Latest news with #CitySectionDivisionI
Los Angeles Times
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Prep talk: Matthew Gonzalez of Banning shows how to play at Dodger Stadium
For senior catcher Matthew Gonzalez of Banning, Saturday's City Section Division I championship baseball game at Dodger Stadium ended in tears after a 3-1 defeat to Carson. Few were more impressive on the field than Gonzalez, who hardly passes the eyeball test at 5-foot-6 and 130 pounds. Thank goodness players in high school usually earn spots by their ability and performance and not by physical measurements. He threw out two runners trying to steal second with throws that looked like they came out of a bazooka. Twice in the seventh inning he made plays at the plate, tagging runners with great expertise. The umpire ruled one runner safe (he looked out) and another runner out. Each time, Gonzalez moved on whether he agreed with the call or not. Afterward, Gonzalez received hugs from teammates and coaches trying to console him. He said he believed the runner sliding the first time was out but accepted the decision. You can see how much people appreciate his presence and character. Just like on the TV program 'The Voice,' ignore your eyes and what you see from physical dimensions. Just watch his arm strength and ability to block pitches and make plays at the plate. He was a catcher extraordinaire on a major league field. Nobody can take that away and perhaps someone will recognize he might help them in the future. This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email
Los Angeles Times
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Prep sports roundup: El Modena rallies for softball win over Sherman Oaks Notre Dame
With the bases loaded and her team down by one run in the seventh inning, JuJu Brower stood in the batter's box for El Modena in a Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinal playoff game Wednesday. Her team was trying to rally against one of the hottest softball teams, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. Brower hadn't been fully cleared by her doctors to play catcher because of a torn ACL injury in August suffered while playing flag football. She had been cleared to hit, something she was doing for four weeks. Then came her most important at bat of the season. She delivered a two-run single up the middle to help El Modena come away with a 6-4 victory and advance to Saturday's semifinals against Temescal Canyon. 'It means a lot,' Brower said of her hit and the comeback. She had to go through months of rehab just to get back on the field, from stretching to leg exercises. El Modena started the game with consecutive home runs by Kaitlyn Galasso and Kylie Tafua. After that, Notre Dame pitcher Aliyah Garcia threw five consecutive scoreless innings to help the Knights take a 4-2 lead going into the seventh. Charley Tapia had a home run and triple. But the fifth inning was the key moment for the Knights. They had the bases loaded and none out against No. 2 pitcher Ashley Driskill. She got a 1-2-3 double play, then a fly out to end the threat. Then El Modena scored four runs in the top of the seventh to take the lead and eliminate the Knights, who had been hitting home runs in bunches during playoff wins over Orange Lutheran and El Segundo. El Modena coach Robert Calderon praised Brower. for her dedication to make it back to the field this season. 'For her to come through at that moment shows how much she believes in our team,' he said. Norco 9, Chino Hills 1: Ashley Duran had three hits for the top-seeded Cougars, who will play Ayala on Saturday in the other Division 1 semifinal. JSerra 7, Palos Verdes 1: Melia Munoz had a two-run home run and Annabel Raftery had four hits to lead JSerra in Division 2. JSerra will play Great Oak in the semifinals. Santa Margarita 2, Ganesha 1: Sawyer Denser pitched the Eagles into the Division 2 semifinals. She struck out eight. Sofia Zavarella had a solo home run. Santa Margarita will play Los Alamitos, a 7-1 winner over La Serna. Carson 4, Taft 2: Xavier Allen hit a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to enable the Colts to advance to Saturday's 10 a.m. City Section Division I championship game at Dodger Stadium.
Los Angeles Times
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Prep talk: Aja Johnson of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame is thriving in the shotput, discus
Nick Garcia, the throws coach at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, calls shotputter and discus thrower Aja Johnson 'the dragon slayer.' She's only 5 feet 3 but slays taller girls competing in those events. Last weekend, she won the Southern Section Division 3 shotput and discus titles. This weekend she will try to qualify for the state championships when competing at the Masters Meet at Moorpark High. She won the state discus title last year. She was state champion in the shotput in 2023. Under Garcia's guidance, Johnson uses technique, athleticism, agility and explosiveness to excel in the two events. She has committed to Louisville. Notre Dame athletes have won every Division 3 shotput or discus title since 2021. … The City Section Division I baseball semifinals will be held Wednesday at Stengel Field in Glendale with a trip to Dodger Stadium on Saturday at stake. Carson will play Taft at 3 p.m., followed by Banning taking on Verdugo Hills at 6 p.m. This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Prep baseball roundup: Angel Cervantes pitches Warren to 1-0 playoff victory
It takes a shutout to beat hard-throwing Angel Cervantes of Warren these days. Robby Zimmerman of Redondo Union did his best Thursday in an opening-round game of the Southern Section Division 3 playoffs. He held Warren scoreless for six innings until Ivan Perez drove in Cervantes with an RBI single in the seventh. That's all Cervantes needed to complete a 1-0 victory. He shut down Redondo Union in the bottom of the seventh and finished with 11 strikeouts and one walk. He gave up three hits. Advertisement Santa Margarita 2, Newport Beach 0: Brennan Bauer threw the shutout, giving up just three hits. The Eagles advanced in the Division 1 playoffs to play at Huntington Beach on Tuesday. Gavin Spiridonoff drove in both runs. Arcadia 2, Aliso Niguel 1: The Apaches won in the bottom of the 11th inning on a two-out single by Tyler Brereton. Gus Cooper allowed one run in nine innings and Damian Catano threw two shutout innings for Arcadia. Los Osos 7, Cypress 5: The Grizzlies won their Division 1 opener and advanced to play at top-seeded Corona on Tuesday. Drew Cromwell had a two-run single. Villa Park 8, Bishop Amat 7: The Spartans got the winning run in the bottom of the seventh on a wild pitch. Jake Nobles hit a two-run home run and threw three innings of shutout relief. Advertisement El Dorado 5, Ayala 0: Logan Steenburgen threw a five-hit shutout to advance in Division 1. Jake Vanderzee had three hits. El Dorado will face No. 2-seeded Crespi on Tuesday. Laguna Beach 7, Summit 5: Lucien Reed had an RBI triple and Dylan Yencho had an RBI double during a two-run seventh to break a 5-5 tie and lift Laguna Beach in Division 1. Los Alamitos 4, La Mirada 2: Tristan Dalzell struck out eight in six innings and Nate Walker and Tyler Smith each had two RBIs. Norco 9, Corona Centennial 2: Sophomore Dylan Seward had a home run and three RBIs and freshman Jordan Ayala struck out eight in 5 1/3 innings for Norco, which plays Laguna Beach in the second round on Tuesday. Advertisement Mira Costa 2, Arlington 0: Garrett Jacobs threw a complete game in the Division 1 contest. He struck out five and gave up three hits. Lucas Shermer hit a home run. Vista Murrieta 8, Harvard-Westlake 6: An eight-run first inning enabled Vista Murrieta to win. It will face Trinity League champion St. John Bosco on Tuesday in Division 1. RJ Holmes had two hits and three RBIs. Castaic 7, Paloma Valley 6: Giovanni Foster had three hits and three RBIs in a Division 3 opener. Fullerton 8, Long Beach Wilson 2: Zach Fany contributed three hits in the Division 3 victory. Declan Fitzgerald struck out nine. San Dimas 6, Calabasas 1: The Saints picked up the Division 3 win. Advertisement Garfield 3, San Fernando 2: The Bulldogs held on for the City Section Division I victory. Palisades 7, Kennedy 4: Jett Teegardin struck out six in six innings in Palisades. San Pedro 11, Hamilton 0: Tyrus Wilson had two hits and four RBIs and Anthony Solis struck out eight in a five-inning City Division I playoff win for the Pirates. Taft 7, Bell 4: The Toreadors upset defending City Section Open Division champion Bell in a first-round Division I game behind Oliver Berger, who had two RBIs. Banning 10, LACES 1: The top-seeded Pilots won their City Division I opener. AJ Herrera threw five innings. Angelo Duarte and Brandon Villarreal each had two RBIs. Banning will play Garfield on Saturday. Advertisement Jefferson 21, Lakeview Charter 0: The top-seeded Democrats won their City Division III opener. Monroe 1, Torres 0: Jeremiah Vicuna scored the winning run in the ninth inning on catcher's interference. Miguel Gonzalez struck out 11 in nine innings. 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.
Los Angeles Times
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Prep baseball roundup: Angel Cervantes pitches Warren to 1-0 playoff victory
It takes a shutout to beat hard-throwing Angel Cervantes of Warren these days. Robby Zimmerman of Redondo Union did his best Thursday in an opening-round game of the Southern Section Division 3 playoffs. He held Warren scoreless for six innings until Ivan Perez drove in Cervantes with an RBI single in the seventh. That's all Cervantes needed to complete a 1-0 victory. He shut down Redondo Union in the bottom of the seventh and finished with 11 strikeouts and one walk. He gave up three hits. Santa Margarita 2, Newport Beach 0: Brennan Bauer threw the shutout, giving up just three hits. The Eagles advanced in the Division 1 playoffs to play at Huntington Beach on Tuesday. Gavin Spiridonoff drove in both runs. Arcadia 2, Aliso Niguel 1: The Apaches won in the bottom of the 11th inning on a two-out single by Tyler Brereton. Gus Cooper allowed one run in nine innings and Damian Catano threw two shutout innings for Arcadia. Los Osos 7, Cypress 5: The Grizzlies won their Division 1 opener and advanced to play at top-seeded Corona on Tuesday. Drew Cromwell had a two-run single. Villa Park 8, Bishop Amat 7: The Spartans got the winning run in the bottom of the seventh on a wild pitch. Jake Nobles hit a two-run home run and threw three innings of shutout relief. El Dorado 5, Ayala 0: Logan Steenburgen threw a five-hit shutout to advance in Division 1. Jake Vanderzee had three hits. El Dorado will face No. 2-seeded Crespi on Tuesday. Laguna Beach 7, Summit 5: Lucien Reed had an RBI triple and Dylan Yencho had an RBI double during a two-run seventh to break a 5-5 tie and lift Laguna Beach in Division 1. Los Alamitos 4, La Mirada 2: Tristan Dalzell struck out eight in six innings and Nate Walker and Tyler Smith each had two RBIs. Norco 9, Corona Centennial 2: Sophomore Dylan Seward had a home run and three RBIs and freshman Jordan Ayala struck out eight in 5 1/3 innings for Norco, which plays Laguna Beach in the second round on Tuesday. Mira Costa 2, Arlington 0: Garrett Jacobs threw a complete game in the Division 1 contest. He struck out five and gave up three hits. Lucas Shermer hit a home run. Vista Murrieta 8, Harvard-Westlake 6: An eight-run first inning enabled Vista Murrieta to win. It will face Trinity League champion St. John Bosco on Tuesday in Division 1. RJ Holmes had two hits and three RBIs. Castaic 7, Paloma Valley 6: Giovanni Foster had three hits and three RBIs in a Division 3 opener. Fullerton 8, Long Beach Wilson 2: Zach Fany contributed three hits in the Division 3 victory. Declan Fitzgerald struck out nine. San Dimas 6, Calabasas 1: The Saints picked up the Division 3 win. Garfield 3, San Fernando 2: The Bulldogs held on for the City Section Division I victory. Palisades 7, Kennedy 4: Jett Teegardin struck out six in six innings in Palisades. San Pedro 11, Hamilton 0: Tyrus Wilson had two hits and four RBIs and Anthony Solis struck out eight in a five-inning City Division I playoff win for the Pirates. Taft 7, Bell 4: The Toreadors upset defending City Section Open Division champion Bell in a first-round Division I game behind Oliver Berger, who had two RBIs. Banning 10, LACES 1: The top-seeded Pilots won their City Division I opener. AJ Herrera threw five innings. Angelo Duarte and Brandon Villarreal each had two RBIs. Banning will play Garfield on Saturday. Jefferson 21, Lakeview Charter 0: The top-seeded Democrats won their City Division III opener. Monroe 1, Torres 0: Jeremiah Vicuna scored the winning run in the ninth inning on catcher's interference. Miguel Gonzalez struck out 11 in nine innings.
