SOFTBALL: How far can Kaitlin Ellingsworth take Temple City, and can Alverno knock off top-ranked Paraclete? ... Also, second annual Public vs. Private all-area softball game set for Friday, June 8 at Arcadia High School. Rosters announced next week

what was the Rosie comment?

Anon 10:26 breath deep, move away from the computer and stay away for about 6 months - get some prespective - maybe talk to a friend if you have one - and take that anger management course previously recommended - remember it is just high school girls softball - not even the life or death girls travel ball softball.

Please, we are not that dumb. You speak in many voices Anon 9:48,
9:57,7:42, but you say the same things over and over and it is ugly. You represent nothing but hate. Something is wrong with YOU.

It is YOU who is creating discord. Now YOU grow up and deal with common discussion, about SP or not, and stop trying to be a blog nazi where only your thoughts can be considered. If you really want to police the bog, talk to your friend who made the Rosie O'Donnell comment.

Anon 8:42 settle down - take an anger management course and grow up. You are really making us look like idiots. There is only one knucklehead at SP that is that immature and we are sorry - we have no idea how to control him. Just ignor him - he doesn't represent us - great season TC and Monrovia and anyone else he has insulted directly or in a backhanded way (we know you aren't that stupid - he doesn't which tells you all you need to know).

Anon 7:42,
Don't repond - they just can't help themselves - certain of them need serious help - how old is Anon 8:42 - 12 tops - makes the SF guys look mature - if that guy is a parent God help his child - with helpful parents like that no wonder SP play so uptight and ends up in the middle of the league just above .500.

You are not a good human being and you just barely deserve the air you breathe. barely. YOU leave the blog and never come back. Please. You are the type of person who has ruined it and I hope your kid gets out of jail soon.

Get off the blog SP for at least a year - no one cares for your justification as to why SP consistently underperforms. You ended up where SP always ends up. In fact his was a good year by historical standards - congrats.

That #3 team in the RHL went as far in CIF as every other team in the area except for Alverno and TC and they lost to the same team as TC by less and they will be back and stronger next year, and this is softball not baseball.

People can talk about anything they want, within reason, and they do not need you to tell them what to talk about. Thanks.

SP for God sakes let it go. Never has so much been written about a third place team in the RHL.
Where are the 3rd place SM bloggers on the boys side - oh that's right unlike SP they get 3rd place in the RHL is no so much to crow about. What is in the water in SP?

Thank you Fred for removing that. We truly appreciate all your hard work, time and dedication you put into this site. Sorry for getting hostile on here but it really ticked me off to read that kind of nonsense. Please remove my earlier entry relpy to that individual. Keep up the good work!!!!!

Sorry for that comment getting in, I wasn't around this weekend.

Hey Fred, I thought that you were not going to allow idiots like Anonymous or should I say "coward" to post any type of negetive comments about athletes. If that jerk had any guts it would show it's face up close and personal so we could have a very private and in depth conversation. You up for it jerk?

Fred,
I think that lexy long was the best RHL catcher this year.

Then she follows it up with a three run home run to right. unbelievable.

Julie Franklin from TC just smashed a double off the wall for Hawaii against Tennessee and made a nice play at shortstop.

All top five teams in them area

Arcadia, Monrovia, Alverno, Temple City, and South Pasadena

have something in common. They have about 50% travel players. The teams that will win these championships especially in the higher divisions, are the ones that have almost 100% travel participation. If people in the area want to win championships then they should encourage and not discourage travel as an option. You may not like this but it is a reality. Also it should be pointed out that the kids who play travel tend to love it.

Now do not get me wrong, kids who do not play can be great athletes and be very competetive and successful. However, the kids that are able to make that commitment bring so much to the table.

One reason is that high school coaches have so little time that they have to spend most of it getting ready for games and don't have a lot of time for teaching fundementals.

Ask your local coaches, they will agree.

Please don't get mad I am just trying to help out.

It would have been nice to see how they played against each other since the game was scheduled for over a year and they are consistantly compared to each other in local polls with few common opponents.

But, Michelle Escamilla is another great example of being a dedicated travel player and what that work ethic can do for you. I believe Barbara Parker is a travel player as well.

Hey South Pas-
I guess Alverno was really hurt by not playing against "tougher" (tigers) competition. CIF is what it's all about. It doesn't matter what division you're playing in- the only thing that matters is how far you go in your division.

She is a great kid and a dedicated player.

Alverno 4, Paraclete 0....Now what can you say about Alverno's schedule? They just knocked off the division's top seed and Escamilla threw her third straight shutout of playoffs.

No disrespect intended but true or not, again does it really matter? When you get into the playoffs, no records no stats "nada" matters. It's all about what your team brings for that one game against that one opponent. Any team that has the opportunity to make it into the playoffs obviously had to have a good season. Regardless of how they did againt a common foe. We are just as equally as proud of our girls here at TC, the only difference being we are not making any excuses or trying to justify why they lost yesterday. We are totally excited about 08 and the team that we will have coming back. With the outstanding coaching and the experience that our girls received during their run, they will return in the spring more polished and most importantly more seasoned. Hopefully other teams will still be wallowing in woulda, coulda, shoulda....

We lost two days before you, not a week.

Moving on... but I had to say it, because i feel it is true and we are very proud of our kids and it does not take away from your kids, they are great too.

Typo, sorry I ment "Loss"

SP people cry me a river, get over yourselfs already. You guys lost a week before TC did, give it a rest. Who cares how many times you beat TC during the season, or how you out hit them. Those wins along with all those hits apparently did nothing for your run during CIF. Stop making excuses for your lose suck it up, deal with it and chill out. Next year is next year. TC as well as SP will be ready to compete for League. It's amazing how idiotic some people can be on this blog. I'm sure the tiger nation will come back with some snappy entry defending your hurt honor.... MOVE ON!!!!!!!

Fred,

You are kinda funny. You watch TC yesterday and get excited about a three hit 12 strike out game at home. It was a hard fought battle but it was pretty much the same game as El Segundo's game against SP except the three hard hit balls TC had went through. SP's didn't. SP had walks and errors by El Segundo just the same. The only difference is that SP had to fight the battle at their house. With a packed stands for them. Parada had a three hitter with only five K's ( the defense played real well like they have all year) while the El Segundo pitcher had 10 k's in a no hitter, but a HARD fought 1-0 loss.

But it is OK because SP was pulling for TC. We wanted them to do well. We thought it would help the Rio Hondo League and maybe SP a little since we beat TC twice this year and out hit them 21 to 11 hits in our games and and since we beat Fillmore with 17 hits by 9-0 (a team, by the way, that shut out LA Baptist who TC barely beat in extra innings.) We were sure you would see that. But, you didn't see either one of our two CIF games. Which, by the way, were the first two CIF games SP has won in recent history, no one can remember the last time they did. Its OK, we know you don't dig us because we were underachievers.

We do, however like that you are apparently ranking TC #1 for next year, because we know we get to play them three times, and we know how that has worked out for the past two years.

By the way who is the freshman pitcher going to Poly next year?

Improve the most? If what I hear is correct that Poly has a very good incoming freshman pitcher, then Poly should improve the most....
Westridge should also do well, think San Marino and La Canada will improve some too.
I'd also be surprised if La Salle and Maranatha don't bounce back.

Was lexy long the best RHL catcher this year?

I'd agree that TC or Alverno should be PREseason Nos. 1 and/or 2 for next season. They went the farthest. (I'd give the edge to Alverno on Escamilla alone)

But thats only a PRE season poll. There will be some movement! Keep am eye out for the sleepers this year.

A changing of the guard in the circle can move a so-so '07 squad from mediocrity to a top 5 pretty fast! And with more and more girls playing through the summer and/or improving by developing physically and taking pitching lessons one or two personell moves can make or break a program.(ask Monrovia/Arcadia?)

QUESTION: WHICH LOCAL HS TEAM or TEAMS WILL or SHOULD IMPROVE THE MOST BY NEXT SEASON?

TC should be number 1 next year clearly.

And then there were none so much for the mighty RHL.

FredJ,
Thank you glad you see it my way - re: TC.

Anon 2:58,
You wrong and I am a little tired of your "Who are you going to believe me or your lying eyes" comment. I am sure you are sincer but you constantly mislead people with you completely clouded view of the athletic world. Anon 9:41 has it exactly right and I had one daughter play travel for one of the better teams in OC and one not - both played softball in HS. Really you need to take a break from softball so your get a fresh perspective - seriously.

Hesperia 4
Rim of the World 2

I'm going to rethink my rankings for next year. Temple City is going to be 1 or 2 after the performance I saw today with everyone coming back.
Chavez and Grant are gamers, and Ellingsworth looked much stronger that she did earlier in the year. Great season Rams.

Anon 2:58

Your comments are very thoughtful. Thanks for the insights.

what big game has monrovia ever won? ...and as far as the "well coached" san dimas team..if you consider running your team out of innings (plural, not singular) then what is the definition of a good coach anymore?

TC loses to El Segundo 2-0

You softball aficionados take this way to seriously - two days and 60+ posts - I am glad I had a son.

Anon 9:41

That is backwards and uninformed advice.

The problem is this, most travel players come into High School season after working their butts off for nine months and playing many many games that they love, thinking High School is going to be easy and kick-back. It is not, the parents are nuts to the point that they will spend hours on in writing blogs about it. There is way more pressure than they want and they tend to push too hard and try to be the greatest. As anyone in sports knows, you rarely get results when you push too hard. It usually takes them a while to settle and just play ball. This is true for most but not all, but it is the reason for people whose kids don't play travel ball don't understand the hype. What the travel ball players bring to the table is usually found in practices and leadership and if your lucky eventually in the statistics.

I think that is why the person earlier pointed to Gogreve's early season slump and second half breakthrough. It is truly a mind f to most of the travel kids when they get on their high school team.

Now the reality is that High School pitchers can often get away without playing travel because they can get lessons and work on their own. Ex: Brittney Bateson. The kids that really benefit from Travel Ball are the other skilled positions such as Short Stop and Catcher. These skills are difficult to develop on your own and need a team environment to hone them. All positions do benefit from quality coaching which can often be found in travel ball.

And about Gogreve hitting the same whether she is on a travel team or not is not true. She hit the crap out of the ball this year, flat out. The ball didn't drop for a while but nobody really wanted to pitch to her because there were so few weapons on her team. If I am correct she had about a .450 On Base Percentage on top of a .360 batting average. Not the bloated numbers that you see on some teams because she was relatively alone offensively, but still pretty darn good numbers. And one thing you do not see statistically is the amount of kids she threw out on bases. Kids usually took two foot lead offs on her. Her framing skills also gathered a lot of strikes for Parada and I am sure she will tell you the same.

Another example of long term travel players that have benefitted in hitting and fielding is Krissy Mihm and Katie McWhirter and their success shows dramatically in statistics. They are both floating around .500 in batting average and they did not learn to hit from Randy Medina, and that is not a slight on him. They also have multiple position skills and bring so much to the table. Whether you see it or not.

I get what you are saying about kids needing to be judged on a level playing field in High School and you are right, but you have to take the intangibles into consideration as well as the statistics.

You have to look at the teams that are winning CIF titles and the majority of those teams do not have any players that don't play travel ball. It is pretty much mandatory. This area has not embraced it the way that OC, South Bay, and desert teams have embraced it, and until they do their will be very few CIF titles in this area.

About Div.5 being weak.Monrovia lost to a very good and well coached San Dimas, who has a great shot at winning it all. San Dimas was as tough 1-9 as any of the upper division teams we faced this year. Monrovia in the last 3 years of CIF has lost to 2 CIF Champions and 1 Semi-finalist. To say that they have not preformed in CIF is unfair. The 3 previous loss were in games that went 8 innings (Oaks CHristian), 23 innings (Pomona Cathalic), 14 innings (Valloey CHristian). Not a bad resume if you ask me.

It is really only important to play travel ball to be a good pitcher - because that requires the most most practice and is an unnatural motion. Other positions - if your kid is a good athlete and plays school and community league softball they will be just fine and perhaps even better than fine because they become more well rounded in through other sports. None of travel ball players who - other than pitchers - ripped up the HS Leagues this year - look at the very average batting average of the SP pitcher (a travel ball player) -just look at the SP catcher - she would have hit the same this year for SP even if she hadn't played travel ball. She is a good athlete and would of had basicaly the same year with or without travel ball. You should only have your daughter play travel ball if they are a pitcher, really enjoy playing or have friends on the team - not because they are going to hit 200 point higher in their BA in HS.

Anon 7:24:
My guess your kid plays Travel? Perhaps you are biased? Who's to say who the best 5 players are. I'm sure if you posted your 5 there would be a lot of argument.

Just seems that the girls that play club get a free pass IF they do not do as well in HS season. This is not to take away anything from the girls but all the kids should be on an even grade for the season? I don't think any girl should be given the benefit of the doubt because she played well for her summer team.

I don't think anyone on this blog has seen enough of the local talent to really know who can play and who can't. We all get influenced by our own predjudices and biases. We are free to do that.Thats whats great about this country!

I think the question was does a girl have to play travel ball to be a good HS player?

Anon 7:24 states "3 of the 4" top Pitchers have played Travel...Does this mean "no" or what? I'm a bit confused.

I'd agree that MOST good HS players play Travel/Club but must they all to get recognized for their "HS" achievements?

About travel players, i've watched alot of high school softball. If you take the top 5 players in the area they all play travel. They are head and shoulders better then any one else. As far as Cassie she is the best all around catcher in the area, nobody is close. Grime is good but not at Cassies level. A far as position players Krissy and Katie (Monrovia) no one is even close. There are some young players coming up, but they all play travel. Of the top pitchers 3of the 4 have all either played or are playing travel. How can anyone say that travel players get too much credit, when they are the best players in the area.

Fred,
It is really bizaare how the bloggers (blogger) think that it is a good political stratagy to prove that the Division that they are in (D5) is low or weak.

It is not true, D5 is a strong division. The top teams are very strong and play higher divisions throughout their non-leaugue competition and win and they have to play each other. Could you please point this out.

That is a ridiculous statement.

FYI – Poly and Westridge tied for second in the Prep League at 9-3, both behind Mayfield that won the League at 10-2. Also, from the looks of this year’s playoff performance of RHL and Prep League teams (with the jury out on TC) they all have a lot of work to do in order to just become competitive in their (low) CIF division. Hold off on boasting about how good you all are going to be next year when you couldn’t even make the CIF quarters this year.

I am just saying what happened. The kid had a tough start to the season with a seven game slump where nothing fell for her and she turned it around and made it happen when it counted. I wasn't comparing her to anyone. Thats it. People who are saying good things about her are people that play against her.

I would prefer to not talk about any kid individually, but people were starting to gang up on her and I decided to share something about her season that people may not know. I hope whoever you are trying to make look good is happy and playing good ball. I hope you don't have to bash others to show that.

By the way her numbers in the whole season were just fine. The second half of the season she was phenomenal.

Can we stop talking negatively about individuals and just start talking positively about the kid you support.

So what you are saying a kid can have a HALF SEASON long slump and still have a better year than kids who put up numbers the ENTIRE season?? Is a good HALF season enough when viewed across the board? Is that fair to the rest of the other kids who put together complete SEASONS and not just a half season.

This seems to diminish and perhaps ignore those kids who put together an entire season without the prolonged slumps! Lets take a step back and view the entire season with a neutral point of view??

Anon 9:59

Have another glass of wine.

Anon 9:59

Ugly Ugly Ugly

Tc has 2000 students
SP has 1600
LC has 2200
SM has 1300
Mon has 1800

Well when they start giving out awards for good HALF seasons we'll know who you (anon 9:48) will vote for. I think the anons were just lobbying for the entire "HS" season to be viewed rather than picking and choosing stats.

Let's quit splitting hairs and get out and root for The Lady Rams tomorrow?

You are wrong about Gogreve's batting average. It went down overall a little bit from last year, but she batted well over .500 in the second half of the season after a slump. And in the second half of the season she had over a .600 OBP.

Ask the pitchers that have pitched to her and you will get a sense of her value.

Lets not go down this road.

There is one advantage that club coaches might have over alot of High School coaches-club coaches do a much better job of promoting their athletes.
So an athlete who doesn't play "club" needs to promote themselves.

No- a girl doesn't have to play travel ball to be the best High School player around.
Yes, travel ball helps, but if a player wants to play in college bad enough-they have to get on the phone and call college coaches, go out and visit them and earn a spot.
I have seen alot of girls in various sports who did not play club anything do well in High School and go on to play in college. Yes most played at a JC first for a year or two and then moved up to a four year. There are alot of colleges that do not really recruit at all (club or school)- they wait for athletes to contact them first.
If a player really wants to play-there are opportunities out there.

Can anyone answer the question as to how many students attend TC this year?

Hey anonymous 5:09

You are kidding, right? poly finished 2nd in that Uberweak prep league behind Mayfield who lost in the first round 18-0!! PLEASE let us know your blog was a joke or step away from the bong!

Must agree with anonymous 8:50

SP is/was and will be as good as the girl in the circle. Catcher was decent but not the best around. They essentially equalled last years season but got slightly better (one playoff win) because their pitcher got better. Catcher's stats went down over last three years? Don't mean to nor want to "player bash" because she seems like a neat kid but judging on this past HS season NOT "best around".. Watch how SP does next year without her?

This leads to another thought for discussion:

MUST A GIRL PLAY TRAVEL BALL TO BE CONSIDERED ONE OF BEST "HS" PLAYERS AROUND?

Surely colleges recruit through summer/Travel/Club ball. "Most"of the best softball players play Travel ball BUT NOT ALL ! Should we hold it against a girl or girls if they are good enough and show it during HS season but have no desire to do the Travel Ball thing or even play college softball?

This blogger for one thinks girls should be rewarded for THIS "High School" Season on how well they did this HS season. Not for what they did last summer, last season or next year at college... Any thoughts or comments?

Must disagree... Gogreve was not the best catcher in the area. She was good but not the best! Wish her luck in college. I'd take a healthy Grimes and perhaps 2 or 3 local underclassman

Quick question to SP fans...

Did ya'll get any hits yesterday or one hit? Why the discrepecency in stats? Take a look at competing box scores? Has this gone on all year? What gives?

Fred,

How about a forecast for next season TOP TEN? I'll bet there are a few dark horses that make a run next year...

Don't overlook/underestimate FSH, Maranantha, San Marino

anon 8:19

says who ?? about what???

Don't get ugly now, cause you may be out tomorrow, and if SP is so bad how did they beat TC 2 out of three this year and last year?

Enough with SP - they were mediorce and finish 3rd in league and won a grand total of one game in the playoffs. They are losing their best hitter and player. The team was no-hit in their last game - couldn't score runs all year - why will that will be different next year I have no idea, especially after losing the best player the school has ever had - they do have a good but not the best pitcher - why do they take up so much blog space here? I don't see Westridge the third place team in the Prep League getting so much blog space. IT IS TC TIME - THE ONLY TEAM FROM EITHER THE RHL OR PREP LEAGUE PLAYING - and they will easily win the the RHL next year - they have the best TEAM and it is a TEAM sport. GO TC!!

says who?

Fred
do you know if any of the area pitchers like bateson , rogers and Rodriguez are going on to play college ball or is this it for them. and did any of them get signed to any top colleges.

all you hear about is next year, next year..supposedly it was supposed to be THIS year for the area teams...what happened?

Fred
I'm sorry but you are wrong about Arcadia, next year there is going to be alot of changes to the softball program which will make Arcadia a building block for the future. If you were honest and looking at the stats and the teams they played I think you would agree that they have a great team but when challeged they were no better then the other area teams.

good catchers are the second hardest position to replace next to good Pitchers.

If you think in terms of recruiting, pitchers are the first to get full rides and they are folowed by catchers. That means they are the second hardest to replace.

You can get a sufficient one, but a top notch one is real hard to find, plus they make pitchers better.

from division 6 to division 5 is not that huge of a jump...teams from division 6 beat upper division teams all the time..in agreement with spectator, this is not an unusual event..the last two years La Salle (D 6) beat Arcadia (D 3)...Alverno (D 6) beat FSHA (D 4)..Cantwell Sacred Heart (D 6) beat Temple City (D 5)

Haha. That's true.

They're easier to replace than pitchers.

Personally, in response to all of this, do not count Alverno out. Michelle is a great pitcher. Yes the team behind her might not be strong, but their scrappy and they get the job done. And yes, Fred, your right, if you have the pitcher, you can go anywhere and beat anyone. La Salle did that, and Alverno has done that in the past. You have a great pitcher who can shut down batters, and all your offense has to do is score runs here and there, and the game is yours. And also I love how uninformed people always say that comparing Div 5 and Div. 6 schools is impossible. But in reality, how is that so? A team is a team, hasn't Arcadia lost to higher divisions before? Anything is possible. I do believe that Cantwell Sacred Heart beat a couple of Div. 5 and Div. 6 schools when they were Div. 7. So it isnt comparing apples and oranges. Having just read the paper, it seems that every softball team that the Pasadena Star News favored didn't even make it past the second round. I hope that opens people's eyes that are are more competitive teams in the area other then Monrovia, Arcadia and South Pas.

Good luck Alverno and TC, show others that you deserve to be there, and that you made it farther then the other schools for a reason.

Ha high school politics.

Anon 6:11pm
Get real.
Look at how many games there were this year where it was only Parada or C.Gogreve who got hits for SP. IF you take Gogreve out of the equation, the SP bats are still anemic. Dream on if you think you will win league.
Fred, are catchers that easy to replace?

Look who is complaining now, why get so ugly. Next year SP will still have the best pitcher around and the same infield will be returning and one year older without Gogreve. She influenced a lot of those players and they hit much better as the year went by.

SP won 2 out of 3 for the last wo years with the same pitcher. What makes you think it will be different next year?

I am still pulling for TC in CIF and they deserve all of the credit they get, especially if they beat El Segundo.

where are all the monrovia and arcadia faithful? i thought both of these teams were supposed to go all the way? and yes monrovia has done well in league for the past 4 years, but what have they done in CIF? they have yet to win a "big" game...lost in CIF all 4 years, lost to Arcadia this year...i think its time to realize how difficult it is to perform in CIF and we should give a lot of credit to the 2 local teams who still remain in the playoffs

The reason SP is ahead of TC is because they complain the most - squeaky wheel get the grease. Good thing all that matters is what happens on the field.

Fred J,
I hope you are right - but why LC in the top 5?

You never give TC any love - just because SP parents whine and whine you put them at number 2 - I don't think that they will even be in the top 5. They basically have one player. We have a team and that is the difference this year and next.

FredJ,
South Pasadena number 2 are you kidding? They lose the only one the team that could hit and they lose her leadership and don't underestimated her importance in keep that pitching staff under contol. South Pas will be lucky to be as good as they were this year. You can't lose the best catcher in the area and not feel it. TC will be head and shoulders above them.

Until they win something like that, I think they should be judged accordingly.

It is different playing a good team every once in a while rather than week after week.

Its all good though, Michelle is a great kid and deserves whatever she gets.

Fred J,
Poly will be top 5 next year for sure - top 11 players return on a team that finished second this year - they didn't have a senior - and the best freshman pitcher in the area comming to the school - plus our 2 freshman pitchers this year will be a year older - plus Poly had I think it was 6 players on the first and second all league team this year with their best pure hitter not making all league.

Comparing Div. V teams to Div. VI teams isn't comparing apples and oranges. Far from it...

Alverno beat Covina, a good team from the Valle Vista League that split with Northview, the same team T.C. barely beat, 1-0 in the first round.

Alverno split with FSHA and beat La Salle and Maranatha, two normally sound area-private schools that had down years. They also beat Mayfield, the Prep League champion, 5-0..

And now they're in the playoffs, which is the best barometer and what do they do? They shutout Windward (14-0), a 12-2 team in the first round. And then they defeat a very good Notre Dame Academy squad 2-0 in the second round, and ND Academy finishes 20-7. And don't talk about ND Academy being a weak opponent. ND beat Marymount, a 19-7 team, and barely lost to La Reina, a team that Arcadia edged out in the first round.

What I will say about the Horizon league is that it is weak. No argument. But that's not Alverno's fault. They blow everyone out like they're supposed to, and now they're doing what good teams do in the playoffs, they keep winning.

I think we had this same conversation about Pas Poly's baseball team the last few years until they finally played in the Elks tournament against all the other West San Gabriel Valley's top teams and won the whole thing...

Fred,

Alverno's weak nonleague and league schedule that they play doesn't sway your opinion? How do you know if Escamilla or her defense is going to hold up against more seasoned teams? And how do you know if her hitters can hold up agains quality pitching? It doesn't seem like it pays off in your poll to go out and play really tough competition, because the losses incurred cost you.

Alverno really didn't play up at all, through the whole season. TC, SP and Monrovia played way up throughout their nonleague schedule not to mention each other.

It must be nice to roll through league play like they are scrimmages preparing for CIF.

I think it is comparing apples and oranges.

Anonymous, a combination of both.
I think if Alverno played a three-game series against South Pas or TC, they would win.....When the small schools have great pitching like Alverno has, they can compete with any of the public schools in our area. Look at La Salle the past few years with Kathleen Salvo and Amanda Doeppel, Fprep when they had Jenna Schachtner, Alverno when they had Stewart or all the greats Pas Poly had at one time. When you've got the girl in the circle, you can compete with anyone. And lets not forget, we're not comparing Div. I with Div. VI...RHL teams compete in Div. V, just a notch above D-VI.

Good question, and since you're asking, Monrovia could fall out of top ten, but I hear Arcadia has a talented pitcher who did not play this year because they already had Jenna. Apparently, she's very good and the Apaches have a talented defensive team coming back...
And since you asked, maybe something like this...

1. Alverno
2. South Pas
3. Temple City
4. Arcadia
5. La Canada

Fred,

When you put Alverno above TC and SP are you saying that Alverno would be likely to beat them, or that they excelled more in their respective league and division?

Fred,

Knowing what you know, what is your top five for next year?

If I had to do a top five today, it would look like this

1. Arcadia
2. Monrovia
3. Alverno
4. Temple City
5. South Pasadena

Agree they may have been the first best team. Although Monrovia was the real deal.

FYI: Ed Andersen (Arcadia) and Bob Ellingsworth (TCity) will coach the Public team in the Public-Private all-star game at Arcadia on June 8....
We started this game last year with the help of several softball aficionados. The game consists of seniors from the Star-News coverage area. Last year's game ended in a 2-2 tie...We're still sorting out who will coach the private team...I'll have rosters finished early next week..

clear as mud

The only thing clear in the RHL is that TC is still in CIF. The rest of the season, not so clear. Monrovia sweeps SP, TC beats Monrovia, SP beats TC 2 out of 3, and only one of those games decided by more than 2 runs.

The Poly Paraclete game was tied 1 to 1 going into the 5th before Poly's inexperience caught up with them. Alverno can beat them if they keep their heads.

What makes it so clear?

TC was clearly the second best team in the RHL.

Also, we didn't have Temple City's box score in today's newspaper because nobody called it in...

Alverno is playing its home playoff games at San Gabriel Mission....

And as far as Temple City softball coverage, we have covered our fair share of Rams games during the season. Obviously, we opted to cover the Rams baseball game at home on Tuesday against another local, Gabrielino. We didn't have enough staffers to cover all the games, especially those on the road. We couldn't even cover the Pas Poly home baseball game, Alverno, Arcadia or South Pas softball games. Don't take it personally, you know you'll have extensive coverage tomorrow.

Not to take anything away from a great season by their pitcher ...but how do they play any games let alone a playoff game at Alverno?

Isn't there a CIF rule as to minimum field requirements? What is it about 100' to RF Oak tree?

I guess we'll see how good of a coach Medina is next year? It's got to be easier to coach when you have a few girls who manage from the field!

Hats off to a GREAT HS career Monrovia 5 seniors.

TC keeps proving everyone wrong. Why can't they get any love from the paper?

They beat Monrovia a couple-three weeks ago and not a word. They knock out a pretty good LAB team and nothing? Go Rams! I would love to see a big turnout for Tomorrows game. Come on SGV softball fans!

TC Coach looks more and more like a coach of the year? Still say he's done a lot more with less talent.

Are they good enough to win it all? I don't think so...but they are still standing and the only local D5 or above team that has a chance... Reminds me a lot like Gabrielino last season?

quick question? How many students at TC?

Alverno will be tested against a good (but not great)Paraclete team who got bumped out of D5 last year because they couldn't hack it. Sure would like to see Escamilla get tested more often against better comp to see how good she really is? Hopefully Alverno is scheduling some challenging games next season!

QUESTION: which local team/program will be hurt the most by graduation? I say Monrovia and Arcadia? Does either have any pitching next season?

We just want to say to the people who didn't get to see the El Segundo v SP game; that the kids, everyone of them, played their hearts out until the end of the game and we are unbelievably proud of them. We also want to thank the Tiger Fans for being the most supportive fans we could ever hope for.

Earlier in the year some people reffered to our team as being under-achievers. The people who felt this way clearly do not know these kids. Those who know these kids know that they are just the opposite. They had a lot of growing to do this year and they did just that. We will truly miss our one senior, Cassie, but her future is bright, along with all of the kids in the RHL that we were lucky enough to experience game time with. These are all of our kids and we hope the best for them all.

Go Tigers!... and for the next two weeks (gulp) Go Rams.

Go TC

We here in "Ram Nation" enjoy being the underdogs. It's all about "Team" concept and the Lady Rams have plenty of that. Regardless of anyones predictions, the game needs to be played and fought for by both teams. I'm sure that the Lady Rams will step up to the chalk line and leave it all on the field for 7 innings.