Sports
Matadores Get Out the Broom for Glenn
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Norwalk~La Mirada completed a sweep Thursday over Glenn in dominating fashion, 14-1, to notch its fourth straight victory and get back to the .500 level after a slow start against some of the best teams in the nation.
Now, if you think we're going to do a play-by-play on this one, then you think this writer is crazier than he actually is
Let's just run down some highlights and numbers to keep the (semi-) sanity:
- The Matadores (7-7) put up three runs in three of the first four innings and then tacked on another five in the sixth;
- Senior righthander Kyle Harper continued his Suburban League dominance by limiting the Eagles to four hits while striking out six in five breezy innings;
- With a pair of hits in his first two at-bats, junior thirdbaseman Nick Mata notched his fifth straight hit over the last four games and raised his batting average to .455;
- The backups got in early and most got two at-bats, and it was the bench that rung up that five-run rally in the sixth;
Matadores Seem to be Getting All Cylinders Going
La Mirada~Two players who were scuffling provided big hits, two stayed on fire and pitcher Daniel Poncedeleon toyed with Glenn in La Mirada’s 12-1 home victory Tuesday.
In improving to 6-7 overall and 2-1 in the Suburban League, the Matadores continued their outstanding play in all three facets of the game in outscoring the last three opponents by a combined 29-2. The Eagles, who the Matadores will play on the road tomorrow at 3 p.m., fell to 3-7 and 0-3.
By the time Arizona-bound right-hander Poncedeleon gave up a two-out rally in the top of the sixth on three straight hits, La Mirada was already cruising along with a 5-0 lead.
Then it really took control.
Matadores Get Rust Off Resurrection
La Mirada~Three players had a pair of hits Saturday to pace an 11-prong attack to overwhelm former Division I power Simi Valley in a 9-1 Redondo Tournament game, further evidence that the bats’ early season cool is thawing.
The Matadores (5-7) will hope to keep things rolling when they resume Suburban League action in a rare Tuesday-Thursday setup against Glenn beginning at home at 3 p.m.
Senior righthander Mitch Petersen proved too much for Simi Valley's feeble lineup, a far cry from last year's fully-loaded nine and two years ago when the Pioneers won the CIF-Southern Section Division I championship. Petersen allowed just four hits and one unearned run in his five dominant innings, while senior Alex Pedroza faced the minimum in his two frames by inducing inning-ending double plays that were nicely turned respectively by senior secondbasemen Garrin Haile and Cody Curtis and superbly digged by senior defensive replacement Mike Piazza at firstbase.
Harper Mows Down Lancers; Matadores End Losing Skid
Norwalk~Senior designated hitter Ray Chacon had a RBI in each of his four at-bats to ignite a stagnant offense, senior righthander Kyle Harper made a statement that you'll have to rip his 2009 Suburban League Pitcher of the Year award from his cold, bare hands, and the defense was spectacular in a slump-busting 8-0 victory Friday over host Norwalk.
It evens both club's league record at 1-1 as the Matadores ended a losing streak at four games. La Mirada (4-7), which has faced some of the best in the nation in just the first third of the season, goes back on the Division I wagon Saturday when a tough Simi Valley squad comes calling at 11 a.m. for a Redondo Tournament showdown.
Harper dominated the Lancers in his six innings of work, allowing just four hits while striking out seven and not walking a batter. Junior righty Jordan Rosenberg hurled a scoreless seventh to complete the shutout.
Matadores Can’t Get Out of First Gear
Long Beach~If only the season had a reset button.
But after Saturday's 12-1 defeat to Moore League power Long Beach Wilson, a couple years removed from the No. 1 ranking in the United States, the start of the Suburban League campaign Wednesday against visiting Norwalk is the next best thing to a do-over, from the poor individual statistics to the collective 3-6 record.
Wilson (6-2) parlayed a bases-empty, two-out rally into four first-inning runs and never looked back against the Matadores, who were playing their eighth contest against a Division I opponent. In the fourth frame, six of the 10 unearned runs all but finished it off.
Senior centerfielder Karl Perez, playing with the most vigor, continued to carry a hot bat, going 2-for-3 with a double and getting robbed on a line drive to center his first time up.
Senior secondbaseman Garrin Haile smacked mirror-image line drive singles to center, the first one in the second inning to bring in senior leftfielder Justin Torres (hit by pitch) for La Mirada's only run. Junior shortstop Andres Rodriguez dunked one into leftfield to get Torres into scoring position.
Senior firstbaseman Mike Piazza, in the throes of the biggest slump of his life, deserved better with a blast to Wilson's centerfield Death Valley, backing up the Bruin against the fence about 400-feet away before hauling it in.
Other than that, the Matadores showed little life once again offensively, managing just five hits.
Wednesday's league home opener against the Lancers begins at 3 p.m.
Go ahead and hit that red button.
Matadores Overpowered by Powerhouse
La Mirada~Letting a great opportunity get away to make a statement, the La Mirada High School baseball team was knocked around by the nation's No. 1-ranked team in a doubleheader sweep to visiting Lakewood, 10-3 and 8-0.
The Lancers improved to 9-0 on the season, including outscoring La Mirada 29-3 in three meetings, while the Matadores fell to 3-5, with four of the defeats coming to teams that have polled in the country's top three.
The brutal early-season schedule continues at talented Long Beach Wilson at 11 a.m. Saturday. Come league and the playoffs, this team will certainly be battle-tested.
Matadores Get Well Against Colts
Carson~After scrapping against the topnotch pitching of five straight Division I opponents, La Mirada was able to feast against the home cooking of the Colts in a 13-3 rout Tuesday that was shortened to five innings with the 10-run mercy rule.
The Matadores (3-3) put up six runs in the first and and last frames to break out of a hitting slump while dropping struggling Carson to 1-5.
The mound foes get tougher right away, though, with a doubleheader Thursday against the nation's No. 1 team in Lakewood and the very tough club of Long Beach Wilson in Saturday's opener of the Redondo Tournament.
La Mirada To Host Number One Team in Nation
La Mirada~After facing five Division I opponents to start the season--including a nationally ranked team in Edison--it might have seemed that things would get a little easier for the struggling La Mirada High School baseball team.
Think again.
Lakewood is the nation's new No. 1 squad in the maxprep.com rankings, and guess who the Matadores face in not one, but two games, at home Thursday? Uhmm, Lakewood.
Yep, the same team that clobbered the Matadores, 10-0, in a second-round Loara Tournament contest March 6.
However, the doubleheader will be an opportunity for La Mirada (2-3), a multi-talented and experienced squad itself, to regroup and rebound and prove that its lofty rankings in numerous pre-season polls weren't without foundation.
The Lancers (5-0), fresh off winning the brutally tough Loara Tournament championship by outscoring their opponents 39-7, are led by a terrific player in senior Jeff Yamaguchi, a Long Beach St. signee who earned the event's MVP.
In the first meeting against La Mirada, Yamaguchi hit a monumental atomic blast to the top of Lakewood's leftfield Chainlink Monster, an entity which is cleared less than the times Godzilla destroyed Japan.
The first game is set for 12:30 p.m., with the nightcap approximately 3 p.m.
Not a Saturday at the Park
La Mirada~If the Matadores continue to hit and play defense as poor as it has the past two games, a promising season will not materialize.
La Mirada added another of its trademark Saturday clunkers with an uninspiring 5-1 loss to visiting Dana Hills to complete the Loara Tournament a very disappointing 2-3.
Four hits--4-for-24--and 11 strikeouts in a shocking and alarming trend doomed the Matadores even before two more late errors led to the defeat.
Totaling 12 strikeouts the previous game against reknown 6-foot-7 lefty Henry Owens of Edison was completely understandable. The kid is ridiculously overpowering and polished and he will easily average double figures in K's a year before he's expected to be a first round draft pick in the 2011 amateur draft.
Matadores Miscues Prove Costly
Huntington Beach~You don’t usually win with one hit but visiting La Mirada came oh so close Thursday in the Loara Tournament against Edison, a nationally ranked team which is also No. 1 in the state.
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