Softball: El Modena fires first volley at Woodbridge Classic

There are two more days remaining in the Woodbridge Classic -- Monday and next Saturday -- but I'm going to call my shot now: El Modena will go on to win the championship of the Gold Division, and Marina will be the winner of the Silver Division.

I make that claim based on the teams having faced each other at 8 a.m. on Saturday in the first round of games at the tournament.

In a pool that included the two highest-ranked teams, El Modena, No. 7 by The Times, scored a 4-1 victory over No. 9 Marina. In that game, Kylie Wagner pitched a one-hitter and homered, as did Anissa

Girls' basketball: Morgan receives state honor for Millikan's success

Lorene Morgan, who guided Millikan to the Southern Section Division I-AA title game and victories this season over Long Beach Poly, Fontana Miller, Redondo and Ventura, has been named the state coach of the year by CalHiSports.com.

Morgan, whose team has reached the playoffs 18 times in her 19 seasons, reached the section finals for the first time.

Millikan (28-5) finished the season ranked No. 4 by The Times and No. 6 in the state.

Michael Anderson of Magnolia was among other coaches of the year, as selected by the website.

-- Martin Henderson

-- Image from www.millikanfootball.com

Softball: Woodbridge Classic has lost its luster

There was a time, several years ago, when the Woodbridge Classic was my favorite softball tournament of the season. It's still well-run, and things are still done first-rate, but the tournament is not the same anymore.   

A lack of equitable pairings had some of the better teams looking elsewhere, not because they wanted an easy go of it, but because they wanted a fighting chance to compete. And because they saw tournament host Woodbridge make things inordinately soft on its side of the bracket.

No one faulted Woodbridge for playing a couple of weak teams to ensure it was in the winners bracket and played at the primary site as the tournament host.

Softball: Wilson upsets Kennedy to become Carew Classic darling

Four different regions of the Southland will be represented in the championship semifinals Saturday at the Michelle Carew Classic at Peralta Park.

Tournament host Anaheim Canyon (14-3), No. 11 in The Times ranking, will play Oceanside El Camino (14-4-1) in one semifinal, and No. 4 Norco (17-3) will play No. 12 Long Beach Wilson (12-4) in the other.

Wilson turned in the performance of the day on Friday with a 1-0 victory over No. 2 La Palma Kennedy (15-2). The Bruins got a bases-loaded single by Marti Reed for their only run. The damage could have been worse, but Kennedy pitcher Allee Allen got out of the inning with a double play. Wilson pitcher Callie Nikoletich struck out six.

Yucaipa's Pearne selected new football coach at Riverside North

After three season as head coach at Yucaipa, Scott Pearne will take over similar duties at Riverside North, which is coming off back-to-back Southern Section championship seasons.

Pearne, 34, replaces Lou Randall, who fell from grace with school administrators despite the program's recent success.

A product of Perris High and a record-setting quarterback at Riverside Community College, Pearne served as an assistant at RCC, Riverside Ramona and Riverside Poly before spending six years at Redlands East Valley.

Boys' tennis: Montclair Prep coach "nets" another milestone win

Less than three months after notching his 100th victory as head coach of the Montclair Prep soccer team, Ken Erenberg reached the same milestone in his "other" sport.

Erenberg got to the century mark on Friday when the Mounties defeated Alpha League rival Maranatha, 10-8, for their 30th consecutive league win. As good as he was on the soccer pitch, Austin Mandel is proving he can swing a racket too. He partnered with Maddie Hunter to win, 6-0, 6-1, 7-6 (4) in doubles, and Erik Becker and Sam Sobo each swept in singles.

Becker improved to 24-0 in singles this season.  Click here to read about Erenberg's first "100."

-- Steve Galluzzo

-- Image: http://www.montclairprep.com

Softball: Long Beach Wilson's philosophy -- swing aggressively

An aggressive driver -- bad.

An aggressive telemarketer -- really bad.

An aggressive dentist -- the absolute worst.

But aggressive hitting -- now, that's good -- and that's what is happening at No. 12-ranked Long Beach Wilson. "Our bats have been aggressive," said Coach Tim Rother. "That's a big part of our philosophy. Just be aggressive."

Now, that's not a principle in let's say the Socratic Method -- to swing aggressively. Ah, I digress. Sorry.

Boys' volleyball: Chatsworth gets physical in victory over Granada Hills

At 6 feet 3 and 250 pounds, Thomas Franco enjoys smashing into running backs as Chatsworth’s all-league middle linebacker.

He’s a very good volleyball player, too. He used his superior strength to contribute eight kills Friday night to help the Chancellors knock off defending City Section champion Granada Hills, 25-14, 25-23, 25-20, in a match for first place in the West Valley League.

"He’s a beast on that court," Chatsworth Coach Jonathan Sheriff said. Successful volleyball teams make sure they find top athletes, and Chatsworth (7-0, 5-0) has followed the formula to perfection by convincing Franco and former basketball player Cavanaugh Thompson to play volleyball.

Baseball: Simi Valley-Westlake in pictures

Here are some photos I took from Simi Valley's 10-2 Marmonte League victory over Westlake on Friday. Click here to see shots from other regional games.

-- Austin Knoblauch

 

Baseball: Miller has long talk, but remains confident

Until Friday, I thought Hart Coach Jim Ozella was the king of postgame speeches. That honor now goes to Westlake Coach Zach Miller, who talked to his team for nearly half an hour after its 10-2 loss to Simi Valley.

Obviously, Miller had a lot to say following their three-hit, four-error performance, but he didn't blame anyone for the team's shortcomings. He gave credit to Simi Valley for playing a heck of a game and he still feels confident Westlake can challenge for the league title in the weeks ahead. Let's not forget -- this team is now tied for first place with Simi Valley.