Sports
Matadores Rout Cerritos; Take First Place Alone
Cerritos~Nicko Lancaster singled four times in the first four innings, 15 of the 16 players who batted scored at least a run and 10 batters knocked in at least one to lead the Matadores to a 20-2 drubbing of host Cerritos.
With its 15th victory in the last 16 contests, La Mirada improved to 18-8 overall and remained atop the Suburban League with an 8-1 record. Bellflower, was upset by Artesia 3-0, giving the Mats sole possession of first.
The one-sided affair was one more indication that this 15-senior, six-junior squad has grown up a lot in the past two seasons, learning some humbling lessons along the way.
Not looking ahead to the epic showdown with Bellflower next week with the league championship on the line was just another way the Matadores have showed their maturity in 2010. But even more revealing was the fact that they cruised at a House of Horrors that not only the baseball team almost always struggles, but so does the basketball team.
Monsoons Gone With the Wind
Lakewood~-Mayfair has left the building.
More specifically, the Monsoons--on a terribly windy day that befit the hosts' nickname--have all but left the race in the Suburban League. Perhaps they are still on the porch.
With La Mirada's heartstopping, 4-3 victory Friday over Mayfair, both the Matadores and Bellflower are 7-1 with the Monsoons falling to 5-3. Some unexpected help from huge underdogs next week is the only way Mayfair can possibly grab a share of the league title as La Mirada and Bellflower are set to close the regular season with a pair May 11 and 13.
In the meantime, La Mirada has one more non-league contest, a very challenging one Saturday morning that includes a long road trip to face a strong club from the deep Marmonte League in Moorpark to close out the Redondo Tournament.
First Showdown Goes to Matadores
La Mirada~One of the wonders of the game of baseball is, whenever you think you've seen it all, you know you never will.
In today's game, the Matadores-in a crucial first-place battle with Mayfair looked like as if they were on their way to losing, with no momentum, as Mayfair was in control 2-0, through four innings.
With the Matadores batting in the bottom of the fifth and two outs, Andres Rodriguez struck out swinging, but the Mayfair catcher dropped the ball and allowed Rodriguez to reach first base-extending the inning.
The Matadores then scored 10 straight runs in the frame; and eventually going on to win 10-3.
The Matadores (15-8, 6-1), now have sole possession of first place in the Suburban League, with five league games remaining.
Matadores Post Two BIG Back-to-Back Wins
Matdores score 32 runs in two days
Palos Verdes~ The Matadores beat Peninsula 16-11 yesterday, in a slugfest, with Karl "Rocky" Perez hitting for the cycle and gathering six rbi's in the weekly Saturday Redondo Tournament..
The day before in league action, the Mats(12-8, 5-1) beat Artesia 16-2, behind another strong pitching performance by Kyle Harper.
Click the ball club's web-site here to access the full-length stories. Go Mats!
Matadores Lose in Classic Battle for Easter Title
Santa Fe Springs~The La Mirada Matadores lost to St. Paul in a game-here comes the cliche'-that nobody should have lost, in an epic battle featuring the pitching aces of the two squads. Check out the story here on the ball club's website.La Mirada Advances to Semi-Final
La Mirada~The Matadores cruised into the semifinals of the St. Paul Tournament with Tuesday's shortened 10-1 win over Calvary Chapel Downey.
La Mirada (9-7) will entertain Santa Fe, a mild upset winner over St. John Bosco, at 3:30 p.m. today in search of its seventh straight victory and a berth in the championship possibly against tournament host St. Paul.
The only mainstay juniors in the starting lineup--shortstop Andres Rodriguez and Nicko Lancaster--scored two runs each and stayed redhot with two base knocks apiece to pace a 10-hit attack in their team's five turns at bat.
Senior Karl Perez, who had two RBI and two runs scored, pitched three shutout innings from the southside while senior Daniel Poncedeleon knocked in two runs.
Tag-team relievers Jordan Rosenberg, a junior righthander, and Alex Pedroza, a senior righty, finished the game on the mound. Pedroza struck out four in his two innings.
Matadores Capitalize on Mistakes for Fifth Straight Win
Today's rained out contest to be played tomorrow at 12:30 at La Mirada
La Mirada~The Matadores captured their fifth straight game Saturday but it wasn't easy in a 3-2 escape over Warren in the opening round of the St. Paul Tournament.
La Mirada will resume the event at home in a 12:30 p.m. Monday matchup against either Riverside Christian or Calvary Chapel Downey.
Seniors Mitch Petersen and Daniel Poncedeleon combined on a five-hitter to keep the Bears close while the offense took awhile to overcome a lead Warren held until the bottom of the fifth inning.
Trailing, 2-1, and on the verge of slipping back into a Saturday funk that saw La Mirada lose its first three weekend games this season, senior second baseman Garrin Haile delivered one of the biggest hits of 2010 in the bottom of the fifth.
Matadores Get Out the Broom for Glenn
Get more detailed information about La Mirada baseball including biographies, stats and alumni info at www.lamiradahighbaseball.com; also available on our links page
Norwalk~La Mirada completed a sweep Thursday over Glenn in dominating fashion, 14-1, to notch its fourth straight victory and get back to the .500 level after a slow start against some of the best teams in the nation.
Now, if you think we're going to do a play-by-play on this one, then you think this writer is crazier than he actually is
Let's just run down some highlights and numbers to keep the (semi-) sanity:
- The Matadores (7-7) put up three runs in three of the first four innings and then tacked on another five in the sixth;
- Senior righthander Kyle Harper continued his Suburban League dominance by limiting the Eagles to four hits while striking out six in five breezy innings;
- With a pair of hits in his first two at-bats, junior thirdbaseman Nick Mata notched his fifth straight hit over the last four games and raised his batting average to .455;
- The backups got in early and most got two at-bats, and it was the bench that rung up that five-run rally in the sixth;
Matadores Seem to be Getting All Cylinders Going
La Mirada~Two players who were scuffling provided big hits, two stayed on fire and pitcher Daniel Poncedeleon toyed with Glenn in La Mirada’s 12-1 home victory Tuesday.
In improving to 6-7 overall and 2-1 in the Suburban League, the Matadores continued their outstanding play in all three facets of the game in outscoring the last three opponents by a combined 29-2. The Eagles, who the Matadores will play on the road tomorrow at 3 p.m., fell to 3-7 and 0-3.
By the time Arizona-bound right-hander Poncedeleon gave up a two-out rally in the top of the sixth on three straight hits, La Mirada was already cruising along with a 5-0 lead.
Then it really took control.
Matadores Get Rust Off Resurrection
La Mirada~Three players had a pair of hits Saturday to pace an 11-prong attack to overwhelm former Division I power Simi Valley in a 9-1 Redondo Tournament game, further evidence that the bats’ early season cool is thawing.
The Matadores (5-7) will hope to keep things rolling when they resume Suburban League action in a rare Tuesday-Thursday setup against Glenn beginning at home at 3 p.m.
Senior righthander Mitch Petersen proved too much for Simi Valley's feeble lineup, a far cry from last year's fully-loaded nine and two years ago when the Pioneers won the CIF-Southern Section Division I championship. Petersen allowed just four hits and one unearned run in his five dominant innings, while senior Alex Pedroza faced the minimum in his two frames by inducing inning-ending double plays that were nicely turned respectively by senior secondbasemen Garrin Haile and Cody Curtis and superbly digged by senior defensive replacement Mike Piazza at firstbase.
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