SPORTS BRIEFS: nearly 100 kids sign up for baseball camp

DOWNEY - The Warren High School summer baseball camp is winding down and head coach Scott Pearson said he is extremely pleased with the turnout.Coach Pearson said he had 89 campers during the two week camp that ranged in age from 5 to 14. The camp was split into four age groups with professional baseball team names for each. The 5 to 7-year-old age group had twelve participants and were the "Padres." The 8 to 10-year-old age group had eighteen participants and were the "Giants." The 11-13 year old group had 25 participants and were the "Angels." The incoming freshmen group had 34 participants and comprised the largest group by number. They did not have a team name. The camp focused on hitting, fielding, pitching, and base running. The summer camp also served as a great opportunity for incoming freshmen to meet the high school coaches and get a head start on honing their skills for upcoming tryouts in September. Coach Pearson and his staff had a lot of fun running his first camp at Warren and already has new ideas and big hopes for next year. Coach Pearson had former Angels AAA player Jesus Campos instructing as well as former Marlin and Cal State Los Angeles pitching standout Isaac Morales. Morales is the all-time wins leader at Cal State Los Angeles. Pearson also has ties to Toronto Blue Jay All-Star pitcher Ricky Romero. Romero, however, was not at this summer camp. As a summer camp benefit, campers enjoyed Yogurtland frozen yogurt after camp on Wednesday. Coach Pearson is grateful to all the parents and volunteers who made this year's camp such a success. * The Downey High School baseball team has been competing in the eight team, double elimination American Legion Area 4 playoffs. The summer playoffs started July 13, and concluded yesterday. At stake is a trip to Yountville, California, and an opportunity to compete for the American Legion California state tournament title July 27-30. All games in this tournament have been played at Paramount High School. Millikan High School of the Moore league was the top seed. Long Beach Wilson, also from the Moore league, is the number two seed. Bellflower High School from the Suburban league is the number three seed and Lakewood High School from the Moore league is the number four seed. St. John Bosco from the Trinity league is the number five seed and Narbonne is the sixth seed. El Segundo is the seventh seed and Downey, from the San Gabriel valley League, was the number eight seed. Downey played top seeded Millikan last Saturday and lost 1-0. Downey pitching ace Randy Labaut was outstanding in the effort but gave up a run in the fourth inning. As it stood, that was all Millikan would need and the Rams made it stand. After the loss, Downey dropped to the loser's bracket and faced Narbonne in an elimination game Sunday. Downey defeated Narbonne, 8-2, on Sunday and advanced to the next round of the loser's bracket on Monday. Downey then defeated seventh seeded El Segundo, 11-9, and advanced to play against fifth seeded St. John Bosco on Tuesday (score unavailable at press time). With a win against St. John Bosco, the Vikings would play Millikan again in a rematch of their first round game. The winner of that game would face currently undefeated Long Beach Wilson in the Area 4 championship game. The winner of this game would then go to Yountville and compete in the state tournament at the end of the month. * Downey High School recently had their track and field repaired. The facilities at Allen Layne Stadium have been untilized by many athletic teams on campus over the years, with football, boys and girls soccer, and boys and girls lacrosse all utilizing the field. Boys and girls cross country, as was well as boys and girls track and field, have also used the track. Several outside groups, including recreational soccer leagues and casual runners, have also used the track and field facilities. With the track and field improvements, several sports teams and programs have had to make adjustments as to when the facilities would be available for use. C.I.F. mandated "dead periods" were utilized by many teams as the repairs were being made. Now that the maintenance and improvements have been completed, the teams are now conducting their summer workouts and practices in preparation for their fall sports seasons. The work looks good and Viking athletes of all sports will enjoy their new "face lift." Warren High School similarly is going through a renovation of their own. The Bear renovation, however, is taking place inside their gymnasium known as "the Cave." Warren is getting a new surface for their indoor athletic teams. The renovation started on Monday, July 8, and is projected to be finished on Aug. 5. The colored floor will be a base dark blue and base gold. Warren will also be getting blue and gold bleachers that will seat more than 100 people than before. Bear Athletic Director Russ Heicke said he is "ecstatic" about the gym and is anxious to see the finished product. Interestingly, the floor in the Warren High School gym has been there since 1956. It is only a matter of time bfore "the Cave" will once again be in full operation and Bears of all sports practicing and playing on their new and improved surface. * The Warren High School boys' cross country team has just finished their C.I.F. mandated "dead period" and are preparing for their fall season. Coach Ramon Miranda is excited about this year's team and his team's goal is to "get to state." Miranda was pleased with this year's turnout of 138 runners. Last year there were 91. Each year Miranda's program turns out more runners. Coach Miranda's top 15 runners will be traveling north to Placerville Camp for some altitude running. At the time of this writing, there is one spot available and five runners are competing for it. Warren's top 15 runners will be leaving on Sunday, Aug. 4, and return Monday, Aug. 23. Warren runners will run in Placerville, Lake Tahoe, Sacramento and Auburn, nine miles at a time and in 7900 ft. of elevation. Standout runners including junior and S.G.V.L. champion Ben Gonzalez, junior Jonathan Rodriguez, junior Andres Barragan, senior Micheal Hernandez, senior Brandon Iraheta, sophomore Matthew Sanchez, senior Miguel Cabada, junior Eric Soza, sophomore Sergio Santana, sophomore Chris Estrada, junior Jesus Martinez and three freshmen Ricardo Gonzalez, Alex Garber and Christian Gonzalez will all be making the trip north. A "Desert Camp" will also be taking place at the end of August. The Desert Camp will be held in Rancho Mirage and feature junior varsity runners. Runners will leave Wednesday, Aug. 25, and return on Sunday, Aug. 29. Warren will participate in their first competition on Saturday, September 14, in Laguna Hills at the Laguna Hills Invitational. Saturday, September 21, Warren will participate in the Woodbridge Invitational at Estancia High School in Costa Mesa. The first S.G.V.L. cluster meet will be held on Thursday, Sept. 26, at Wilderness Park.

********** Published: July 18, 2013 - Volume 12 - Issue 14