Quarterfinals: Christian Moya’s 3-run homer lifts Bishop Amat to 5-2 victory; Northview, San Dimas, Sierra Vista lose


By Stephen Ramirez
steve.ramirez@langnews.com
@SteveRRamirez on Twitter
QUARTZ HILL >>
Most teams might have folded. But Bishop Amat High School just pushed back, and now the Lancers are closing in another CIF-Southern Section baseball title.
Nicholas Valdez had the tying double and Christian Moya slugged a three-run home run in a five-run sixth inning and Bishop Amat rallied for a 5-2 victory over host Quartz Hill Friday in a Division 3 quarterfinal game.
The Lancers, getting five strong innings on the mound from Alex Garcia, improved to 19-11 and will host either Redondo in Tuesday’s semifinals.
Quartz Hill, which got a two-run double from Josh Van Dorp, finished 21-10.
instead of going quietly, the Lancers first got even, then took the lead in the sixth.
Left fielder Sergio Robles doubled to put runners on second and third with no outs. Valdez then followed with a two-run double on a line drive to center field to tie it at 2, which chased Rebels’ No. 1 pitcher Jonathan Teaney.
Moya then promptly created reliever Jake Keily with a three-run homer to center field for a 5-2 lead.
Bishop Amat’s Christian Moya: “We were bummed out (after Quartz Hill took the lead). But we just kept fighting. We put at-bats together, rallied, got (the lead) back. “I was just waiting for a good pitch to hit. It was a clutch situation, had the right mind-set going in, made sure I got a good swing at the ball and smoked it.”

Bishop Amat coach Andy Nieto: “These guys are so resilient. They’ve been through a lot. We knew they (the Amat hitters) would be surprised, we just had to make the adjustments and find a way to will our way back into the game. We’re in a good place right now. But these guys know it’s one step closer, but it’s still just one in a row. It was truly a team effort.”

CIF-SS Baseball Results
Friday’s quarterfinals
Division 3

Bishop Amat 5, Quartz Hill 2
Division 4
California 5, Northview 1
Torrance 1, San Dimas 0
Saturday’s game
Division 5

Santa Ynez 3, Sierra Vista 2
Tuesday’s semifinals
Division 3

Redondo Union at Bishop Amat, 3:15 p.m.

NORTHVIEW SEASON ENDS
By Fred J. Robledo
Visiting California did what Northview couldn’t in Friday’s CIF-Southern Section Division 4 baseball quarterfinals.
The Condors took advantage of timely hitting and reliever Jerald Johnson got big out after big out to lead the Del Rio league champions to a 5-1 victory.
California (23-5) will be at home in Tuesday’s semifinals against South Torrance, a 3-1 winner over fourth-seed Oaks Christian.
California is hoping to win its first title since 2000.
After Northview came up empty in the first inning wasting first and third with no outs, California answered with four runs in the top of the second.
Eric Sotelo, who was 3-for-4 with a run scored and two RBIs, belted home the first run to stake the Condors to a 1-0 lead.
Continue reading “Quarterfinals: Christian Moya’s 3-run homer lifts Bishop Amat to 5-2 victory; Northview, San Dimas, Sierra Vista lose” »

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Rio Hondo league loses football appeal to avoid Central, will now face East San Gabriel Valley’s best

The Rio Hondo and Monrovia, who won three Mid-Valley championships over the past five years, will join the best public schools in the San Gabriel Valley after losing its appeal today to avoid the Central Division in football, which includes the likes of Charter Oak, Glendora, West Covina, Bonita and South Hills, who hail from the Palomares and Sierra Leagues, and will be part of the division starting in the fall. There was a time while winning their Mid-Valley titles that Monrovia fans thought they were better than them all, including Bishop Amat in the Pac-5. Well, now they get their chance to prove it on the field.

IS MONROVIA’S FOOTBALL DYNASTY OVER?: Some of the luster was already off the Monrovia High School football program when the CIF-Southern Section proposed that the Wildcats, along with the Rio Hondo League, be moved to the Central Division.

Monrovia had just come off a season in which it was walloped by St. Francis in the area’s biggest nonleague game of the season and later lost in the semifinals of the Mid-Valley Division playoffs despite a being prohibitive favorite to win its fourth consecutive division title.

Then came word that head coach Ryan Maddox, who had guided the program to one of the most successful runs in area history, resigned to focus on other career goals. Maddox’s departure led to a longer-than-expected job search that saw some very high-profile local coaches say “thanks but no thanks” to being the next head coach.

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Eric Gutierrez and Andrew Luna have led Sierra Vista baseball to CIF quarterfinals for the first time since 1993 with help from longtime coach Brett Stevens and pitching legend Pedro Flores

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By Fred Robledo
BALDWIN PARK — Talk about paying it forward.
The last time Sierra Vista High School’s baseball team reached the CIF-Southern Section divisional quarterfinals was in 1993 led by pitcher Pedro Flores, who went on to play at East L.A. College and was later drafted in the 18th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1996, where he spent over 10 years in the minors with several different organizations, reaching Triple-A on many occasions.
Dons head coach Brett Stevens has been in charge 26 years and coached Flores, who he still considers the Dons’ all-time best and who holds most of the Dons’ pitching records.
Fittingly, Stevens and Flores are back at it together, leading Sierra Vista back to the quarterfinals for the first time in 21 years.
Sierra Vista (21-3), which set a school record for wins in a season, will take on top-seed Santa Ynez (26-1) on the road in Saturday’s Division 5 quarterfinals at 2 p.m., with a chance to earn its first semifinal berth in history.
Flores, who threw four consecutive shutouts when he was dominating in the 90s for the Dons, has been the pitching coach at Sierra Vista for nearly a decade, and has done a remarkable job grooming senior pitchers Eric Gutierrez (9-1, 1.22 ERA) and Andrew Luna (7-0, 1.79 ERA).
“Pedro was my number one pitcher three years in a row when he was here and most of the credit goes to him when you talk about our pitchers, and what we’ve done with our pitchers over the last few years,” said Stevens, who started at Sierra Vista in 1989. “He’s an incredible coach and the players respect him.”

Continue reading “Eric Gutierrez and Andrew Luna have led Sierra Vista baseball to CIF quarterfinals for the first time since 1993 with help from longtime coach Brett Stevens and pitching legend Pedro Flores” »

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Damien High junior Jeremy Hemsley has given a verbal commitment to attend San Diego State

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Damien High School junior basketball standout Jeremy Hemsley had his choice of a lot of good colleges, but he has decided to stay relatively close to home and will play at San Diego State.

The 6-foot-3 guard averaged 22 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals for the Spartans (22-7), the Sierra League runners-up to Chino Hills.

He stepped up when it mattered most with a season high of 37 points against Mayfair and Temecula Great Oak, both teams that made extended playoff runs. He also had 33 points against Chino Hills.

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Baseball playoffs: Northview, San Dimas win coin flips, will be at home; Bishop Amat, Sierra Vista hit the road

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

Northview and South Dimas high schools would love nothing better than to continue their recent rivalry at next week’s CIF-Southern Section Division 4 championship game.
Both took advantages toward that quest by wining coin flips to host quarterfinal games on Friday. Bishop Amat and Sierra Vista weren’t so fortunate and will hit the road in Division 3 and 5 quarterfinal games, respectively.
Northview (18-11), which shocked top seed Kaiser, 2-1 in eight innings, on Tuesday, will host California at 3:15 p.m. The Condors (22-5) rallied for a 7-6 victory over Don Lugo on Tuesday.
San Dimas (23-6-1), which routed Granite Hills, 9-1, in the second round, will host Torrance (24-8), an 11-5 winner over La Sierra. The game is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. The Saints beat the Tartars, 4-2, in the Division 4 title game in 2009.
Bishop Amat (18-11), which rallied for a 4-3 win over Orange on Tuesday, will take a 90-minute trek to Quartz Hill at 3:15 p.m., The Rebels (21-9) upset No. 3 Downey, 2-1, on Tuesday. The Lancers have gone 18-7 since opening the season with four consecutive losses.
Sierra Vista (21-3), which is in the quarterfinals for the first time in two decades, will take a three-hour road trip to Santa Ynez (26-1) on Saturday for its 2 p.m. game. The game was moved to Saturday to accommodate Santa Ynez’s graduation on Friday.
The Dons advanced with a 9-3 win over Hemet. Santa Ynez, the No. 1 seed, beat Sultana, 9-4.
The winners advanced to Tuesday’s semifinals. The finals are slated for June 6-7.

FRIDAY’S QUARTERFINALS
Division 3

Bishop Amat at Quartz Hill
Division 4
California at Northview
Torrance at San Dimas
SATURDAY’S QUARTERFINAL
Division 5

Sierra Vista at Santa Ynez, 2 p.m.
ALL GAMES ARE AT 3:15 P.M., UNLESS NOTED

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San Gabriel Valley all-star softball game is Monday at Diamond Bar with home run derby, rosters posted Thursday

The San Gabriel Valley senior all-star softball game was a huge success last year at Diamond Bar High School and event coordinator and West Covina coach Jesse Mendez, along with help from other area coaches, are finalizing plans for Monday’s game at Diamond Bar HS at 5 p.m. This years game will also feature the first-ever HOME RUN DERBY, so it should be an exciting event. We will post rosters and a story tomorrow and publish it in the paper on Friday.

allstarsoft

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