San Clemente Moves Into Baseball Final

San Clemente was picked to finish fourth in the South Coast League baseball standings, by its own coaches. If another vote were taken today, however, the Tritons probably would be higher on most ballots.

San Clemente has become more noticeable after advancing to the championship game of the Loara baseball tournament.

At 7 tonight at Glover Stadium, the Tritons will play a team that’s used to getting attention, defending Southern Section Division I champion Huntington Beach Marina.

The Tritons reached the final with a 3-1 victory Thursday over Santa Margarita, ranked No. 6 in the preseason by The Times, on a two-run, game-winning home run by Jeff Parnes. That victory followed a 9-8 victory Tuesday against No. 8 Lakewood.

Marina, ranked No. 5, handed top-ranked Anaheim Canyon its first loss of the season, 3-2, in Thursday’s other semifinal.

Mission Viejo Trabuco Hills, picked to finish third in the South Coast League, isn’t having a slow start either. The Mustangs are in today’s Gold Division championship game in the El Segundo tournament, where they will play Whittier.

In other tournament finals today: No. 14 Westminster La Quinta will play tournament host La Habra; No. 12 Woodland Hills El Camino Real will play Simi Valley in the San Fernando Valley tournament at 6:30 p.m. at USC; No. 4 Chatsworth will play Ventura in the Westside tournament at 1 p.m. at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Dan Arritt

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Softball

Leadoff hitter Brianna Goad homered over the right fielder’s head with two out in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Norco (5-0) a 1-0 victory over Corona Santiago (4-1) and pitcher Taryne Mowatt in the championship game of the Corona tournament Friday night.

Mowatt had given up three hits and struck out nine with no walks through 7 2/3 innings. Ursula Lopez hit a line-drive single off Mowatt’s right pitching shoulder in the seventh inning. Mowatt, who tripled with two out in the sixth inning, went to the hospital after the game to seek treatment.

Daniela Urincho threw a one-hitter with eight strikeouts and two walks for Norco, ranked second in the Southland by The Times.

“When I hit it, you could feel it,” Goad said of her home-run swing. “It was inside, and right there.”

Martin Henderson

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Soccer

Many of the top senior boys’ and girls’ players in the Southern Section will take part in the Southern California High School Soccer Coaches Assn. all-star games today at Cypress College.

The girls’ South vs. West game will played at 9 a.m., followed by the girls’ East vs. North at 11 a.m.

The boys’ East-North game will be played at 1 p.m., followed by the boys’ South-West game at 3.

Information: (310) 738-3143.

John Ortega

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How deep is the pool of soccer talent in Orange County?

Deep enough that Rancho Santa Margarita Tesoro (21-5-3), a third-year school with a second-year varsity soccer program, won the Division II girls’ title, ousting teams with playoff pedigrees along the way.

Then again, for a school that’s located between Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley, Santa Margarita and Mission Viejo, attracting capable players is not a difficult task.

“I’m the first one to admit, I’m only as good as the players I have,” said Tesoro Coach Chris Vaught, who is quick to credit the club soccer system for preparing his athletes.

That preparation was apparent in Tesoro’s 1-0 championship-game victory over second-seeded Ventura Buena (24-4-2) on Saturday. It was Tesoro’s 19th consecutive victory.

UC Davis-bound forward Becky Steen had the winning goal off a corner kick in the 38th minute.

“A lot of people expected us to win [the Pacific Coast] league, but few predicted us to win the [Southern Section] title,” Vaught said. “Now, people are going to know who we are.”

-- Elia Powers