DOWNEY -- Over the past few years, it seems as if baseball in the San Gabriel Valley League has transformed itself. While we’re so used to seeing Downey and Warren compete for the top spot in the division, Paramount has all of a sudden become a power in the league, along with Gahr who always has the pitching to put them over the top. But with Paramount being the defending champions, don’t expect anything different this year.

Paramount did it in dominating fashion last year, running the table in the SGLV, finishing 15-0 in league. If they weren’t shutting out teams with their pitching, they were running up the score. If they weren’t running up the score, they were smothering you with defense. While this team had high hopes in playoffs, they struggled in the second and third rounds offensively and were knocked out. You can’t knock a team from the top spot in preseason though after they go undefeated in the division.

Every year, Gahr seems to grab a pitcher that goes the max amount of innings he can per week. But while it’s nice having that one ace, it’s normally a combined staff effort for the Gladiators. Last year, if you remove the ugly loses against Paramount and Warren, their pitching staff gave up on average under three runs a game. As the old baseball cliché goes, pitching and defense will win championships. While they might not have the firepower to compete with Paramount, they’ll be right there in the end.

Downey had a very good season last year, and has a lot of returning players except for a few key contributors, one including ace Nate Coronado. They do though have team stud Ivory Thomas returning. Thomas earlier this year already signed a letter of intent to play for Cal State Fullerton when he graduates. Last year, Thomas led the Vikings in all major categories including average, homeruns, and RBIs. But the Vikings probably won’t finish better than third because pitching seems thin on the team.

After the second coaching change in as many years, it might be at least one more year until Warren’s baseball program is back on track. The Bears again had a sub-.500 record and didn’t win 10 games for the first time in over five years. Manager Paul Alvarez will have his hands full with a bunch of players this year that have not played at the varsity level. Again, patience is key in revamping this once highly regarded baseball program. Fourth place seems fitting.

It’s hard to say anything great about Lynwood baseball because they are so hit-and-miss. They always seem to be the team with some flashes of talent but are never able to put it together and come out with a squad that can be competitive. As their record from last year indicates, unless their returning players improved immensely in the off season, it’s hard to even imagine them finishing higher than fifth.

Unorganized would probably be the best way to describe Dominguez baseball. They haven’t been over .500 in league play for what seems like eternity now. Not much has changed over time and the best way to put a last place finish is this: Dominguez High School is a basketball school.

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Published: March 6, 2009 - Volume 7 - Issue 46