Fullerton Hires Former UCI Assistants Levy, Orellana

Jason Levy and Rob Orellana have been hired as assistant basketball coaches for Donny Daniels’ staff at Cal State Fullerton, the school announced Monday.

Levy, 32, has been an assistant the last three seasons at the University of Portland. Orellana, 34, has been an assistant the last two years at Farleigh Dickinson.

Both are former assistants at UC Irvine. Orellana was at Irvine for three seasons from 1991 to 1994, and Levy was there for the 1996-97 season. Levy also was an assistant at Long Beach State for the 1995-96 season.

* Hope International announced that Roger Hills, a 6-foot-2 guard from Cerritos College, has signed to play basketball next season.

Hills, who played at Gardena Serra High, played for Cerritos in 1999 as a member of its state championship team.

BASEBALL

Long Beach State’s Bobby Crosby (La Quinta High) had two hits Monday, including a home run in the ninth inning, scored two runs and drove in two to help the USA collegiate national team defeat the Mexican national team, 17-2, in the second game of a five-game series at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson.

Cal State Fullerton’s Mike Rouse also scored twice and drove in two.

The U.S. team is 2-0 in the series, having won, 5-0, in the opener Sunday. Titan pitcher Kirk Saarloos, a junior right-hander, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning in that game.

The national team trials will end after Wednesday night’s game, when the roster will be cut from 35 to 22 players.

* Canyon baseball Coach Mike Najera, who led the Comanches to two Southern Section titles, said he has left the job..

“It was kind of a mutual agreement between me and the administration,” Najera said. “It was a disagreement over some issues that dealt with the parents. I thought they should have backed up the baseball staff, and they decided they didn’t want to.”

Neither Principal Ralph Jameson nor Athletic Director Steve Sabins could be reached for comment.

Najera’s teams won four Century League titles in his eight years. Canyon won the Southern Section Division II title in 1996 and the Division III title in ’97. Najera said he will continue to teach at the school.

Joe Hoggatt, Najera’s assistant since ‘96, has been named head coach, Najera said.

MISCELLANEOUS

Liberty Christian High has announced three hires for its athletic programs.

Bryan Speer will be the Patriots’ athletic director. Speer, who has taught seven years at the school, was the assistant director last year and also coached girls’ basketball. Speer takes over for Ray Clifton, who held the job for 16 years.

Tom Schuesler, former assistant to Ocean View boys’ basketball Coach Jim Harris, will take over the Liberty Christian boys’ basketball coaching job. It will be the first head coaching job for Schuesler, a 1975 graduate of Marina High.

The Patriots also hired Don Harbert to coach the baseball team. Harbert was an assistant last season and a defensive coordinator for the Patriots’ football team.