Sometimes you’re an afterthought. Anyone remember Tommie Aaron, younger brother of baseball slugger Henry Aaron? Or Chris Gwynn, brother of Tony? And how about Seth Curry, younger brother of Steph?

Ah, but then there are the younger siblings who become more, or at least equally, memorable: Serena Williams, younger sister of Venus. Or Eli Manning, younger brother of Peyton. And sometimes it’s a dead heat, as in Cheryl and Reggie Miller, both Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers, both alumni of Riverside Poly and later proud alumni of USC and UCLA, respectively.

Is another sibling story developing here?

Amari Avery is the older sister at 21, a golf prodigy from the age of 4 who went on to play at USC and is currently playing professionally, working her way up on the Epson developmental tour. She has five top-10 finishes in 21 events on that tour and is 14th in that circuit’s “Race for the (LPGA Tour) Card,” standings. And she made the cut under crazy circumstances at the U.S. Women’s Open in late May, finishing tied for 45th in her third Open but first as a professional.

Don’t look now, but 18-year-old Alona Avery is taking careful notes.

Alona was Big West Conference Freshman of the Year and first team all-conference at UC Irvine this past spring, and she finished first in her qualifying round for next month’s U.S. Women’s Amateur, firing the low round of 68 in the qualifier June 18 at Chula Vista’s Enagic Golf Club.

That earned her a ticket to Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Oregon, for the Aug. 4-10 Women’s Amateur. One of the rewards for the winner: an exemption into next year’s U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera.

Before that, Alona will compete in the 125th Women’s Western Amateur, beginning Monday at Red Run Golf Club in Royal Oak, Michigan.

Is there a sibling rivalry? On the golf course, naturally, Alona and Amari compete. But overall, this is less about competition and more about inspiration.

“Me, my dad (Andre) and my sister would always be out there grinding, just hitting golf balls till we couldn’t any more,” Alona said during an interview this week at the Victoria Club in Riverside. “And yeah, just seeing her success throughout the years, even recently, (has) been like the hugest impact in my career.

“Obviously it’s really cool to see my sister do all these amazing things. And she’s my role model. She’s my inspiration, so I just have always looked up to her. And whatever she does, I want to do that or even better and try to beat her in whatever she does.”

The origin stories here differ only slightly. Growing up in Riverside, both girls had a golf club in hand at the age of 3. Amari was competing a year later, while Alona said she “started a little bit later competitively,” at 8.

“I think it all started with Andre,” Maria Avery of her husband. “He was a big influence in them growing up and taking an interest in golf. He used to play golf, and it started obviously with Amari when she was 3. We bought a little set of clubs from the toy store, and she would hit it and continue to hit it and hit it and Andre noticed that, hmm, she might really like this, so let’s go take it to the range or whatever.

“Alona was younger, so she was always with them, with us during practice and training, and so she started picking (it) up as well. And yeah, they would always support each other for tournaments. They even caddied for each other. … Now that (Amari is) on tour with the Epson tour, she gives Alona advice so that she can further her experience and the love of the game.”

The Averys have structured their family around the sport. Maria is a manager in an L.A. County Sheriff’s Department office. Andre, who had been employed with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, now accompanies Amari on tour; they’re currently in Milford, Connecticut, for this week’s tour stop.

Both sisters were homeschooled, Maria said, “so that they would be able to practice throughout the day, and also attend tournaments out of state and try to balance schoolwork as well. So that’s kind of challenging for them. But we felt, for our family, that was the best formula for success for the girls, that I remain at work and that he go with them.”

So, just how does that dynamic of motivation work? Some of it is silent – Alona sees what Amari does and is inspired to equal or better it – and some is Amari providing her sister verbal encouragement.

“I mean, we’ve always been there for each other, obviously very competitive towards each other as well,” Alona said. “So there’s always that sort of motivation like, ‘Hey, you know, maybe you didn’t have the best round or the best week or whatever, because that’s just the game of golf and you’re not always going to play your best.’ She’ll always be there to kind of give me that little bit of motivation.”

And when they get together on the course, head-to-head? Not so comforting.

“We always have some sort of friendly match here and there – but I don’t particularly take it as, like, friendly,” Alona said. “I try to beat her and I’m pretty sure she does the same. … We’re always in competition with each other, always trying to beat each other in anything. Not even just golf, (but) whatever we find competitive.”

But she doesn’t do any trash talking, does she?

“Uh, a little bit,” she said, with a laugh. “When I’m feeling some sort of heat and she’s getting under my skin, I got to beat her one way or another. If I can’t beat her on the golf course, there’s going to be a little bit of trash talk.”

But those moments come and go. Watching what her sister is accomplishing, and realizing the possibilities for herself, is more substantial.

“Just … seeing what she’s done with this game, that’s just a huge motivator for me,” Alona said. “And to have someone in my family who’s so close, or who I’m so close with, to be my inspiration – I don’t think there’s anything better than that, to have your sister, who’s only a couple years older than you, do so many amazing things, and I can look up to that.”

Then, she noted that she has been “in my sister’s shadow for the most part,” and said she’s still in the process of discovering who she is as a golfer.

“It’s just a work in progress,” she said. “I’ve been kind of finding myself recently. I feel that I’ve just been … putting my head down and working as hard as I can so that I can be on the big stages my sister has been and still is. So I can kind of get that experience for myself.”

Yeah, I’d say that’s motivation.

jalexander@scng.com

Sacramento State informed the Big Sky on Wednesday that it will leave the conference after this year and the Big West announced that the school will become the 12th school in the conference.

“The Big West membership and conference staff are excited to welcome Sacramento State to The Big West,” Commissioner Dan Butterly said in a statement. “In addition to strengthening The Big West competitively and expanding our geographic footprint, Sacramento State is a staunch advocate for excellence in academics, athletics and service within their community. The new-look Big West promises to bring a new level of competition and friendly rivalry for student-athletes and fans alike.”

The Big West doesn’t sponsor football so Sacramento State’s program will be an independent in that sport.

The Hornets are trying to move up from FCS level to FBS as an independent and are awaiting a ruling next week from the NCAA Division I Council.

The FBS Oversight Committee recommended against the move earlier this week, citing the “paramount importance” of having an invitation to join an FBS conference. The NCAA had previously granted a waiver to Liberty in 2017 to move to FBS as an independent but said the circumstances have changed since then.

The Flames were an independent in football from 2018-22 before joining Conference USA.

“Although a waiver of the bona fide invitation requirement was granted in 2017, that decision was made in a different era, under a different set of facts and rules …,” the committee recommended, according to public meeting minutes. “Due to the significance of the bona fide invitation from an FBS conference requirement and the lack of compelling mitigation explaining why that requirement, one that several other FCS institutions have met in recent years, has not been met, the committee does not support relief.”

Sacramento State said the school will consider all conference options for football if the council votes against its application.

Sacramento State had been an affiliate member of the Big West in various sports in the past but now will have 16 teams competing in the Big West starting in 2026-27.

“We are thrilled to become a full member of the Big West and are grateful for the invitation,” Athletic Director Mark Orr said. “Sacramento State strives to provide our student-athletes the opportunity to be in the best position to be nationally competitive, and the Big West for decades has been a conference that has enjoyed national success in several sports. We are eager to compete for championships, enhance existing rivalries, and develop new relationships with our peer conference members.”

The Hornets will officially join The Big West on July 1, 2026, joining a lineup that includes Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, Cal State Northridge, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly, Cal State Bakersfield, California Baptist and Utah Valley. UC Davis is departing to join the Mountain West in July 2026.

The Big West has no current plans to expand beyond 12 member institutions.

The Hornets have made a big investment in the men’s basketball program recently, hiring former NBA star Mike Bibby as head coach and Shaquille O’Neal as a voluntary GM for the program.

Sacramento State went 7-25 last season under interim coach Michael Czepil, who was promoted last spring after David Patrick left to take a job as associate head coach at LSU.

The Hornets had gone 28-42 in two seasons under Patrick and the program has never made an NCAA Tournament since moving up to Division I in 1991-92. The Hornets have had a winning record only twice since then, going 16-14 in 2019-20 and 21-12 in 2014-15.

A federal judge signed off on arguably the biggest change in the history of college sports Friday, clearing the way for schools to begin paying their athletes millions as soon as next month as the multibillion-dollar industry shreds the last vestiges of the amateur model that defined it for more than a century.

Nearly five years after Arizona State swimmer Grant House sued the NCAA and its five biggest conferences to lift restrictions on revenue sharing, U.S. Judge Claudia Wilken approved the final proposal that had been hung up on roster limits, just one of many changes ahead amid concerns that thousands of walk-on athletes will lose their chance to play college sports.

The sweeping terms of the so-called House settlement include approval for each school to share up to $20.5 million with athletes over the next year and $2.7 billion that will be paid over the next decade to thousands of former players who were barred from that revenue for years. These new payments are in addition to scholarships and other benefits the athletes already receive.

One of the lead plaintiff attorneys, Steve Berman, called Friday’s news “a fantastic win for hundreds of thousands of college athletes.”

The agreement brings a seismic shift to hundreds of schools that were forced to reckon with the reality that their players are the ones producing the billions in TV and other revenue, mostly through football and basketball, that keep this machine humming.

The scope of the changes – some have already begun – is difficult to overstate. The professionalization of college athletics will be seen in the high-stakes and expensive recruitment of stars on their way to the NFL and NBA, and they will be felt by athletes whose schools have decided to pare their programs. The agreement will resonate in nearly every one of the NCAA’s 1,100 member schools boasting nearly 500,000 athletes.

NCAA President Charlie Baker said the deal “opens a pathway to begin stabilizing college sports.”

The road to a settlement

Wilken’s ruling comes 11 years after she dealt the first significant blow to the NCAA ideal of amateurism. Then, she ruled in favor of former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon and others seeking a way to earn money from the use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) – a term that is now as common in college sports as “March Madness” or “Roll Tide.”

It was just four years ago that the NCAA cleared the way for NIL money to start flowing, but the changes coming are even bigger.

Wilken granted preliminary approval to the settlement last October. That sent colleges scurrying to determine not only how they were going to afford the payments, but how to regulate an industry that also allows players to cut deals with third parties so long as they are deemed compliant by a newly formed enforcement group that will be run by auditors at Deloitte.

The agreement takes a big chunk of oversight away from the NCAA and puts it in the hands of the four biggest conferences. The ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC hold most of the power and decision-making heft, especially when it comes to the College Football Playoff, which is the most significant financial driver in the industry and is not under the NCAA umbrella like the March Madness tournaments are.

Roster limits held things up

The deal looked ready to go, but Wilken put a halt to it this spring after listening to a number of players who had lost their spots because of newly imposed roster limits being placed on teams.

The limits were part of a trade-off that allowed the schools to offer scholarships to everyone on the roster, instead of only a fraction, as has been the case for decades. Schools started cutting walk-ons in anticipation of the deal being approved.

Wilken asked for a solution and, after weeks, the parties decided to let anyone cut from a roster – now termed a “Designated Student-Athlete” – return to their old school or play for a new one without counting against the new limit.

Wilken ultimately agreed, going point-by-point through the objectors’ arguments to explain why they didn’t hold up. The main point pushed by the parties was that those roster spots were never guaranteed in the first place.

“The modifications provide Designated Student-Athletes with what they had prior to the roster limits provisions being implemented, which was the opportunity to be on a roster at the discretion of a Division I school,” Wilken wrote.

Her decision, however, took nearly a month to write, leaving the schools and conferences in limbo – unsure if the plans they had been making for months, really years, would go into play.

“It remains to be seen how this will impact the future of inter-collegiate athletics – but as we continue to evolve, Carolina remains committed to providing outstanding experiences and broad-based programming to student-athletes,” North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham said.

Winners and losers

The list of winners and losers is long and, in some cases, hard to tease out.

A rough guide of winners would include football and basketball stars at the biggest schools, which will devote much of their bankroll to signing and retaining them. For instance, Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood’s NIL deal is reportedly worth between $10.5 million and $12 million.

Losers, despite Wilken’s ruling, figure to be at least some of the walk-ons and partial scholarship athletes whose spots are gone.

Also in limbo are the Olympic sports many of those athletes play and that serve as the main pipeline for a U.S. team that has won the most medals at every Olympics since the downfall of the Soviet Union.

All this is a price worth paying, according to the attorneys who crafted the settlement and argue they delivered exactly what they were asked for: an attempt to put more money in the pockets of the players whose sweat and toil keep people watching from the start of football season through March Madness and the College World Series in June.

What the settlement does not solve is the threat of further litigation.

Though this deal brings some uniformity to the rules, states still have separate laws regarding how NIL can be doled out, which could lead to legal challenges. Baker has been consistent in pushing for federal legislation that would put college sports under one rulebook and, if he has his way, provide some form of antitrust protection to prevent the new model from being disrupted again.

The conference said Wednesday it remained open to the possibility of adding a 12th member but anticipated being an 11-school league when Utah Valley and Cal Baptist officially join July 1, 2026.

The Big West doesn’t have football, and Hawaii and UC Davis are leaving to join the Mountain West Conference in 2026-27. Hawaii has been a football-only member of the Mountain West since 2012. UC Davis has been a football-only member of the Big Sky Conference.

Utah Valley is leaving the Western Athletic Conference, and the Wolverines will compete in 13 Big West-sponsored sports, including men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and softball.

“Their addition expands our geographic footprint into a vibrant and strategically significant region, while elevating the level of competition across the board,” Big West commissioner Dan Butterly said.

Utah Valley will be the largest school in the Big West with an enrollment of 47,000. Barring further realignment, Utah Valley will replace Hawaii as the only school in the conference outside California.

USC was positioned to do the same but was routed by host Oregon State in the Corvallis Regional on Sunday night, setting up a winner-take-all rematch between the Trojans and the Beavers on Monday at 3 p.m.

In Westwood, Mulivai Levu hit a three-run home run, Dean West and Payton Brennan added two RBIs apiece and UCLA jumped to a big lead and then held on to beat UCI at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

UCLA (45-16) clinched its first trip to the super regionals since 2019. The 15th-seeded Bruins will host UT-San Antonio, which upset No. 2 seed Texas to win its regional, in a best-of-three series next weekend.

UCI (43-17) had defeated Arizona State, 11-6, in an elimination game earlier Sunday. The Anteaters made back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances for the first time since they went to six straight tourneys from 2006-11.

Roman Martin’s RBI single off Finnegan Wall (0-1) in the first inning gave UCLA a 1-0 lead and the Bruins led the rest of the way. Cashel Dugger hit a single in the second that drove in Brennan, who doubled to lead off the inning, and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Roch Cholowsky to make it 3-0.

Dugger and Phoenix Call drew back-to-back walks to lead off the fourth and West followed with a bunt single to load the bases. Dugger scored on another sacrifice fly by Cholowsky and, after Levu’s homer, Brennan added a sacrifice fly to make it 8-0.

James Castagnola and Alonso Reyes each had an RBI for the Anteaters in the fourth, Anthony Martinez hit a two-run double in the fifth and Reyes hit a lead-off home in the sixth to cap the scoring.

Chris Grothues (3-1) came on in relief of starter Wylan Moss with one out and the bases loaded in the fourth. Grothues got Reyes to groundout, driving in Martinez, and struck out Blake Penso to limit the damage. Easton Hawk pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his sixth save of the season.

In the Corvallis (Ore.) regional …

Oregon State 14, USC 1: Trent Caraway had a double, a home run and four RBIs and Gavin Turley also hit a homer as the No. 8 seed Beavers rolled to an easy win.

The winner of Monday’s game between USC (37-22) and Oregon State (44-13-1) advances to a super regional against No. 9 seed Florida State, which went unbeaten in its regional.

The Beavers – who lost, 6-4, to Saint Mary’s in their opener on Friday, then won games Saturday against TCU and earlier Sunday against Saint Mary’s, avenging their opening-round loss by beating the Gaels, 20-3 – have won three consecutive elimination games.

Oregon State starter Wyatt Queen gave up back-to-back singles to lead off the fifth, walked Ethan Hedges to load the bases and struck out Bryce Grudzielanek before Kellan Oakes came on and struck out Adrian Lopez looking and then got Abbrie Covarrubias swinging to end the threat. Oakes (3-0) had four strikeouts in 1⅔ innings before Zach Kmatz struck out seven across three scoreless innings for his first save of the season.

Wilson Weber and Caraway led off the second with back-to-back singles before a sacrifice bunt by AJ Singer moved both runners into scoring position. Weber scored on a bunt single by Canon Reeder, who was thrown out at second on a bunt by Dallas Macias, who reached on a fielder’s choice to drive in Caraway. Tyce Peteron – who finished with four hits – had an RBI single up the middle. Macias scored on a sacrifice bunt by Easton Talt to make it 4-0.

Maximo Martinez had an RBI single in the second for USC, which received one of the last four at-large berths in the 64-team tournament.

Brayden Dowd led off the first with a single but was thrown out at home when Hedges followed with a double. Dowd appeared to be shaken up after a collision at the plate and left the game in the second inning.

UC Irvine 11, Arizona State 6: Chase Call hit two of UCI’s five home runs in a Sunday afternoon elimination game victory over ASU. Alonso Reyes, Jacob McCombs and James Castagnola also went deep for UC Irvine.

Call and Reyes hit two-run home runs in a four-run fourth inning that gave the Anteaters a 6-1 lead.

UCI starter Ryder Brooks had a 7-2 lead heading to the bottom of the sixth but was pulled after allowing a two-run double by Brandon Compton. Ricky Ojeda replaced Brooks and gave up an RBI double by Beckett Zavorek to make it 7-5. Brooks was charged with five runs.

The Anteaters responded in the top of the seventh, scoring four runs that included a two-run home run by Castagnola.

Brooks (7-3) got the win. Ojeda and David Utagawa combined to allow one run in 3⅔ innings.

Derek Schaefer (3-1) allowed five runs in three-plus innings for the Sun Devils (36-24).

Mulivai Levu hit a three-run home run, Dean West and Payton Brennan added two RBIs apiece and UCLA jumped to a big lead and then held on to beat UCI, 8-5, to win the four-team Los Angeles Regional.

UCLA (45-16) clinched its first trip to the super regionals since 2019. The 15th-seeded Bruins will host UT-San Antonio, which upset No. 2 seed Texas to win its regional, in a best-of-three series next weekend.

UCI (43-17) beat Arizona State, 11-6, earlier Sunday to reach the game against the Bruins. The Anteaters, the Big West Conference regular-season champs, made back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances for the first time since they went to six straight tourneys from 2006-11.

Roman Martin’s RBI single off Finnegan Wall (0-1) in the first inning made it 1-0 and the Bruins led the rest of the way. Cashel Dugger hit a single in the second that drove in Brennan, who doubled to lead off the inning, and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Roch Cholowsky to make it 3-0.

Dugger and Phoenix Call drew back-to-back walks to lead off the fourth and West followed with a bunt single to load the bases. Dugger scored on another sacrifice fly by Cholowsky and, after Levu’s homer, Brennan added a sacrifice fly to make it 8-0.

James Castagnola and Alonso Reyes each had an RBI for the Anteaters in the fourth, Anthony Martinez hit a two-run double in the fifth and Reyes hit a lead-off home in the sixth to cap the scoring.

Chris Grothues (3-1) came on in relief of starter Wylan Moss with one out and the bases loaded in the fourth. Grothues got Reyes to groundout, driving in Martinez, and struck out Blake Penso to limit the damage. Easton Hawk pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his sixth save of the season.

UC Irvine 11, Arizona State 6 (Elimination Game): Chase Call hit two of UCI’s five home runs on Sunday afternoon in their victory over the Sun Devils, who had defeated UCI, 4-2, in Friday night’s regional opener.

Alonso Reyes, Jacob McCombs and James Castagnola also went deep for UCI.

Call and Reyes hit two-run home runs in a four-run fourth inning that gave the Anteaters a 6-1 lead.

UCI starter Ryder Brooks had a 7-2 lead heading to the bottom of the sixth but was pulled after allowing a two-run double by Brandon Compton. Ricky Ojeda replaced Brooks and gave up an RBI double by Beckett Zavorek to make it 7-5. Brooks was charged with five runs.

The Anteaters responded in the top of the seventh, scoring four runs that included a two-run home run by Castagnola.

Brooks (7-3) got the win. Ojeda and David Utagawa combined to allow one run in 3⅔ innings.

Derek Schaefer (3-1) allowed five runs in three-plus innings for the Sun Devils (36-24).

UCI (42-16), the second seed in the four-team regional, gets a rematch with third-seeded Arizona State (36-23) in another elimination game on Sunday at 3 p.m. at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The winner of that game will then face unbeaten regional host UCLA (44-16) later that night, with the UCI-ASU winner needing to beat UCLA twice on Sunday and Monday to win the regional.

ASU outlasted UCI, 4-2, in their regional opener on Friday night.

Castagnola’s homer came after Fresno State starting pitcher Aidan Cremarosa (6-6) hit Jacob McCombs leading off before walking Blake Penso with one out. McCombs hit a two-out solo shot in the third and Alonso Reyes walked and scored on a double play in the fourth for a 5-0 advantage.

Lee Trevino singled in an unearned run that Anteaters reliever David Utagawa (2-0) inherited from starter Riley Kelly in the fourth and Eddie Saldivar hit a two-out solo homer off Utagawa in the fifth to get the the fourth-seeded Bulldogs (31-29) within 5-2.

McCombs, who went 3 for 4, singled in a run in the seventh and Colin Yeaman and Anthony Martinez had RBIs in the ninth for UCI.

Justin Stransky had an RBI single in the eighth off of Anteaters reliever Max Martin, who replaced Utagawa after he allowed a leadoff single to Saldivar.

Kelly surrendered two runs (one earned) on four hits in 4⅔ innings. Martin allowed a hit in two scoreless innings to close it out.

Cremarosa yielded five runs in six innings. Drew Townson followed and gave up three runs while retiring four batters.

UCI stranded 10 base runners in a 4-2 loss to Arizona State in a Los Angeles Regional opener on Friday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The Anteaters (41-16) will square off with Fresno State (31-28) in an elimination game on Saturday at noon.

UCI starting pitcher Trevor Hansen and ASU starter Ben Jacobs delivered strong first innings to kick off a tightly contested game, but the Sun Devils (36-22) got a leadoff home run from Jacob Tobias in the second and Isaiah Jackson hit his 17th homer of the season two batters later for a 2-0 lead.

The Anteaters responded with a two-out rally in the bottom of the second. James Castagnola drew a walk, then Alonso Reyes ripped a double off the center field fence to cut the margin in half. Frankie Carney followed with a high-hopper, reaching first on a low throw, and the ball skipped away from the ASU first baseman, allowing Reyes to score for a 2-2 tie.

The Anteaters had an opportunity for more in the inning, loading the bases before Anthony Martinez hit a fly ball to the warning track for the third out.

ASU regained the lead in the fourth inning with a pair of opposite-field doubles inside the third-base line. Hansen got out of that inning with a pair of strikeouts, but UCI trailed the rest of the night and could never cash in its best opportunities.

UCI got the first two runners on base in the fifth and moved both into scoring position with a sacrifice, but a strikeout and a flyout left them on base. The same thing happened in the seventh inning, when the Anteaters – now trailing 4-2 – had the bases loaded before hitting into an inning-ending double play.

Will Bermudez doubled down the third-base line in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate, but a strikeout and a flyout ended the game.

Hansen (9-3) allowed three runs on six hits in 6-1/3 inning, with eight strikeouts and two walks – his ninth quality start of the season.

Bermudez had the lone two-hit game for the Anteaters, who were held to five. Four other Anteaters reached twice in the game.

Tobias went 3 for 4 with a homer, two doubles and three runs scored for ASU, while Jackson was 2 for 4 with his homer and two RBIs. Six of the Sun Devils’ eight hits were for extra bases.

If UCI wins on Saturday, it advances to a Sunday 3 p.m. elimination game against the loser of Saturday night’s UCLA-ASU game. UCLA, the No. 15 national seed, hammered Fresno, 19-4, on Friday afternoon.

UCI, which won the Big West Conference regular-season title, has stumbled a bit since the calendar turned to May. In addition to the three-game losing streak, the Anteaters are 8-7 since they ascended to No. 9 in the Baseball America rankings and defeated Cal State Fullerton at Angel Stadium in their final April game.

They lost two games in a row to Cal Poly with a chance to win the Big West Tournament last week.

Sports’ version of “American Idol,” it’s a delicious recipe for surprises, for Cinderella stories, for us to discover new faces in the crowd.

Like 18-year-old Katelyn Kong, a Sherman Oaks Notre Dame graduate and rising sophomore at UC Irvine.

She played the rounds of her life so far – shooting 69 and 66 to finish at 9-under-par 135 – to win an open audition on May 7 at Soule Park Golf Club in Ojai. Now, instead of going to Hollywood, the North Hills native is in Erin, Wisconsin, where instead of singing for stardom she’ll be swinging for another magical score, starting on the 10th tee on Thursday at 8:57 a.m.

Actually, maybe she’ll be singing in between swinging?

It will be her caddy-boyfriend Jared Abercrombie on the bag and on the request line again this week. And he knows that songs – all kinds of, a different one every hole if necessary – are the best way to keep Kong loose and happy and from thinking too much about the fact that she’ll be among the 156 golfers at the most prestigious tournament in women’s golf, “the biggest event a girl can play,” as he put it.

It’ll be the thrill of Kong’s young life to play in the 80th edition of this great event, to tee it up in the same field as Nelly Korda, the world’s top-ranked women’s golfer, and Lydia Ko and Anna Nordqvist, women who could complete a career grand slam with a win this week.

An honor to test herself against the daunting Erin Hills course, a hilly 6,829 yards. To represent UC Irvine, following her All-Big West honorable mention recognition by making history as just the second Anteater women’s golfer to qualify, after Selanee Henderson in 2007.

And to represent Southern California along with the other local qualifiers, including Fullerton’s Gabriella Kano, Diamond Bar’s Kailie Vongsaga; Walnut’s Jude Lee and Riverside’s Amari Avery, as well as her fellow former USC golfer Gabriela Ruffels.

If only 8-year-old Katelyn, golfing in the platform Converse and wacky socks, could see herself now.

She wouldn’t believe it. No, the little girl who swam and did taekwondo, who played soccer and piano, who sampled every activity her parents could think to sign her up for before she found golf, “she’d be like, oh, really?’” Kong laughed. “Like, ‘I don’t see that.’”

Because once upon a time, she remembers thinking golf was boring – not yet realizing the more boring the game, the more beautiful, or what hitting it straight and close over and over and over again could do for her.

Not yet having met all the golfers who would become great friends … or her caddy. Having no idea then how much the game would teach her about being adaptable. How it would reward her with a scholarship to UC Irvine, after she decided, midway through high school, that she wanted to play college golf. At a Division I school. In California.

“Sophomore year of high school, she was telling me, ‘I want to play college golf,’” said mom Christa Sanhaphakdi, who, like her husband, Kim Kong, isn’t a golfer.

Still, Sanhaphakdi knew a girl who hadn’t spent most of her childhood traveling around the nation playing in all the right junior tournaments wasn’t likely to ping many college coaches’ radars.

“I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, Katelyn, a little late! This is going to be tough. We’ll see,’” Sanhaphakdi said. “But after that, she practiced every day. Just kept on doing it without us needing to tell her anything, she did it all on her own.”

It’s no accident that now Kong’s superpower is putting, knowing her lines, translating that skill into a dozen birdies and an eagle on 18 in the May 7 qualifier. “I think that got built over time,” said Abercrombie, a Cal Baptist golfer from Simi Valley. “All the practice, hours and hours, working her butt off, finding her rhythm.”

Kong on the beat on U.S. Women’s Open greens? I’m a little intrigued …

“She definitely has the game to catch fire,” Abercrombie said. “Especially on greens like they have on the U.S. Open, so smooth and so true, there’s no blaming bumpy greens for missing putts – and I think she can take advantage of that.”

Oh, she’s going to take advantage of this opportunity, all right – whether or not it’s reflected on the leaderboard. She’s treating the Open like an award show, as though she’s already won and being in the field is like being nominated, an honor unto itself.

“I’m just super-grateful,” she said. “It’s super-exciting to play there with, like, the best of the best – this is a tournament that like some pros can’t even get into! So it’s just going to be an incredible, incredible venue and event. I’m definitely nervous to be playing on such a big stage for the first time. But I think I just need to enjoy it and just cherish it.”

The tournament opens Friday with 16 double-elimination regionals. Regional winners advance to eight best-of-three super regionals. Those winners move on to the College World Series in Omaha beginning June 13.

UCLA (42-16) was the highest seeded California team at No. 15. USC (35-21) was among the final four teams to receive at-large berths, making the field for the first time since 2015.

UCLA, which lost to Nebraska in the Big Ten Tournament final on Sunday, will host a regional that includes Big West regular-season champion UC Irvine (41-15), Arizona State (35-22) and Fresno State (31-27). UCLA plays Fresno State on Friday at 1 p.m. UC Irvine faces Arizona State at 6 p.m.

USC travels to Corvallis, Oregon, and opens against TCU (39-18) on Friday at noon. Cal Poly (SLO), the Big West Tournament winner, travels to Eugene, Oregon, and opens against Arizona on Friday at 1 p.m.

Vanderbilt has won eight straight games and 13 of its past 16 to earn the No. 1 seed for the second time, and first since 2007. The Commodores, who play Wright State in the opener of the Nashville Regional, are in the tournament for the 19th straight time for the longest active streak.

The national seeds following Vanderbilt (42-16) are Texas (42-12), Arkansas (43-13), Auburn (38-18), North Carolina (42-12), LSU (43-14), Georgia (42-15) and Oregon State (41-12-1). Those eight teams would be in line to host super regionals if they win their regionals.

Seeds Nos. 9 through 16: Florida State (38-14), Mississippi (40-19), Clemson (44-16), Oregon (42-14), Coastal Carolina (48-11), defending champions Tennessee (43-16), UCLA and Southern Mississippi (44-14).

The last four teams to get at-large bids, in alphabetical order, were Arizona State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and USC.

The first four teams left out were Southeastern Louisiana, Troy, Connecticut and Virginia.

The SEC’s 13 teams in the tournament are two more than its record 11 that made it in 2024.

NCAA regional schedule (double elimination)

All first-round games are Friday. All times are PT

Los Angeles Regional (Jackie Robinson Stadium)

Game 1: No. 15 UCLA vs. Fresno State, 1 p.m.

Game 2: Arizona State vs. UC Irvine, 6 p.m.

Corvallis Regional (Corvallis, Ore.)

Game 1: USC vs. TCU, noon

Game 2: No. 8 Oregon State vs. Saint Mary’s, 5 p.m.

Eugene Regional (Eugene, Ore.)

Game 1: Cal Poly vs. Arizona, 1 p.m.

Game 2: No. 12 Oregon vs. Utah Valley, 6 p.m.

Nashville Regional

Game 1: East Tennessee State vs. Louisville, 11 a.m.

Game 2: No. 1 Vanderbilt vs. Wright State, 3 p.m.

Hattiesburg Regional (Hattiesburg, Miss.)

Game 1: Miami vs. Alabama, noon

Game 2: No. 16 Southern Miss vs. Columbia, 4 p.m.

Tallahassee Regional (Tallahassee, Fla.)

Game 1: No. 9 Florida State vs. Bethune-Cookman, noon

Game 2: Mississippi State vs. Northeastern, 4:30 p.m.

Chapel Hill Regional (Chapel Hill, N.C.)

Game 1: No. 5 North Carolina vs. Holy Cross, 9 a.m.

Game 2: Nebraska vs. Oklahoma, 2 p.m.

Conway Regional (Conway, S.C.)

Game 1: East Carolina vs. Florida, 9 a.m.

Game 2: No. 13 Coastal Carolina vs. Fairfield, 3 p.m.

Auburn Regional (Auburn, Ala.)

Game 1: Stetson vs. North Carolina State, 11 a.m.

Game 2: No. 4 Auburn vs. Central Connecticut, 4 p.m.

Austin Regional (Austin, Texas)

Game 1: No. 2 Texas vs. Houston Christian, 11 a.m.

Game 2: Kansas State vs. UTSA, 4 p.m.

Oxford Regional (Oxford, Miss.)

Game 1: Western Kentucky vs. Georgia Tech, 1 p.m.

Game 2: No. 10 Ole Miss vs. Murray State, 5 p.m.

Athens Regional (Athens, Ga.)

Game 1: No. 7 Georgia vs. Binghamton, 9 a.m.

Game 2: Oklahoma State vs. Duke, 3 p.m.

Baton Rouge Regional (Baton Rouge, La.)

Game 1: No. 6 LSU vs. Little Rock, noon

Game 2: Rhode Island vs. Dallas Baptist, 4 :30 p.m.

Clemson Regional (Clemson, S.C.)

Game 1: Kentucky vs. West Virginia, 9 a.m.

Game 2: No. 11 Clemson vs. USC Upstate, 3 p.m.

Knoxville Regional (Knoxville, Tenn.)

Game 1: Cincinnati vs. Wake Forest, 10 a.m.

Game 2: No. 14 Tennessee vs. Miami (OH), 3 p.m.

Fayetteville Regional (Fayetteville, Ark.)

Game 1: No. 3 Arkansas vs. North Dakota State, noon

Game 2: Creighton vs. Kansas, 5 p.m.