| |
May 20, 2008
ALUMNI: Nelson, Florida drop opener at College
Softball World Series; Godfrey and LB State host Baseball Regional
playoffs
Despite an early 2-0 lead, the Florida Softball
team (67-4) lost its first game in the Women’s College World
Series, 3-2, to Louisiana-Lafayette in eight innings on Thursday
afternoon at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Former Griffin Stacey Nelson (LAHS '05), the nation's
leading pitcher in victories took the loss.
The Gators have a day to regroup before facing
off against Virginia Tech (and pitcher Angela Tincher, the national
player of the year. Tincher two-hit Texas A&M on Thursday but
lost 1-0 on an unearned run after a throwing error by the third
baseman. The game will be telecast by ESPN, beginning at 9am (PST)
on Saturday. complete
story
Brandon Godfrey (LAHS '03) and
Long Beach State open their bid to earn a spot at the NCAA Baseball
World Series when they host a Regional Playoff grouping this weekend.
The 49ers take on Fresno State at 6pm Friday night. Regional
Payoff site
|
May 23, 2008
TRACK & FIELD: Griffin vaulter Alexa Ward
heads for state meet
 Los
Al senior Alexa Ward (Huntington Beach) took first place in the
Girls Pole Vault at the CIF
Southern Section Masters Track and Field Meet last Friday at
Cerritos College and will advance to this weekend's state championships
- also at Cerritos College.
Ward, who earlier had won the Sunset League and
the CIF Division I vault titles, cleared the bar with a vault of
11-9 inches, five inches ahead of her nearest competitor. The height
ties her with six others throughout California for the third best
going into the meet. Complete previews are at the Dyestat
state meet site. |
May 23, 2008
BASEBALL: Griffins
fall to Mater Dei in nine, 5-4
They had some great individual efforts, and they
had their chances, but the Los Al Griffins baseball season came
to an end Friday afternoon after a 5-4 CIF Southern Section Division
I quarterfinal loss to Mater Dei on the Los Al field.
The game. played on a misty Friday afternoon
before a crowd of over 500, ended Los Al' season with an impressive
26-4 record. The Griffins came into the game seeded No. 1 i the
playoffs and ranked No. 1 in the state.
Mater Dei opened the scoring in the first inning
when starting pitcher Aaron Northcraft -- who has the highest leg
kick since Juan Marichal -- helped his cause with a solo home run
off Los Al starter Travis Garrett.
Los Al went ahead in the third on Matt Avery’s
single and Brian Compton’s double.
Mater Dei tied the game in the fifth after reliever
Beau Wright, who came in after two batters for Garrett, was called
for a balk on a casual pick-off throw to first base. The Monarchs
advanced the runner, scoring him on a sacrifice fly.
Wright, who pitched five innings in relief in
the Grifffins come-back win over Canyon, gathered himself and pitched
strong innings in the sixth and seventh.
That should have been enough because the Griffins
led off the bottom of the sixth with catcher Brian Compton drilling
an Aaron Northcraft offering for a single that he legged into a
triple after it skipped by the Monarch left-fielder to the fence.
The Griffins needed just a sacrifice fly or single to end Mater
Dei's upset bid.
But after Kirk Singer struck out, Los Al coach
Mark Clabough replaced Compton with pinch runner Mario Quezada.
Designated hitter Mickey Lorenzini then slapped a 1-2 pitch to shortstop
where Monarch shortstop, UCLA-bound Tyler Rahmatulla, spun and saw
Quezada was too off the bag, and his quick throw to third was turned
into a tag out of Quezada.
Senior Zack Hannaford then drilled Northcraft's
next pitch for a single but it was an out too late.
Wright was visibly struggling in the eighth,
and even more so in the ninth when Rahmatulla returned to start
the Monarch's game-winning rally with a double. After Mater Dei
loaded the bases on two walks, Brian Frattali delivered a two-run
bases-loaded single off the glove of first baseman Kenny Uyetake
to break a 2-2 tie. Another run was scored on a fielder's choice,
and that became the winning run because Matt Avery hit a two-out,
two-run home run for Los Alamitos (26-4) in the bottom of the ninth.
|
May 15, 2008
BASEBALL: Griffins open CIF playoffs by downing
Poly 2-0; Wright improves to 9-0
Junior left-hander Beau Wright improved his record
to 9-0 by pitching a two-hitter with eight strikeouts for the top-seeded
host Los Alamitos (25-3) as they downed Long Beach Poly 2-0 in a
first-round CIF Division I playoff game.
Senior Zack Hannaford scored on a single by senior
Brian Tripp in the third inning and Tripp scored later in the same
inning on a wild pitch for the Griffins.
Los Al, the Sunset League champions and the No.
1 Ranked team in CIF Division I, will now face Canyon of Anaheim
in a second round game next Tuesday. The home site will be determined
by coin flip.
|
May 13, 2008
BOYS VOLLEYBALL: Los Al sweeps Huntington Beach;
will host Loyola in CIF-SS Div. I quarterfinals this Friday
The Los Al boys volleyball team rallied from
five and six point deficits in the second and third games, and overcame
their own mental errors, to sweep Huntington Beach 26-24, 25-23,
26-24 and advance to the CIF Division I quarterfinals on Friday.
The Griffins (23-9) will host Loyola, champions
of the Mission League with game time slated for 7pm at the Los Al
gym.
The two teams split a pair of short tournament
matches at the Best of the West Tournament in early March. The Griffins
defeated Loyola in pool play in a very close match, but then fell
to the Cubs in the third place match in an almost as close match,
which came after the Griffins had just lost to Valencia in a semi-final
match, and Loyola had an hour's rest.
That loss helped send Los Al into a little mid-season
funk, but based on their play Tuesday night, the team seems to have
snapped out of it.
Los Al got on the board early as setter junior
Sean Senozan (43 assists) went early and often to middle blockers
Michael Strawther and Matt Markel who delivered. That opened the
game up for the outsides and Kyle McElderry responded with 14 kills
and junior outside Brian Miller, playing perhapos his best game
of the season, added ten kills.
Even though Los Al totally forgot about its middle
for most of of the third game, the Griffins rallied from six back
to win the game and match.
Los Al helped itself by committing only eight
service errors, one of its best showings this season, and its passing
off of serves was also among its best efforts. Libero Dewy Thomason
was superb and McElderry and Miller turned in very solid showings
as well.
A crowd of 900 made the match against HB a noisy,
exciting affair. The match against Loyola should be equally loud,
if not louder, as the Cubbie fans always travel in big numbers,
and their students know how to get their fans into cheering —
something the Los Al cheerleaders should take lessons from.
For the Griffins the game also provides chance
to somewhat avenge the semi-final loss to Loyola three years ago,
when Loyola hit match point into the net and everyone thought the
game was over -- until the down ref ruled that a Los Al player had
touched the net and reversed the point. Loyola went on to win the
match.
|
May 13, 2008
SWIMMING: Griffins turn in good showings at CIF
Masters Meet
Although cming up short in the medals department,
Los Alamitos swimmers turned in some good showings at the CIF Southern
Section Masters Meet held at Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool on Tuesday.
Leading the way again was the Los Al girls relay
teams. In the girls 400 free relay, the Lady Griffins were fifth
with a time of 3:37.23. In the girls 200 free relay, Los Alamitos
finished sixth with a time of 1:39.43, just behind Wilson's 1:39.16.
Los Alamitos' boys were 17th in the 200 free
relay (1:29.61).
Los Alamitos freshman Darielle Watkins finished
sixth in the girls 200 IM (2:07.71). Los Alamitos junior Jeremy
Smith was 20th (1:59.98) in the boys 200 IM.
Watkins added an 11th-place finish in the 100
butterfly (57.85).
Wilson freshman Maddie Golison was 14th (58.47)
and Los Alamitos' Adriana Quezada took 20th (59.44).
In the boys 100 butterfly, Los Alamitos junior
Forrest Watkins finished tied for 14th (52.49) and Lakewood junior
McArthur David was 23rd (53.53).
In the boys 100 backstroke, Los Alamitos junior
Austin Trinkle finished 17th (54.18).
Los Al sophomore Alex Merrill took 13th (21.88)
in the boys 50 free, and 21st in the boys 100 free (48.54).
|
May 12, 2008
BOYS GOLF: Griffins Jonathan Kim wins CIF Regional
Invitational
Los Al sophomore Jonathan Kim, compensated for
a hook by deliberately trying to slice his tee shot, and ended driving
straight to a CIF Southern Individual Regional championship.
Kim shot a four-under 68 at Sea Cliff Country
Club on Monday and earned the first of 30 spots at next Monday's
CIF-SS Individual Championships at Mission Hills.
Another local, former St. Hedwig-er Patrick Cantlay
(now at Servite) also made the cut for the individual championships,
shooting a par 72. Los Al's Miles Cole just missed, shooting a 78.
|
May 10, 2008
TRACK AND FIELD: Feighner leads 5 Griffins, relay
to finals
 Anchored
by senior Wes Feighner in the 400 meters and 4x400 meter relay team,
five Griffins track and field athletes will advance to this weekend's
CIF-Southern Section Division I finals at Cerritos College, after
their showings at the Div I prelims in Mission Viejo on Saturday.
Feighner advanced to the 400 meter finals, turning
in a time of 49.56, the fifth best time in school history. (The
record is Justin Woods' 48.66, set in 2006.)
He then helped the boys 4x400 relay team qualify
for the finals by turning in the ninth best time in school history,
clocking a 3:23.91. The team is pictured left (l-r, Myles Andrews,
Wes Feighner, Garrett Verdone, and Jake Strange).
In the shot put, senior Chris Yates sent the
orb 54'8", the third best shot put in Los Al annals, and the
fourth best effort at the meet, qualifiying him for this weekend's
finals. Yates discus toss of 152-04 was the sixth best in school
history, but left him one place out from advancing.
In the 800 meters, senior Jake Strange just missed
qualifying, turning in a 1:57:13, less than half a second off the
last qualifying time.
 On
the girls side, the Griffin Varsity 4x400 relay team clocked a time
of 4:03.22, good for 13th best at the meet, but besting the school
record of 4:04.72, which had stood since 1991.
In the high jump, Brianna Dixion qualified for
the this week's finals with a jump of 5-2, 7th best in school history.
Stacy Lee set the mark of 5-7 in 1986.1
In the pole vault, seniors Alexa Ward and Mary
Garrett advanced to the finals with vailts of 11-0 and 10-6, respectively.
The girls 4x100 relay team clocked a 50.36, the
25th best time on the day but good for eighth best in school history.
|
May 9, 2008
SWIMMING: Griffin boys take third and girls take
fifth at CIF Finals
Los Alamitos swimmers turned in strong performances
at the CIF-Southern Section Division I Swimming Finals held Friday
at Belmont Plaza pool in Long Beach. The Griffin boys finished third
with 150 points while the girls squad scored 140 to finish fifth
overall.
 The
girls 200 free relay finished third in a school-record time of 1:37.52
and the boys 400 relay finished third in 3:10.16, another school
mark. Sophomore Kaley Dodson swam a very impressive 23.95 in the
first leg of the 200 free relay and junior Forrest Watkins swam
a 46.98 to anchor the 400 boys free relay.
"I'm pretty stoked for (the boys and girls),"
said Los Alamitos coach Dave Carlson, who said the team finishes
were the highest in Division I since he took over as coach in 1999.
Joshua Joiner took fourth place in the 100 butterfly
(49.80) and was fifth in the 100 backstroke (53.25). Dodson was
third in the 50 free, with her time of 23.81 setting a school record.
Photo: Darielle Watkins swimming in 200IM.
|
May 7, 2008
SOFTBALL: Aztecs rally from 6-0 to beat Los Al;
 Despite
Brittany Spaulding's county-leading 15th home run, arch-rival Esperanza
put a damper on Los Al's senior day proceedings and its league championship
hopes, rallying from a 6-0 deficit to stun Los Al and its overflow
home crowd 9-7 on Wednesday afternoon at Los Al.
Los Alamitos finished the regular season with
an 18-11 record, and ended up second in the Sunset League with an
8-2 mark, both losses coming at the hands of Esperanza.
The Griffins came out swinging in this game,
scoring five runs on seven hits in the bottom of the second, highlighted
by the 15th home run of the year for Brittany Spalding (shown left,
beating a throw to home in a Press-Telegram photo). She is tops
in all of Orange County.
Twin sister Chanelle Spalding didn;t have a bad
day for herself either, going 3-for-3 with two singles, a double,
two runs scored and an RBI for the Griffins.
JV SOFTBALL: Los Al down Aztecs to claim Sunset
title
Los Alamitos JV Softball team ( 23-1) (9-1) avenged
their only loss of the season and with it captured the Sunset Title
, with a 3-0 victory over Esparanza ( 7-2-1) Wednesday at Los Al.
Mandie Sugita (8-1) pitched the victory for
the Baby Griffs giving up 3 hits and striking out 9.
Los Al opened the scoring in the 2nd with consecutive
singles from Maddy Main , Starla Coffee and Amanda Hankla for a
1-0 lead.
They put it away in the 6th with 1 out Main
singled again and Coffee followed with an RBI triple. The 3rd run
run scored on a fielders choice and that was more than enough for
Sugita.
The baby Griffs pitching and defense was the
key to their successful season as their pitchers Sugita , Stephanie
Luhmann ( 10-0) and Sydney Sperling ( 5-0) combined for 10 shutouts
in the 24 games.
|
May 7, 2008
GIRLS LACROSSE: Griffins fall to St. Margaret's
in OC title game
The Los Alamitos High School Women’s Varsity
Lacrosse team fell to St. Margaret's of San Juan Capistrano in the
championship game of the the Orange County Lacrosse championships
on May 7th.
The Griffins started their run to a second straight
championship game appearance by thumping Trabuco Hills 20-4 on May
2nd, racking up 10 goals before the Mustangs scored their first
point. Eleven different players scored for the Los Al team, with
sophomores Tracy Paulson and Ashley Actkinson both scoring three
goals each. Two goals for juniors Megan Baikie, Francie Crowell,
Lindsey Schmidt-Beck and sophomores Shaina Denny and Melanie Martinez.
Senior Cathy Soukup, sophomores Kristin Robbins, Diana Chambers
and freshman Melissa Hastie each added one goal to the total. The
Los Al defense was lead by goalies Danielle Lindquist in the first
half with 4 saves and Carissa Friedman in the second with 3 saves.
Keeping the ball away from the goal were defenders Shelley Smith,
Amiya Moretta, Megan Ogle and Janie Cowan.
Los Al's next victim was Foothill, as the Griffins
upset the favored Knights 14-9 on the losers own field. Foothill
had beaten Los Al last year in the 2007 OC Championship game,and
picked up where they left off, scoring three goals in the first
four minutes of the game, and creating a sense of doom among the
Los Al spectators. Griffin Coach Meredith Adamicki called a time
out and her team responded with 5 goals scored over the next ten
minutes, taking a lead which they never gave up. Shaina Denny and
Francie Crowell were the lead scorers for Los Al with 5 and 4 goals
respectively. Single goals were made by Megan Baikie, Ashley Actkinson,
Lindsey Schmidt-Beck, Tracy Paulson and Kristin Robbins. The Griffins
defense was led by outstanding play by senior Shelley Smith, and
sophomores Amiya Moretta and goalie Danielle Lindquist with 8 saves.
At the end of the game the Foothill spectators appeared shell-shocked
at the loss their seasoned team had been dealt by the second year
Los Al squad.
The final game, played at neutral Trabuco Hills
stadium on May 7th, was a sad defeat for the Los Al team, and a
“regaining of face” for the St. Margaret’s Tartans.
The Los Al first year team defeated the top seeded Tartans in the
2007 quarterfinals in a surprise victory, eliminating them from
the playoffs. In this year’s regular season games the two
teams split wins, handing each other their only league loss. The
championship game ended in a 12-7 score with the Tartans dominating
both offense and defense. Los Al goals were made by Lindsey Schmidt-Beck
(3), Francie Crowell (2), Shelley Smith (1) and Megan Baikie (1).
Los Al ends its season with a 13-2 record, and
with only four players lost to graduation this year, should continue
to be a powerhouse on the field over the next few years.
|
May 3, 2008
TRACK AND FIELD: Los Al boys win Varsity and JV
track titles; numerous athletes advance to CIF Division I finals
Anchored by a gold-medal winning performances
from their relay teams, the Los Al Varsty Boys track team captured
the Sunset League championship for the second straight year.
Joining the Varsity boys on the championship
dais was the JV boys team.
Taking first place trophies at the meet were
Griffin senior pole vaulter Alexa Ward and 400 meter runner Danielle
Fessenden, boys high jumper Matt Renick and senior sprinter Wes
Feighner, who won the 400 and anchored the championship 4x100 and
4x400 relay teams.
Fessenden's winning 400 meter time of 58.99 second
best in Los Al history. Her time of 26.09 in the 200 meters tied
her with Heidi Sendro (1985) for seventh best time in school history.
Griffin sprinter Leah Iris scored the seventh
best 100-meter time in Los Al girls history, turning in a 12.7.
The girls 4x400 relay squad (of Fessenden, finished
in second place with a time of 4:04.92, good for second best in
the Los Al record book. The 1991 team of Srafia Cox, Jessica Kinnahan,
Tracy Fatone and Cavetra Mitchell hold the record with a 4:04.72
mark.
List
of Los Al finishers at Sunset League championships
Complete
Sunset League Finals results
|
April 22, 2008
SOFTBALL: Spaulding knocks three HRs, but Griffins fall to Esperanza
|
April 17,
2008
SOFTBALL: Los Al JVs stay unbeaten, whomp Newport
13-0
Los Al
JV softball team ran their season record to 14-0 and 4-0 in league
with a 13-0 win over Newport Harbor at Los Al Thursday.
Gabby Thury led the Los Al attack
with three hits, including two doubles, while Katie Neipris
had two hits, including a bases loaded triple, and four RBI for
the winners. Dana Rex also had two2 hits for Los
Al while Sydney Sperling picked up her third pitching
victory via three-hitter and striking out seven.
The Baby Griffs play in the Foothill Invitational
Tournament this Saturday, facing Pacifica at 9:00 and El Toro at
11:00.
Newport Harbor........000 00 —
0 3 3
Los Al......................841 0x — 13 13 0
April 15, 2008
BOYS VOLLEYBALL: Griffins down Esperanza
After two tough losses, the Los Al Boys Volleyball
team finished the first half of its league season on a winning note,
downing Esperanza 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-21) at Los Al on Tuesday.
Kyle McElderry had 13 kills
in 21 attempts and Michael Strawther added eight
kills to lead the Griffins. Libero Dewey Thomas
added 16 digs.
Los Al, which improved its league record to 3-2
and 17-8 overall, travels to Fountain Valley on Friday, then hosts
Marina and Edison next week.
SOFTBALL: Spalding's homer keeps Los Al unbeaten
in league; JVs also rally in sixth to stay perfect at 13-0
Los Al junior Brittany Spalding hit a three-run
home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to give Los Al a 3-2
Sunset League win over Edison on Tuesday afternoon at Los Al.
The homer not only gave the Griffins their first
lead of the game, it kept them unbeaten in Sunset League play at
3-0. They are 13-8 overall.
Junior Taryn Devich recorder her eighth win of
the season, against three losses.
JVs rally to down Edison, stay unbeaten on
season
Los Al JV softball team scored three runs in
the bottom of the 6th inning to stay undefeated and defeat Edison
JV 5-4 Tuesday at LAHS. The Griffins are now 13-0 overall and 3-0
in Sunset League play.
Los Al lead 2-0 after three thanks to a RBI
single from Maddy Main in the first and a triple by Sara Hutter
in the 3rd and a passed ball that scored the second run.
Edison (2-1) went ahead in the 4th with four runs one three base
hits and three Los Al errors to take the 4-2 lead that held up until
the bottom of the sixth.
Nicole Baltierra led off with a single, then
scored on starting pitcher Mandie Sugita's long home run to center.
The Baby Griffs then loaded the bases and Lauren Montgomery's sacrifice
fly to left scored pitch runner Gabby Thury with the 3rd run of
the comeback.
Stephanie Luhmann gained her 6th win against no loses in relief
of Sugita striking out 4 of the 5 batters she faced in 6th and 7th
innings.
Baltierra and Main both had two hits for the
victors who next face Newport Harbor at home Thursday before playing
Pacifica and El Toro on Saturday in the Foothill JV Tourney.
Edison......000 400 0 — 4
6 2
Los Al......101 003 x — 5 8 3
WP Stephanie Luhmann ( 6-0)
SWIMMING: Boys down Newport Harbor, improve to
6-1
The Los Al boys and girls swimming teams downed
Newport Harbor yesterday in a Sunset League match.
The girls won their meet 108-62, while the Griffin
boys, led by its top-ranked 400 free relay squad, triumphed 88-82.
The boys improved their overall record to 6-1 on the season and
3-1 in league.
The 400 relay team of Alex Merrill, Jeremy Smith,
Josh Joiner and Forrest Watkins swam a 3:15:08 to edge Newport by
½ a second (3:15:61) in a battle of the top two times in
Orange Ciounty yesterday. The Los Al boys also won the medley relay.
GIRLS LACROSSE: Griffins thump Mission Viejo 20-9
Francie Crowell's five goals led the Los Al girls
lacrosse team to a 20-9 win over Mission Viejo Tuesday afternoon.
Tracy Paulson added four and Shaina Denny three for the Griffins
who improved to 8-1 on the season.
|
April 12,
2008
BOYS LACROSSE: Griffins fall to Catalina in a
battle of unbeatens
With temperatures sometimes reaching 95 degrees
on the field, the Los Al boys lacrosse team suffered its first loss
of the season, falling
6-3 to Catalina last Saturday at Laurel School.
Here's the Catalina
newspaper report of the game.
|
April 10,
2008
GIRLS LACROSSE: Los Al bullies El Toro 16-4
The Los Al Lady Griffins Lacrosse team scored
eleven second half goals and a season high 16 to put away El Toro
16-4 Thursday afternoon.
The Griffins had a fight on their hands in the
first half, going into intermission with just a 5-2 lead before
coming out strong in the second stanza, outscoring El Toro 11-2.
In addition to their season high goal tally,
Los Al also posted a season high number of assists, free position
goals and a season low number of fouls. Scoring was lead by Francie
Crowell with 5 goals, followed by Megan Baikie, Tracy Paulson and
Shaina Denny with 2 each, and Shelley Smith, Lindsey Schmidt-Beck,
Allie Conrad, Kristin Robbins, and Melanie Martinez with 1 apiece.
Danny Lindquist played an outstanding game racking up 10 saves,
5 of which were against free position (1 on 1) shots.
With the win, Los Al improves to 7-1 on the season.
They return to action April 15 against Mission Viejo.
|
April 10,
2008
SOFTBALL: Ristow delivers as Griffins rally for
five in 7th inning to down No. 7 Marina, 7-6
Senior Jacque Ristow drove in
Christine Crissman with a single in the bottom
of the seventh inning to cap a five-run rally as the Griffins softball
team (12-5, 2-0) upset the No. 7 Marina Vikings 7-6 on Thursday
at Los Al.
It was the second straight loss for the Vikings'
(13-5, 0-2).
Marina scored two runs in the top of the sixth
and two runs in the top of the seventh to take a 6-2 advantage over
the Griffins, but Los A responded with its first six hitters reaching
base safely in the bottom of the seventh to set up Ristow's winning
hit. Junior pitcher Taryn Devich scattered six
hits and went the distance for Los Alamitos.
JV ACTION:
Los Al improves to 2-0 in league
The Griffin JV softball team won its second straight
league match, edging Marina 2-0.
Los Al..................1(14)0 00 —15
16 2
Fountain Valley......100 00 — 1 2 4
WP S.Sperling ( 2-0) Soph
Marina..................000 000 0 — 0 5 2
LAHS....................011 000 x — 2 6 0
WP Sugita (5-0)
Rbi singles K.Dial and L. Nilsen
|
April 9,
2008
BASEBALL:
Griffins fall to Fountain Valley, and out of first place
Five days after pulling off a miraculous comeback,
the Los Al Griffins baseball team had no more tricks up its sleeve
and fell
to Fountain Valley 3-2 in a key Sunset League baseball matchup
at FV Wednesday afternoon.
Matt Avery had a 2-run home run for Los Al to tie the game in the
top of the sixth inning but the Barons rallied for the game-winning
run in the bottom of the frame, and take over sole possession of
first place with a 5-1 record. Los Al drops to 4-2, but can tie
the Barons when they take them on at home on Friday
The Griffins improved its first round Sunset
League record to 4-1 after rallying to score three runs in the bottom
of the seventh to escape
with a 6-5 win over Esperanza last Friday. Senior pitcher/outfielder
Travis Garrett scored the winning run after drawing a walk with
the bases loaded. . The two-out walk, which came after he fouled
off a pair of two strike pitches, capped a day which saw Garrett
reach base five times on no hits, three walks and being hit by two
pitches.
The Griffins are currently ranked No. 1 in the
CIF
Southern Section Division I polls and at No.
16 in the national high school baseball rankings.
RELATED
|
April 10,
2008
HOCKEY: Barber, Morrison earn spots in first roller
hockey all-star game.
Three Los Al Griffins will play in the first
Interscholastic Hockey Federation all-star game to take place April
19. Kevin Morrison and goalkeeper Ja’Nien Barber were named
to the varsity squad while Eric Jones made the JV team. Barber was
the only female goalie in the league and the only girl chosen to
participate in the all-star game. More can be read about her and
the game here.
|
April 8,
2008
SOFTBALL: Khalil's homer gives Griffins 2-1 win
in Sunset opener
Molly Khalil hit a 2 run home run in the fourth
inning to lead the Griffins to victory over Fountain Valley in their
Sunset League opener at Fountain Valley.
Khalil also had two hits in the game, as did
senior Danmielle D'Eccliss and Brittany Spaulding.
Junior pitcher Taryn Devich got the win, allowing
one earned run and six hits while going all seven innings. She improved
her record to 6-3. Los Al, which is 1-0 in league play and 10-8
overall, returns to action on Thursday, hosting No. 7 Marina. Two
of Los Al's losses were forfeits after conflicts from the Savanna
Tournament final games and the first rounds of the Woodbridge tournament.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL: Los Al can't finish, falls to
Edison 3-1
The Los Al Boys volleyball team put itself in
a big hole in the Sunset League race by falling to Edison 3-1 on
Tuesday afternoon on the winners court.
The loss gave them a 2-1 league record and put
them in a must win situation for Friday night's match at Newport
Harbor, the No. 1 team in CIF Division I.
Los Al has only itself to blame for Tuesday’s
loss to Edison. The Griffins gave up late leads in both the first
and fourth games in losing 26-24, 25-16, 24-26, 26-24. In the final
game they held a late six point lead before self-destructing in
a sea of unforced errors.
Junior Brian Miller led the Griffins with 13
kills in 20 attempts. Junior setter Sean Senozan had 40 assists,
but only 11 went to the middle where Los Al has a kill percentage
near 60%. When Los Al jumped out to an 11-0 record, the middles
were recording over a collective 15 kills a match. In recent games,
most of the Griffin sets have gone to the outside hitters whose
collective kill percentage is in the 30 per cent range. To be fair,
much of that low percentage is due to the opponents correctly predicting
the set and being able to put up a double and sometimes triple block.
Whatever the case, over the last twelve games, Los Al has lost seven
while winning only five, and seen their overall record drop to 16-7.
|
April 7,
2008
SOFTBALL: Griffins win Savanna Tournament, then
crush Cerritos 18-2 in Sunset season turn-up
The Los Al softball team downed Long Beach Poly
and Pomona Catholic on Saturday to win the Savanna Tournament championship.
The Griffins trounced Pomona Catholic 12-0 in
the championship game, with the win coming on the heels of a 1-0
semi-final win over Poly. In the latter game, Molly Khalil broke
a 0-0 sixth inning tie with a double that scored Katrina Metoyer
for the winning run. Darcy Gardner pitched a shut out allowing only
one hit with 10 strikeouts.
In a good-problem-to-have scenario, reaching
the semi-finals created a scheduling conflict with the first round
pool play of the Woodbridge Tournament and the Griffins were forced
to forfeit both of their games -- against San Clemente and Foothill.
Undaunted by the two forfeit losses, the Griffins
took it out on Cerritos, thumpring the host team 18-2 on Monday
afternoon. Brittany Spaulding had four hits, including a pair of
homeruns, while her twin sister Channelle, Jordan Mahoney and ___
Brown each added a four-bagger of their own. Bree Biazevich and
Brown also had doubles. Darcy Garner got the win, recording eight
strikeouts in four innings.
JVs also take home Savanna Tourney title
Not to be outdone by their Varsity teammates,
the Griffin JV softball team also won the championship at the Savanna
JV Tournament.
The mini Griffins opened the tourney with pool
play wins over Sunny Hills (9-5) and El Rancho (7-1), then trounced
top-seeded Loara 11-1 in the semi-finals. Freshman Mandy Sugita
pitched a four-hitter to get the win, and got help from fellow freshman
Starla Coffee who had three hits and five RBIs en route to earning
tournament MVP honors.
SEMI-FINALS
LAHS........012 404 0 — 11 11 1
Loara....... 010 000 0 — 1 4 4
WP - Mandy Sugita ( 4-0)
Starla Coffee 3 hits 5 RBI-
CHAMPONSHIP GAME
LAHS..............001 1000 — 2
8 2
El Segundo.....000 000 0 — 0 5 0
WP Stephanie Luhmann ( 4-0)
RBI singles Kassidy Dial (sophomore) and Lacey Nilsen (freshman).
|
April 4,
2008
BOYS VOLLEYBALL: Griffins struggle but down Marina
3-1
The Los Al; Boys Volleyball team improved to
2-0 in Sunset League play, but looked inconsistent and unimpressive
while downing winless Marina 3-1 (25-19, 19-25, 25-22, 25-16) on
the Vikings home court.
Senior outside hitter Kyle McElderry led Los
Al with 12 kills, and senior middle blocker Michael Strawther added
10. Junior Sean Senozan had 43 assists, but the team's over all
effort impressed neither their fans or coaching staff.
“We have to get back to doing some things
we did very well at the beginning,” noted Griffin coach Dave
Huber. Most notable of those would be keeping the middle –
especially senior middle Matt Markel - involved in the offensive
attack. Markel only had five kills in last Friday’s match.
When the Griffin middles have gotten 18 kills in a match they are
unbeaten. Not only do they have a very high kill percentage, but
it gives the outside hitters more one on one opportunities. |
April 3,
2008
GIRLS LACROSSE: Griffins suffer first loss, fall
to St. Margarets
After a week off, the Griffins girls lacrosse
team resumed play by splitting a pair of games this week, downing
an outmatched Huntington Park 13-2 team at Hungtington Park on Tuesday,
then falling to St. Margaret's 11-8 on Thursday.
Against Huntington, the Griffins scord nine unanswered
goals at one point. Los Al was led by Francie Crowell (5 goals,
1 assist), Shaina Denny (2 goals, 1 assist), Natalie Dao (2 goals),
Lindsey Schmidt-Beck (1 goal), Allie Conrad (1 goal) and Melanie
Martinez (1 goal), Ashley Actkinson (3 assists).
In Thursdays match against St. Margaret, the
opponents built a 5-0 advantage en route to an 8-2 halftime deficit.
Los Al outscored St. Margarets 6-3 in the second half but still
fell 11-8. The Los Al offense was led by Tracy Paulson and Kristin
Robbins who each scored two goals. Amiya Moretta, Lindsey Schmidt-Beck,
Francie Crowell and Shaina Denny (1 goal).
|
April 1,
2008
BOYS VOLLEYBALL: Los Al opens Sunset season with
5-game win over Fountain Valley
Perhaps the result of a two-week layoff, the
Los Alamitos Boys Volleyball team made it tough for themselves,
but hung on to down Fountain Valley 3-2 in its Sunset League season
opener Tuesday afternoon at Los Al.
 Game
scores were 24-26, 25-23, 25-20, 17-25, and 15-10. Los Al, whichy
is ranked No.; 5 in Orange County and CIF Division I, improved to
to 15-6 overall and 1-0 in league play. Fountain Valley, ranked
No 10 in both polls, drops to to 18-6 and 0-1.
Kyle McElderry had 12 kills to lead Los Al, followed
by Brian Miller and Dylan Bakker with 10 each, and middle blocker
Michael Strawther had nine. But a key stat is the absence of kills
for middle blocker Matt Markel who was rarely set until Game 5 when
he delivered three definitive kills, which not only provided key
points but gave the players and fans a big emotional lift.
Los Al setter Sean Senozan was handicapped by
the Griffins very poor passing off the opponent's serve at times.
In libero Dewey Thomason, Los Al has one of the
best passers in SoCal, whose first hits consistently gave Senozan
the ball near the net -- and gave him multiple options, not only
to the outside hitters, but also for a quick set to a middle, a
dump, or for a hit coming out of the back row. This was a key factor
in the Griffins' hot start this season, when they jumped out to
11-0 and showed they can play with anybody.
Now opponents now serve away from Thomason, forcing
other back row players to make the play, but their passes have been
inconsistent. all too often forcing Senozan to run all over the
court to get to the ball. This has virtually eliminated the dump,
back row hits and quick set to the middle as an option and allowed
opponents to double team the outsides.
It will be a challenge but Senozan will have
to find a way to keep the middles much more involved if Los Al wants
to make a serious run at a league title and in the CIF playoffs.
The Griffins return to action Friday at Marina. |
March 19,
2008
BOYS GOLF: Cole's 34 leads Griffins to 192-200
win over Cerritos
Senior Mile Cole shot a one-under 35 to lead
the Los Al Boys Golf team to a 192-200 win over Cerritos on Wednesday
afternoon at Lakewood Golf Course. The Griffins improved their record
to 8-2.
BOYS BASKETBALL: Griffin's Corbin Moore committs
to Pepperdine, earns spot on All-CIF Div. 1-A 1st team
Corbin Moore, a 6-foot-10 post player for the
Los Alamitos boys' basketball team, committed
to Pepperdine, it was announced yesterday. Moore who became
the Griffins all-time leading rebounder this season, chose Pepperdine
over Long Beach State and Northwestern.
|
March 18,
2008
GIRLS LACROSSE: Griffins down Tesoro 10-8, improve
to 4-0
Los Al Women’s Varsity Lacrosse stayed
undefeated, and improved its season record to a 4-0, with a 10-8
win over Tesoro at Tesoro on Tuesday.
Junior Francie Crowell led the Griffins with
four goals, and Shaina Denny with three. Lindsey Schmidt-Beck, Tracy
Paulson, and Melanie Martinez each had a single goal. Goalkeeper
Danny Lindquist had eight saves.
The Los Al girls, who were placed
No. 1 in the West Side Lacrosse website pre-season rankings,
had previously defeated Corona Del Mar 7-4, St. Margaret’s
12-11 and Mission Viejo 11-8.
On offense the team has been led by Crowell,
returning all-county junior, who's scored 13 goals and six assists,
and sophomore Shaina Denny, another returning all-county player,
with nine goals and one assists. Midfielder Tracy Paulson has 5
goals, 3 assists.
Complete
stats
|
| March 11,
2008
RANKINGS: Griffins atop OC Register Baseball and
Boys Swimming polls, move up to No. 4 in Boys Volleyball
Los Al teams showed well in the OC Register's
rankings in their Tuesday OC Varsity section. Baseball, which won
the Loara championship and has a 5-0 record going into Monday's
double-header with LB Poly, stayed atop that sport's poll
of county coaches, and even got coach Mark Clabough excited
by his team's performance. Clabough also told the LA Times that
Travis Garrett was starting
to get more notice from colleges.
Boys volleyball, which had previously been unranked
got some attention with their 11-2 record and for reaching the semi-finals
at the Best
of the West Tournament, moved
up to No. 5 in the Register rankings, right behind Santa Margarita,
which Los Al has already beaten twice this season. Los Al senior
Kyle McElderry was also named the Register's player of the week.
The Boys swimming team didn't get as much ink,
but was also
perched atop the county polls.
BOYS SOCCER: Seo named Sunset League Offensive
Player of Year, Hudson earns Defensive Player of the Year honors
Senior forward Tim Seo and junior defender Bryan
Hudson were awarded the Sunset League's Player of the Year awards
for Offense and Defensive, respectively, leading a contingent of
seven Griffins who earned first team all-Sunset League honors in
post-season voting by the team's coaches.
Other Griffins making the first team were seniors
Wes Feighner, Kevin Venegas, and Victor Bravo and juniors Kyle Oyama
and Josh Coppinger.
Earning second team honors were senior Bill Hoffman,
Nick DiMatteo, and freshman Tim Harty.
Other All-Sunset League teams
|
GIRLS
SOFTBALL: Griffins go 2-3 in Tournament of Champions
The Los Al softball team has some work ahead
of it, but came away with some positives after their 2-3 showing
at the tough Dave Kops Tournament of Champions in Bullhead City,
Arizona last week.
Los Al pitcher Taryn Devich had two victories against one loss,
and the Spalding sisters , Christine and Brittany, were impressive
at the plate in their wins.
The Los Al defense hurt itself with untimely errors in their losses
to Thousand Oaks and two teams from Texas, Alvin and Splendora.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Los Alamitos 8, Woodbridge 6
Woodbridge..... 301 100 1— 6 x 1
Los Alamitos.... 303 020 x — 8 x 2
WP—Taryn Devich.
NOTABLE: Brittney Spalding had a homerun and 5 RBIs to lead the
Griffins.
RECORD: Los Alamitos 1-1
Friday, March 7, 2008
Alvin (Texas) 10, Los Al 0
Alvin..............410 5—10 x 0
Los Al............ 000 0— 0 x 2
(mercy rule)
WP— Eng
LP—Gardner
RECORD: Los Alamitos 1-2
Los Alamitos 3, California (Whittier)
2
Los Alamitos........ 011 000 0—
3 x 0
California............. 200 000 0— 2 x 0
WP—Devich
LP—Beza
Hr—Davis (Cal);
TRIPLES: Brittany Spaulding (Los Al);
DOUBLES: Chanelle Spalding, Brittney Spalding (Los Al);
NOTABLE: Taryn Devich allowed only three hits in seven innings to
lead the Griffins to a close win (3-2) over California.
RECORD: Los Alamitos 2-2
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Thousand Oaks 9, Los Alamitos 2
Thousand Oaks......103 41 — 9 x
1
Los Alamitos.......... 001 01— 2 x 2
mercy rule
WP—Reynolds; LP—Gardner
DOUBLES—Gottfried, C. Spalding (Los Alamitos) Mudgett, Mathews
(Thousand Oaks)
RECORD: Los Alamitos 2-3
Splendora (Texas) 8, Los Al 0
Splendora........000 017—8 x 0
Los Alamitos.....000 000—0 x 3
mercy rule
WP—Loge; LP—Devich
RECORD: Los Alamitos 2-4
|
 |
| Mar 7, 2008
BASEBALL: Los Al downs Vista Murrietta 7-0, wins
Loara Tourney championship
 Matt
Avery singled, doubled and drove in a pair of runs, while Travis
Garrett allowed just one hit in four innings and struck out nine
batters, as the Los Al baseball team downed Vista Murrietta High
School 7-0 to win the Loara Baseball Tournament championship.
Avery (below, left). who had eight hits throughout
the week, was named the Tournament's Co-Most
Valuable Player, as the Griffins, the No. 1 team in Orange County,
improved their record to 5-0.
 Los
Al got two runs in the second inning, thanks to a triple by Brian
Tripp and a double by Ken Uyetake, then broke it open with five
in the third.
Garrett was named the Player of the Game. Kyle
Simon, who came in for Garrett in the fifth inning, received a save.
The Griffins will play a double header against
Long Beach Poly on Monday at Blair Field, and then begin their 15-game
Sunset League schedule on Friday with a home game against Fountain
Valley.
championship photo by Kevin Rysavy (click
for larger image)
BOYS VOLLEYBALL: Los Al takes fourth at Best of
the West
Although they drew no votes or mention in any
pre-season polls. after their showing at the Best of the West Boys
Volleyball Invitational, this year's Los Al Boys Volleyball team
can not count on being overlooked any longer.
The Griffins reached the tournament semi-finals
and went 5-2 in the two-day, 32-team tournament which drew most
of the top teams from all over California, and 28-time Hawaii state
champ Punahou.
Although they dropped their last two matches
of the two day marathon tournament. the Griffin netters made their
presence known with five straight wins, including a quarterfinal
victory over Hawaiian powerhouse Punahou -- a school not only known
as Barack
Obama's alma mater (he was known as Barry
Obama then) -- but also for the fact that it had won four straight
Hawaiian state championships, and reportedly 85 straight matches
(although per the Hawaiian newspaper accounts I read, I can only
verify they were undfeated the past two seasons -- about 40 straight
matches). In any case they fell to the Griffins in three. (27-25,
25-27, 15-13).
 Los
Al opened the tournament with three impressive pool play wins on
Friday, sweeping Torrey Pines 25-17, 25-21), Orange Lutheran (25-12,
26-24) and Loyola (25-22, 25-23), the No. 3 ranked team in CIF-Southern
Section Division I.
Against Torrey Pines, senior Kyle
McElderry, who would earn all-tourney honors along with libero
Dewey Thomason,
led Los Al with seven kills, while junior setter Sean
Senozan had 20 assists. Senior Dylan
Bakker led Los Al against Lutheran with nine kills, followed
by Michael Strawther
with eight in a game which saw Los Al hold a six-point lead, but
let Lutheran rally to take a one-point lead, before a sideout kill
by Strawther who then followed up with two service aces to put the
match away. Brian Miller
had six kills in both matches.
The Griffins finished off the day with 25-22
and 25-23 wins over Loyola, the No. 3 ranked team in the pre-season
CIF Division I coaches poll. McElderry led Los Al with six kills
and two aces
The wins advanced them to the 16-team Gold Bracket
play, where they opened with a 25-20, 25-18 over Granite Bay of
Central California. That set up a match against Punahou, considered
by many as one of the top teams in the nation. They are certainly
the top program in volleyball crazy Hawaii, where they have won
28 of 38 state championships. Saturday, they had to play without
starting setter Eric Shoji (a libero on the US team at the World
Youth Games) who was back at the hotel with a 102 fever.
The Buffanblu (their nickname from their colors)
still had enough depth -- especially in the form of junior Madison
McKibbin, considered one of the best players in the nation -- to
bring their A game to the court and down Edison in three. All three
games against Los Al were fiercely contested. Los Al won the first
game 27-25 and had match point in the second game, but couldn't
put it away and Punahou came back to win 27-25. Because all of the
other quarter-final matches had ended, fans and players crowded
around Court 1, giving the rubber game of the Los Al-Punahou match
a championship game atmosphere.
Things looked bad for Los Al when Punahou took
a 9-5 lead, but Los Al rallied to take a 13-12 lead. The teams traded
sideouts and then Strawther served an ace into the right corner
to give Los Al the victory.
McElderry led Los Al in kills with 12, and Markel
added 8. Senozan had 32 assists and libero Dewey Thomason (above
left) kept Los Al alive numerous times with ten digs.
The win over Punahou and the marathon day seemed
to emotionally drain Los Al which would have had a real battle anyway
against No. 2 seed Valencia, a very tall and strong opponent under
any circumstances. The Griffins didn't help their cause with unforced
service and passing errors, the inevitable result of tired legs
and arms, and emotional ups and downs, and ended up losing 25-17,
25-21.
Los Al also went in two to Loyola in a third
place re-match, 25-22, 25-21.
The Griffins are now 11-2 on the season, and
return to action with a Wednesday afternoon match at Long Beach
Wilson.
Next weekend the Griffins conclude their non-league
schedule with another tough tournament, the OC Championships, hosted
by Edison High School.
|
March 6, 2008
BASEBALL: Griffins
hold on to down Marina, advance to Loara championship
It was a rough final inning, but relief pitcher
Lance Breedlove came to the rescue and helped Los Al downSunset
League rival Marina 7-4 and allow the Griffins to advance to Saturday's
championship game of the Loara Baseball Tournanment.
Los Al scored four runs in the fifth inning to
take what seemed an a commanding lead, bu tafter Marina loaded the
bases in the seventh, the game was anything but over until Bredlove
came in struck out Marina's Ryan Olson looking with a breaking ball.
Los Alamitos (4-0), the No. 1 team in the county
preseason poll, lost in the Loara semifinals last season before
going on to win the Sunset League. The Griffins defeated Marina
all three times in league play, each game by one run.
SOFTBALL: Lady Griffins down Woodbridge 8-6 in
Tournament of Champions opener
The Los Al Lady Griffins downed Woodbridge to
win their first round match at the Dave Kops Tournament of Champions
in Bullhead City, Arizona.
OTHER FIRST DAY SCORES:
FIRST-DAY SCORES:
Valencia 8, Beckman 1;
Splendora 1, Lakewood 0;
Elkins 9, Lancaster 2;
Mission Viejo 12, Saugas 0;
Pacifica 15, Raymond S. Kellis 0;
Splendora 8, Ironwood 1;
Elkins 10, Kingman 0;
Cienega 16, Alta 0; Taylorsville 2,
Ironwood Ridge 1; Sandra Day O'Connor 7,
Sierra Vista 0; Alvin 5, Deer Valley 1;
Sunnyside 4, Farmington 1;
Foothill 6, Chino Hills 1;
Thousand Oaks 4, Keller 0;
Poly Riverside 10, Taylorsville 2;
Sandra Day O'Connor 3, Mater Dei 2;
Los Alamitos 8, Woodbridge 6;
Alvin 2, Clovis 1; El Torro 2,
Sunnyside 1; California 5,
Santa Monica 4; and Greenway 9, Fairfield, 7
|
March 5, 2008
BOYS VOLLEYBALL: Griffins sweep Millikan 25-8,
25-5, 25-9
 The
Los Al Boys Volleyball team improved its season record to 6-0 with
a sweep of Millikan Wednesday afternoon at Los Al. The game was
originally scheduled for Tuesday but a scheduling mix-up caused
it to be played a day later.
Junior Garrett
Sell led Los Al with nine kills, followed senior Zack
Theodore with six, and Evan
Kaplan with four. Junor setter Kevin
Crosby had 17 assists. Junior Sean
Senozan served four aces.
Los Al resumes play on Friday at the Best
of the West Tournament in San Diego. They are in a pool with
Loyola, Torrey Pines and Orange Lutheran. The top two teams from
each pool advance to 16-team gold round play on Saturday.
|
March 4, 2008
BASEBALL: Los Al downs Cypress 11-5, advances
to face Marina in Loara Tournament semi-final
The Los Al Griffins baseball team, ranked No.
1 in Orange County, did nothing to hurt their reputation by downing
Cypress 11-5 in a third round quarterfinal Loara Tournament match-up
Tuesday evening at Glover Stadium in Anaheim.
The Griffins, who improved their non-league record
to 3-0, will next play Marina in Thursday's semi-final match-up.
Game time is 3pm at Glover
Stadium.
SOFTBALL: Griffins fall in 7th inning to No. 12
Hart
The Los Al girls softball team made a good showing
against the No. 12 team in the nation, but gave up a run in the
seventh inning and dropped its season opener to Hart High of Santa
Clarita, 2-1.
Chanelle Spaulding's first inning single drove
in twin sister Brittany for Los Al's only run.
Griffin pitcher Taryn Devich
gave up only four hits, but was victimized by five Griffin errors
in taking the loss. Los Al returns to action Thursday night against
Cactus (Arizona) in the opening round of the Ramada Express Tournament
of Champions in Bullhead City, Ariz.
| |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
4 |
5 |
6 |
|
7 |
|
R |
H |
E |
| Hart |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
1 |
— |
2 |
4 |
0 |
| Los Al |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
— |
1 |
4 |
5 |
| SINGLES: LOS AL: Jacquie Ristow, Brittany
Spalding, Molly Khalil, Chanelle Spalding;
RBIs—LOS AL: C. Spaulding |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BOYS GOLF: Cole leads Griffins to win over SJ
Bosco
Los Al senior Miles Cole finished with a 1-under
35 to pace the Griffins boys golf team to a non-league victory at
Victoria Golf Course.
BOYS LACROSSE: Griffin Boys open season with 8-7
win over Mission Viejo
Adam Kingston and Nolan Smith each scored three
goals to lead the Los Al boys lacrosse team to an 8-7 win over Mission
Viejo on Tuesday afternoon at Mission Viejo. C.J. Jacobs added two
goals for Los Al.
The Griffins evened their season record ast 1-1.
On February 26, they lost
their season opener to Downey 9-8 in overtime.
The Griffins were predicted to finish in second
place in the Sunset League in the Westside
Lacrosse website season predictions.
|
March 3, 2008
BASEBALL: Griffins ranked No. 1 in first OC Register
poll
The Los Alamitos Griffins, who are already off
to a 2-0 start in non-league play, now have a bigger target on their
back after being ranked No.l 1 in Orange County in the first OC
register poll of the young baseball season.
 The
Register notes that "The Griffins return several top players
from last year's team that went 22-6 and was a Sunset League champion.
Senior utility player Travis Garrett hit .425 with six home runs
and 31 RBIs in 2007, and had a 4-2 record on the mound. Senior pitcher
Kyle Simon (left), who signed with Arizona, was 7-2 with a 2.72
ERA. Junior pitcher Beau Wright went 6-0 in '07. Senior outfielder
Matt Avery batted .354 with 22 RBIs, and senior infielder Brian
Tripp was 13 for 14 on stolen-base attempts."
|
March 2, 2008
SOCCER: Feighner named Boys MVP, Suits has goal
and assist in North-South All-Star games; boys overlooked for state
playoffs
The post-high school season has started well
for both Los Al seniors Wes
Feighner and Katie
Suits, judging by their showings at the the Southern
California Showcase high school all-star game played at Bell
Gardens High School on Sunday.
Feighner scored a goal and assist and was selected
as the Boys MVP after his South team defeated the North team in
pk's after a 2-2 score after regulation.
Suits also scored a goal and assist to help her
South squad romp over the North all-stars 6-1 in their contest.
Suits was joined on the team by fellow Griffin Annie
Wethe.
In other high school soccer news, the Los Al
boys team did not receive an invite to the first state regional
tournament. The divisions are determined by enrollment and then
priority is given to CIF finalists, then semi-finalists and then
quarter-finalists. Southern Section leaguing is determined by strenth
of leagues. Since so many of the champions of the weaker divisions
are actually schools with large enrollments they get higher priority
in the state tournament brackets.
In the CIF Division I soccer finals, played last
Saturday, Long Beach Wilson and San Clemente tied for the championship
on the girls side, while Santa Margarita downed Newbury Park 1-0
to win the boys title.
|
March 1, 2008
GIRLS WATER
POLO: Los Al downs CDM, and Foothill to win CIF Masters championship
 Los
Al likes this masters tournament thing.
Matching what the Boys did in the fall season,
the Griffins girls water polo squad, which came up short in the
CIF-Southern Section Division I tournament, took advantage of a
second chance offered by the CIF Masters Tournament, and came away
with a championship trophy.
The Griffins downed Foothill 5-3 in the championship
match, with sophomore Kaley Dodson leading the way with three goals.
Goalie Allie Taylor had six saves for Los Al.
Earlier in the day, Los Al qualified for the
championship match by edging Corona Del Mar 5-4. Jessica Dunn had
two goals for Los Al, while Taylor again had six saves.
Los Al players Kaley Dodson, Kaylee Miller and
Jessica Dunn were named to the All-Masters Tournament team, with
Kaley Dodson receiving the MVP nod.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL: Griffins down Santa Margarita
to win first Mater Dei Nike Invitational
 Apparently
preferring to dig themselves out of a hole, the Los Al Griffins
Boys Volleyball team three times rallied from a first game loss
to win four matches and win the first Nike Boys Invitational Tournament,
held at Mater Dei High School on Saturday.
The Griffins defeated Santa Margarita 3-1 in
the championship match, winning three straight games 26-24, 25-20,
25-18 after dropping the first game 20-25.
Senior outside hitter Kyle McElderry had 13 kills
in 30 attempts in the match, and senior middle blocker Michael Strawther
added twelve kills in fifteen attempts. Junior setter Sean Senozan
added had 35 assists and led the team with four blocks.
With the wins, Los Al improved its season record
to 5-0. They next play at home Tuesday against Millikan, then travel
next weekend to San Diego to play in the Best of the West Tournament
at Poway High School.
The lose-the-first-game/win-the-match formula
was a routine the Griffins perfected earlier in the long day during
pool play, as the Griffins downed Mater Dei 24-26, 25-20, 15-13
and Santa Margarita 16-25, 25-22, 15-11, before making things somewhat
easier on their fans and coach Dave Huber in a two game win over
Mission Viejo, 30-28 and 25-21.
McElderry was given the tourney MVP award, but
he had close competition from the two senior middle blockers, Strawther
and Matt Markel. Strawther converted 16 of 22 kills attempts (a
kill percentage of 68.7%) throughout the four matches while Markel
was 19-of-37 (54.2%).
BASEBALL: Comptons lead Los Al to 3-0 win over
Millikan and advance to Loara Tourney 3rd Round matchup with Cypress
Brian Compton had two hits, one RBI and one
run scored and twin brother David Compton added two hits and one
RBI for the Los Al basbeall team in its 3-0 win over Millikan on
Saturday.
The Griffins, who improved to 2-0, advance to
Tuesday's third round match against Cypress, 15-2 winners over Villa
Park on Saturday. The game will be played on the Los Al High field.
|
February 29, 2008
BASEBALL: Griffins open season with win and back
to back to back home runs
The Los Al Griffins baseball team opened its
2008 season in powerful fashion by downing Woodbridge 11-5, thanks
in part to consecutive fifth-inning home runs by Mickey Lorenzini,
Brian Compton and Travis Garrett.
The game was the first round match of the Loara
Tournament. Los Al now advances to a second round game at Millikan
Saturday at 2pm. (Complete
Loara Tournament schedule is here).
John Heacock earned the win in relief for Los
Al, retiring both batters he faced.
GIRLS WATER POLO: Dunn scores 7 as Griffins open
Masters Tournament with 11-5 win over El Toro
Hoping to make the best of a second life, the
Los Al Griffins downed El Toro and Dos Pueblos to advance today'
semi-final matches in the CIF Girls Water Polo Masters Tournament.
Jessica Dunn scored seven goals in Los Al's opener
when the Griffins posted an 11-5 win over El Toro Friday aftenoon
at the losers pool. Los Al followed that up with an 5-4 win over
Dos Pueblos — who had beaten them twice earlier this season
— in the quarterfinal match later that evening. Sophomore
Kaley Dodson led Los Al with three scores. (video
of one of Dodson's goals)
Allie Taylor had five saves for Los Al which
will now go on to play a semi-final match against No. 2 seed Corona
del Mar Saturday afternoon at 2:15.
|
February 29, 2008
 ALUMNI
BASKETBALL: Duda becomes 14th Anteater to break 1,000 points
Former Griffin Stephanie
Duda (LAHS '03) scored 15 points in the final home
game of her career as the UC Irvine Anteaters fell
to Long Beach State 59-53 Thursday night at the Bren Center.
With her points, the UCI senior from Lakewood
now has 1,003 in her caree, and becomes the 14th Anteater women's
player to reach the 1,000-point plateau and ranks 13th overall in
the record books. Duda also led all players with 14 rebounds, recording
her league leading 16th double-double of the year.
|
February 28, 2008
ALUMNI BASEBALL: Chapman with 4 ex-Griffins is
at top spot in Div. 3 poll
The Chapman University baseball team moved up
from its preseason No. 2 ranking to take over the the No. 1 spot
on D3baseball.com and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association’s
first national poll of the season.
Four ex-Griffins are on the Panther roster, including three sophomores—
pitcher Travis
Cross, catcher Joe
Lehman and outfielder
Ryan Prechtl as well as senior utility player James
Godfrey.
Chapman will host Game 2 of its three-game series
against No. 19 Redlands this Saturday, March 1. Both teams are currently
8-1. First pitch is scheduled at 1 p.m. at Hart Park.
|
February 27, 2008
BOYS VOLLEYBALL:
Griffins down Redondo 3-1 in opener
 The
Los Al Boys Volleyball team opened the 2008 season by downing Redondo
3-1 (25-12, 22-25, 25-22, 25-17) Wednesday evening at the loser's
court.
Senior outside hitter Dylan
Bakker led Los Al with 13 kills, followed by senior middle block
Matt Markel with
nine. Senior outside hitter Kyle
McElderry had eight kills.
Junior setter Sean
Senozan had 34 assists and 4 aces.
The Griffins, CIF quarter-finalists last season,
came out guns blazing in the first game, as Senozan, a three-year
Varsity player, opened the match by serving for eight straight points
and breezed to an early victory
Perhaps aided by overconfidence on the part of
Los Al (as well as a number of unforced errors), Redondo rallied
to win the second game. Los Al came back to win the third and fourth,
although the Seahawks kept it close with an impressive number of
digs to thwart what at first seemed to be sure Griffin points.
The Griffins open this season as a bit of an
unknown commodity, having lost four players—Kevin
Carroll, Srdjan Nadazdin, Greg Kroneberger and Grant
Metheny —to graduation and Division I college scholarships.
Carroll and Metheny are starting at UC Irvine and Rutgers-Newark,
while Nadazdin (Long Beach State) and Kroneberger (Cal State Northridge)
are redshirting.
But they also return four players who started
much of last season in McElderry, middle blockers Markel and Michael
Strawther, and libero Dewey
Thomason. And in Senozan, they have a three-year Varsity player
who has been invited to national youth team camps.
Junior Brian
Miller and Bakken will get first shot at the other outside hitting
roles, with Garrett Sell,
Evan Kaplan and Zack
Theodore also competing for playing time.
Alec
Maggi saw time as a defensive specialist in Wednesday's match,
while Nick DePrez
and Kevin Crosby
gives the team depth at the setter and middle blocker spots.l
The loss of Carroll, an all-CIF player and junior
national team member, will be the toughest spot to fill. Not just
for his hitting, but for his back row passing and his overall fundamental
soundness, especially his footwork prior to hitting the ball. Carroll
always hustled to get himself in position to make a hit while approaching
the net. Yesterday, the Griffin outside hitters were a little inconsistent
in this aspect.
Los Al (1-0) next plays in the Mater Dei Challenge
on Saturday.
The JV squad lost its first game, but rallied
to win the last two and take its match.
ALUMNI SOFTBALL:
LB State hands Nelson, Florida first loss
In a game showcasing one of the best pitching
matchups so far this season, a wide throw in the 10th inning gave
Long Beach State a 2-1 victory over previously unbeaten University
of Florida and former Griffin pitcher Stacey
Nelson.
The loss, the first of the season for Nelson
(Rossmoor, LAHS '05) and the No. 5 Gators, came despite an outstanding
effort by the former Griffin, who sgave up five hits and struck
out 16 batters.
But Long Beach State pitcher Brooke Turner matched
her all the way, as she broke her own school record for strikeouts
with 16.
Both pitchers were in complete control most of
the wayand matched up eerily evenly. Both teams finished with five
hits, both had one earned run and both pitchers struck out 16 over
9+ innings. The 32 combined strikeouts tied for the seventh-most
in NCAA history.
A first and final error would give Long Beach
State (8-6) the game in the 10th, giving both Florida (19-1) and
Nelson (11-1) their first losses of the year.
|
February
26, 2008
BOYS SOCCER: Griffins fall in overtime to Newbury
Park 1-0 in CIF semi-finals
 The
Los Al Boys soccer season came to a disappointing end Tuesday afternoon
when it fell to Newbury Park 1-0 in overtime in a a CIF Division
I semi-final match on the victors field.
Newbury Park scored late in ninth minute of the
first 10-minute overtime and made the goal stand up through the
rest of that period and the subsequent second 10-minute period.
Los Al scored an apparent game-winning goal with
about three minutes remaining in regulation play when Chasen
Ewell headed in a goal which apparently happened after
1) a long throw-in from Wes
Feighner to Kevin
Venegas in one corner who headed it to Ewell on the other (per
Los Al parents), or 2) after a Victor Bravo free kick (per the Ventuta
County Star report), or 3) after a corner kick (per our photographer's
report, but we don't pay him to be accurate, we pay him to take
pict -- wait, we don't pay him at all.) In any case, Ewell was unfortunately
ruled offside, to the disbelief of Griffin fans who got another
lesson that soccer referees operate in a different parallel universe
from us mere mortals....
Griffin parents -- who it's been well documented
are non-biased over 99.7% of the time.. or is that 7.99% of the
time -- were not at all pleased with the local officiating crew,
which apparently allowed Newbury Park players to hack at Tim Seo
and Wes Feighner's legs throughout the match. In addition, based
on our absolutely neutral survey, Griffin parents were convinced
that the Newbury Park player was offside on their team's goal.
In non-subjective issues, Los Al finished the
season with a 23-5-3 record. Goalkeeper Nick Brady and the Los Al
defense almost recorded their fourth straight shutout of the playoffs.
And by reaching the semi-finals, Los Al still has a chance at receiving
an invite to the first state soccer championships.
If you have a chance, check out the photos from
our photog
Mike Janosz. Mike is a local who likes to shoot Los Al games
for us when he's not shooting US national team games or doinhg some
wicked surf photography.
FOOTBALL: Cason and Scandrick impress at NFL Combine
Tryouts
Two defensive backs with local connections looked
good at the final day of the NFL Combine Tryouts held on the
RCA Dome turf in Indianapolis. Antoine Cason (LAHS '04), the Jim
Thorpe Award winner from the University of Arizona, surprised scouts
(who had questioned his speed), running his 40s in the high 4.4-second
range. He performed well in all elements of the practice session,
| |
