Freshmen Stepping Up for Many Playoff Teams

At first glance, it should have been an easy question that Santa Margarita High Coach Scott Taylor would answer quickly.

“Who’s the MVP of my team?” Taylor said, before pausing. “Hmm, I think there’s actually two.”

Huh? After the Eagles finished the season as the top-ranked team in the county, with all-league returner Jamie Kroeze having a solid season, surely the senior had to be the MVP for the top-seeded team in the Southern Section Division IV playoffs.

But Taylor said Erika Figge, a freshman, made an equally big impact for the Eagles. She earned all-tournament honors at the Southern California Championships, helping Santa Margarita finish second after Kroeze went down with a shoulder injury.

But Figge is just one of a large group of talented freshmen who are making big contributions to some of the top teams in the county.

“There have been more quality freshmen making an impact this season than ever before,” Foothill Coach Dave Mikesell said. “This class is so dominant. I just don’t see it happening again soon.”

Mikesell has watched the development first-hand as a coach with the SOCAL club team, which reached the Junior Olympics 14s final last summer against another Orange County-based club, Trabuco Aquatics Program (TRAP).

And Mikesell has three talented freshmen on his Foothill roster: Gabbie Domanic, goalie Emily Feher and Brittany Hayes. The trio started for the Knights this season with Domanic and Hayes leading the team in scoring.

Here’s a sample of some other impact freshmen:

*Capistrano Valley’s Aimee Stachowski, who has already shown she is one of the better two-meter defenders in the county, and goalie Meridith McColl both stepped into starting roles for the Cougars, the South Coast League runners-up.

*Villa Park goalie Cara Colton, a starter from the beginning of the season, has played her best in the big games, Villa Park Coach John Carcich said.

*Irvine’s Sarah Hamilton, Corona del Mar’s Danielle Carlson and Christina Hewko, and El Toro’s Katie Hedley all played significant minutes and helped their teams win league titles.

PLAYOFF PRIMER

Although Santa Margarita is the heavy favorite to win the Division IV championship, the Division I race is wide open with no clear favorite even in the quarterfinals today.

Top-seeded Esperanza, the Sunset League champion, is not a lock to advance past Capistrano Valley, the South Coast runner-up.

The Cougars have perhaps the best player in the county, junior Amber Stachowski, and have some momentum after defeating defending champion Newport Harbor in the first round, 7-6.

Foothill, the Century League champion, plays at Belmont Plaza against Moore League champion Long Beach Wilson in the other quarterfinal in the top half of the draw.

Second-seeded Irvine plays a road game against Villa Park, a game that features teams that finished the regular season ranked third and seventh in the county. The winner of that game advances to a semifinal Friday against the Marina-El Toro winner.

The top game in Division IV features Pacific Coast League co-champion Corona del Mar hosting third-seeded Rosary, which is led by UCLA-bound senior Natalie Golda.

If you have an item or idea for the girls’ water polo report, you can fax us at (714) 966-5663 or e-mail us at: mike.itagaki@latimes.com