overall, taken in the third round by the Florida Wahoos.

The Ohio Price selected Arizona third baseman Toni Mascarenas (Pacifica) 16th, and Ohio selected UCLA pitcher Stephanie Swenson (San Clemente) 22nd in the sixth and final round.

Previously announced was the selection of Cal State Fullerton infielder Brenda Iglesias, who was chosen 13th by Florida.

LET’S GO CO-CO

J.J. Sola, a Capistrano Valley graduate who attended four high schools in four years, is playing for his second college in two years.

Sola, a 6-foot-7 forward, is at Fullerton College after playing last season at Loyola Marymount. He started 12 games and averaged six points and four rebounds for the Lions, who were 2-26.

Other former county high school basketball players who landed unexpectedly at community colleges:

* Lloyd Walls (Esperanza, forward). Originally committed to Loyola Marymount, but after Steve Aggers was named the Lions’ coach, Walls enrolled at Irvine Valley College.

* Jon James (Bolsa Grande, swingman). Was expected to follow former Matador Coach Mike Anderson to Golden West College, where Anderson is now an assistant. But James opted to go with his sister, Jana James, to Long Beach. Jana, a member of the 1999 Golden West women’s state championship volleyball team, played this fall for Long Beach, which fell to Golden West in the state volleyball final.

* Danny Dinh (Bolsa Grande, guard). Left Cal State Fullerton and enrolled at Irvine Valley, where he is joined by former Irvine High guard Chris Ferguson, who was at the University of San Diego last season.

NOTABLE

Victor Guerrero (Century), a freshman midfielder at Cal State Dominguez Hills, was named most valuable player at the Division II men’s soccer tournament. He scored two goals in a 2-1 four-overtime victory over Barry in the championship game. It was the second national title of any kind won by the Toros, who won the 1991 Division II women’s championship under then-coach Marine Cano, now the women’s soccer coach at UC Irvine.

Georgetown senior midfielder Liz Delgado (Capistrano Valley) finished her women’s soccer career second in career goals with 16 and tied for second in single-season assists (six), game-winning goals (three) and points (20). A second-team National Soccer Coaches Assn. of America Mid-Atlantic selection, Delgado set a Georgetown single-game record with four assists against Wagner. She is the only women’s soccer player in school history to be selected All-Big East, earning four consecutive second-team berths.

Former Newport Harbor guard Matt Jameson, a 1999 Times second-team all-county choice, is the starting point guard at Miami of Ohio, where he’s averaging seven points and four assists.

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