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Los Angeles Times
11-08-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Defending flag football champion Orange Lutheran aims to achieve even more this season
Last year's theme for the Orange Lutheran flag football team was 'Set the Standard.' The Lancers did just that, finishing 23-2 and defeating Newport Harbor 20-18 to win the inaugural Southern Section Division 1 title and secure the No. 1 ranking in California. Coach Kristen Sherman revealed this season's theme is 'Raise the Bar' and, having graduated only one starter, it looks like her team could be even better than a year ago. It may have to be if it wants to defend its crown as the talent throughout the Southland is deeper than ever. 'We're hoping to reach a higher level this year,' said Sherman, whose husband, Rod, is head coach of Orange Lutheran's football squad. 'These new rules change a lot. I may have preferred the old rules, but the girls like punting and returning, so I think it'll be more fun for them.' Since defensive players will now be able to line up six yards closer to the ball, an elite quarterback will be essential, and the Lancers have the best in Makena Cook, the reigning CIF player of the year. On Aug. 6, the two-sport athlete committed to Georgia for soccer, but her focus right now is on a repeat. 'We're definitely better ... but it's a clean slate,' Cook said after tossing six touchdown passes against host Long Beach Poly in a scrimmage Thursday — her first competitive game since November. As a sophomore last season, Cook passed for 6,611 yards and 97 touchdowns, 20 of them caught by All-CIF receiver Julia Oberholtzer (now a senior) who also led the defense with 114 flag pulls and eight interceptions. The Lancers open the season Wednesday at Woodbridge. Sherman once again filled the schedule with quality opponents, including a Sept. 4 clash with Irvine Northwood, which took the Division 2 title last fall thanks to Natalie Keith, who earned division player of the year honors after throwing for five touchdowns in the final against Trabuco Hills. Sherman predicted Trinity League competition will be a 'smack in the face.' JSerra's roster features three incoming freshmen who are members of the 15U junior national team — quarterback Katherine Meier and wide receiver/defensive backs Tessa Russell and Ava Irwin. Kendra Hansen will be a scoring threat every time she touches the ball for Mater Dei, and running the offense at Santa Margarita will be All-CIF senior Madi Lam, who quarterbacked her Conquer Chargers club team at the NFL Flag Championships in Canton, Ohio, in July. Division 1 finalist Newport Harbor graduated All-CIF quarterback Maia Helmar, but sophomore Scarlett Guyser will take over the position. Cooper Dick (a Texas Tech soccer commit) and Maddy Michel are set to be her primary targets. Skylie Cid led the team in touchdowns as a freshman. The Sailors beat Orange Lutheran in triple overtime in a tournament at Beckman over the summer, but Cook did not play. Huntington Beach has all the offensive firepower it needs to challenge Newport Harbor for Sunset League supremacy with the return of Roxie Shaia, who threw for 7,465 yards and 99 touchdowns in 2024, and receiver/safety Taylor Savage, who racked up 1,491 receiving yards. Last fall, Ventura lost a shootout to Huntington Beach in the Division 1 quarterfinals, but the Cougars could ride the arm of senior Ava Ortman to a deeper playoff run in 2025. Statistically, she was one of the best in the section with 6,974 yards, 110 touchdowns and a 141.2 rating. In its opener Thursday, Ventura takes on Camarillo, which has one of the top two-way players in Ventura County in Stella Alessi (41 touchdowns and 14 interceptions last season). Long Beach Poly will seek to three-peat in the Moore League, but it will be a taller task without All-CIF quarterback Kenzie Paimany, who tore her anterior cruciate ligament playing soccer. She threw for 60 touchdowns last year. The most versatile player for the Jackrabbits is senior receiver/linebacker Ki'ele Ho-Ching, who has committed to Oklahoma for softball. 'We're hoping she can come back towards the end of the season,' Poly coach Rob Shock said about Paimany. 'We take every game as a tough game. Nothing's given, everything's earned.' Lakewood St. Joseph suffered only one defeat in 22 games last year, however, the Jesters are poised to go further with junior signal-caller Lexi Loya (5,377 yards and 73 touchdowns last fall) throwing to sophomore receiver Jaclyn Brennan (76 catches for 985 yards and 16 touchdowns). The City Section is up to 93 teams, and the one to beat appears to be Narbonne, led by its All-City two-wayers Faith Ugoje, Shayla Rivera and Luna Orozco. The Gauchos beat King/Drew 7-0 for the Division I title last year and twice defeated the 2024 Open Division winner Banning in the summer. Ugoje was chosen Division I player of the year after rushing for 1,660 yards, catching 60 passes for 828 yards and scoring 23 touchdowns as a freshman under City coach of the year Sherrelle Holmes. Also contending for the Marine League crown will be is two-time Open finalist San Pedro. Teams to watch: Orange Lutheran, JSerra, Santa Margarita, Newport Harbor, Mater Dei, Huntington Beach, Northwood, Eastvale Roosevelt, Ventura, Narbonne, Lakewood St. Joseph, Aliso Niguel, Trabuco Hills, Anaheim Canyon.
Los Angeles Times
26-06-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Daily Pilot Softball Dream Team: Marina's Mia Valbuena had no match in playoffs
Mia Valbuena couldn't quite put her finger on it as far as when she began taking an interest in softball, but it came early, and it came with a desire to be like her mom. Between pictures, videos and news clippings their grandmother had saved, Mia and her twin sister, Avi, became familiarized with the playing career of their mother, Willa Parchen. That was all the motivation they needed, said Valbuena, who reckons they were 4 or 5 when they discovered their source of inspiration. They were told about Parchen's path to a scholarship at Creighton University. As far as they were concerned, they had the blueprint set before them. 'Oh, that's what I want to do when I'm older,'' Valbuena would respond. 'We obviously wanted to be just like her,' she added. 'We're like, 'Oh, we're going to go to Creighton, too.' She's like, 'Well, no, you don't have to,' because we just wanted to be just like her.' Valbuena, now a University of Michigan commit, appears to have quite a bright future ahead of her in the game. The past few months were rather fruitful, too. The junior right-hander led Marina to the CIF Southern Section Division 3 championship, shutting down the opposition throughout the playoff run. Valbuena is also the Daily Pilot Softball Dream Team Player of the Year. Marina (19-13) ended a 30-year CIF title drought for the program with an 8-1 win over Westlake at Deanna Manning Stadium on May 30. Upon the final out, Valbuena came together with catcher Gabby DiBenedetto, a battery that has been together since before their high school days. 'That was probably the best decision we've ever made was to convince her to go to Marina because she's now like my best friend,' said Valbuena, who met DiBenedetto through her pitching coach Chrissy Haines in the eighth grade. 'She knows me so well, and it really shows in the field, I think, because we don't even have to communicate through words,' Valbuena said. 'I think I can tell what she's thinking through her face and her body language now, and I think she probably feels the same way. We know what's going on with each other.' Valbuena, the Sunset League Most Valuable Pitcher, dominated from the circle with a devastating riseball and a drop curveball. She allowed just two runs across five postseason starts, recording 56 strikeouts in 33 innings. For the season, she posted a 19-10 record with a 1.88 earned run average across 175⅓ innings pitched. She threw 11 complete-game shutouts and tallied 293 strikeouts. Valbuena was also one of the Vikings' more productive hitters. She had a .337 batting average with 21 runs batted in, seven doubles and two home runs. 'It's only a couple months out of the year that I'm even practicing hitting, or hitting in games, so I do my best to try to keep up with everyone else that's hitting yearlong,' Valbuena said. 'It takes a lot more focus, I think, for me than pitching when it comes to that. Moving into the No. 4 spot at the end of the year, I didn't even expect that, but I guess a little goes a long way sometimes in the close games. I was just trying to do my part to help the team out and help myself out on the offensive side.' At different times in the year, the twins said they play for each other. Pitchers love run support, and Avi, a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga commit, provided by driving in four runs in the CIF finals. At first, they played for their mom, who played and pitched at Marina before them. There's room for more in the circle of trust these days. 'Our chemistry as a team, we really bonded this year,' Valbuena said. 'Something clicked where we all became so united in our goals, and we all had the same idea of what we wanted for the entire year. I think that unity kind of made me able to know that my teammates had my back. They were playing for me, and I was playing for them.' Dan Hay / Shelly Luth A pair of faces that have been around the game for a long time, the duo helped guide the Fountain Valley Vikings to their sixth CIF title and first in three decades. Luth had previously been the head coach for back-to-back Division I titles for the program in 1994 and 1995. It was a new day for Hay, who raised a CIF championship plaque for the first time. Hay was part of the 2025 class of inductees into the Orange County Softball Hall of Fame. Courtney Kols P | Fountain Valley | Sr. A fixture in the pitching circle for all four years of her career at Fountain Valley (14-12), the right-hander will go on to play for Drexel University. Kols was a Sunset League first-team selection for the Barons, who narrowly missed out on a return to the postseason in a winner-take-all game against Edison to determine the league's fourth playoff berth. Gabby DiBenedetto C | Marina | Jr. DiBenedetto sported a .444 batting average, knocking in 20 runs and scoring another 15 runs in support of her battery mate. The Maryland-bound backstop supplied eight doubles, one triple and a home run among her team-leading 44 hits. Bree Carlson 1B | Huntington Beach | So. Huntington Beach (22-8) packed a punch offensively, especially from its twin towers manning the corners in the infield. Carlson, a Sunset League first-team selection, hit .500 with an area-leading 11 home runs to go with a dozen doubles. She drove in 53 runs and scored 38 runs. Kaila Arakaki 2B / SS | Edison | Jr. Arakaki was the prototypical leadoff hitter, reaching base at a high clip and failing to sit still once she accomplished step one. The middle infielder showcased her speed with 19 stolen bases, coming around to score 22 times. At the dish, she batted .360 with nine doubles, a triple and a home run for Edison (11-15). Tea Gutierrez 3B | Huntington Beach | Sr. Gutierrez handled the hot corner defensively while hammering the ball in the batter's box. The Jacksonville State commit boasted a .578 average with nine home runs, three triples and eight doubles. The Sunset League Most Valuable Player scored 45 runs and had 41 runs batted in. Morgan Drotter SS / OF | Huntington Beach | Sr. A natural outfielder, Drotter played at shortstop this season because it was an area of need for the Oilers. The Cornell commit posted a .405 batting average with 11 extra-base hits, including a game-winning three-run home run in the late innings of a key game against Marina in Huntington Beach's journey to a share of the Sunset League title with Los Alamitos, which was the CIF Division 2 champion. Cali Bennett OF | Huntington Beach | Sr. Huntington Beach saw the heart of its order put up some gaudy numbers, and it was often Bennett setting the table. The center fielder hit .431 and scored 36 runs from the top of the lineup. She compiled 10 doubles, three triples and one home run. The Louisiana Tech commit also drove in 19 runs and recorded 10 stolen bases. Kaya Collado OF | Ocean View | Sr. A four-year starter for Ocean View (2-22), Collado has committed to Pacific Lutheran University. Collado boasted team-high production with a .429 batting average, 25 runs scored, seven doubles, two triples and 17 stolen bases. Hannah Stolba 2B / OF | Edison | So. While Arakaki made things happen at the top of the order, it was up to Stolba to turn the lineup over. She excelled in that role with a team-best .435 batting average. The Chargers' left fielder produced eight doubles and three home runs, scoring 19 runs and driving in 15 runs. Avi Valbuena DP | Marina | Jr. The Viking were largely a station-to-station team that did not take many chances on the base paths. They had more sacrifice bunts than stolen bases, often looking for the clutch hit. Valbuena, who hit .397 this season, had a three-hit, four-RBI game in the Division 3 final. Position, Name, School, Year 2B / OF Zariah Billinger, Huntington Beach, Sr. OF Aubrey Catron, Edison, So. P Juliette Foutz, Huntington Beach, Fr. P Sophia Gutierrez, Los Amigos, So. SS / 3B Sophia Hannappel, Edison, Sr. C Ella Kim, Fountain Valley, Jr. OF Victoria Rios, Costa Mesa, So. OF Rachel Ruiz, Marina, Sr. C / 1B / 3B Ally Shaw, Newport Harbor, So. 1B Makenna Smith, Corona del Mar, So. 2B / OF Kileigh Villaloblos, Fountain Valley, Jr.
Los Angeles Times
15-06-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
The Times' 2025 All-Star baseball team
A look at the Los Angeles Times' 2025 All-Star baseball team: Pitcher, Seth Hernandez, Corona, Sr.: He struck out 105 in 53 1/3 innings while walking seven and giving up 19 hits. He had an 0.39 ERA and went 9-1 this season and 18-1 in two years. Pitcher, Hunter Manning, West Ranch, Sr.: The UC Irvine commit went 10-0 with an 0.74 ERA and was the Foothill League player of the year; threw a no-hitter in the Division 2 playoffs on the way to the title. Utility, Jack Champlin, St. John Bosco, Jr.: Had five saves and two victories while giving up no runs in 11 2/3 playoff innings in helping the Braves win the Southern Section Division 1 and Southern California Division 1 regional titles. Catcher, Landon Hodge, Crespi, Sr.: The Louisiana State commit and Mission League player of the year batted .386 with 32 hits while supplying outstanding defense for the Mission League champions. Infielder, Billy Carlson, Corona, Sr.: The Tennessee commit and top pro prospect batted .365 with 34 RBIs and six home runs while known for his outstanding fielding. Infielder, James Clark, St. John Bosco, Jr.: The Trinity League MVP batted .411 with 46 hits while filling key roles at shortstop and leadoff hitter for the Division 1 section and region champions. Infielder, Matthew Witkow, Calabasas, Sr.: The Harvard commit had 45 hits, a .489 batting average and struck out just four times in 92 at-bats and had 30 RBIs. Infielder, Quentin Young, Oaks Christian, Sr.: A top pro prospect, he set a school record with 14 home runs while batting .390 with 34 RBIs as the Marmonte League MVP. Outfielder, Trevor Goldenetz, Huntington Beach, Sr.: The Long Beach State commit led the Sunset League champions with a .409 average, including 36 hits. Outfielder, James Tronstein, Harvard-Westlake, Jr.: The Stanford commit had 41 hits and batted .414 with four home runs and 20 RBIs while playing center field. Outfielder, Anthony Murphy, Corona, Jr.: He led Corona in hitting with a .415 average, including 49 hits and 11 home runs, and 35 RBIs.
Los Angeles Times
29-05-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Marina doubles team repeat bid ends in CIF Individuals boys' tennis semifinals
CLAREMONT — Marina High senior Trevor Nguyen and junior David Tran helped orchestrate a historic season for the boys' tennis team. The Vikings advanced to their first CIF championship match in program history. Individually, Nguyen and Tran were not quite able to repeat as the best doubles team in the CIF Southern Section. They lost to the top-seeded JSerra duo of Brady Schaefgen and Riley Anson, 6-3, 7-5, in the semifinals of the CIF Individuals tournament on Thursday morning at Biszantz Family Tennis Center in Claremont. 'I think we all played well this year, us and our team,' Tran said. 'We came really close. The Ojai final, that could have gone either way, and also the team final. We all played really well, got really close. We just wish we could have pulled it through, winning.' Nguyen, the powerful left-hander, exits as possibly the most accomplished tennis player in school history, coach Chuck Kingman said, at least on par with 2023 graduate Mika Ikemori on the girls' side. Nguyen is attending UC San Diego next year and hopes to walk on to the men's tennis team there. Nguyen and Tran, the Sunset League champions, started well against Trinity League champions Schaefgen and Anson. The defending CIF doubles champions from Marina quickly earned a 3-0 lead in the first set. But the JSerra tandem ran off six straight games to capture the set. 'We started slow, but they were also playing unbelievable for the first three games,' Anson said. 'Everything was working. After 0-3, I think we just slowed our game down a little bit, made the right shots. Didn't go for anything flashy, just played basic doubles and played the right high-percentage shots. 'I played Trevor previously, and I know he's a monster at the net. The plan was just to try to keep it away from him, extend the points and try to have us attack the net and finish.' The second set stayed on serve until the very end. Serving to stay in the match at 4-5, Tran held in a game that went to three deuces. Schaefgen then quickly held serve at love himself, putting the pressure back on Marina. Nguyen went up 30-love on his serve, but JSerra rallied to capture the game and the match. A good return by Anson on match point forced Nguyen's subsequent shot long. JSerra's duo had its serve broken just once all match. 'Credit to our guys, they hung in there and didn't get disillusioned and batted,' Kingman said. 'And all credit to Riley and his partner, they played really well from the third game on. They never had any lapses. Our guys never really got a look at anything. They served well, they returned well, our guys just never quite got a look.' Nguyen and Tran got to the CIF semifinals with a pair of wins Wednesday, beating a team from University in the round of 16 and a team from Palos Verdes in the quarterfinals. In two years together as a doubles team, they advanced to at least the semifinals twice at both the prestigious Ojai Tournament and the CIF Individuals tournament. 'I'm really proud of what we've achieved over my career,' Nguyen said. 'I'm sad that this is my last chance. We came so close. We got to the finals of Ojai, the [team] finals of CIF and the semifinals of this tournament. It's just kind of sad that we couldn't pull it through with all of those chances.' Edison's Dylan Trinh and Kai Stolaruk were the other local players to advance to the final stages of the tournament. Trinh and Stolaruk, the Sunset League runners up, fell to Langston Walter-Wu and Humam Alajeely of University 6-4, 6-4 in the round of 16.
Los Angeles Times
28-05-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Huntington Beach boys' volleyball season ends one match short of state finals
MANHATTAN BEACH — For the second time in eight days, Huntington Beach matched up with top-ranked Manhattan Beach Mira Costa in a high-stakes fight. And for the second time in those bouts, the Mustangs walked away with the prize, this time securing a spot in the inaugural CIF State Division I championship match for boys' volleyball. Cooper Keane had 18 kills to lead Mira Costa over visiting Huntington Beach 26-24, 25-20, 25-16 on Saturday in a Southern California regional final, bringing an end to an otherwise remarkable season for the Oilers. 'In any given year, we could have been CIF champs and state champs,' Huntington Beach coach Craig Pazanti said. 'We were the second best team in our section, second best team in Southern California, we've been one of the top teams in the country all year long, and just give these guys credit. These guys have busted their butts all year long.' Huntington Beach (36-5) took three of its losses against Mira Costa (36-2), including a five-set defeat in the Southern Section Division 1 final on Friday, May 16. The Mustangs will be heavily favored against San Jose Archbishop Mitty (40-2) in the Division I state final on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Fresno City College. 'I feel completely lucky to be a part of it,' Mira Costa coach Greg Snyder said of his team advancing to the state finals. 'To have the team that we have in the first year that it's in existence, I feel like Mira Costa is set up to take it. I have complete respect for [Archbishop Mitty], but I feel like this team is hungry for that win. 'I've been dangling that carrot in front of them the entire season, and now that it's close, I just see this team coming together, gelling and peaking just at the right time. A coach couldn't ask for anymore.' Grayson Bradford had seven kills and seven block assists for Mira Costa. Mateo Fuerbringer added eight kills, Alex Heins provided six kills and four block assists, and Wyatt Davis chipped in with six kills and three block assists. Andrew Chapin spread the ball around for 36 assists, adding two kills and a service ace. The Oilers went undefeated in the Sunset League, delivering the program's first league championship since 2016. Pazanti also noted that Huntington Beach played 21 matches against the top 10 teams in the Southern Section and went 17-4. 'We don't duck anybody,' Pazanti said. 'Year to year, we're going to play against the best competition, and that's how we get better. It would have been nice to get one more match, but can't be disappointed when you have that kind of a season.' Huntington Beach was off to the races in the first set. Snyder utilized his two timeouts after the Mustangs had fallen into deficits of 9-4 and 17-8, respectively. A late run closed the gap, and when outside hitter Colin Choi (five kills) aggravated an ankle injury upon landing after a swing, Mira Costa capitalized by taking eight of the last 11 points to claim the extended set. Mira Costa then won the last six points of the second set to take a commanding lead in the match. 'I thought through two sets, we had probably outplayed them for about 90% of the match,' Pazanti said. 'But they went on a run late in set two, and they went on a run late in set one, and that was the difference. We lose our best passer [Choi] at the end of set one. Who knows — would of, should of, could of — but I'm guessing he doesn't get hurt, we win set one and maybe it's a different mental approach to the rest of the match.' Logan Hutnick had a team-leading 17 kills to go with two block assists and an ace for Huntington Beach. Ben Arguello added nine kills and two block assists. Kai Gan distributed 28 assists. The Oilers played the match without Nick Ganier Jr. available at middle blocker, due to illness. Kaegan Ramdhani stepped up with two kills and four block assists. 'It's just tough,' said Choi, who returned to the action in the second set after having the injury taped. 'I think we just ran out of gas, but I think we put our best foot forward today, and I can't really complain.' Also in the CIF State Southern California regional finals: Sage Hill 3, San Diego Clairemont 0: The top-seeded Lightning earned a 25-16, 25-22, 25-22 win at home on Saturday to advance to the CIF State Division III final. Jackson Cryst had 32 kills to lead Sage Hill (22-11), which has won a dozen matches in a row. The Lightning will face San Francisco International (27-7) on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in the state championship match at Fresno City College.
