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.
Police Looking For Additional Victims
SHERIFF'S SPECIAL VICTIMS BUREAU IS SEEKING THE PUBLICS ASSISTANCE IN
IDENTIFYING POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL VICTIMS OF SEXUAL MOLESTATION AFTER
THE ARREST OF A WHITTIER MAN.
PAUL ANTHONY AYALA WAS ARRESTED BY SVB DETECTIVES FRIDAY, MARCH 2,
2010, AFTER AN INVESTIGATION OF ALLEGATIONS RECENTLY MADE BY AN
11-YEAR OLD MALE, WHO WAS BEING COACHED BY SUSPECT AYALA IN A
FOOTBALL PROGRAM IN LA MIRADA. A SECOND VICTIM SINCE HIS ARREST HAS
BEEN IDENTIFIED.
SUSPECT AYALA IS A FORMER POLICE OFFICER. HE WAS EMPLOYED BY
WHITTIER POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR APPROXIMATELY 17-YEARS AND
MEDICALLY RETIRED TWO YEARS AGO. HE HAS BEEN ACTIVE AS A COACH IN
THE COMMUNITY SINCE HIS RETIREMENT. BECAUSE AYALA COACHES A
NUMBER OF CHILDREN IN DIFFERENT SPORTS, IT IS FEARED THAT THERE MAY
BE ADDITIONAL VICTIMS.
THE SUSPECT WAS ARRAIGNED TODAY AT THE WHITTIER COURT ON NINE
FELONY COUNTS OF CHILD MOLESTATION. HE REMAINS IN CUSTODY WITH
BAIL OF 8,250,000.00.
ANYONE WITH INFORMATION IS ASKED TO CALL THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY
SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, SPECIAL VICTIMS BUREAU AT (866)247-5877 OR
CONTACT THEIR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.
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.
Five Reasons to Fill Out Your Census Questionnaire
1. Helps Build Prosperity in Your Community.
Does your neighborhood have traffic jams, elderly folks who live alone or overcrowded schools? Census data can help define strategies to make necessary public improvements in your community.
2. Help in a Time of Need
Many emergency services linked to 911 are structured based on maps developed with the data from the previous census.Census information helps health providers predict how a disease is spread through communities between members of the population. When natural tragedies like tornados and earthquakes occur, the census indicates to the rescue teams how many people may need aid.
3. Puts Government to Work for You
It's a great way to let our leaders know who we are and what we need. The numbers are used to help determine the distribution of more than $400 billion in federal and state funds. The money will help to finance educational and school lunch programs, medical centers, emergency services, transportation and other needs in our community.
4. Reduces Risk for Businesses
Since census numbers help reduce the financial risk and allow the identification of potential markets, businesses can produce the products that you want and need.
5. It Will Help You and Your Family
The individual data stay confidential for 72 years, but you can request a certificate of past censuses to use it as verification of your age, residence, or kinship. This information can help you apply for a pension, establish citizenship or to obtain an inheritance.
In 2082 your great-grandchildren will be able to use census information to learn about the history of your family.
Today your children can use the information to assist them with homework assignments.
Thanks to the fact that we have had a census every 10 years since 1790, we know how far we have come, and how much we have changed as a nation.
Be counted in the 2010 Census. The future is in our hands!
Crossover Special from the La Mirada Blog on Facebook: Growing Up in La Mirada
This story is a compilation of several forms of correspondence sent in over the years, by former La Mirada resident Russ Tice. Russ is one of the very early "fans" of the La Mirada Blog, even before Facebook. He grew up in La Mirada in the 50's and 60's.
An Apple Valley resident now, I grew up in La Mirada. I have wonderful memories of La Mirada. My parents bought a brand new home on San Cristobal Drive in 1955 for $15,000, across from a vacant field. That vacant field soon became Rancho Elementary School.
Neff Park was truly a kid's adventure paradise in the late 50's and early 60's. Chickens, forest like trees, the main house, and best of all, the caretaker's house. A sweet older lady lived there, and she would sit and tell stories to we kids about the place. Even better, Neff Park was right next to Rancho School, which was across the street from my house.
I don't recall we kids needing much in the early 60's. We all had a bicycle, and some other toys of the day. It's all there was, and that looks better to me every day. We did fairly well, even without any wireless communication devices. We all had one phone, usually in the kitchen of our home. The lucky kids had two phones in their house. All, of course, were still on party lines. Two or three homes were hooked into one phone line. That seems scary....
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.
You Can See Ed Asner as FDR This Saturday in La Mirada
Multi-Award-Winning actor Ed Asner gives a Tour-de-Force performance as "FDR" Saturday Night at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts
La Mirada~Ed Asner, recipient of seven Emmy Awards ("Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Lou Grant") and 16 nominations, five Golden Globe Awards, member of the TV Academy Hall of Fame, and the voice of Carl Fredricksen in Pixar's newest film, Up, will star in the solo performance drama, FDR based upon Dore Schary's Broadway hit Sunrise at Campobello, which ran 70 weeks on Broadway.
FDR explores the life of one of America's best-loved presidents and the events and decisions that shaped a nation. This powerful play follows the iconic president as he reflects on his years in office, from inauguration to the trials of World War II.
Sunrise at Campobello, Dory Schary's play depicting FDR's early battles with polio, made its Broadway debut on January 30, 1958. Later made into a successful movie, the play chronicles FDR's personal journey.
This one-man show takes through FDR's White House years including the Depression, the steps leading up to WWII and the war years. Ed Asner shows us why this president was known as "that man in the White House," scorned by many and admired by most.
Ed Asdner is magnificent as FDR and elivers a fearless performance of this dynamic and powerful world leader.
Performance is scheduled for this Saturday, March 20, 8 p.m. at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. Individual tickets are $65, $50 and $40. Call 562-944-9801 or visit www.lamiradatheatre.com
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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