By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor If there was ever a kid that gave everything he had from the moment he woke up in the morning to the second his head hit the pillow at night, it’s Charter Oak senior Chris Ceballos. Ceballos makes a diligent effort daily to better himself as a player, person and […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor It’s been a challenging past 12 months for the entire world. COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on everyone’s physical and mental health, their jobs and finances, and in so many other ways. For local high school student-athletes, the pandemic upended almost the entire 2020 spring season, and so far there hasn’t […]
Wrestling: Pictured: Keanu Tom & younger brother, Koa Ruiz, through the years. By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor San Marino’s Koa Ruiz was born to be a wrestler. The Titans’ sophomore began his career at age 5 and his big brother, Keanu Tom, was a star at Los Alamitos High School. You could say this sport […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor There’s nothing more reassuring for a young baseball player than to see his father in the stands. And for nearly half a century, that’s exactly what South Hills baseball coach Darren Murphy got from his dad. It meant everything. Sadly, for the first time in his playing or coaching career, […]
Pictured: South Hills baseball coach Darren Murphy having an impassioned discussion with umpire, Brad Claude. Thanks to Brad for the photo. By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor When stories are written about high school or college sports, the topic is almost always about a particular program, player or coach. And rightfully so. But what is rarely […]
NFL: With Sunday’s Super Bowl just three days away, we reached out to San Gabriel Valley area football coaches and players to get their input. While putting this together, I fully expected the defending champs to be the overwhelming choice. But because of the long and brilliant career of Tom Brady, and by a 10-8 […]
Baseball: By Brian Reed-Baiotto With all the uncertainty in high school sports, let alone life during this pandemic, a Monrovia High School senior did something that even COVID-19 couldn’t stop. Nathan Thompson, one of the area’s premier hitters, committed to play baseball for Cal State San Bernardino in 2022. In 2018, Thompson played freshman ball, […]
High School Sports: It was a solid day at Glendora High School for the Greep family on Wednesday afternoon. JT Greep, the Tartans long-snapper, signed his letter of intent to play football at the University of Utah. Greep also played on the defensive line last year for a GHS program that made a run to […]
Football: By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor There are many high school football players in the San Gabriel Valley that work their butts off from the first practice of their freshman season to the moment he see’s triple zeros on the scoreboard, which signifies the end of that prep career some four years later. But it […]
Girls Basketball: By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor At first glance, Flintridge Prep senior Kaitlyn Chen isn’t going to strike fear in an opponent. She isn’t the biggest, fastest or most athletic player in the San Gabriel Valley. Over her four years at the La Canada school, however, Chen has compiled a resume on and off […]
Baseball: By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor We need all the good news we can get these days. And this is not only great news, it also makes his family, friends, coaches, former teammates and this writer thrilled for 2018 Pasadena High School graduate, Adrian DePasquale. DePasquale played catcher for three years at PHS and for […]
Softball: On top of the many reasons that the Coronavirus broke the hearts of so many spring sport athletes, especially seniors, was the fact that some programs were off to a quick start and had the potential for a great season. And that was the case for Rio Hondo Prep and its four-year starting pitcher, […]
High School Sports: Pictured L-R: Kerry Welsh & Kirsten Lindner By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor When judged on their individual athletic prowess alone, Kerry Welsh and Kirsten Lindner are impressive young ladies. Welsh played soccer all four years for the Tartans and Lindner was a mainstay for the GHS water polo and golf programs. But […]
Softball: By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor A pandemic may have cut Julia Valenzuela’s high school athletic career short, but it couldn’t diminish in the slightest her role in taking the Westridge softball program to its high-water mark in 2019. Valenzuela teamed with senior star Deijah Bradley, freshman sensation Hailey Yoshida and the rest of their […]
Editors Note: This site is going to honor an SGV area mom and dad on Mother’s & Father’s Day, who went above and beyond for their children, school and community. Pictured: Hunter Woods & Mom, Kimberly Green, then & now. Mother’s Day: By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor There are thousands of great moms in the San […]
Baseball: By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Mikey Kane left quite a mark athletically at St. Francis. Kane contributed the last two years for the Golden Knights’ football program and he was a three-year starter in baseball. If you ask his teammates and coaches, though, Mikey Kane is a far better young man and student than […]
Football: By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Over the past three years, an argument could be made that no SGV area football player did more in more ways to help his team win games than St. Francis running back Kevin Armstead. He rushed for 3,143 career yards and 39 touchdowns. And keep in mind, Armstead missed […]
Softball: By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor There might be a number of softball players in the SGV area that are better known than Azusa High School senior Natalie Wilson. But without question, Wilson’s four-year run statistically puts her in a very elite club. In the spring of 2020, Wilson’s senior year ended abruptly after just […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor As Charter Oak hosts Glendora today in a CIF-SS Division 2 wild-card game, the Chargers are as battle-tested as anyone. They finished one-game back of Hacienda League champion South Hills, after dropping a 2-1 contest last Thursday. All four of their league losses (South Hills twice, Walnut & West Covina […]
How sweet it must feel for the Arcadia baseball program. They waited eight long years to be able to call themselves champions of the Pacific League. And they dethroned Crescenta Valley on the Falcons home field in the process. Arcadia used a combo of Preston Howey and Dustin Allen on the mound and CV was […]
