Prep baseball roundup: Corona hits eight home runs in 23-3 victory
Prep baseball roundup: Corona hits eight home runs in 23-3 victory
After being shut out last week and losing its No. 1 ranking, Corona baseball responded Monday by hitting eight home runs in a 23-3 Big VIII League win over Corona Centennial.
Anthony Murphy hit three home runs and finished with four hits and six RBIs. Gavin Flores hit two home runs and had seven RBIs. Seth Hernandez, Ethin Bingaman and Jesiah Andrade also hit home runs. Corona had 24 hits against eight Centennial pitchers.
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Corona is 20-2 and 9-1 in league.
La Mirada 2, Bellflower 1: Kevin Jeon went three for three for La Mirada.
Sylmar 11, Verdugo Hills 0: Alex Martinez threw a five-inning no-hitter. Rickee Luevano hit a three-run home run.
Kennedy 6, San Fernando 5: The Golden Cougars won the Valley Mission League game despite three hits from Ramon Amezcua.
Bell 3, Roosevelt 0: Adolfo Esquivel threw a three-hitter with six strikeouts.
Laguna Beach 3, Laguna Hills 2: Thomas Gonzales struck out 11 in six innings for Laguna Beach.
San Clemente 3, Mission Viejo 0: The Tritons won their seventh consecutive game. Mike Erspamer struck out 12 and gave up three hits in 6 2/3 innings.
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St. Francis 1, Cathedral 0: Noah Aguilar-Tanphanich struck out seven in five scoreless innings for St. Francis.
Summit 10, Grand Terrace 0: Kody Smathers threw five scoreless innings and Isaac Castanon had three RBIs during Summit's 16th consecutive victory.
Los Osos 2, Upland 1: Reagan Samples struck out five in five innings for Los Osos.
Damien 7, Chino Hills 3: Elius Kelly and Bobby Logue hit home runs for Damien.
Etiwanda 8, Rancho Cucamonga 2: Jack Holquin and Noah Frias pitched the Eagles to a Baseline League upset.
Vista Murrieta 10, Murrieta Valley 0: Vaughn Neckar struck out eight and threw a no-hitter.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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Los Angeles Times
5 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
Prep Rally: St. John Bosco was the surprise of the baseball season
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. What a weekend it was for championships in baseball and softball. Going into the 2025 baseball season, St. John Bosco was hardly on anyone's mind as a potential Southern Section Division 1 champion. It was going to be the super team, Corona, or last season's runner-up Huntington Beach. But coach Andy Rojo built the most consistent team of all, going 27-4, eliminating Corona 2-0 in the semifinals, then enduring nine innings to defeat Santa Margarita 3-2 on a walk-off hit by Miles Clark in the Division 1 final. There were so many big moments by big-time players in the Division 1 final. Few were more impressive than St. John Bosco closer Jack Champlin, who saved the Braves' win over Corona and then threw four scoreless innings against Santa Margarita with key strikeouts in moments of pressure. He may become a starting pitcher next season, but he's got a future as a closer because of his ability to thrive under pressure and his complete confidence in being able to do the job. The Division 2 final saw West Ranch defeat Mater Dei 2-1 behind pitcher Hunter Manning. Here's the report. Manning finished 10-0 on the mound and is headed to UC Irvine. The drought is over for Granada Hills softball. After losing heartbreaking championship games to Carson the last two seasons, the Highlanders beat the Colts in the City Section Open Division final 11-2. Here's the report. Norco ended the softball season No. 1 in Southern California after a 3-0 win in the Southern Section Division 1 final over El Modena behind pitcher Coral Williams, who threw a one-hitter. Here's the report. The Southern California regional playoffs for baseball and softball begin Tuesday, continue Thursday and end Saturday. Here's the baseball pairings. Here's the softball pairings. Led by a talented group of freshmen athletes, Servite won the state championship in boys track and field in Clovis on Saturday. Long Beach Wilson won the girls title. There were terrific individual performances, from Jack Stadlman of Temecula Valley winning the 400 meters to Leo Francis of Santa Margarita going 25-feet plus to win the long jump. Jayden Rendon of Carson wion the 300 hurdles. Here are the complete results. Here's the report from Clovis on the finals. Here's a closer look at Servite's Fab Four. Jaden Soong, a freshman golfer at St. Francis, thrives under pressure. 'I will say I like pressure,' he said. Twice in the last two weeks, he's won playoffs to keep his season going. But the story of his first playoff win is comedy at its best. He had left the Temecula Creek golf course at the individual championships after concluding he had failed to qualify for the SCGA regionals and had stopped at Jack in the Box while headed home. Then he got a phone call from a friend: 'Hey dude, we're in a playoff.' He was 17 minutes away and needed to be back at the course in 10 minutes. 'We hauled it,' he said. Thankfully, there were no police cars in the vicinity as he was driven back to the course. The playoff had started when he arrived. Players were in the fairway. He had no time to change into his golf shoes, so he played in his Nike Air Force shoes. He got a par on the first hole, then a birdie to win the playoff and advance. Last weekend, he won another playoff to reach the state championships Tuesday at Poppy Hills in Pebble Beach. He's ready for anything. Brady McHenry of Buena won the SCGA Southern California regional championship with a playoff win to be the No. 1 qualifier for the state championships Tuesday at Poppy Hills in Pebble Beach. Charlie Woods, son of Tiger Woods, won his first juniors tournament. Here's the report. The Bradford family in Manhattan Beach loves volleyball and everyone is tall. Here's a look at their love for volleyball and big shoes. Mira Costa won the first state Division 1 championship with a 25-14, 25-16, 25-21 win over San Jose Archbishop Mitty. Mater Dei defeated Buchanan 3-1 to win Division 2. Sage Hill won Division 3 with a 3-0 win over International. Here's the Daily Pilot report on Mira Costa winning against Huntington Beach the previous week. With major league baseball seeking to increase Black player participation, St. John Bosco has five Black players starting on its championship team. Here's a report. Lots of SoCal players are participating in the NCAA baseball playoffs. Here's a look. Brentwood sophomore to be Shaelen Sheppard has been selected to be on the U16 USA Basketball national team. . . . Austin Maziasz, a standout basketball player at Westlake, has committed to Johns Hopkins. . . . April Schilling is the new girls basketball coach at Oak Park. . . . Capistrano Valley has begun building a new $21.5 million football stadium that is supposed to be completed by the spring of 2026. . . . Chris Allen has resigned as baseball coach at Charter Oak. . . . The JSerra doubles team of Brady Schaefgen and Riley Anson won the Southern Section championship. Freshman Andrew Johnson from Palos Verdes won the singles title. . . . Roy Walker Jr., an assistant basketball coach at Westchester, has been hired as Taft's new basketball coach. . . . Dee Pinkard is the new girls' basketball coach at St. Bonaventure. . . . Mark Bowman, the top tight end in California if not America, has committed to USC. He was supposed to be a junior this coming season at Mater Dei but changed his classification to the class of 2026. Irvine University won the state Division 1 tennis championship. Griffin Canning is the best pitcher in the history of Santa Margarita. 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Los Angeles Times
29-05-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Who are the athletes to watch at this weekend's CIF State Track & Field Championships?
The 105th CIF State Track & Field Championships will take place Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High in Clovis and though the thermometer is expected to rise above 100 degrees both days, many Southland sprinters also will bring the heat. The absence of last spring's 100 and 200-meter dash winner Brandon Arrington, whose leg injury in a league meet May 9 forced him to miss the San Diego Section finals and denies him an opportunity to defend his state titles, opens lanes for the fastest athletes in the City and Southern Sections to take advantage. A junior from Mt. Miguel, Arrington broke the San Diego County record (20.35) in the 200 at Arcadia in April and one week later set a new section record (10.21) in the 100 at Mt. SAC. The favorite in the 100 is Concord De La Salle junior Jaden Jefferson, who enters with the best qualifying time (10.30, three hundredths of a second better than Arrington's winning time last year), but challenging him will be Antrell Harris of Birmingham (who clocked 10.92 to win the City title May 22), back-to-back Masters Meet winner Demare Dezeurn of Bishop Alemany (10.35), RJ Sermons of Rancho Cucamonga (10.47) and Servite's trio of Benjamin Harris (10.44), Robert Gardner (10.59) and Jorden Wells (10.63). In the 200, Masters champion Sermons (20.97) will be in the first heat along with Temecula Valley's Jack Stadlman (21.24), Dezeurn (21.04) has the fastest qualifying time in the second heat, Servite's Jace Wells (21.05) and Newbury Park's Jaden Griffin (21.36) are in the third heat and joining Jefferson (21.11) in the last heat are Santa Margarita's Leo Francis (21.14) and Harris (21.66). Sermons, who announced the day before the Masters Meet that he will skip his senior year of high school to play football at USC, clocked a career-best 20.88 at the Baseline League finals and will try to beat Arrington's winning time of 20.55 last year. Servite freshman Jaelen Hunter (46.91) heads a talented group in the 400, which includes Stadlman (47.91), City champion Justin Hart from Granada Hills (47.45) and City runner-up Nathan Santacruz of Venice (47.48). Servite's 4x100 relay was first at the Masters in 40.40 followed by Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (40.77), which will be in the same heat Friday as JSerra (41.44) and City champion Granada Hills (41.78), and Murrieta Valley (41.55) will be in heat four with Birmingham (41.80). Servite also has one of the faster foursomes in the 4x400 as the Friars figure to challenge for the team title, won last year by Long Beach Poly, which won the Masters race Saturday in 3:10.83. The loaded field also features Cathedral (3:12.20), Mira Costa (3:18.73), Long Beach Wilson (3:14.93), Culver City (3:14.80) and Granada Hills (3:24.15). For the girls, Redondo Union's Journey Cole and Chaparral's Keelan Wright are in separate heats but should they advance they would go head-to-head in the finals in a rematch of last week's epic 100 meter showdown (Cole prevailed by five hundredths of a second in 11.36), however not to be underestimated are Malia Rainey (11.57) and Marley Scoggins (11.60) from Calabasas (11.57) and Carson's Christina Gray, who ran 12.05 to win the City title. Wright (23.21) is the leading qualifier in the 200. Other contenders are Rosary's Justine Wilson (23.38), Scoggins (23.59) and Gray (24.62). Long Beach Poly carried the baton around the oval in 45.94 at Masters to avenge its loss to Oaks Christian at last year's state 4x100 final and the two schools could match up again Saturday alongside City winner Carson (46.84), which was third in Clovis last year. Long Beach Wilson, the state team champion in 2024, has the top qualifying time (3:43.71) in the 4x400 relay. In the distance events, Corona Santiago boasts two title contenders — Braelyn Combe in the 1600 and Rylee Blade in the 3200. Combe was second to Ventura's Sadie Englehardt last year and won the Masters four-lapper last week in 4:44.36 (more than two and a half seconds better than her winning time at the Southern Section Division 1 finals), second-best among all qualifiers behind Chiara Dailey (4:43.57) of La Jolla in San Diego. Blade ran 9:58.46 two weeks ago to break a Southern Section record that had stood since 1996 and cruised to the Masters win in 10:11.38. The Florida State-bound senior was third at state last year in 10:06.26 and she set a new meet standard of 15:20.3 at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic in September. Stanford signee Evan Noonan of Dana Hills, winner of the Southern Section and Masters races the past two weeks, will try to defend his 3200 state title (he won in 8:43.12 as a junior). Aliso Niguel's Jaslene Massey and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame's Aja Johnson have the first and second best throws in both shot put and discus. Massey swept the events at Masters (49-7.50 shot put; 165-06 discus). Johnson is the defending state discus champion and won the state shot put title in 2023. In the boys high jump, Mission League rivals Matthew Browner from Chaminade and JJ Harel of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame both achieved 6-10 to finish first and second at Masters. Harel cleared that same height to take second at the state finals last year behind Birmingham's Deshawn Banks.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Yahoo
St. John Bosco stuns No. 1 Corona 2-0 in Southern Section Division 1 semifinals
Jack Champlin, a junior pitcher for St. John Bosco, surveyed the memorable scene Tuesday afternoon. There were fans standing everywhere — down the lines, around the outfield walls, in the press box. It was the top of the seventh inning, and No. 1 Corona had two runners aboard trying to rally in the Southern Section Division 1 semifinals. 'I love it,' he said. 'There's close to 1,000 people and it's electric. I didn't feel any pressure, didn't feel nervous.' Advertisement He got a strikeout and fly ball to save St. John Bosco's stunning 2-0 victory over Corona and unbeaten pitcher Seth Hernandez, who had never lost in two years of high school baseball. 'Tough day for people who don't normally have tough days,' said Corona coach Andy Wise, who guided the Panthers to the Division 1 title last season and saw his team's record drop to 28-3. The Braves will play Trinity League rival Santa Margarita in Friday's 7 p.m. Division 1 championship game at Cal State Fullerton. Everything St. John Bosco needed to do to pull off victory happened. Left-hander Trevor Heishman gave up one hit in 6 1/3 innings with nine strikeouts. He struck out Corona's hottest hitter, Anthony Murphy, three times. Advertisement The Braves refused to be intimidated by the 99-mph fastball of Hernandez, who came in with just four walks and 96 strikeouts in 48 2/3 innings and an 18-0 record in high school baseball. He struck out nine, walked three and gave up a run in the second inning on consecutive singles by Champlin and Macade Maxwell. St. John Bosco scored another run in the fifth on a Hernandez balk. 'He's just another player like us,' Champlin said of the Braves' attitude toward Hernandez, one of the top pro prospects in the nation. 'We weren't scared. We came out with confidence we were going to win from the time we stepped on the field. In two years as head coach, Andy Rojo has taken the Braves to the Division 3 final (last season) and now the Division 1 final on Friday. His batters made Hernandez throw 92 pitches in five innings and hit the ball hard when they needed. 'The key for us we wanted to put the ball in play,' he said. St. John Bosco has never won a section baseball title after all the success the football and basketball teams have had. But this 26-4 team won the Trinity League championship for the first time since 2017 and has beaten Santa Margarita two of three times this season. And they've got Champlin ready to be the closer again on Friday. Advertisement 'I haven't had a blown save,' he said with the confidence of a true closer. Santa Margarita 12, Crespi 0: Ben Finnegan had three hits and four RBIs and Brennan Bauer gave up two hits in five scoreless innings to send the Eagles into the Division 1 championship game. Mater Dei 5, Fountain Valley 4: A three-run sixth inning propelled the Monarchs to the comeback win in the Division 2 semifinals. Lawson Olmstead broke a 4-4 tie with an RBI single. Brandon Thomas picked up the save in the seventh and will pitch in the championship game. West Ranch 8, Etiwanda 7: Ty Diaz had a walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth inning, culminating in a three-run comeback victory in the Division 2 semifinals. Etiwanda took a 7-5 lead with two runs in the top of the eighth. Diaz finished with three hits and two RBIs. Advertisement San Dimas 4, Beckman 1: The Saints advance to the Division 3 championship game. They will face Glendora, a 7-5 winner over Temecula Valley. Sign up for the L.A. Times SoCal high school sports newsletter to get scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
