Smart move, especially for football. If you’re trying to get the Sierra League, which will consist of South Hills, Glendora, Bonita, Chino, Claremont and Diamond Bar out of the Inland Division to play football in 2014, best thing is to change the name and start over. But the Palomares League? Not feeling it.
Track All-Area Photo Gallery
TRACK ALL-AREA STORY ONLINE: Bishop Amat High School’s Darren Andrews and Bonita’s Marissa Scott accomplished a lot in their athletic careers. But the duo saved their best for last.
Andrews, who finished seventh in the 100 at the CIF State championships, and Scott, who was the lone area competitor to win a CIF-Southern Section title in addition to advancing to the state meet, are Tribune Track and Field Athletes of the Year.
San Gabriel Valley Tribune Baseball player of the year Adrian De Horta, a pitcher, has agreed to terms with the San Diego Padres after getting drafted in the eighth round, according to reports. De Horta, who was committed to Cal State Fullerton, apparently agreed to a $425,000 signing bonus, according to reports, which is roughly $269,000 over his slot value for being selected No. 238 overall in the draft. The big question is this: Is nearly half a million enough of a incentive to forgo your college education, or at least delay it? Once again, I say yes.
Bishop Amat alum David Berg is as good as money in the bank.
The sophomore closer showed it again tonight.
Berg retired six of seven in batters in two relief innings to help UCLA to a 2-1 victory over North Carolina State Tuesday in a College World Series winner’s bracket game in Omaha, Neb.
UCLA, which beat LSU, 2-1, on Sunday, improved to 46-17 and will face either North Carolina State or North Carolina, on Friday. UCLA can advance to the championship series with a win. The winner of the Tar Heels and Wolfpack would have to beat UCLA twice.
Berg also had three strikeouts as he earned his 23rd save, which equals a NCAA record.
UCLA coach John Savage: “What can you say? Right now, I guess that’s who we are. It’s Bruin baseball. Sometimes it’s grueling, tough to watch, I’m sure, from outside the dugout, but our kids hung in there, and they persevered. We really didn’t do much offensively. You have to give their pitchers a ton of credit. They pounded the zone. We were opportunistic. Pitching and defense are clearly our strength. We know our strength, and sometimes it’s walking a tightrope, and tonight was one of those nights. I tip my hat to our guys,” he continued. “We hung in there, and at the end of the day we’re moving on.”
Glendora’s Adam Plutko and Bishop Amat’s David Berg showed the nation Sunday night what the San Gabriel Valley already knew — Area baseball rocks.
Plutko, who led Glendora to its only CIF-Southern Section divisional title in 2010, gave up four hits over seven innings and Berg, who won a divisional title with Amat in 2011, closed the ninth for his 22nd save to lead UCLA to a 2-1 victory over No. 4 Lousiana State in the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
UCLA improved to 45-17 and will face North Carolina State, which beat North Carolina, in a winner’s bracket game at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
The Bruins, who improved to 6-0 in the postseason, scored both of its runs off errors, including a fielding miscue in the eighth that scored pinch-runner Christopher Bono from second with two outs.
LSU put runners on first and second with two outs before Berg induced a fly out to right field to end it and advance UCLA to Tuesday’s winner’s bracket game. The Bruins are at the CWS for the third time in four seasons, including making the championship series in 2010.
UCLA coach John Savage: “It was quite a game. You’re talking about (LSU pitcher Aaron) Nola and Plutko really pitching as advertised. I’m very proud of Adam and proud of our team. That was a grind. You’re talking about a crowd that was certainly in the favor of LSU. We anticipated that, and at the end of the day, it was our type of game. Fortunately, we came out. It’s game one of the World Series, so there’s no celebration, but in the end it could have gone either way. We’re a resilient bunch. We played a lot of tight games all season long. Tonight was somewhat of a typical game for us, and we came out on top. I’m proud of our team this evening.”
Adam Plutko (interview with ESPN): “I have trust in my guys. The way we strung at-bats together was really special. We competed all nite. I just stayed with my game plan. It’s what I do. There are no bad hops in the air, I let my guys run underneath them.”
San Gabriel Valley Tribune 2013 All-Area Softball Photo Gallery
Player of the Year: LEXI GONZALEZ, Bishop Amat, Sr.
By Steve Ramirez
TRIBUNE SOFTBALL ALL AREA ONLINE: When it came to hitting a softball consistently and with power, no player in the area in recent years did it better than Bishop Amat High School’s Alexis Gonzalez.
The recently graduated senior was the glue and key cog that allowed the Lancers to win back-to-back Del Rey League championships and make decent runs in the CIF-Southern Section playoffs.
Continue reading “Softball All-Area: Bishop Amat’s Lexi Gonzalez named player of the year” »
Tribune Baseball All-Area photo gallery
By Fred J. Robledo, Staff Writer
STORY ONLINE: Adrian De Horta wasn’t perfect for the South Hills High School baseball team, but the senior pitcher was as close to perfection as it gets.
The areas best high school prospect lived up to the billing by going 11-1 with a 1.46 ERA and 97 strikeouts to lead South Hills to a third consecutive Sierra League title and a CIF-Southern Section Division 2 quarterfinal appearance.
De Horta wasn’t just dangerous on the hill, he delivered with his bat too, batting .366 with 22 RBIs, eight doubles, two triples and 13 runs scored.
Continue reading “Baseball All-Area: South Hills’ Adrian De Horta named most vauable player” »