April 2011 Archives

Rancho Cucamonga High School class of 2007, Vincent Brown, was selected by the San Diego Chargers with the 82nd overall pick of the NFL draft on Friday. The 5-foot-11, 184-pound receiver out of San Diego State doesn't have to go far after the Chargers made him their fourth pick of the draft with the 18th selection of the third round. Brown had 69 receptions for 1,352 yards and 10 touchdowns as a senior at SDSU.

Scott Fisch explored the possibility, but the West Covina South Hills High School softball coach wasn't about to play down the significance of Tuesday's extra-inning, 4-3 win over first-place Chino Hills.

"I guess I could give the politically correct answer that it was just another league game," Fisch said. "No. This was huge. Chino Hills is a solid team and to get a win was huge."

Ten innings certainly is a huge number, but even bigger is the fact South Hills (14-5, 8-2 Sierra League) pulled even with Chino Hills (16-5, 7-2) atop the league standings thanks to an RBI double from first baseman Sabrina Perez with two outs in the 10th. Chino Hills carried a 3-2 lead into the seventh inning but South Hills capitalized on an error and a walk to scratch out the tying run, thanks to shortstop Kristen Stewart's two-out RBI single.

South Hills has beaten Chino Hills both times they have faced each other this season, the first meeting a 6-2 win on April 6 at South Hills. The teams will play for sole possession of first place on Thursday at Big League Dreams in Chino Hills.

The difference Tuesday afternoon for the Don Lugo High School softball team was that it scored its typically large number of runs out of necessity. In a battle of top-five teams in CIF-SS Division 2, a Don Lugo team that entered averaging more than nine runs opposite an allowance of less than two runs per game found itself leading Chino just by just one run after five innings.

Conquistadores catcher Brianna Murillo provided a clutch three-run home run in the sixth, though, to help No. 4 Don Lugo hit its average and secure a 10-6 victory over Mt. Baldy League foe Chino.

"The home run was huge," Don Lugo coach Ray Sheffield said. "(Chino) hit better than I thought they would. We've scored 175 runs but only allowed 33, but they made us make the plays."

Thursday is was UCLA that offered Upland junior receiver Kenny Lawler his fifth scholarship. Friday Arizona made it six, according to the Upland coaching staff. The 6-foot-3 175-pounder now has offers from Arizona State, to which he issued a soft verbal commitment in February, Washington, Nebraska, SMU, UCLA and Arizona.

Diamond Ranch offensive lineman Alvaro Estrella secured a priority walk-on from Fresno State on Thursday, meaning the senior will be guaranteed a spot on the Bulldogs next season but will not be receiving a scholarship. Estrella passed up a scholarship offer from Hampton, a FCS school in Virginia. Diamond Ranch kicker Jeff Stamp signed with Ottawa University, an NAIA school in Kansas. Ottawa head coach Kent Kessinger personally visited Diamond Ranch to sign Stamp.

"Two-game swing" took on a literal meaning Friday afternoon in Glendora.

Just when it looked like the Los Osos High School baseball team was on its way to tying Glendora for first place in the Baseline League, the Tartans' Nick Cooksey lifted a game-winning three-run home run over the left-field fence in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Glendora a 5-4 win and drop the Grizzlies two games back.

After a Los Osos team that had won three consecutive league games broke a tie in the top of the seventh with Daniel Meza's two-out, two-run double, Glendora's hold on first place appeared all but gone.

"That looked like a dagger," Glendora coach Dan Henley said. "It felt, I don't want to say insurmountable, but two runs has been a lot for us lately. Cooksey has been hitting all year for us, so it wasn't surprising that he came through."

The scholarship offers are beginning to pile up for Upland junior receiver Kenny Lawler, who's latest suitor is UCLA, which issued an offer on Thursday. The 6-foot-3, 175-pounder ranked the No. 70 receiver in the country by scout.com, issued a soft verbal commitment to Arizona State in February but is open to other offers. Lawler, who had 42 receptions for 882 yards and nine touchdowns last season, has offers from Nebraska, Washington, Arizona State, UCLA and SMU.

The all-state basketball team maxpreps.com released Wednesday featured plenty of area players, including La Verne Lutheran's 6-foot-9 Grant Jerrett, Summit center Dorian Cason and Etiwanda's USC-bound Byron Wesley. Jerrett earned a second-team selection and Wesley and Cason third-team selections. Upland shooting guard John Gilliam was named honerable mention. Maxpreps also named all-state teams by division, with Wesley (D1), Cason (D2) and Jerrett (D3) each earning spots on the first teams of their respective divisions.

The ingredients for a perfect storm were in place and it indeed rained down on the Rancho Cucamonga softball field Tuesday afternoon. In a timely rematch with Rancho Cucamonga a week after losing its first game of the season to the Cougars, Etiwanda hit eight home runs, including four in a row in the second inning, to win 18-0. Junior pitcher

Missy Taukeiaho and sophomore shortstop Delaney Spaulding each hit three home runs in what Etiwanda coach Dave Masucci labeled the greatest display of team power since he arrived at Etiwanda seven years ago.

"We were looking forward to this game," said Spaulding. "We were practicing all week for this and we wanted to get some revenge."

The Alta Loma High School baseball team didn't need much help from its bats on Friday. The Braves shifted the burden to their running shoes, which carried them to a scrappy 5-2 win over Etiwanda. Its third league victory pulled Alta Loma (9-4, 3-2) into a tie with the Eagles (10-4, 3-2) for second place in the Baseline League behind the newest member of the league, defending CIF champion Glendora.

Alta Loma managed just five hits to Etiwanda's seven, but some aggressive base running and patience at the plate awarded the Braves enough base runners to manufacture plenty of offense.

"It was a typical scrappy Alta Loma team," Etiwanda coach Don Furnald said. "We didn't hit the ball well but what did they have, three or four hits? They did all the little things well and in this league everybody is so close it's going to be the team that makes the fewest mistakes that wins."

Three area softball teams secured No. 1 rankings in their respective CIF divisions in the polls released Monday. Etiwanda, previously No. 2 in Division 1, moved up to the top spot courtesy of a loss by previous No. 1 Temecula Valley. Add in Bonita in Division 2 and Pomona Catholic in Division 7, and the Inland Valley features a trio of No. 1 squads. Etiwanda, however, may not hold onto its spot for long, having suffered its first loss of the season Tuesday, 4-1, to Rancho Cucamonga.

Upland wide receiver Kenneth Lawler has received three scholarship offers in the last two weeks, according to Upland head football coach Tim Salter. The 6-foot-3, 175-pound junior was most recently offered by Washington Friday after receiving offers from Nebraska and SMU in the two previous weeks.

Lawler, who made 42 receptions for 882 yards and nine touchdowns his junior season, issued a soft verbal commitment in February to his first suitor, Arizona State, which offered him in December. Lawler said he is still open to other offers.

"I think this stage of the recruiting procecss is very exciting," Lawler said via text message. "I just hae to think about all these different colleges cause I can only attend one."

Lawler may have committed to Arizona State in part because his father is friends with the Sun Devils's recruiting coordinator, according to Salter.

"It's just a soft commitment," Salter said. "His father is good friends with the recruiting coordinator at Arizona State because they used to coach together but he's still fielding offers."