La Mirada offensive lineman Michael Trani commits to University of California

La Mirada High offensive lineman Michael Trani has made a verbal commitment to the University of California at Berkeley, Matadores head football coach Mike Moschetti reported via Twitter.

Trani is 6-foot-4, 275 pounds. He had offers from at least 11 other Division I schools.

Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr Email

Several area baseball, softball players make respective All-CIF teams

Five area baseball players and nine softball players have been named first-team All-CIF in their respective divisions.

In baseball, Blake Wilson of La Mirada made the grade in Division 2. In Division 3, the honors went to Mark Abatte of La Serna, Frank Vargas of El Rancho, Julian Vizcarra of El Rancho and Sean Sparling of La Habra.

In softball, Mercedes Gasparovic of La Mirada was selected in Division 2. Danielle Garcielita of La Serna and Trisha Trujillo and Rayleen Pallan of Cal High made it in Division 3.  Melissa Martene of Whittier Christian was chosen in Division 4, and Alyssa Soneff and Evelyn Hernandez of Montebello and Emily Sanchez of Schurr were selected for the Division 5 team. Finally, Amanda Garcia of Cantwell Sacred Heart was selected in Division 6.

Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr Email

Jim Maier returns to coach St. Paul softball team after 13 years at CSDH

Jim Maier, who coached the St. Paul High softball team in the 1980s and 1990s, has been hired to once again coach the Swordsmen, the school has announced.

Maier just finished a 13-year stint at Cal State Dominguez Hills, a solid Division II program. Maier coached the Toros to 460 victories with an overall winning percentage of .627. In 2012, his team was one win away from the College World Series.

Maier guided the Swordsmen to 14 consecutive playoff appearances during his first stint and had a record of 300-78.

Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr Email

El Rancho’s reward for wild-card victory is date with second-seeded Burbank

El Rancho defeated host Pioneer Valley 1-0 in Tuesday’s CIF-SS Division 3 wild-card softball playoff game. The Dons’ reward is a trip to second-seeded Burbank for a first-round game Thursday.

In other Division 3 games Thursday, Cal High will play host to Paramount, La Serna will be at home to Lancaster, St. Paul will be at Alemany and La Habra will host Arcadia.

In Division 4, Whittier Christian will play at Heritage on Thursday in the first round and Montebello will be at Paraclete in a Division 5 game. Also in Division 5, Schurr will play host to Laguna Beach. And Oxford Academy will be at Cantwell SacredHeart in a Division 6 game.

Teams not making it out of Tuesday’s wild-card round were La Mirada and Santa Fe. La Mirada was walloped by Ayala 13-0 in Division 2 and Downey defeated Santa Fe 11-6 in Division 3.

Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr Email

Cal High’s baseball playoff game moved to Thursday at La Canada

After a 6-1 victory over visiting Barstow on Tuesday in the CIF-SS Division 4 wild-card round, Cal High was slated to play Friday at La Canada in the first round. But Condors coach Tony Nieto informed this newspaper Wednesday morning that the game has been moved up a day to Thursday. First pitch is 3:15 p.m.

In Friday’s Division 4 games, La Habra will be at La Serna and El Rancho will be at Don Lugo. La Habra defeated North Torrance 9-2 on Tuesday and El Rancho defeated Anaheim 6-2.

Over in Division 2, La Mirada found out it will play host to Damien on Friday in the first round. Damien defeated Oxnard Pacifica 9-2 in a wild-card game Tuesday.

St. Paul, a 14-0 winner over Rancho Alamitos on Tuesday, will play Thursday at Loara in a Division 3 first-round game.

And Whittier Christian will be at Hemet on Thursday in a Division 5 first-round game.

Local teams that didn’t make it out of Tuesday’s wild-card round were Montebello and Cantwell Sacred-Heart. Estancia defeated Montebello 7-1 in a Division 4 game and Lompoc upended Cantwell Sacred-Heart 13-3 in Division 5.

Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr Email