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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Rain, lightning disrupt opening games of regional playoffs
There was rain, lightning and some comedic reactions for the strange June weather Tuesday that disrupted the opening day of the Southern California regional baseball and softball playoffs. "Is it raining in June?" asked a stunned El Camino Real baseball player as a downpour fell in Woodland Hills before a Division 2 game against Point Loma. Two fans used artificial turf to shield their heads during a drizzle. Advertisement The Division 1 baseball game between Patrick Henry and host Santa Margarita was halted in the fourth inning with Patrick Henry leading 2-0 because of lightning. It will resume Wednesday. The Division 1 softball game between Poway and Ayala was postponed because of rain. Most games eventually were played and finished. Point Loma 6, El Camino Real 4: Trailing 6-1 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, the City Section Open Division champions gave Point Loma a scare, scoring three runs and having the bases loaded with two out until Hunter Weller ended the game with a strikeout in a Division 2 opener. Point Loma is the Division I champion from the San Diego Section. Druw Frost had three hits. A three-run seventh aided by an El Camino Real error helped the Pointers. Phoenix Brant struck out five in 6 1/3 innings. RJ De La Rosa, JJ Saffie and Gavin Farley had RBI singles in the seventh for El Camino Real. Advertisement St. John Bosco 2, St. Augustine 1: Jack Champlin picked up the save after strong pitching from Griffin Tagliaferri and Brayden Krakowski. Moise Razo gave the Braves the lead in the third with an RBI double. St. John Bosco will host Villa Park on Thursday in the Division I semifinals. Villa Park 5, Granite Hills 4: It took nine innings for Villa Park to prevail on the road. Nate Lewis had four hits and three RBIs, including the tiebreaker in the top of the ninth. Crespi 4, Mater Dei 3: Mikey Martinez hit a three-run home run and Jackson Eisenhauer threw two hits of shutout relief with four strikeouts. Crespi will play the winner of Santa Margarita-Patrick Henry on Thursday. University City 5, Birmingham 2: The Patriots gave up four runs in the seventh to fall in a Division III opener. University City will play Dos Pueblos, a 10-2 winner over St. Anthony. Advertisement Venice 5, Trinity Classical 2: Canon King had a double and triple and Daniel Quiroz added two hits and two RBIs for Venice, which will play at Mt. Carmel on Thursday. Banning 3, Lemoore 2: The Pilots won their Division IV opener. Angelo Duarte had a walk-off single in the seventh. AJ Herrera had two hits and two RBIs. Softball Westlake 5, Rancho Bernardo 3: The Warriors won in Division II and will host Eastlake in the semifinals. Olivia White had a home run. Legacy 5, Elsinore 4: Isabella Medina had two doubles in the Division III win. Breann Lipold hit two home runs for Elsinore. Legacy will play at St. Bonaventure, a 6-5 win over Southwest EC. Advertisement 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
4 days ago
- Climate
- Los Angeles Times
Rain, lightning disrupt opening games of regional playoffs
There was rain, lightning and some comedic reactions for the strange June weather Tuesday that disrupted the opening day of the Southern California regional baseball and softball playoffs. 'Is it raining in June?' asked a stunned El Camino Real baseball player as a downpour fell in Woodland Hills before a Division 2 game against Point Loma. Two fans used artificial turf to shield their heads during a drizzle. The Division 1 baseball game between Patrick Henry and host Santa Margarita was halted in the fourth inning with Patrick Henry leading 2-0 because of lightning. It will resume Wednesday. The Division 1 softball game between Poway and Ayala was postponed because of rain. Most games eventually were played and finished. Point Loma 6, El Camino Real 4: Trailing 6-1 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, the City Section Open Division champions gave Point Loma a scare, scoring three runs and having the bases loaded with two out until Hunter Weller ended the game with a strikeout in a Division 2 opener. Point Loma is the Division I champion from the San Diego Section. Druw Frost had three hits. A three-run seventh aided by an El Camino Real error helped the Pointers. Phoenix Brant struck out five in 6 1/3 innings. RJ De La Rosa, JJ Saffie and Gavin Farley had RBI singles in the seventh for El Camino Real. St. John Bosco 2, St. Augustine 1: Jack Champlin picked up the save after strong pitching from Griffin Tagliaferri and Brayden Krakowski. Moise Razo gave the Braves the lead in the third with an RBI double. St. John Bosco will host Villa Park on Thursday in the Division I semifinals. Villa Park 5, Granite Hills 4: It took nine innings for Villa Park to prevail on the road. Nate Lewis had four hits and three RBIs, including the tie-breaker in the top of the ninth. Crespi 4, Mater Dei 3: Mikey Martinez hit a three-run home run and Jackson Eisenhauer threw two hits of shutout relief with four strikeouts. Crespi will play the the winner of Santa Margarita-Patrick Henry on Thursday. University City 5, Birmingham 2: The Patriots gave up four runs in the seventh to fall in a Division III opener. University City will play Dos Pueblos, a 10-2 winner over St. Anthony Venice 5, Trinity Classical 2: Canon King had a double and triple and Daniel Quiroz added two hits and two RBIs for Venice. Venice will play at Mt. Carmel on Thursday. Banning 3, Lemoore 2: The Pilots won their Division IV opener. Angelo Duarte had a walk-off single in the seventh. AJ Herrera had two hits and two RBIs. Westlake 5, Rancho Bernardo 3: The Warriors won in Division II and will host Eastlake in the semifinals. Olivia White had a home run. Legacy 5, Elsinore 4: Isabella Medina had two doubles in the Division III win. Breann Lipoid hit two home runs for Elsinore. Legacy will play at St. Bonaventure, a 6-5 win over Southwest EC.
Los Angeles Times
6 days ago
- Sport
- 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. He led the Eagles to the 2014 Southern Section Division 1 championship, went on to star at UCLA and became a starting pitcher for the Angels. But this season he's enjoying a breakthrough pitching for the New York Mets. He's 5-2 with a 3.23 ERA. Here's a story from 2014 on how Canning pitched Santa Margarita to the Division 1 title. Here's a story from 2015 on the 'Griffin Canning rule' in the Trinity League. From a story looking at a survey of parents whether their kids will become pro athletes. From the Washington Post, a story on how a gymnast ended up getting a track and field scholarship. From the Los Angeles Times, a story on three L.A. students who earned college scholarships by caddying. From Spectrum News1, a story on USA volleyball using the 2028 Olympic Games to boost the sport. From the Los Angeles Times, a look at how the state track championship was affected by the participation of a transgender athlete.
Los Angeles Times
01-06-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Granada Hills finally breaks through to beat Carson for City Section softball title
Addison Moorman could finally breathe. The senior pitcher couldn't hold her emotions back. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she embraced her teammates on Cal State Northridge's softball diamond. A year ago, she struck out 19 batters — only to fall short 1-0 in f14 innings. Two years previous, Granada Hills was one run away from City Section glory. On Saturday in Northridge, so close to home, the City Section Open Division title, the program's first since 1981, was Moorman's — and the Highlanders — to celebrate in an 11-2 drubbing of archrival Carson. Moorman put the team on her back, striking out 11 while giving up just four hits and two earned runs across her complete-game performance. 'It feels so good to go out on top, especially against [Carson],' said Moorman, who signed with Lehigh in November. 'To finally beat them, overcome that hurdle and then leave as a champion, feels really great.' Carson held a 1-0 lead early in the game when Atiana Rodriguez and Letu'u Simi combined for back-to-back doubles in the second inning, but from the bottom of the second onward, it was all Granada Hills at the plate. The Highlanders capitalized off of two Colts errors in the second inning. Second baseman Lainey Brown and right fielder Elysse Diaz singled home runs, while Giselle Merida tripled to bring home another. 'I've been waiting,' said Diaz who went two for four with two RBIs and a double. 'It was just boiling and boiling and then here, [the offense] just exploded.' By the time Moorman returned to the circle for her third inning of work, Granada Hills had scored seven runs on six hits against Carson pitcher Giselle Pantoja — who shut the Highlanders down in 2024 — building a cushion for its star pitcher to go out and do what she'd done all season: dominate. ''Every time a pitcher always feels that burden of carrying the team, and [Moorman] dealt with it well,' said Granada Hills coach Ivan Garcia. 'Her character is greater than her talent, the way she handles her teammates, the way she leads by example. I mean, you wouldn't know that she's a star pitcher, the way she puts bases away, the way she cleans up.' Moorman made just one big mistake on Saturday — leaving a pitch over the plate to Colts center fielder Rylee Gardner, who desposited the ball over the center-field wall for a solo home run (her eighth of the year) in the sixth inning. Otherwise, Moorman kept Carson off balance all game. She set down 13 consecutive batters between the second and sixth innings, striking out her 11th batter of the game as the penultimate at-bat of her high school career. For Moorman, winning a CIF title just 10 minutes away from Granada Hills High, was a moment worth savoring, she said. For Garcia — who said he was happy to see his team goofing off and having fun at a pregame lunch, loosening up before the biggest game of his coaching career — he is looking forward to the 1981 title of the past no longer lurking around his shoulders. 'Third time's the charm,' he said. Earlier in the day in Northridge, Taft won its first City Section title in the softball program's history with an 8-3 victory over Marquez in the Division II final. Legacy made no doubt of its City Section Division I title triumph later Saturday afternoon, shutting out Port of Los Angeles 5-0.
Los Angeles Times
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Prep Rally: High school football is changing, but for the better or for the worse?
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. Whether you've been paying attention or not, high school football is changing. Let's discuss. Rolling your eyes has been the theme if you follow college football and high school football. Changes keep happening because rules are in flux regarding name, image and likeness. Transfer numbers keep growing. Agents are picking up clients who are teenagers. Parents are examining options. Coaches are adjusting on the fly. It's the best of times and the worst of times. Many believe things will settle when court cases are finalized. Others believe amateur football has been changed forever. Here's a look at some of the issues, good and bad, that are affecting the high school football world. Devin Gonor of El Camino Real proved Saturday at Dodger Stadium that trusting the process still works. He played on the freshman team, then the junior varsity team for two years. He waited his turn, made his varsity debut last season as a junior and this season is 11-1 and pitched a three-hit shutout in a 2-0 win over Venice to give El Camino Real its 10th City Section Open Division title. Here's a look at how the Royals did it. Carson won its first ever City Section title in baseball by taking the Division I crown with a 3-1 comeback win over rival Banning at Dodger Stadium. Here's the report. The final week of the Southern Section season begins Tuesday with semifinals in Division 1 featuring Corona at St. John Bosco and Crespi at Santa Margarita. Here's a report on the quarterfinals that saw four close games. It also was the week Seth Hernandez of Corona hit two three-run home runs and struck out 10 in an impressive playoff performance. He'll pitch Tuesday. Here's a report. And Venice's Canon King went five for five in a semifinal win over Sylmar. Here's the report. Here's the complete Tuesday schedule. It will be El Modena playing Norco for the Southern Section Division 1 softball championship this weekend in Irvine. El Modena came through earlier in the week with a comeback semifinal win over Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. Here's the report. On Saturday, Norco defeated Ayala and El Modena knocked off Temescal Canyon to reach the final in a season where hitters have had the advantage over pitchers. Here's the report. The City Section has its semifinals Wednesday with Granada Hills hosting Venice and San Pedro hosting Carson. The championship game will be played Saturday at Cal State Northridge. Birmingham football standout Antrell Harris was one of the stars at the City Section track and field championships, winning the 100 and 200. He's headed this weekend to compete in the state championships at Buchanan High in Clovis. The weather report is for temperatures in the triple digits. Here's a report from the City championships. The Southern Section held its Masters Meet, and RJ Sermons of Rancho Cucamonga was the top qualifier in the 200 and has one more week of high school competition left before he heads off to play football at USC. Here's the report. Joseph Wong of Granada Hills won the City Section golf championship. Here's the report. Grant Leary of Crespi won the Southern Section individual golf championship with a 66 for a one-stroke victory. Here's a roundup of Southern Section team champions. Here's a look at Leary. Mira Costa has qualified from Southern California to compete in the first state championship in boys volleyball Saturday at Fresno City College. The Mustangs will face Archbishop Mitty from San Jose. Here's the compete schedule of state championship matchups and results from regional finals. Catcher Trent Grindlinger of Huntington Beach has changed his commitment from Mississippi State to Tennessee. . . . Former Bishop Amat football coach Steve Hagerty will become athletic director at West Covina. . . . Ethan Damato is leaving Laguna Beach to become girls water polo coach at JSerra. . . . Connor Ohl, a junior at Newport Harbor, has committed to Stanford for water polo. . . . Oliver Muller is the new boys soccer coach at Oaks Christian. . . . YULA and Shalhevet, two schools that pulled out of the Southern Section baseball playoffs to participate in a Jewish tournament in Ohio, have been placed on probation and banned from next year's playoffs for violating Southern Section rules about outside participation during the season. Here's an opinion piece on how the decision by the two schools will hurt coaches and athletes. . . . Former Chatsworth football coach Marvin Street has accepted a teaching position at El Camino Real and will become the junior varsity head coach. . . . Loyola running back Sean Morris has committed to Northwestern. . . . Kevin Reynolds, the basketball coach at Villa Park for 30 years, died Friday morning, the school announced. He was 59. He had been diagnosed with cancer. His teams won 634 games in his coaching career. . . . John Quick, who was a longtime basketball coach in the South Bay, has died. . . . Loyola's James Dell'Amico has committed to Pepperdine baseball. . . . Former Tesoro football coach Matt Poston is the new athletic director at San Clemente. . . . The CIF state championships in tennis will be held Saturday in Fresno. Irvine University has qualified. ... Darius Spates is the new athletic director at Verbum Dei. He's a 2012 graduate. Harvard-Westlake has produced some outstanding pitchers who went on to the major leagues, but Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs is the Wolverines' first breakthrough every day player. As a center fielder with electric speed, he has come into his own this season to become an All-Star candidate. He used to be a teammate of Drew Bowser, who went to Stanford instead of signing out of high school and is now working his way up in the minors. Crow-Armstrong entered last week hitting .290 with 12 home runs. He hit a two-run home run Friday against former Sherman Oaks Notre Dame pitcher Hunter Greene of the Reds. His senior year got cut short in 2020 because of the pandemic. Here's an interview with Crow-Armtrong from that year and how he kept his focus on the future. Here's a story from 2019 on how he had become a hitting machine. From the Washington Post, a story on what a rowing coxswain does. From the Los Angeles Times, a story on UC Irvine baseball coach Ben Orloff, a Simi Valley High graduate. From the Los Angeles Times, a story on the new Compton High campus opening this fall with fantastic athletic facilities. Have a question, comment or something you'd like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer. 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