Issac Ramirez blasted a grand slam home run in the top of the third inning as the Athletics defeated the Pirates 5-3 in a Gardena Parks and Recreation baseball game last Thursday at Mas Fukai Park.
With the bases loaded and the Pirates ahead 3-2, Ramirez hit a ball that went deep to left-center field. He was able to circle the bases after three others runners scored and it proved to be the difference in the game.
Starting pitcher Chase Williams pitched the first two innings to get the win. Donovan Hill pitched the final two innings for the save.
Issac Ramirez blasted a grand slam home run in the top of the third inning as the Athletics defeated the Pirates 5-3 in a Gardena Parks and Recreation baseball game last Thursday at Mas Fukai Park.
With the bases loaded and the Pirates ahead 3-2, Ramirez hit a ball that went deep to left-center field. He was able to circle the bases after three others runners scored and it proved to be the difference in the game.
Starting pitcher Chase Williams pitched the first two innings to get the win. Donovan Hill pitched the final two innings for the save.
The Pirates started out with an early 2-0 lead. The A’s tied the game in the second but the Pirates pushed across a run for a 3-2 advantage. Julian Zamora drove in two runs with a base hit for the Pirates.
With the win, the A’s moved into second place in the Pee Wee Division with a 6-1 record, one game behind the 7-0 Dodgers. The Pirates are third at 5-2.
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Torrance seeks World Series after winning Southern California crown
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
The Torrance 15-year-old Babe Ruth All-Star Baseball team easily captured the Southern California championship by rolling over Westchester 11-1 in the championship game on July 13 at Kendall Field in Torrance.
Torrance moves on to the Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament which begins Saturday in Santa Maria. Torrance, which lost to Westchester in Southern California play last season, hopes it can win the title and make it to the World Series during next month in Williston, North Dakota.
The bottom of the third and fifth innings were the two biggest for Torrance. In the third, a two-run single by Kyle Hati and a run-scoring sacrifice fly from Kevin Ishimaru were the key plays. Torrance turned the game into a rout with five runs in the fifth. The biggest hits included a two-run single from pinch hitter Michael Ezer, an RBI (run batted in) double by Cary Arbolida and another run-scoring double from Neil Feist.
Torrance also had very good pitching by starter Harrison Mingham and reliever Ishimaru. Mingham went two innings, allowing one run on one hit with two strikeouts. Ishimaru, the winning pitcher, went four innings, limiting Westchester to just one hit. He walked two and struck out four batters.
Feist finished by going 3-for-4 with two RBI’s. Arbolida was 2-for-3 with one RBI.
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ECC’s Alexander advances to Under 20 World Championships
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
El Camino College standout hurdler Justin Alexander qualified for this week’s World Under 20 years old Track and Field Championships in Poland, he heard over the past few weeks.
Alexander made the World Championships after placing third in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles at the United States National Under 20 Championships last month in Fresno. He was clocked at 51.74. On top of that, one of Alexander’s key opponents, Amere Lattin from University of Houston, decided not tom compete in the World Championships. Alexander already qualified as an alternate but he will be in the race.
Alexander is still 18 as he turns 19 in October. He currently has ECC’s fifth best time in the school’s history in the 400 hurdles.
The meet began last Tuesday and lasts through Sunday.
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Sports Scoop
National High School Federation approves pitching restrictions
By Joe Snyder
Sports Editor
Due to a large number of arm injuries, the National Federation of High School Associations Baseball Rules approved a restriction for pitching restrictions, starting in the 2017 season. It will be based on the number of pitches thrown.
It will require all state athletic associations to give pitchers required rest periods between appearances. It will keep prep baseball teams from overusing pitchers.
Currently for California, pitchers can’t throw more than 10 innings per week. The CIF already is making proposals on the number of pitchers each prep pitcher can throw per game and week. It plans to unveil a new rule that will be presented to all 10 sections this fall.
The new rule for high school pitchers is already supported by USA Baseball and Major League Baseball.
AL home game at NL Stadium: One wonders why the American League hosted the Major League Baseball All-Star game at Petco Field in San Diego on July 12. The San Diego Padres are a National League team.
Sources were that the game was originally slated for Houston (The Astros are now in the American League after being in the National until a few years ago.) before being moved to San Diego. The National League was the visiting team, while the American League was the home team. The American League ended up defeating the National League 4-2. The defending World Series champion Kansas City Royals had their day as two of their players hit home runs that made the difference in the contest. Eric Hossner and Salvador Perez each hit homers. Hossner was the game’s Most Valuable Player as the AL won the all-star game for the 11th time in the past 14 seasons and will have the home field advantage in the October World Series. The two drove in three of the AL’s four runs.
Rams Sold Out: With the Rams returning to Los Angeles for the first time in 22 years (or for them, let’s say 37 years for the City of L.A.), it took just six hours for the 2016 season tickets to be sold out on July 12.
The Rams begin their season on Sept. 12 against their rival San Francisco 49’ers at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara before playing their first home game, a week later, against the Seattle Seahawks, on Sept. 19 at 1 p.m. at the Coliseum, their temporary home stadium that they played in from 1946-79 before moving to Anaheim (1980-94) then St. Louis (1995-2015).
Some individual game tickets will be placed on sale but it’s pretty certain that all games will be sold out. Those hungry L.A. football fans are glad to have their National Football League squad back.
