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Saturday, June 5, 2010

UCLA legend John Wooden Dies

Wooden's accomplishments during his 27-season tenure with the Bruins made him one of the greatest coaches in sports history. He also created the 'Pyramid of Success' motivational program that is used by coaches and leaders in various vocations to this day.

In his 40 years of coaching in high school and college, Wooden had only one losing season — his first. He finished with 885 wins and 203 losses, and his UCLA teams still hold an NCAA record for winning 88 consecutive games from 1971 through 1974.

Wooden died Friday evening of natural causes at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, but his legend will live on. The values he instilled in his players, coaches and anyone he came into contact with, will be his legacy...to all of us.
Thanks coach.

We shall not see his likeness again.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

CIF Div. I Finals Set

Dana Hills and Mater Dei will battle it out in the CIF Div.I Finals Saturday, June 5, 2010 - 7:30 PM at Strom Stadium in Lake Elsinore.

The Lake Elsinore Storm is a Class-A Advanced Minor League Baseball Affiliate of the San Diego Padres. In the 15 years of Storm Baseball there have been 75 former Storm players to reach the upper echelon of professional baseball. The 2008 season saw 13 former Storm make their Major League Debut. Storm Baseball home games are played at the Diamond, a state-of-the-art facility that is continually voted one of the finest ballparks in all of the Minor Leagues. Truley a great place to see a ball game.

For more information on "Storm Baseball and the ball park go to: http://www.strombaseball.com.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Ohlone Renegades State Champs 2010

State Tournament Games

Game 1: Ohlone (No. 2 North) 13, El Camino (No. 1 South)0
Game 2: Rio Hondo (South 2) 18, San Mateo (North 1) 6
Game 3: San Mateo 15, El Camino 14
Game 4: Ohlone 11, Rio Hondo 2
Game 5: San Mateo 16, Rio Hondo 4
Game 6 (Sunday): Ohlone 16, San Mateo 10
The Ohlone Renegades: win the 2010 State Title


For All-State Team selections, go to the Spinco Stats link on this page under helpful links.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Community College Baseball

2010 State Tournament Schedule May 21-23
Fresno City College, Fresno
Double Elimination Tournament

Teams:
North No. 1 San Mateo (32-8-1); North No. 2 Ohlone (34-10)
South No. 1 El Camino (32-9); South No. 2 Rio Hondo (31-10)

Friday, May 21
Game 1: Ohlone vs. El Camino, noon
Game 2: Rio Hondo vs. San Mateo, 6 p.m.

Saturday, May 22
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4

Sunday, May 23
Game 6: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 4
Game 7: Rematch Game 6 , if necessary

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Jordan's Christian Hurtado Needs Your Help

Christian Hurtado, injured by a comeback hit to the head in the Panthers' game against Wilson; with Hurtado still in the hospital and his jersey hanging in the dugout, the Panthers pulled off an emotional win over Cabrillo, with the hope that Hurtado would be out of the hospital with a clean bill of health shortly after.

He's been released, but due to the trauma to his head (which left him with high blood pressure and blood in his brain), he needs further care and testing. Both of Christian's parents were laid off recently, and the family does not have health insurance—we will keep you updated on fundraising efforts, but for now anyone who's interested in helping the Hurtado family can contact Jordan coach marc Prager at mprager@lbschools.net.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

JC Playoffs Continue

The JC Playoffs will continue with the Super Regionals, May 14-16. Two Four-Team Double-Elimination Tournaments where the highest seeded regional winners host. That means #1 Santa Ana and #5 El Camino for the Southern Section.

The Northern section is still to be decided as #16 Sierra at #2 San Mateo will play again on Monday.

The State Tournament, May 21-13, at Fresno Four-Team Double-Elimination Tournament Super Regional Tourn. Winners (Two North, Two South)

Thursday, May 6, 2010

JC Playoffs Begin

Round #1 of the JC Playoffs begin this week. The Southern California Regional will feature some new faces (Compton/Golden West) to go along with the old. Here's how they will match-up.

#18 Compton at #1 Santa Ana
#16 Questa at #2 San Diego
#14 Palomar at #3 Oxnard
#13 Hancock at #4 Chaffey
#12 LA Pierce at #5 El Camino
#11 Bakersfield at #6 Golden West
#10 Desert at #10 Cypress
#9 Rio Hondo at #8 LA Valley

The teams will play a Best-of Three-Series with the winner advancing to Round 2 Playoffs (Super Regional Tournament)next week May 14-16.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Ruiz, Paez deliver again for Bishop Amat

So much for the thinking if you're a multiple-sport athlete, you can't do two things at once. On Sunday, Rio Ruiz of La Puente Bishop Amat took a day off from baseball and played quarterback at the Nike football training camp at USC.

He was back playing baseball on Wednesday and belted a 400-foot three-run home run in the first inning to help the No. 1-ranked Lancers beat West Covina South Hills, 4-3, at Mount San Antonio College. Pitcher Paul Paez improved to 10-0, striking out 12.

Ruiz, a sophomore committed to USC, raised his batting average to .492.

Bishop Amat (21-2) will face No. 2 Lakewood on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Redondo in the championship game of a bracket of the Redondo tournament.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Frank McCourt Helps LAUSD Close Sports Funding Gap

Faced with a $1.3-million cutback to the high school sports program in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the LA84 Foundation and Dodgers owner Frank McCourt have helped spearhead a fundraising drive that will enable more than 700 coaches to be paid and 75 high schools to maintain their sports programs for the coming school year. LA84 then came forward to make a grant of $252,600 and began encouraging other community members to participate. McCourt pledged that the Dodgers Dream Foundation would help support baseball and softball. Steve Soboroff, chairman of the Weingart Foundation, said his organization is donating $150,000. Other community members will be sponsoring additional sports, such as Chivas USA for soccer and Nike for basketball.

"I'm not so old I can't remember high school sports myself," he said. "They were a huge part of my upbringing and kept me on the straight and narrow. I'm the father of four boys who played three sports. It was a great way to help them stay healthy, stay out of trouble and learn about life."

McCourt mentioned former major leaguers who grew up in Los Angeles and played high school sports, including such Dodgers stars as Don Drysdale, Eddie Murray, Willie Crawford and Willie Davis. "I think the kids today deserve to follow in those footsteps," he said.

Finally, someone sees the value of HS sports for kids!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

"Let Them Make the Mistakes"

Crespi came away with a 7-6 victory over Orange Lutheran on Wednesday in a semifinal game in the Diamond Sports National Classic at Placentia El Dorado. It was worthy of a championship game, with each team making no errors and refusing to go down without a fight.

Crespi broke a 3-3 tie with four runs in the top of the seventh. The Celts took advantage of bases-loaded walks to Josh Mason and Ryan Brockett, plus a two-run single by Alex Gonzalez.

The key to victory for Crespi was its pitchers throwing strikes. Because the tournament is using wood bats, home runs have been rare. Only two had been hit in three days. That means keeping runners off the bases is crucial. Starting pitcher Madison Dang walked none in four innings. Heineman walked three over three innings. In contrast, three Lutheran pitchers had nine walks.

"They helped us out a little bit," Muckey said. "That's our philosophy: Go out and play the game of baseball and let them make the mistakes."

Crespi advances to tonight's 7 p.m. championship game at Cal State Fullerton, where it will play El Dorado, which beat Edison, 2-1. It will be the second time in three years that the Celts will try to win the tournament title.

Despite losing ace Ryon Healy last month because of a muscle strain in his forearm, the Celts keep finding pitchers. Dang and Heineman are Nos. 5 and 6 on the Celts' staff, and a seventh pitcher, Chad Tobin, is expected to start tonight.

They all follow the Muckey credo: Throw strikes.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Pitching, defense key in National Classic

The best tournament in Southern California, the 16-team Diamond Sports National Classic, begins on Monday, and the key to emerging as the champion on Thursday at Cal State Fullerton is pitching depth and defense, especially this season, because wood bats will be used.

La Puente Bishop Amat (11-1) and Encino Crespi (11-3) would appear to have the edge. Bishop Amat, however, has to decide when to use ace Paul Paez. Will he throw in the first round against Arizona's Notre Dame Prep?

Crespi won't have its ace, Ryon Healy, available for pitching duties because he has just begun rehab from a strained muscle tendon in his forearm. But Ryan Brockett (3-0, 1.61 ERA) and John Kearns (4-0, 2.97) are ready to go, and closer Josh Mason could end up starting.

Many of the teams are expected to promote junior varsity pitchers this week in case they are needed playing four games in four days, and the player to watch for Crespi could be sophomore JV pitcher Christian Johnson, who might be put on the mound and asked to come through.

Huntington Beach Edison is expected to use its ace, Henry Owens, in Monday's 10 a.m. opener against Palm Desert at El Dorado. But what do the Chargers do in a possible second-round matchup against Bishop Amat? That's the dilemma every coach in this tournament will be facing. When do you use your big gun and who is the first pitcher off the bench?