By Joe Snyder
Serra High’s baseball team is under first-year head coach Ryan Odums who is being faced with mostly a rebuilding year, and the Cavaliers showed it as they were routed by who most observers feel are the top two teams in the Del Rey League in Pasadena La Salle and La Puente Bishop Amat.
At Arcadia Regional Park on March 11, La Salle blanked Serra 10-0. Last Friday, the Cavaliers returned home to face the eighth-ranked team in the CIF-Southern Section in Bishop Amat as the Lancers took it to Serra 13-2.
The Lancers raced to a 6-0 lead through three innings before Serra scored both of its runs in the bottom of the inning. Freshman Amir Linton drove in the first Cavalier run on a sacrifice fly and senior Ethan Varala doubled in a run to cut Bishop Amat’s lead to 6-2.
The Lancers proceeded to add four runs in the top of the fourth and three more in the fifth to finish off Serra in the five-inning mercy rule contest.
“We’re putting things together,” Odums, who replaced Art Perry, Jr. as head mentor this year due to Perry being promoted to the school’s athletic director, said. “We want to get the guys the experience. A lot of our guys are first-year varsity. We hope to trend to get better.”
Bishop Amat was led by sophomore Joaquin Ortiz who was 3-for-3 with four runs batted in and three runs scored. He had a home run.
Odums was assistant coach to Perry in the 2021 season before spending three seasons as head coach at CIF-Los Angeles City Section school Hamilton High from 2022-24.
He graduated from Serra in 1999 where he played basketball and baseball. He started at Jarvis Christian College in Texas before transferring to Texas College in Tyler, Texas, where he graduated in 2006. He played baseball at both of those colleges.
Currently Serra is 3-4 overall as they crushed Compton Early College 25-1 in a non-league game last Thursday at Serra.
The Cavaliers visited St. Paul in Santa Fe Springs last Tuesday before hosting rival St. Bernard from Playa del Rey on Friday at 3:15 p.m. Serra will not have another game until March 21 as it hosts King-Drew Medical Magnet High from South L.A. in a non-league game, beginning at 11 a.m. before resuming league at home against La Salle on March 24 at 3:15 p.m.
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Cav boys’ basketball ousted by Birm.
After capturing the CIF-Southern Section Division V championship with a thrilling 57-51 overtime win over Los Angeles Pilibos on Feb. 27, Serra High’s boys’ basketball team had to begin the Southern California Regional Division III playoffs as the No. 14 seed and visiting third seed Birmingham on March 10 in Lake Balboa.
The Patriots showed why they were the higher seed as they ended the Cavaliers’ season with a 79-67 victory.
Several missed opportunities and free throws plagued Serra as it finished its season at 21-14 overall.
“We played bad,” Serra head coach De John Frazier said. “We missed a lot of free throws.”
The game was close until a little over a minute left when the Cavaliers were forced into fouling. Birmingham made the free throws to put the game away.
Despite the loss, C.J. Anyikwa led Serra with a game-high 28 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Drew Carter added 12 points, four rebounds and four assists.
The Patriots advanced to Saturday’s regional finals with wins over Mission Viejo Trabuco Hills 77-68 last Thursday and Poway 82-69 on Saturday. Birmingham hosts Ontario Colony for the right to play for the CIF-State Division III championship on March 20 or 21 at the Golden One Arena in Sacramento.
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North baseball opens league with win over Wiseburn
North Torrance High’s baseball team began the Pioneer League with a 7-5 home win over Wiseburn-Da Vinci from El Segundo on Friday.
The Saxons started the game well, scoring two runs apiece in the bottom of the first, second and third innings for a 6-0 lead. After the Wolves scored four in the top of the fifth, North added one in the bottom of the inning and held on for the win.
North was led by Sei Nagashimo who went 3-for-4 with two runs batted in, including a double. Lucas Blackwood was 2-for-4 including a run-scoring triple; Eric Yamashiro went 2-for-2 with one RBI and two runs, and Alex Cannon was 2-for-4 and scored a run.
Winning pitcher Justin Olivar pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing three earned runs on two hits. He struck out seven batters and walked one.
A day later in a non-league game in La Habra, the Saxons rolled over host Whittier Christian 10-3.
Blackwood sparked North by going 3-for-5 with three RBI’s and one run. Josiah Reed was 2-for-3 with one RBI and three runs. Yamashiro went 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run.
At Leuzinger High in Lawndale on March 4, the Saxons were shut out by the Olympians 4-0.
North visited defending CIF-L.A. City Section Division I champion Carson last Monday. Results were unavailable.
The Saxons also had home non-league games last Tuesday against Simi Valley Royal and Wednesday against Santa Monica New Roads before resuming league at El Segundo Friday at 3:30 p.m. North will have another non-league game at St. Monica in Santa Monica Monday at 3 p.m. before continuing Pioneer action at home against Rolling Hills Estates Peninsula next Wednesday at 3:15 p.m.
Gardena High’s baseball team picked up its first win at home against Lawndale Environmental Charter 11-7 on Saturday.
Max Garcia sparked the Panthers by going 3-for-3 with three RBI’s and one run. He had a double. Derek Norris drove in a run with a double. Winning pitcher Chris Alvarez pitched two scoreless innings, allowing just one hit.
In a non-league game a day earlier at Westchester, the Comets outlasted the Panthers 14-13 in eight innings.
For Gardena, Francisco Pavon went 3-for-5 and scored three runs. Juan Castellanos was 2-for-4 with a triple, one RBI and three runs. Jesse Aguayo went 2-for-3 and drove in four runs.
Last Monday at Gardena, the Panthers lost to South L.A. Fremont 8-4.
The Panthers (1-4-1) visit Port of Los Angeles High in non-league today at 3 p.m. before going to Santee in Downtown L.A. Friday at the same time. Gardena has a non-league game at home against Torres Monday at 3:30 p.m.
