Bonita, West Covina photo gallery

Bonita players congratulate Chloe Melanson after her two-run home run helped the Bearcats to a 6-3 win over West Covina.
(Staff photo by Keith Birmingham)

By Stephen Ramirez
steve.ramirez@langnews.com
@SteveRRamirez on Twitter

LA VERNE — The moment called for something big to happen, and Chloe Melanson didn’t let her Bonita High School softball teammates down Thursday.
The junior right fielder hit a two-run homerun to highlight a five-run sixth inning and the host Bearcats opened Hacieinda League play with a 6-3 victory over West Covina, which is expected to be their chief challenger for a second consecutive league crown.
Veronica Ortega had two hits and Kaelin McFadden was steady in the circle for Bonita, which improved to 6-4.
Jade Nua and Maddy Tickey had two hits each for West Covina, which slipped to 7-5.
The Bulldogs were sitting pretty after taking a 2-1 lead in the sixth on a double by Nua and a fielding error. But the good fortune changed in the bottom of the inning.
Berlyn Benavides reached first on an error to lead off the inning, and Melanson followed with her two-run shot to left field for the 3-2 edge. Singles by McFadden and Leticia Morales and two more West Covina errors allowed the Bearcats to push it to 6-2.

Bonita’s Chloe Melanson: “The first two at-bats I popped up. The coaches told me we really had focus against this team. I didn’t want to be a selfish player, so as soon as we got a rally going, I just wanted to hit the ball hard somewhere. I was so excited, because I wasn’t even thinking about hitting a home run there. Our team was pumped to come from behind. We knew we had it in us, and we got it done.”

Bonita coach Art Montano: “I’m never concerned. That’s the reason you have back-up pitchers.”

West Covina coach Jesse Mendez: “We’re up 2-1 in the sixth. We have to make the routine plays. If you don’t make the routine plays, things like this happen. I thought we played well up to that inning. But I can’t wait until we play them again. Our pitcher Maddy Tickey did a good job controlling their batters. We made some mistakes, but we have to learn from them.”

Bishop Amat, St. Paul photo gallery
Round One went to St. Paul on Thursday, but two rounds with Bishop Amat remain.
The Swordsmen softball team scored six times in the fifth inning of its Del Rey League showdown with the visiting Lancers at York Field and earned a 7-5 victory. That leaves both teams at 2-1 in league play, atop the standings.
The victory was the first at any level – freshman, JV or varsity – for St. Paul’s seniors against Bishop Amat.
“It was a big win for us,” said St. Paul senior center fielder Lovie Lopez, “especially because they’re our rival.”

San Dimas has been one of the top softball programs in the area for more than a decade, and Thursday San Dimas coach Don Pollard scored his 300th win, beating Wilson, 16-2.

BREAKING NEWS: The Catholic Athletic Association approved new leagues on Thursday, voting to approve a proposal from Serra High School that puts Bishop Amat in the Catholic League South that also will include Loyola, Gardena Serra and surprising Salesian beginning in the fall.
Salesian, who just won the Northeast Division which is considered Division 13, will appeal the decision that would send the lower-division champions to the Pac-5 Division, which is considered the top division in Southern California. The Catholic North will consist of Alemany, Chaminade, Crespi and Notre Dame.

The Serra Proposal was approved on Thurday, creating the following football leagues to start in the fall.

For all other sports, the Camino Deal Real Association proposal passed, which will group 17 boys and 16 girls into three leagues. They will be grouped into leagues by sport based on geography and competitiveness.

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San Dimas’ David Vargas facts after a two run double in the sixth inning of a prep baseball game against Northview at Northview High School in Covina, Calif., on Wednesday, March 26, 2014. San Dimas won 2-0. (Keith Birmingham/San Gabriel Valley Tribune)

By Stephen Ramirez
steve.ramirez@langnews.com
@SteveRRamirez on Twitter

COVINA — If you give the San Dimas High School baseball team an inch, the Saints will take a mile; if you give them an error, they’ll take a game.
They did exactly that Wednesday.
David Vargas followed up an error with a two-run double in the seventh and Peter Lambert threw a five-hit shutout as visiting San Dimas opened Valle Vista League play with a 2-0 victory over rival Northview.
Lambert also struckout 10 for the Saints, who improved to 6-3. Northview, getting a four-hitter and eight strikeouts from James Ramos, slipped to 4-3. The teams will meet again on Friday at San Dimas.
Ramos was battling Lambert nearly pitch for pitch and strike out for strike out before the Vikings blinked with a two-out error in the seventh. The Saints made them pay.
Jonathan Longtin, who was 2 for 3, followed with a single before Vargas, who had two hits, hit a two-strike pitch to left-center field for a double, scoring pinch-runner Jeremy Marquez and Longtin for a 2-0 lead. Ramos struck out pitch-hitter Jared Leyland to end the inning.
Northview, which had a runner at third in the first, fourth and sixth innings, but failed to score, caught a break in the bottom of the seventh when Adrian Olivas reached on an error to lead off the inning. But he was stranded there by Lambert, who struck out the next three batters, including getting Jacob Amaya looking to end the game.

San Dimas coach Mike Regan: “We caught a little luck. They squeeze and we get the runner at home, we couldn’t punch any runners in, and then it came down to a big hit. David did a great job of being patient and driving the ball in the left-center gap. He’s been doing really well offensive for us.”

Northview coach Dan Roddy: “We had a few chances against a dynamite pitcher. That’s a good baseball team that we went toe-to-toe with for seven innings. We flinched first, with a two-out groundball that we misplay and they turned it into two runs. James matched (Lambert), but you can’t win a game when you don’t score any runs, so we have to do a better job of finishing.”

San Dimas’ David Vargas: “It was good to come through for the team. (Jonathan) Longtin kept the inning going with a single and I got a fast-ball where I wanted it.”

With the votes counted and Damien High School headed back to the Mt. SAC Area for league grouping and into the Baseline League beginning next fall, Spartans football coach Mark Paredes isn’t exactly breathing a sigh of relief.

“Whether we’re in the Pac-5 or where we are now, it’s really neither here nor there because we are where we are and I’m really excited about being in the Baseline League.”

The National Football Foundation San Gabriel Valley, Pasadena and Whittier Chapter honored 43 scholar-athletes at Tuesday’s banquet at Brookside Golf Course in Pasadena. The award is for scholar-athletes who maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA in college preparatory classes, demonstrate outstanding citizenship, leadership and community service. Each player was chosen following the nomination from their high school school with approval of both the student’s counselor and principal. Fox Sports analyst and former USC football player Petros Papadakis was the keynote speaker.

STORY: The National Football Foundation San Gabriel Valley, Pasadena and Whittier Chapter honored 43 scholar-athletes at its 44th annual awards banquet at Brookside Golf Course Tuesday, handing out $20,000 in scholarship money.
It’s the most scholarship money and honorees in the events history, a huge accomplishment for president Tony Ortega and staff, who continue to raise the bar each year.
Fox Sports analyst and former USC Trojan Petros Papadakis was the keynote speaker and humorous as usual. But his point was clear that athletes need to prepare for life after sports and that those honored Tuesday were a great example for others to follow for taking education seriously.
The National Football Foundation is also the group that conducts the annual senior Hall of Fame game, which has been held at West Covina High School in recent years.

2014 National Football Foundation Scholar Athlete honorees
Jared Trujillo, San Dimas
Andrew Aselin, West Covina
Steven Garcia, West Covina
Darron McWhorter, Maranatha ($1,000 scholarship winner)
Will Genske, Pasadena Poly ($1,000 scholarship winner)
Michael Bowman, Pasadena Poly
D’Angelo Ross, South Hills
Adam Goss, South Hills ($1,000 scholarship winner)
Tyler Gangi, St. Francis ($2,500 scholarship winner)
Fernando Garcia, Workman
David Perez, Duarte
Nathaniel Hiplolito, Duarte
Jose Bonilla, Charter Oak
Alex Haston, Charter Oak ($1,000 scholarship winner)
Jose Robles, South El Monte ($500 Great Minds and Stem winner)
Jacob Moran, El Monte ($2,500 scholarship winner)
Jake Ferntheil, Temple City
Jordan Austin, Claremont
Cameron Tyus, Claremont
Nico Jaffe, Claremont
William Bryan, Diamond Ranch ($1,000 scholarship winner)
Marcus Briscoe, Diamond Ranch
Christian Clark, Marshall ($500 Great Minds and Stem winner)
Charlie Henderson, Marshall
Richard Bramble, Santa Fe
Andrew Farmer, Santa Fe
Jesus Calvillo, Arroyo
Maurice Cortes, Northview
Daniel Valencia, Northview
Jared Brito, Northview ($1,000 scholarship winner)
Steven Ruvalcaba, Rosemead
Estuardo Marcos, Los Altos
Brandon Hayashi, Los Altos
Cristian Hacegaba, Los Altos
Trevor Virnala, Los Altos
Hugo Montanez, Mountain View
Javier Carrillo, Jr., El Rancho
Eliel Flores, El Rancho
Adrien Perez, El Rancho ($500 Great Minds and Stem winner0
Andrew Pop, El Rancho
Jose Portillo, El Rancho
David Ramos, El Rancho
Andrew Ferraco, San Marino