UCLA Baseball Camps

HIGH SCHOOL SHOWCASE CAMP

July 10-14
Boys, entering grades 10-12 (2012-2014 graduates)
$800 Resident
$500 Commuter
CAMP STAFF
Head Coach John Savage
Assistant Coach Rick Vanderhook
Assistant Coach TJ Bruce
Assistant Coach Jake Silverman
plus current and former Bruins!

HIGH SCHOOL CAMP PROGRAM
The High School overnight Camp offers players (entering grades 10-12) the opportunity for a true Bruin baseball experience. This camp will feature hands-on instruction from the UCLA coaching staff and offer the opportunity to compete against other top high school players from across the country. Instruction will include detailed hitting and pitching mechanics, as well as for defensive positions and baserunning. Camp fees include a camp t-shirt, a certificate of completion and awards. Be a part of UCLA Baseball this summer, join the Bruin experience!

FACILITIES & ACCOMMODATIONS
The UCLA Baseball Camps will take place at the newly renovated Jackie Robinson Stadium , home of the UCLA Bruins Baseball team and located a few minutes west of campus. The addition of the 10,500-square foot Gifford Hitting Facility just beyond right field has turned JRS into one of the best baseball facilities in the West. (Directions will be emailed to you, following registration.) overnight campers stay in the UCLA residence halls, and meals are served in the award-winning UCLA dining halls, which offer a variety of food on an all-you-can eat basis for a well-rounded, balanced diet. overnight campers are housed in double-occupancy rooms, and are supervised by coaches and counselors also staying in the residence hall. Roommate preferences will be accommodated whenever possible; if no roommate is requested, one will be assigned according to age.

For more information go to: http://www.uclabruins.com/camps/2011-camps-basebl-hs.html

JC Baseball Regional Playoff Games, May 6-7

Best-of-Three Series.
Games at 2 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. (*Saturday Second game to follow if necessary.)

#16 Citrus at #1 Rio Hondo
#9 Cuesta at #8 Cerritos
#12 East LA at #5 Palomar
#13 Hancock at #4 Orange Coast
#14 San Diego Mesa at #3 Santa Ana
#11 Cypress at #6 Glendale
#10 Riverside at #7 Santa Barbara
#15 Southwestern at #2 Chaffey

Winning teams advance to Super Regional Tournaments May 13-15
State Tournament May 20-22 at Bakersfield College.

Baseball Polls

With two weeks left in the regular season, the Southern Section coaches' baseball polls are starting to take on added importance. They will be used for seeding purposes.

In Division 1, Huntington Beach Edison is No. 1, followed by Santa Ana Mater Dei, San Juan Capistrano JSerra and Vista Murrieta. Lakewood, ranked No. 6 in Southern Section Division 1, was beaten by Los Angeles Loyola, 7-4, in the Redondo tournament on Saturday.

Trabuco Hills has taken over No. 1 in Division 2, followed by Cypress, Chaminade and Arcadia. In Division 3, it's La Verne Bonita, led by 9-0 pitcher Justin Garza, that is No. 1 over Quartz Hill and Alhambra.

Palm Desert gets the nod in Division 4 ahead of La Puente Bishop Amat. Woodcrest Christian is No. 1 in Division 5 ahead of Tahquitz and Van Nuys Montclair Prep. Oxford is No. 1 in Division 6 ahead of Pasadena Poly. Nuview Bridge is No. 1 in Division 7.

Chet Brewer Classic Begins Saturday

The Chet Brewer Classic, featuring 16 teams, will begin on Saturday, April 9, 2011 and an intriguing opener has Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley traveling to Los Angeles to play Compton Centennial at the Dodger Dream Field at Algin Sutton Park, 8800 South Hoover St., LA.


Babe Herman Tournament Schedule
Here's the schedule for the final day of the Babe Herman tournament.
11 a.m., South Pasadena vs. Oak Park at Stengel Field;
3:30 p.m., El Segundo at Santa Monica; North Torrance at Pasadena;
South Torrance vs. Covina at Stengel Field.
Championship game: Crescenta Valley vs. West Torrance, 7 p.m at Stengel Field.

Savage Challenges His Bruins

"We have to get a lot better," UCLA Coach John Savage said. "We're an average team right now. We know we have abilities to be real good, but we need a different mind-set and a different approach because the one that's out there right now is clearly not working."

UCLA (8-6), once ranked No. 2 in the nation in one poll, continues to suffer from hitting woes. The Bruins were held to four hits and wasted a good pitching performance by freshman Adam Plutko, who struck out eight in six innings in a disappointing 2-0 loss to USC (5-10).

With Dodger Dogs going for half price, Nancy Bea Hefley playing the organ and the USC and UCLA bands playing their schools' fight songs, the baseball game Sunday at Dodger Stadium between USC and UCLA produced an entertaining atmosphere for the crowd of 11,680....truly an excellent event.

Moore League Teams Take a Hit

Lakewood and Wilson will meet in the Loara Tournament Saturday, March 12 at Glover Stadium in La Palma at 3PM, but it will not be for first place. Both schools were defeated in the semi-finals and will play each other for 3rd place.

It was just one of those days for the Lancers. Lakewood fell behind 3-0 in the top of the second, and gave up another four in the top of the fourth—that’s where it stayed until a nightmare seventh inning that saw them giving up 12 runs in their eventual 19-0 loss to Vista Murrieta.

Wilson (3-1) was locked up in a tough 1-0 contest with top ranked Edison until the 6th inning, when Edison rolled a 7. The Bruins did manage to push 2 runs across in the 7th but came up short losing 8-2.

The Rams fell to 1-3 with this loss to Woodbridge. Millikan took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but gave it away in the bottom of the same inning, then fell behind 4-1 in the third, and struggled to stem the tide defensively. The Rams will try to bounce back on Saturday against Diamond Bar.

Semifinals - Loara Tournament

It's the semifinals of the Loara tournament on Thursday, and the featured match up happens at 7 p.m. at Glover Field in Anaheim. It will be Huntington Beach Edison (3-0) taking on Long Beach Wilson (3-0). Huntington Beach Edison defeated Sonora, 3-2 to get to the semi-final. Christian Lopes hit a home run and Henry Owens came in to pick up the save. Wilson defeated Cypress 2-1, Buckle hit a home run and recorded the win from the mound. Wilson will use junior standout Chase DeJong. Edison has not announced it's starter but they won't be using ace Henry Owens.

The other semifinal at 3 p.m. matches Lakewood (3-0) and Vista Murrieta (3-0). Lakewood banged out eight hits, three for extra bases, to defeat Servite 4-2. Lakewood scored early when Tyler Leidholdt was hit by pitch in the first inning and scored one batter later on an RBI double by Nick Torres. Two innings later, JP Crawford doubled and scored on a Tyler Schultz single to extend the lead to 2-0. Jacob Worrell then tripled in Schultz to give Gidley all the support he would need. Servite (2-1) scored two sixth-inning runs. Darrell Miller Jr., the son of former Angels catcher Darrell Miller, had two of Servite's four hits.

The possibility of an all Long Beach final speaks highly of the Moore League and the strong traditions of baseball at both Wilson and Lakewood. Should be a good semi and as even better final.

Local Teams Open Well

Millikan 8, La Mirada 2: Catcher Alex Antonaras went 3-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI for the Rams at the Loara Tournament. Jordan Ybarra added two hits and two RBIs.

LB Poly 7, Mayfair 1: Senior right-hander Tyler Maxwell who has signed with Stanford, pitched five solid innings to earn a win and also hit a two-run triple.

Wilson 8, Artesia 2: Bobby Webb struck out five in four innings for the Bruins at the Loara Tournament. He also had three singles and scored twice for Wilson. Keith White also had three hits and an RBI.

Lakewood 6, El Modena 1: J.P. Crawford went 3-for-4 with a run scored and Tyler Leidhodt delivered a two-run triple in the fifth for the Lancers at the Loara Tournament. Shane Watson allowed one hit in five innings and struck out two.

Los Alamitos 7, Kennedy 1: Troy Rallings allowed one run over six innings for the Griffins at the Loara Tournament. Sam Lorenzini went 3-for-4 with an RBI and Michael Farris contributed two hits.

Bellflower 10, Bishop Montgomery 3: Nick LaSala and Stevan Sanchez each went 2-for-3 for the Buccaneers in a season-opening victory at the El Segundo Tournament.

Gahr 12, Palos Verdes 4: Jacob Faria pitched five strong innings for the Gladiators at the El Segundo Tournament. Josh Palmer and Edgar Morales each hit home runs in the first inning. Alex Newman, Kevin Franklin and Anthony Rodriguez each had three hits.

St. John Bosco 5, Redondo 3: Koby Gauna allowed four hits in seven innings for the Braves at the El Segundo Tournament. Nick Wood drove in two runs.

Lynwood 3, Firebaugh 0: Francisco Marin struck out six in a shutout and had a two-run double for the host Knights in a nonleague victory. Joshua Porras added an RBI triple.

Cabrillo 16, Dominguez 0: Ray Hisquierdo struck out seven in six innings for the Jaguars in a nonleague victory at home. Louie Terrazas went 5-for-5, stole two bases and scored three times.

Paramount 4, Roosevelt 0: Alex Navarette struck out seven and allowed four hits in a shutout at the El Segundo Tournament. Jose Lopez had two RBIs, a run and a stolen base. - Ben Villa

Play Ball

While most colleges and JC's have already begun their 2011 Baseball seasons, this weekend marks the beginning of High School Baseball with the traditional scrimmage.

The CIF Blue Book defines a scrimmage as follows. "An interscholastic scrimmage in baseball is a training session between a minimum of two and a maximum of three schools where no score is kept, free substitution and time-outs are permitted, spectators are not urged to attend, and officials are not paid."

This is what makes a scrimmage unique and the reason why it is not counted as a contest. This format permits coaches to set up situations, get game experience in the execution of certain skills in a more controlled, relaxed format. The scrimmage also allows the coaches to freely substitute players in and out giving a great deal of flexibility not normally afforded in the game.

While many High School Baseball Coaches still run a scrimmage as it was intended to be, a training session with teachable moments and free substitution, some have gone far beyond this definition and treat it as a regular contest. Even to the point of sending a message or setting the tone for the season and playing to win.

This attitude goes far beyond the intent of the rule and reflects a selfish will to win when no score is to be kept.

As a Athletic director and a traditionalist, I appreciate the intent of the scrimmage rule and would hope all coaches would see the value in it as well. Remember, you will never find that surprise on your ball club, if you don't look for it.

Progress Report - Tommy Peale

It has been a long road back from "Tommy John Surgery" for former 2006 South Coast Conference Player of the Year and LBCC MVP, Tommy Peale. Even though his rehab is not completed, all indications are that he is well on his way. Tom's father Gary Peale reported that, Tommy threw his first bull pen sense the surgery and everyone in Florida was very encouraged. "Tom has done everything he has been asked to do," reports his father. "We'll just have to wait and see - Time will tell."

Tommy was a key factor in the Vikings 2006 State Championship in Baseball going 16-0 in 103 innings pitched with a 1.31 ERA. He also had a .362 batting average in 35 games as a position player. Now, five years later, he is still giving everything he has to the game.

There is an old saying I learned from my LBCC coach Bob Meyers back in 1972, "The cream always rises to the top." I believed it then and still do to this day. Whether in the game of Baseball or Life, Tommy Peale will rise to meet the challenge.

All the best my friend, we're all pulling for you!

LBCC Wins Opener 4-3

The Long Beach City College baseball team pounded out 12 hits in its season opener on its way to a 4-3 non-conference win at Barstow College on Saturday.

Long Beach (1-0) returns to action on Tuesday (Feb. 8) when it begins a three-game series against Orange Coast College. LBCC is at OCC on Tuesday, followed by the Vikings’ home opener at Joe Hicks Memorial Field on Thursday (Feb. 10). The two squads close the series on Friday (Feb. 11) at Orange Coast.

All games are set to begin at 2 p.m.