Baseball: Bonita pulling away from the pack

At this point it would take a big stumble for the Bearcats to drop from the top spot. Not only has Jiovanni Mier been on fire, but pitcher Nico Calderaro is putting together another terrific season. As long as they keep playing with something to prove, they will prove their worth when it matters. Bishop Amat climbs back to No. 2 with a four-game win streak, but lets see how they do this afternoon against St. Paul. San Dimas makes the biggest leap to No. 3 after knocking off mentally fragile Northview, who at No. 4 is their lowest ranking in two years. Damien, Diamond Bar and Glendora are bunched together in the middle of the pack, and the more I look at the list, the more I believe the parity is closer than ever with Charter Oak at No. 10.

Big games this week:
Today

St. Paul at Bishop Amat, 3:15 p.m.
Diamond Bar at Damien, 3:15 p.m.
Wednesday
West Covina at Nogales, 3:15 p.m.
Azusa at La Puente, 3:15 p.m.
Thursday
Baldwin Park at San Dimas, 3:15 p.m.
Friday
South El Monte at Gabrielino, 3:15 p.m.
Bishop Amat at La Salle, 3:15 p.m.
South Hills at West Covina, 3:15 p.m.

Baseball top ten rankings
1. Bonita (7-1) – Not world-beaters but developing that repuation with a No. 3 ranking in the Times. Sure they had to rally to beat Charter Oak, but that’s what driven senior-laden teams do, they find a ways to win.
2. Bishop Amat (6-3) – Here they come, after a 2-2 start they’ve won four straight. Once they stop giving up all the unearned runs, the Lancers will be fine. They still have seasoned pitching and are batting well enough to win games.
3. San Dimas (6-2) – Yes, the Saints moved to 3-0 in the Valle Vista with last week’s 9-6 win over Northview. When you consider their only losses have come against Bonita and Chino Hills, the Saints deserve to move up the board. They have won three straight and five of six.
4. Northview (6-2) – The Vikings are finding out that you can’t lose seniors like Marc Andrade, Aaron Elias and Robert Williams, and pick up where you left off. They have the tools, but the swagger is missing. Not good with the National Classic on deck.
5. Diamond Bar (6-3) – One of the hottest teams at the moment, the Brahmas are the only 3-0 team in the Sierra after beating Glendora, Ayala and Chino.
6. Damien (5-2) – They beat Ayala, lose to Glendora, which is no surprise considering the Sierra League grind. But this is true, the Spartans are playing well and figure to be fighting for a league title at the end.
7. Glendora (6-3) – The Tartans rebound from a league opening loss to Diamond Bar with big wins over Damien and Chino Hills to move to 2-1 in league. If they can take care of Chino and Ayala next, they will be sitting pretty.
8. Nogales (10-3) – The 8-7 loss to Walnut might eventually hurt their chances of knocking off seven-time champion South Hills, but no arguing how much they’ve improved under legendary coach John Romano.
9. South Hills (5-4) – Forget their record, they’ve won four of five are and are improving by the week. Whatever off-field distractions they had early in the season are becoming a distant memory.
10. Charter Oak (7-5) – Had won five straight before loss to Bonita and split with Claremont on Saturday. They feel like one of those teams who can beat anyone, but certainly, they’re no lock to beat anyone either.

Baseball Standings and Schedules
Del Rey League
Miramonte League
Mission Valley League
Montview League
San Antonio League
Sierra League
Valle Vista League

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Softball: Conqs keep top spot … for now

Los Altos and Glendora are still the top two teams respectively, but they will be challenged when Los Altos goes to Charter Oak this afternoon and Glendora takes on Bishop Amat in a non-league game on Thursday. Bonita is a solid No. 3 and seems to be finding their mojo again, but let’s see how they do against much improved Walnut today. Keep an eye on Siera Vista and Walnut, if they keep winning, they will continue to climb up the polls.

Big games on deck
Today
Los Altos at Charter Oak, 3:15 p.m.
Bonita at Walnut, 3:15 p.m.
Wednesday
Northview at Covina, 3:15 p.m.
Thursday
Glendora at Bishop Amat, 3:15 p.m.

Girls Softball top ten rankings
1. Los Altos (8-3) – Went 3-1 in the Northwood Timberwolves Classic, losing to Dana Point, and a non-league loss to Ayala. But locally, they still haven’t been touched but get another Miramonte test this week against surging Charter Oak.
2. Glendora (5-2) – Unless there are games on the schedule we don’t know about, they Tartans haven’t played since their 3-0 loss to Etiwanda in the championship of the San Dimas tournament. But they get Bishop Amat on the road next.
3. Bonita (11-2) – Hard to believe all the bickering on the blogs about the Bearcats, they’re off to a terrific start, and only have lost to the top two teams in the area. After losing a heartbreaker to Los Altos, they rebounded by winning four straight.
4. Bishop Amat (7-5) – Sure they Lancers have lost three of their last four, but losing to Rosary, Mater Dei and splitting a doubleheader with Santa Margarita is nothing to worry about. Let’s see how they do in a big nonleague game against Glendora on Thursday.
5. San Dimas (6-3) – Are they finished with their traditional slow-starting ways? The surprise isn’t that they already have started 2-0 in the Valle Vista, the surprise is how they snuck past Covina and Northview to get there.
6. Charter Oak (8-3) – What you need to know about the Chargers is that they have scored 90 runs, but 34 of those runs came in a sweep over Wilson. Still, they have won six straight, though they do no have an impressive win on their resume … yet.
7. Sierra Vista (7-1) – After a season-opening loss to Montebello, the Dons have won seven straight. They should win at least their next five then enter the Charter Oak tournament, where we will find out just what they’re made of.
8. Walnut (6-2) – With San Antonio league wins over South Hills, Nogales and West Covina, the Mustangs are off to a great start and will face Bonita in a fun non-league game this week. The way they’ve played, it won’t be a surprise if they run the table in the San Antonio.
9. Northview (5-4) – I don’t know what’s more impressive, what the Vikings did last year with Hannah Fraijo, or what they’ve been able to accomplish without her. For a team with no expectations, they barely lose to San Dimas, 1-0.
10. South El Monte (4-3) -They haven’t played since March 23, but resume with a game against La Puente and a doubleheader on Saturday against Cantwell Sacred Heart before resuming Mission Valley league play next week.

Softball Standings and Schedules
Del Rey League
Miramonte League
Mission Valley League
Montview League
San Antonio League
Sierra League
Valle Vista League

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Track Leaders; Covina Invite Next


Left: Diamond Ranch track standout Karynn Dunn.

The area track leaders submitted to EPI sports can be found by clicking the thread.
Next Up: On Saturday, the 18th Annual Covina Invitational will take place at Azusa Pacific University. the meet starts at 8 a.m., and the event is at 6:30 pm. Of the 40+ schools attending, local schools competing are: Ayala, Azusa, Baldwin Park, Bassett, Bonita, Charter Oak, Chino, Covina, Damien, Diamond Ranch, El Monte, Gabrielino, Ganesha, Glendora, Maranantha, Monrovia, Mountain View, Northview, Pasadena, Pomona, Rowland, San Dimas, South Hills, St. Lucy’s, Temple City, Walnut, West Covina, Western Christian, and Wilson. The meet will also host Silverado and Green Valley HS from Nevada. Admission is $5 for adults and $2 for 12 under.

“This meet provides a great mid season opportunity for athletes to prep for bigger meets ahead like Arcadia and the Mt. Sac Relays. The team competition should also be close on the boys and girls side. It’s going to be a fun day of track.” Meet Director – Kevin Glaspy
To view leaders, click thread

Continue reading “Track Leaders; Covina Invite Next” »

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Sunday Tribbin

Anything and anyone you want to talk about

Back from blog R&R and wondering what happened this past week that I should know about? You can help your favorite sportswriter by nominating boys and girls athletes of the week and explaining which games desperately need to be covered, but in the meantime, does it get any better for Bonita baseball? Seriously, No. 3 in last week’s L.A. Times poll? They might climb to No. 1 if they keep this up. And some of you had the audacity to question our No. 1 ranking. Just follow along folks, we know what we’re talking about, um, except when it comes to Bishop Amat and Northview. Don’t send the hate mail, you know I’m just Tribbin.

Excessive ping pong celebration or just a nut?

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Baseball: Bonita rallies to beat Charter Oak


Above: Bonita’s Brian Tuttle, center, celebrates with his Bearcats teammates after scoring the winning run in a 2-1 victory over Charter Oak

Bonita 2, Charter Oak 1: Maybe Bonita High School is a team of destiny this season.
The Bearcats looked the part Friday.
Jiovanni Mier hit a homerun in the sixth to to tie the score and Brian Tuttle scored on a wild pitch in the seventh as top-ranked Bonita rallied for a 2-1 victory over visiting Charter Oak.
Nico Calderaro tossed a one-hitter and struck out two to improve to the 3-1.
Tuttle went 2 for 3 for the Bearcats, who improved 7-1 overall and 3-0 in the Miramonte League. Joe Reynoso (2-2), who gave up four hits and struck out, was the tough-luck loser for the Chargers, who slipped to 6-4 and 3-1.
Tuttle let off the seventh with a single. Travis Santiago, who replaced Reynoso, then struck out Calderaro before pinch-hitter Evan Highley singled off shortstop Danny Tiffany’s glove. Tuttle and Highley then advanced following a wildpitch before Tuttle scored on a second wild pitch to win it.
Bonita coach John Knott: “We always tell them it’s one pitch at time. If you have a bad at-bat, flush it and root for the next guy. I think the kids stayed in the game. They didn’t put their heads down. We stayed in the game, played defense and Nico pitched a hell of game.
It was fun game. It was intense, every pitch mattered and we got a huge hit from Jiovanni, which allowed us to relax a bit. We’ll take it.”
Charter Oak coach Tom Quinley: “(Santiago) is going to be a good one. The ball just got away. It was a good curveball, (Jeff Gelalich) swung at it, but it bounced and ricocheted away.”
Other Scores
Del Rey League

Bishop Amat 8, Bishop Montgomery 5
Mission Valley League
Gabrielino 19, El Monte 7
South El Monte 13, Rosemead 1
San Antonio League
South Hills 11, Nogales 1
Nonleague
West Covina 6, La Puente 1
Linfield 6, Western Chr. 5

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San Dimas outlasts Northview, 9-6


Above: San Dimas’ Josh Leyland celebrates after hitting a tying home run on Thursday.

SAINTS TAKE STAGE 1: San Dimas fell behind 4-0, then rallied to score a 9-6 victory over the Vikings in the battle for supremacy in the Valle Vista League. Kevin Ponzo survived a rough start to get the win. Josh Leyland hit a home run to tie the score and Tim Brookes and Aaron Orona had key hits to push the Saints over the top.
San Dimas coach Mike Regan: “For one time this year, my guys fought back. We haven’t fought back at all. Today, we showed heart. At the beginning we made errors and we gave away four runs. When people have thrown up leads on us, we haven’t fired back.”
Northview coach Darren Murphy: “Ponzo did what we didn’t. He stopped the bleeding. When you give up a couple of runs, you stop it. If they get to three, it can’t go to four and he did a good job of leaving it there. He had that one bad inning but he gave his team a chance to win.”
Other area baseball scores
Montview League
Azusa 13, Bassett 3
Gladstone 6, Sierra Vista 3
La Puente 8, Duarte 5
Sierra League
Diamond Bar 4, Chino 3
Glendora 7, Chino Hills 3
Softball Scores
Miramonte League

Bonita 16, Wilson 0
Montview League
Sierra Vista 19, Duarte 3
Workman 11, Bassett 10
San Antonio League
Nogales 7, South Hills 1
Nonleague
Mater Dei 7, Bishop Amat 0
Boys Track
Mission Valley League

Rosemead 78, South El Monte 57
Montview League
La Puente 82, Gladstone 36
Nonleague
Rowland 83, Wilson 44
Girls Track
Mission Valley League

Rosemead 91, South El Monte 44
Montview League
Gladstone 65, La Puente 50
Nonleague
Rowland 73, Wilson 54

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Basketball: Hey there! You’re an All-Star! Get your game on!

Lets call it a Melendez Invasion. Freddy’s gone but I’m going to barge in here for a sec and post the Tribune All-Star rosters. For the record, I selected the Star-News roster, so it’s safe to say the Tribune’s run of winning the girls game is all but over!

Here are some quick facts about the game:

6th Annual Tribune/Star-News All-Star Classic
When: Saturday, April 4
Where: Azusa Pacific University
Girl’s game: 5:30pm
Boy’s game: 7:30pm
Admission: $8 adults, $5 students/children

Girls 3-point contest at halftime, boys Slam Dunk contest in-between games and boys 3-point contest (halftime).

SERIES RECORD
Boys: Star-News leads series, 4-1
Girls: Tribune leads series, 3-2

BOYS TRIBUNE ROSTER

Coach: Ricky Roper & Staff (Nogales High)
Team: Garrett Johnson (Diamond Ranch); Chris Cunningham (Diamond Ranch); Randall Guillory (Nogales); Aaron De Anda (Nogales); Anthony Farmer (Northview); Manny Acosta (South El Monte); Karlo Galvez (Walnut); Nolan Abernathy (Bonita); Danny Silva (Northview); Kosmond Russell (Glendora); Abel Rodriguez (Bishop Amat); Cody Bennett (Bonita); Gabriel Gamboa (Nogales); Brandon Stansell (Rowland); Jake Vieth (Damien); Jesmar Abad (South Hills).

GIRLS TRIBUNE ROSTER

Coach: Kieth Locklear & Staff (Sierra Vista High)
Team: Morgann Ellis (Bishop Amat); Courtney Tolentino (Rowland); Kai Brown (West Covina); Jessica Fontenette (Bishop Amat); Lauren Holguin (Wilson); Remy Mallett (Diamond Bar); Sandy Perez (Azusa); Janice Jimenez (Sierra Vista); Keyonna Arnwine (San Dimas); Lauren Williams (Nogales); Elva Salcido (Charter Oak); Lauren Gonzales (Western Christian); Jacqueline Salas (Bishop Amat); Melissa Mejia (Bassett).

CLICK HERE FOR THE STAR-NEWS ROSTER

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