By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor The consensus among those who coached, played alongside or competed against Darius Mason is that the Pasadena High School star is ready to play Division 1 basketball at the collegiate level right now. Mason was a three-year starter for Coach Tony Brooks’ program, and for a team that year in […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Finally! After a year or so wait, and thousands of hours of work, former Muir star Hunter Woods has signed on the dotted line to compete at Elon University in North Carolina. Looking back, the 2017-18 boys basketball season was a very special year for Pasadena area hoops. The mighty […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Even for the most talented of athletes, there is typically a slight learning curve or minor adjustments that one makes while transitioning from high school to college baseball. That hasn’t been the case for PCC freshman Gabriel Arellano. The Lancers’ center fielder leads the entire state of California with 42 […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor: If there was one guy from the San Gabriel Valley wrestling community that had the mettle to resume a college wrestling program that hadn’t been competing since the early 1980’s, you couldn’t do better than hiring Caleb Flores. The 2006 Northview High School grad and four-time state placer accepted the […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Just after the 2017 football season had ended, more than 15 players from skilled positions left La Salle for what they believed were greener pastures. And each had their own reason for the departure. On that list, quarterback CJ Montes (Long Beach Poly) and receiver Justin Lockhart (Serra) were probably […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Preston Howey made a very wise decision as he contemplated his junior year at Arcadia High School. Howey acknowledged Monday night that after a sophomore season on the JV level last year, where he spent most of his time at shortstop, there was a fleeting moment where he actually considered […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor When Rio Hondo Prep (17-7) takes the field on Saturday at 4:15 at UC Riverside, the Kares will be making their first appearance in the CIF-SS (Division 6) title game since 1999. If RHP defeats Costa Mesa (15-11), it would be the school’s first championship in baseball. The Mustangs have […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor The 2019 season has already been a historic one for the Arcadia baseball team. The Apaches won their first Pacific League championship since 2011, thanks to a two-game sweep of Crescenta Valley last week. Arcadia went 13-1 in league play, with credit going to both a remarkable pitching staff and […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Hailey Yoshida has accomplished so much in her high school career. And yet she just turned 15. Yoshida (and her teammates) led Westridge to the CIF-SS Division 7 title game for the first time in school history. The Tigers won postseason games over Coastal Christian, Vasquez, Whitney and Mayfield, before […]
Boys Volleyball: By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor One of the San Gabriel Valley’s most versatile athletes has chosen his destination. La Salle’s CJ Rettig, a three-sport athlete, will compete for William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa, for the Statesmen. In fact, Rettig will be part of William Penn’s first (men’s volleyball) program in school history […]
Baseball: By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor In the last four years, you could easily make an argument that Cameron McFarlane and Franco Alonso were the two most complete and dominant athletes that strode across the Pasadena Poly campus. McFarlane’s impressive athletic prowess as well as his character and success in the classroom set up an […]
Baseball: By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Former La Salle pitcher Jeff Daley holds himself to academic standards that are almost unattainable for most student-athletes. The 2018 La Salle graduate has always wanted, since he was a boy, to attend Vanderbilt University in Nashville. In 2018, as a senior, Daley took AP Physics, AP Chemistry, AP […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor You didn’t have to know Michael Okura to realize what a special man he was. All you needed was to be present at his beloved West Covina High School on Saturday morning to see the emotion his memory evoked from the hundreds on hand. His wife Diane, daughter Lyndie and […]
Wrestling: By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Collin Hayes may weigh just 132 pounds. But the Northview senior is one tough dude. He’s been dealing with a torn meniscus in his right knee, as he put it, ‘for quite a while,’ but it took a turn for the worse just as his senior wrestling season was […]
Baseball: By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Jacob Alvarez didn’t see his name in the headlines, but don’t think for a second that he didn’t do his part and then some in Charter Oak’s success. Until his senior year, Alvarez was brought off the bench to either pinch-run or pinch-hit, but his duties also included holding […]
Baseball: Pictured L-R: Jake Brown, Jayden Lopez & Michael Woodward By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor The steep upward trajectory since Tony Garcia-Bautista took over the reins of the Rancho Cucamonga High School baseball program continued its ascension recently. And it isn’t just on the field that impresses. Last year alone, among the eight seniors, five […]
Pictured L-R: Maggiore with director of football operations, Jeff Platt & son, Nate Maggiore. Football: By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor He’s back! And just in time. Mike Maggiore, who guided West Covina to CIF-SS championships in 2004, 2010 and 2011 announced Thursday afternoon that he’s going to return as head coach of the Bulldogs when […]
Baseball: By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Along with a solid start (6-2) to the 2020 baseball season for the South Hills program, the Huskies also featured a pair of senior right handers that looked to be one of the better 1-2 punches in the San Gabriel Valley. Ryan Wentz (3-0) and Ray Northey (2-1) combined […]
Baseball: By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Tommy Castillo is the kind of kid you can’t help but root for. Castillo spent the first two years of his prep career at Cathedral High School in Los Angeles, which is wedged just on the other side of the 110 Freeway from Dodger Stadium. While attending Cathedral, he […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor There are a number of genuinely good people who either made or currently make a living covering local high school and college sports. Perhaps none was as generous, loyal and accommodating as Louis Brewster. Brewster, who was the longtime sports editor of the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin died on Monday. […]
