When Rio Hondo Prep took the field at UC Riverside on Saturday evening in the CIF-SS Division 6 title game, Pasadena area baseball programs had already gone 0-3 in championship games earlier in the day. Poly and La Canada were both shut out and Marshall was dominated in a 10-run defeat. RHP seemed to keep […]
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 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 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
College Baseball: Pictured L-R: Tyler Frazier and Omar Veloz By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor By all objective measures, the year 2020 has been a nightmare for the world. There won’t be a single person in athletics that would dare compare their situation to the sickness and both lives and jobs lost thanks to COVID-19. But […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor When news broke Friday that longtime Mount San Antonio College baseball coach Art Mazmanian had passed away, it evoked many, many memories. And most were good between my college coach and me. Looking back, 99-percent of any squabbles we had were my fault. I wasn’t mature enough to realize he […]
Baseball: Pictured L-R: Brandon Ramey pitching to Franco Alonso, Zach Jacobs getting ready to face a batter, & PCC pitching coach/Legends Tournament Director, Nico Calderaro. By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor The idea of running an indoor baseball league had percolated in his brain for over a year. Nico Calderaro, a member of the PCC baseball […]
Softball: By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor You couldn’t blame Miranda Robson or her teammates at Los Osos if they’d never heard of singer Vanessa Williams. But it seems a No. 1 hit single that she released more than a decade before any of the 2020 Grizzlies had even been born called ‘Save the Best for […]
Baseball: By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Mark Daley’s senior season at La Salle was a rough one. He injured his hamstring in December, and later in that same month, reinjured it again. Daley played in the first contest of the 2020 season at Crescenta Valley, and on the sixth pitch of the game, he hit […]
Baseball: By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor As the 2020 baseball season neared, Arcadia senior Justin Rios was expected to be the No. 3 pitcher for the reigning Pacific League champions. Fellow seniors Preston Howey (13-1, 0.75 ERA) and Chris Wilson (10-1, 0.99 ERA) were coming off a remarkable 2019 season. And they were arguably the […]
Baseball: By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Luke Heiberg’s high school baseball career was much like a roller coaster. He had dramatic up and down moments. But unlike a roller coaster, Heiberg finished on top (of his game). Heiberg began his prep career at La Salle, and despite starting his freshman campaign on the JV team, […]
Baseball: By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Before Adonis Harrison took over the reins of his alma mater in 2018, the Muir baseball program was irrelevant. It might sound mean, but it’s the nicest and most politically correct way of saying it. Harrison, though, came in and his impact was felt instantly, and it earned the […]
