Dana Hills

Coach: John Stephens (ninth year). 1996: 20-3, 10-0, lost to Corona del Mar in Southern Section Division I quarterfinals. Key returners: Brandon Fallon, No. 1 singles, Ojai singles semifinalist, Sr.; Elliott Fisher, No. 3 singles, So.; Luke Gattis, No. 2 doubles, Sr.; Scott Jason, No. 3 doubles, So.; Brian Kent, No. 2 singles, So.; Reid Spiegl, No. 1 doubles, Sr. Key newcomers: Matt Dubow, doubles, So.; Jason Efstathiou, doubles, Fr.; Brian Liebman, doubles, So.; Ken Oakes, doubles, Jr.

Compton High School has two tennis courts, a coach and now, all the gear it can use, including rackets, balls and even shoes. What's lacking is a team. But that's beginning to change. The school started signing up prospective tennis players last week as a donation of equipment and regulation nets was being unloaded. Curious students approached the tennis court to ask what the commotion was about and left as team members with racket bags filled with gear. "Guess we play tennis now," Tatiarria Hayes, 16, joked with her best friend, Robin Butler, 15, both holding black and green bags.

Long Beach Jordan ended Dana Hills run in Southern Section Division I boys' volleyball Monday, beating the Dolphins in a quarterfinal match, 14-4, 8-15, 15-9, 15-9. Dana Hills (12-8) was led by David Pettijon, who had 13 kills, and Craig Heller, with 11. Michael Murphy had 34 assists for Dana Hills. Long Beach Jordan (19-1) plays Fountain Valley Wednesday in a semifinal match.

Call it good planning or good luck, but the addition of a second wild-card team this season saved September in the National League. Under the old rules, this September would be one big yawn. The Washington Nationals, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves would be coasting right about now, resting the regulars and juggling the rotations in preparation for the playoffs. Behold the cage match for the second wild-card spot, with six teams entering play Saturday within 41/2 games of that golden ticket — among them the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies, both left for dead months ago. That, in turn, makes the reward for finishing with the best record in the NL far more significant than home-field advantage through the postseason.

Dana Hills High School scored twice in the seventh inning to beat Capistrano Valley, 5-4, in a South Coast League baseball game Friday at Dana Hills. Mike Robertson had a two-out triple to score Ryan Delfs to tie it, 4-4, and Albie Sukut followed with a single to win the game for Dana Hills (13-10-1, 7-6 in league). Capistrano Valley took a 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh inning when Chris Lugo scored on John Mackey's two-out double.

Dana Hills High's baseball team forfeited the championship of the West Coast Classic after Coach Zeke Barragan determined that his top pitcher, Tony Davidson, had violated the California Interscholastic Federation's pitching-limit rule during the tournament. Davidson pitched four innings of relief in the Dolphins' 7-6 championship-game victory over San Francisco Archbishop Mitty on Thursday, giving him 11 innings for the tournament, one more than the CIF allows per week.

The Dana Hills and Laguna Beach girls' volleyball teams provided a fitting end to the regular season and a sneak preview of the playoffs in a nonleague match Friday at Laguna Beach High. Dana Hills won, 15-10, 7-15, 4-15, 15-8, 15-10, behind 17 kills from Michelle Chambers and 10 blocks from Jamie Fowler. The two teams could meet again in the Southern Section playoffs, which begin next week. In Division I-AA, Dana Hills (18-3) is ranked No. 2 and Laguna Beach (19-2) is ranked No. 3.

When the Dana Point Dana Hills High girls' golf team arrived Thursday morning at Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert, nobody paid much attention. After shooting a team score of 412 and winning the Southern Section team title by one shot over Long Beach Wilson, the Dolphins were difficult to ignore. Palos Verdes Peninsula shot 418 to finish third and Palm Desert finished fourth with 428. The top four teams advance to the season-ending CIF-WSCGA championships Nov.

High School boys' basketball rankings Rank; School (record), Division; Last week; Next games; Last ranking 1. MATER DEI (24-2); 1AA; Def. Servite, 74-45; JSerra, 72-43. Next: vs. Chaparral, Friday. (1) 2. LONG BEACH POLY (23-1); 1AA; Def. Millikan, 90-42; Long Beach Jordan, 75-62. Next: vs. King, Friday. (2) 3. ETIWANDA (26-1); 1AA; Def. Alta Loma, 66-35; Rancho Cucamonga, 70-64. Next: vs. San Clemente, Friday. (3) 4. ST. JOHN BOSCO (19-6); 3A; Def. Santa Margarita, 82-74; Orange Lutheran, 59-57.

They put down bunts, they converted a double play, they threw out a runner at the plate, they executed a hit-and-run play, they pulled off a double steal. Riverside North, the team that was 4-24 two seasons ago, showed everyone Friday night at Dodger Stadium how baseball is supposed to be played, and the result was a 7-1 victory over Anaheim Esperanza in the Southern Section Division 1 championship game. A three-run fourth inning by the Huskies (27-7) wiped out a 1-0 deficit and lifted them to their first title since 1994, when now-major leaguer Adam Kennedy was the star.

Cory Hahn posted plenty of numbers. As a pitcher, he won his last eight decisions to finish with a 14-1 record and 0.89 earned-run average, plus he batted .411 with 10 home runs and 24 runs batted in. The most impressive figures the senior from Santa Ana Mater Dei put up all season: five zeroes. The left-hander pitched five perfect innings against Dana Hills in the Southern Section Division 1 championship game, combining with Ty Moore on a perfect game in a 2-0 victory. Hahn also hit the only home run in the four title games played at the Diamond in Lake Elsinore, and he made an over-the-shoulder catch near the warning track after moving to center field in the sixth inning.

What a difference a summer makes. At this time last year, Santa Ana Mater Dei was scrambling to find a replacement at quarterback for Matt Barkley , the Gatorade national player of the year. Now the Monarchs have a quarterback in Max Wittek , who looked better than Barkley at times Saturday in helping Mater Dei win the championship of the Dana Point Dana Hills seven-on-seven passing tournament. Yes, the 6-foot-4 Wittek is that good, which is why he's going to follow Barkley to USC in 2011.

Three months after starting the season by giving up 17 runs and looking like its pitching staff was in ruins, Santa Ana Mater Dei ended it with pitching perfection. Cory Hahn retired the first 15 batters, then sophomore Ty Moore retired the next six for a combined perfect game in Mater Dei's 2-0 victory over Dana Point Dana Hills on Saturday night in the Southern Section Division 1 championship game at the Diamond at Lake Elsinore. "The moment is undescribable," Hahn said.