Costa Mesa United saves 58th Orange County All-Star Football Game

Pat McInally played in the Orange County North-South Prep All-Star Football Game in 1971, and now thanks to Costa Mesa United, he will get to coach in the game 46 years later.

The OC All-Star Game for seniors is back on because Costa Mesa United, a nonprofit group, stepped in at the last minute, taking over the 58th edition of the summer game a month after the Brea Lions Club cancelled it in April.

“Pat told me if the game was tomorrow that he would have at least 30 players ready to go,” said Frank Albers, an at-large board member with Costa Mesa United, which voted unanimously to save the game. “[The game has] been in Costa Mesa [for many years], we’re a Costa Mesa youth sports organization, and we felt like that fits right in our wheelhouse.”

Albers said Costa Mesa United decided to get involved for the sake of the players, coaches and fans, ensuring the OC All-Star Game would go on for the 55th straight year. The last time there was not an OC All-Star Game held was in 1962.

McInally, Brethren Christian’s coach, is looking forward to leading the South against the North in the OC All-Star Game at Orange Coast College on June 30 at 7 p.m.

McInally, like many in the county, were disappointed when organizers cancelled the charity football game. At the time, the Brea Lions Club was unable to secure a venue, a date and a major sponsor, said Phil Anton, the longtime coordinator of the game.

Albers, who is an offensive line coach at OCC, said Costa Mesa United did not have any issues getting LeBard Stadium, the site of the OC All-Star Game for many years, on the last Friday in June. As for the cost of putting the game on, Albers said Costa Mesa United has a $25,000 budget. The money, Albers said, would take care of the upfront expenses, from renting the stadium, to getting insurance for the players, to printing the programs and tickets, to buying jerseys for 80 players.

To Costa Mesa United and McInally, the money is all worth it. Albers said Costa Mesa United does not have any plans to run the OC All-Star Game after this year. The Brea Lions Club has said it hopes to organize the game next year.

“I’m elated that the Costa Mesa United group stepped up to save the game,” said McInally, who after representing Villa Park in the OC All-Star Game in 1971, he went on to play at Harvard and in the NFL. “Lots of these kids have told me they’ve been dreaming about playing [in] this game for years, just as I did, way back when. They were so excited that the game was going to be played, and to be their coach is going to be so cool.”

CIF baseball playoff pairings

The CIF Southern Section will release the baseball playoff pairings on Monday at 10 a.m.

From the programs in the area, Huntington Beach (26-4), ranked No. 1 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 poll, expects to receive the top seed in Division 1.

Below are the locals teams that have clinched postseason berths out of their respective leagues, with their respective playoff division in parenthesis: Huntington Beach (1), Corona del Mar (2), Edison (2), Laguna Beach (2), Sage Hill (3), Ocean View (3) and Estancia (5).

The wild-card round in Division 1, 3, 5 and 7 is on Tuesday, and in Division 2, 4 and 6 on Wednesday. The first round is set for May 18 in the odd-numbered divisions, and May 19 for the even-numbered divisions.

Dodger Stadium home to CIF Division 1 and 2 baseball finals

The CIF Southern Section baseball championship games for Division 1 and 2 will be at Dodger Stadium on June 2.

The Division 1 semifinals will be at Blair Field in Long Beach on May 30.

No CdM boys’ lacrosse repeat

Top-seeded CdM fell short of defending its U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section South Division crown, losing to No. 3 Foothill 9-3 at Irvine High on Wednesday.

The Sea Kings have qualified for the South Division championship game five times, winning it last year and in 2012. The other CdM trips to the Orange County finale ended with setbacks to Foothill, this year, in 2010 and 2009.

The Knights play Los Angeles Loyola in the U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section championship game at Palos Verdes High on Saturday at noon. Loyola is the defending champion, as it beat CdM 10-6 in last year’s game.

Money as PA announcer for Orange County lacrosse finals

Matt “Money” Smith, from “The Petros and Money Show” on KLAC 570, was the PA announcer for the U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section South Division boys’ and girls’ finals at Irvine High on Wednesday.

Smith’s daughter, Peyton, was a player on the Mater Dei girls’ lacrosse team that won a second straight title by defeating Foothill, 13-9.

[email protected]

Twitter: @ByDCP