La Mirada Little League Junior All-Stars Fall Short in Title Game

UPDATE: 8/7/13 18:36 The La Mirada Little Junior All-stars lost tonight 2-1, in the championship game of the Junior League Western Regionals in Vancouver, Washington.

La Mirada led through three 1-0, but Arizona scored in the fourth to tie it at one apiece. The scored remained tied until Arizona scored in the bottom of the 7th to win the game.

The loss ends La Mirada's hopes of returning to the Junior League World Series.

Congratulations from the La Mirada community to the 2013 La Mirada Little League Junior All-Stars-Southern California Champions-for a fantastic season! 

UPDATE 8/6/13 16:27 Vancouver, WA~As reported here first on the La Mirada Blog on our Twitter feed this morning, La Mirada beat Alaska 4-0 today in a semi-final game at the Western Regionals in Vancouver, WA.

The win catapults LMLL into the championship game, one win away from returning to the Junior League World Series in the league's tenth anniversary season of when the juniors won the title in 2003.

La Mirada will play in the championship game tomorrow (Wednesday) against Arizona (Rio Rico Little League) at 5:00 p.m. with the winner going to the big show in Tyler, Michigan.

La Mirada suffered their only defeat of this tournament to Arizona this past Monday, losing 7-0.

Check our Twitter channel tomorrow afternoon on this page, or at twitter.com/lamiradablog for exclusive updates.

UPDATE 8/6/13 5:12 The Junior All-Stars lost to Arizona yesterday 7-0, but still managed to make the final four at the Western Regional in Vancouver, WA.

LMLL will play Alaska today at 10 a.m. and if they win will play in the championship game tomorrow (Wednesday).

The La Mirada Little League Junior All-stars include: Jake Bale, Isaiah Carreon, Kendall Gaines, Jose Gutierrez, Kevin Kendall, R.J.Lan, Zane Palermo, Nicholas Rios, Justin Scroggin, Jonny Sholty Tony Valentin and Chad Wilson.

UPDATE 8/3/13 12:20 The Junior All-Stars took one more step to returning to the World Series, beating Montana earlier today 22-0.

LMLL will next play Monday vs. Arizona (Rio Rico Little League) at 10 a.m.

The La Mirada Little League Juniors are playing in their 10th anniversary season of when they won the national title.

Vancouver, WA~The La Mirada Little League Junior All-Stars beat Utah tonight 12-2 in pool play at the Junior League Western Regional Tournament at Kindsfather Field in Vancouver.

La Mirada next plays this Saturday at 10 a.m. vs. Montana.

Be sure to follow our network including our Twitter feed here for continuous updates.

Get the full schedule and other information at the tournament website here.

• by Tony Aiello
• Aug 02, 2013

La Mirada Little League Juniors Win So Cal Championship

UPDATE 07/28/13 5:47: The Junior All-Stars will be holding a fundraiser today at SoCal Pizza/Norwalk from 12-4 p.m. to help them with their expenses associated with their trip to Vancouver, Washington.

Santa Ana~The La Mirada Little League Junior All-Stars are headed to the State of Washington after beating Trabuco Canyon earlier today 10-5-sweeping the best-of-three series in two games to win the Southern California Division Championship.

La Mirada will know compete in the 2013 Western Regional Junior Baseball International Tournament at Propstra Stadium in Vancouver, WA beginning July 31^st with a chance to return to the Junior League World Series.

This is the tenth anniversary season of when La Mirada won the Junior League World Series in 2003.

• by Tony Aiello
• Jul 28, 2013

Walmart Neighborhood Market Coming to La Mirada This Fall; Hiring Over 60 Employees

La Mirada~As reported here first on the La Mirada Blog many months ago, a new Walmart Neighborhood Market is coming to La Mirada.

The new store located at 14865 Telegraph Road is currently under construction adjacent to the new Walgreens that opened last month in the Crossroads Shopping Center and is expected to open this fall.

Walmart will be hiring over 60 employees for the new store and they will be opening a temporary job hiring center tomorrow (Monday) at the WorkSource Center, 10400 Pioneer Blvd. in Santa Fe Springs. The center will be open 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. through Friday.

Expect to begin working around October with full and part-time positions available. You can also apply or inquire online at http://www.careers.walmart.com/

The first Walmart Neighborhood Market opened in 1998, and today there are approximately 250 Walmart Neighborhood Market stores nationwide. The markets offer a one-stop destination for customers to purchase groceries and pharmaceuticals, along with other features you might find in a conventional grocery store.

Also, at around 30,000-50,000 square feet, the stores are generally the same size of a traditional grocery store. The La Mirada store will be about 35,000 square feet.

Also, renovation continues on the additional building on the property-the site of the former SoCal Pizza-that was not demolished as part of the current renovation process at the center. It will be enhanced, and will compliment the new city-mandated Mediterranean design the new Walgreens and Walmart have incorporated.

• by Tony Aiello
• Jul 25, 2013

La Mirada Little League Junior All-Stars to Play in So-Cal Championship Series

Playing in the ten-year anniversary season of going to the World Series, the La Mirada Little League Junior All-Stars are on the road to going back

Santa Ana~The La Mirada Little League Junior All-Star team beat Glendora National last night, 11-0, to capture the Junior Division Southern California North Championship title.

La Mirada will play again starting this Friday July 26th at Memorial Park in Santa Ana in a best-of-three series against the So-Cal South Champion (yet TBD).

The two teams will play for the Southern California Championship, with game time Friday at 6 p.m.

The last time the LMLL Junior Division went this far was in 2003, when they went all the way to the Junior World Series and won it all, ten years ago.

Should the team win the series this weekend, they will be traveling to Vancouver, Washington to compete in the Western Region Tournament for a chance to go back to the Junior League World Series which is held in Taylor, Michigan.

In 2003, La Mirada overcame numerous obstacles including postponements caused by the famous blackout of 2003 that stretched from the Midwest to the East Coast, and multiple rain delays.

La Mirada beat Santiago, Panama 8-7 in front of an ESPN audience-the last California team to win the Junior League World Series title.

• by Tony Aiello
• Jul 25, 2013

New Walgreens Grand Opening in La Mirada

La Mirada~The new Walgreens in La Mirada held its official grand opening Saturday, July 20th as residents and dignitaries gathered to celebrate the latest retail store to open in La Mirada-but more importantly, to usher in a new era for the nostalgic Crossroads Shopping Center.

The fanfare included live music, a ribbon cutting, and representatives from community organizations; also numerous local businesses had displays.

La Mirada City Council members on hand were Mayor Steve DeRuse, Mayor pro-tem Larry Mowles, Pauline Deal and Steve Jones.

Store manager Sam Meas told us that this is one of the first Walgreens store in the area to incorporate the chains new ‘’well experience” format that the company rolled out last year.

“Our floor plan is different, we have new services,” he said, “Our pharmacist, for example, is out on the floor to where they can consult and give advice to patients and customers.”

The chains new format aims to transform the traditional drugstore into a new health and daily living destination offering a range of products and services to help customers get, stay and live well. These stores offer a new, enhanced layout, a completely revamped pharmacy and health care experience, and a number of new product selections.

“We have a number of products such as fresh fruit, that you won’t find in other Walgreens”, Meas said, “Customers will also notice the wider aisles, lower front windows and special lighting.”

Mayor DeRuse was excited about the progress at the Crossroads Center and told the assembled crowd, “You know what this center looked like before, this is a great improvement. We are very excited to have Walgreens open this store.”

• by Tony Aiello
• Jul 24, 2013

Family and Friends Will Gather for Annual Stroll in the Park

La Mirada~Stroll in the Park, one of La Mirada’s most popular summer events, returns to Creek Park on Thursday, July 25, from 6:30-8 p.m. 

The free event offers residents the chance to stroll through beautiful Creek Park with family and friends and catch different musical performances from three live bands, enjoy delicious food on sale and take part in games.

Along with a few food trucks, the Kiwanis Club of La Mirada will be there selling hot dogs, chips, and soda.

This year’s scheduled bands include The Hodads (variety music), Kulayd (Doo-wop & Motown), and Upstream (Caribbean).

Residents are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets to enjoy the performances.

For more information, call Community Services at (562) 943-7277.

• Jul 24, 2013

All Five La Mirada Little League Teams Win Their District All-Star Tournaments

7/22/13 19:39 UPDATE: The La Mirada Little League Junior All-Stars pulled off a stunning victory, coming from behind in the 6th inning to beat Manhattan Beach 7-4 at Santa Ana this past Saturday in the Southern California Divisional/Sub-Division III Tournament.

Manhattan Beach started off the game by scoring three runs in the first inning and a then a solo homerun in the 4^th put them up 4-0.

La Mirada finally got on the board in the 5th inning with a base hit from Nick Rios and a home run from RJ Lan.

In the top of the 6th, La Mirada's bats came alive with a base hit from Isaiah Carreon and Jake Bale. Starting pitcher Jose Gutierrez hit a shot to right field, cutting the Beach lead to 4-3. With two outs Beach intentionally walked RJ Lan-who had homered earlier-to load the bases.

Chad Wilson was next up and hit a 2-2 count out and over for a grand slam giving La Mirada the 7-4 lead.

La Mirada held off Manhattan Beach in the 6th and 7th to win Game One of the Sub-Division III Tournament.

Tonight, La Mirada beat Glendora National 12-1. They will tomorrow evening (Tuesday) at 7:15 in the championship game.

ORIGINAL POST: Junior Team Advances to So Cal Divisional Today in Santa Ana

Talk about a strong showing.

All five of La Mirada Little League's (LMLL) All-Star teams, the 9-10 & 10-11 year-olds, along with the Little League division (11-12), and Junior and Senior Divisions all won championships recently in their respective District All-Star Tournaments.

La Mirada plays in Little League District 29.

The various District 29 All-Star Tournaments began on June 22 and ran through July 9th.  As far as LMLL has been able to verify, this is the first time in league history that all five divisions in LMLL won their district tournaments.

All five teams moved on to represent La Mirada Little League and District 29 in the Section 5 Double Elimination Tournament which began this past Saturday July 13th and finished up Thursday, July 18th.

The 9-10 Tournament and Senior Tournament was hosted by District 29 and the games were played at Bellis Park in Buena Park. The 9-10 Team was eliminated in two games and the Senior’s made it to the championship game, but lost, finishing in second place.

The 10-11 team played at Veteran's Park in Yorba Linda as that tournament was hosted by District 56.  They were also eliminated in two games.

The Little League Division tournament was hosted by District 38 and was played at Stearns Park in Long Beach. This LMLL team also made it to the championship game, but lost.

In the Junior Division tournament played at Memorial Park in Santa Ana and hosted by District 30, LMLL won the Section 5 Championship beating Golden Hill Little league, 3-0.

The team now advances to the Southern California Divisional Tournament which begins tomorrow, July 20^th. The Section 5 games will be played again at Memorial Park in Santa Ana, with the LMLL Juniors playing today at 3 p.m.

If you would like to view results and follow the Junior team’s progress in the tournament beginning tomorrow visit the LMLL website at http://www.lamiradalittleleague.com

• by Tony Aiello
• Jul 20, 2013

Walgreens La Mirada to Host Grand Opening

La Mirada~The new Walgreens in La Mirada, open since last month, will host a special grand opening celebration tomorrow July 19th from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

“You can participate in a raffle where you can win movie tickets and other great prizes”, said Store Manager Sam Meas,"we will also have live music with a DJ and giveaways.”

Meas told us there also will be representatives from other local businesses at the event.

The La Mirada Chamber of Commerce will be conducting a ribbon cutting ceremony for their new member beginning at 11 a.m. with local dignitaries expected to attend.

American mixed martial artist and UFC fighter Mark Munoz is scheduled to appear from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

The store is located within the newly renovated Crossroads Center at 14885 Telegraph Road in La Mirada.

For more information call (562) 777-3405.

• by Tony Aiello
• Jul 20, 2013

Sunday Polo Buddies Class Opens at Splash!

The Polo Buddies class at Splash! Regional Aquatics Center in La Mirada has opened a new section on Sundays.

Polo Buddies is an entry level water polo class for kids with Autism, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), or those kids who may need more personalized instruction. Boys and Girls ages 7-15 are welcome and all children must be water safe and able to follow verbal directions.

The Saturday class filled up in just a couple of months and neciitating the need to open a Sunday section with classes are ongoing and year around.

For more information and a video on the class, please go to the 'Polo Buddies' tab at www.shaquatics.net.

• Jul 18, 2013

Weekly La Mirada Crime Report June 24th-July 7th

The following is the La Mirada crime report for the last two weeks June 24-July 7th, 2013:

Robbery-An armed robbery was reported on the 16400 Valley View Ave. Cash, a cell phone, and a wallet was stolen in the incident. The suspects fled without being identified. No injuries were reported. | A robbery was reported at Creek Park on June 29. Three male suspects, ages ranging from 16-20 years, approached the victim with a handgun. The suspects took the victim's cash and a pocket knife.

Aggravated Assault-An assault was reported on the 14100 block of Mansa Dr. The suspect pointed a handgun at the victim. The incident remains under investigation. | A shooting occurred on the 14300 block of San Ardo Dr. The male suspect fired five rounds at the victim, striking the victim in the leg. The victim was transported to Irvine Medical Center. The incident remains under investigation.

Residential Burglary-An attempted burglary via a bathroom window was reported on the 14600 block of La Fonda Dr. | An incident occurred on the 14800 block of Crosswood Rd. Costume jewelry and window screens were stolen from the residence. | Cash was reported stolen in a burglary that occurred on the 13000 block of Woodridge Ave. | A burglary was reported on the 13600 block of Valley View Ave. A tablet PC and a handgun were stolen from the residence. | A television was reported stolen from a residence on the 15700 block of Orsa Dr. | A burglary occurred on the 15000 block of Tricia Lane. It was unknown if anything was missing from the location.

• Jul 13, 2013