Dodgers finalize travel roster for Tokyo games

• March 14, 2025

TOKYO — The Dodgers’ world tour arrived in Tokyo on Thursday.

The 31-player travel roster features 14 players who weren’t on the plane that touched down in South Korea for the Seoul Series a year ago. New to the experience this year are outfielders Michael Conforto and Andy Pages, multi-position player Tommy Edman and 11 pitchers – Anthony Banda, Ben Casparius, Jack Dreyer, Nick Frasso, Luis Garcia, Matt Sauer, Tanner Scott, Blake Snell, Justin Wrobleski, Kirby Yates and Roki Sasaki, who will make his MLB debut when he starts the second game against the Chicago Cubs next Wednesday (3 a.m. PT).

Inclusion on the travel roster is no small honor for the young players brought along. It comes with a $70,000 bonus.

Left behind in Arizona was Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim. Signed to a three-year, $12.5 million contract this winter, the 26-year-old Kim proved adept defensively at multiple positions but looked overmatched against the higher-quality pitching he will face in MLB. He was 6 for 29 (.207) with 11 strikeouts in Cactus League play and will open the season in Triple-A.

Also among the final cuts of the spring were right-hander Bobby Miller, top prospect Dalton Rushing and non-roster players Giovanny Gallegos, David Bote, Michael Chavis and Eddie Rosario. Dustin May won the fifth starter spot when Tony Gonsolin injured his back and did not make the trip to Tokyo, staying behind in Arizona to continue his buildup.

The Dodgers will hold their first workout at the Tokyo Dome on Friday (Thursday night PT) with exhibition games against the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers on Saturday and Sunday (Tokyo time).

Twenty-eight of the 31 players will be active for the regular-season games against the Cubs on Tuesday and Wednesday. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Sasaki will start those games. Tyler Glasnow and Snell are scheduled to pitch the exhibition games.

Here is the full travel roster:

CATCHERS (3) – Austin Barnes, Hunter Feduccia, Will Smith

INFIELDERS (4) – Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, Mookie Betts, Miguel Rojas

DH (1) – Shohei Ohtani

OUTFIELDERS (4) – Teoscar Hernandez, Michael Conforto, Andy Pages, James Outman

INFIELDERS/OUTFIELDERS (3) – Tommy Edman, Chris Taylor, Kiké Hernandez

PITCHERS (16) – Anthony Banda, Ben Casparius, Jack Dreyer, Nick Frasso, Luis Garcia, Tyler Glasnow, Landon Knack, Roki Sasaki, Matt Sauer, Tanner Scott, Blake Snell, Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia, Justin Wrobleski, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Kirby Yates

​ Orange County Register 

American Airlines plane catches fire at DIA, experienced ‘an engine-related issue’

• March 14, 2025

By Katie Langford | klangford@denverpost.com | The Denver Post

An American Airlines plane caught fire on the tarmac at Denver International Airport on Thursday after an engine problem, forcing passengers to evacuate the aircraft, DIA and airline officials said.

The plane was at gate C38 when the fire started at around 6 p.m., said airport spokesperson Michael Konopasek.

Passengers were evacuated and the fire was extinguished, Konopasek said. No injuries were reported.

Glad everyone is safe after what looked like jet fuel caught fire at Denver International… pic.twitter.com/pEPOdEXzHl

— Steve Schilsky (@steve_schilsky) March 14, 2025

Flight 1006 departed from Colorado Springs and was headed to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport when it diverted to DIA, American Airlines officials said in a statement.

The Boeing 737-800 landed safely and was taxiing when it experienced “an engine-related issue,” spokesperson Brian Metham said in a statement. Metham did not specify whether the diversion was caused by the engine problem.

There were 172 passengers and six crew members on board, he said.

News of the fire spread quickly on social media after passengers posted videos of smoke billowing from the plane and passengers evacuating onto the wings.

​ Orange County Register 

Depleted Lakers blown out by Bucks, remain winless on trip

• March 14, 2025

MILWAUKEE — The Lakers’ defensive success over the last few months, entering Saturday with the league’s best defensive rating since Jan. 15 and the second-best since Dec. 8, has been built on a combination of improved effort, scheme and positional size/versatility.

But with the Lakers lacking the latter in light of their injuries, with their starting frontcourt flying back to Los Angeles after Monday’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets, Coach JJ Redick acknowledged the difficulty of maintaining their defensive aptitude.

“It’s a massive challenge,” Redick said. “I’ve sung LeBron [James’] praises lately and earlier in the season, I sung Rui’s praises. Frankly, Jaxson’s been awesome for us defensively. We really missed him the last two games, both on the defensive side and as a vertical spacer on the offensive end. Rui just connects us on both ends.

“So missing those guys is huge. And obviously missing LeBron is huge.”

Those absences were once again felt on Thursday night with the Lakers (40-24) getting blown out by the Milwaukee Bucks, 126-106, their third consecutive loss on a four-game trip that concludes Friday night in Denver, which is the first of three back-to-back sets over the next week.

“A different loss than the other night in Brooklyn,” Redick said. “Our competitive level was really high. It’s a tough matchup if we’re not at full strength. That’s just reality. But, in terms of the guys, the connectedness, the spirit, the competitiveness, it was there.”

Luka Doncic led the Lakers with 45 points and 11 rebounds in 36 minutes, his highest scoring total since joining the team.

“Nothing matters if we lose the game,” Doncic said. “So at the end of the day, it’s a team sport and we gotta be all together. And whatever somebody do, it’s great. But at the end of the day, you gotta win, and we didn’t do that.”

Thursday was Doncic’s first 40-point performance as a Laker and his first since Dec. 15, 2024, which was his third-to-last game with the Dallas Mavericks.

“Obviously, not there yet,” Doncic responded when asked he close he is to playing how he wants to. “But I think [Thursday was] a little bit more. Like I say every day, a little bit more. But still not there. Gotta get some things off my body. Get them to feel better and then be ready.”

Austin Reaves added 28 points (10-for-17 shooting, 4 for 7 from 3-point range), eight rebounds and three assists, his best game since a two-game absence because of a strained right calf.

“I’d just seen a couple shots going in there and kind of got in a little rhythm,” said Reaves, who had an ice pack on his shooting hand/wrist postgame. “Last couple games, I haven’t shot it well. And it’s good to see them go in the basket. But we didn’t do what we were supposed to do.”

Doncic shot 14 for 27 from the field and 7 for 13 from 3-point range, with the 26-year-old Slovenian star’s shot-making keeping the Lakers in the game despite the Bucks’ offensive success against the Lakers’ depleted lineup.

The Bucks (37-28) scored at least 31 points in each of the first three quarters.

Doncic scored 16 of the Lakers’ 29 first-quarter points and scored another 13 in the second, with the Bucks taking a 71-63 lead into halftime.

“Luka looked very comfortable regardless of the coverages they gave him,” Redick said. “A couple of those turnovers when they blitzed him weren’t necessarily his fault, to be honest with you. Again, it goes just back to some execution things and playing lineups we haven’t played. And then AR was great all night. Sometimes with him, the tendency to want to get going early, particularly with Bron out, is there and didn’t score a ton early, but then really got it going from the second quarter on and was fantastic offensively.”

But Milwaukee took advantage of Doncic and the Lakers cooling off after a strong start to the third, until Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 10 points during a 24-7 run that extended Milwaukee’s lead from 76-70 to 100-77 late in the third quarter.

The Bucks took a 102-82 lead into the fourth.

Redick pulled his main rotation players with 4:06 remaining and his team trailing 122-102.

Milwaukee was led by Antetokounmpo (24 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists) and Damian Lillard (22 points, 10 assists and six rebounds). Brook Lopez added 23 points, five assists, four rebounds and four blocked shots, while Kevin Porter Jr. (22 points) and Gary Trent Jr. (16 points) combined for 38 of the Bucks’ 45 bench points.

The Lakers’ reserves scored 20 points.

Doncic also had six of the Lakers’ 13 turnovers, his seventh consecutive game with at least five turnovers.

“I gotta take care of the ball,” Doncic said. “It’s the most important thing in basketball. So I gotta take care of it. And obviously, they were my fault and I gotta do a better job doing that.”

Thursday was the first of six games in a span of eight days.

Doncic said “we’ll see” when asked about his availability for Friday in Denver.

“I’ve said this, I don’t know how many times the last couple weeks,” Redick said. “But the amount of managing that we’ve had to do for availability … I knew this as an analyst. I remember as a player having guys, and I think the game has changed a lot. I’ve talked about it a lot over the last three years.

“It’s really hard to have yourself and your body ready to go every night. And so all those decisions, they’re made in real time. And frankly, some of the guys that are playing, they’ve been banged up. It’s just reality. It’s just the NBA right now.”

​ Orange County Register 

Top reported Orange County swimming marks, March 13

• March 14, 2025

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Here are the top reported Orange County swimming times through March 13 and entering Mt. SAC Winterfest Championships on Friday and Saturday.

Santa Margarita has entered several of its top swimmers in the meet for the first time, including Teagan O’Dell in the 200-yard freestyle and 100 butterfly.

The meet is expected to feature 65 schools from across the state.

BOYS SWIMMING/DIVING

200-yard medley relay (O.C. standard 1:40.5) — Nor 1:35.13; MD 1:35.27; SM 1:36.36; Wood 1:36.54; Por 1:36.93;

200 free (1:44.9) — Stewart (Wood) 1:43.47;

200 IM (1:58.9) — Thongintra (SM) 1:54.57; Lee (SM) 1:55.23; Korner (SM) 1:57.16;

50 free (21.7) — Korner (SM) 21.59; Lee (SM) 21.68;

100 butterfly (51.5)

100 free (48.1) — Hitchens (Nor) 45.77; Lee (SM) 48.19;

500 free (4:49.9) — Stewart (Wood) 4:39.16; Lee (SM) 4:49.93;

200 free relay (1:29.9) — SM 1:28.13; 

100 back (53.9) — Korner (SM) 53.20;

100 breast (1:00.2) — Thongintra (SM) 58.93;

400 free relay (3:21.9) — Northwood 3:07.32; SM 3:11.05; MD 3:11.68; Wood 3:14.73; Por 3:17.55; ET 3:19.49; SC 3:19.88;

Diving (450 points)

GIRLS SWIMMING/DIVING

200 medley relay (O.C. standard 1:51.9) — SM 1:49.52; Wood 1:50.50; Irv 1:50.72;

200 free (1:55.9) — Amizic (Wood) 1:53.45; Campbell (SM) 1:53.68

200 IM (2:09.9) — O’Dell (SM) 2:03.19;

50 free (24.5) — O’Dell (SM) 23.58; Parker (Wood) 24.42; Mori (SM) 24.45; Song (SM) 24.59;

100 butterfly (59.5) — Cummins (SM) 57.95; Mori (SM) 58.12; Scott (SM) 58.64;

100 free (53.7) — O’Dell (SM) 51.38; Mori (SM) 52.67; Silberman (AN) 53.33;

500 free (5:16.5) — Campbell (SM) 5:06.01;

200 free relay (1:48.9) — Wood 1:38.44; SM 1:40.22; Tes 1:40.58; JS 1:42.07; MD 1:43.07; AN 1:43.53; Irv 1:46.12; Port 1:46.26; SC 1:48.30;

100 back (59.9) — Amizic (Wood) 56.87; Parker (Wood) 59.83

100 breast (1:05.9) — Song (SM) 1:05.78;

400 free relay (3.49.9) — JS 3:38.37; SM 3:40.94; Tes 3:41.83; AN 3:45.80; MD 3:47.75; CV 3:48.30;

Diving (450 points)

Meets reported

Capistrano Valley at JSerra, March 13

Crean Lutheran at Santa Margarita, March 12

Capistrano Valley Relays finals, March 7

Santa Margarita at Woodbridge, March 5

Mater Dei-Huntington Beach, Feb. 27

Santa Margarita Pentathlon, Feb. 22

RELATED: O.C. swimming preview

If an athlete or relay achieves an O.C. standard, please send information to Dan Albano at dalbano@scng.com or @OCVswimdive on X

​ Orange County Register 

San Clemente boys volleyball defeats Beckman in their first South Coast League showdown

• March 14, 2025

SAN CLEMENTE — San Clemente’s boys volleyball team welcomed Beckman into the South Coast League by beating the Patriots in four sets Thursday at San Clemente High.

The Tritons dropped the opening set, but recovered to win, 21-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-15.

Beckman (16-4, 1-1) is in its first season in the South Coast League after winning five consecutive Pacific Coast League championships. The Patriots had won 49 consecutive league matches entering Thursday.

San Clemente (13-6, 1-0) won the South Coast League last season and reached the CIF-SS Division 3 championship game.

“I’m just very happy with how our guys showed up tonight,” San Clemente coach Justin DeBlasio said. “To play a team that plays so hard and is so well-coached, to get the outcome we wanted, I’m very happy with how we played.”

Beckman is No. 3 and San Clemente is No. 4 in the Register’s county Top 10.

Both teams finished first in their pools at the Best of the West tournament last weekend. They finished the tournament tied for seventh in the Gold Division.

The match featured two of the top outside hitters in the county, and both have signed with Stanford. Luke Morrison led Beckman with over 15 kills and Jack Loper led San Clemente in kills.

San Clemente’s offense was well-balanced with multiple players getting scoring opportunities. Setter Jettie Presho spread the ball around, which didn’t allow Beckman to keep all of its attention on Loper.

“It’s so nice to have somebody trust the offense and the players around him, especially the new players,” DeBlasio said of Presho. “He’s not just going to his one main guy and that is how we’ve become a lot better.”

San Clemente got good offensive performances from sophomore Cameron Kosolcharoen and newcomer Hadley Corbridge, a transfer from Oak Ridge High in Northern California. Finn Johansson, who was the team’s libero last season, has moved to outside hitter since the Tritons added Arrowhead Christian transfer Gavin Skipper at libero.

“I think Jack (Loper) thought he was going to have to carry the load but I think now he is having a lot more fun because of how well Cameron and Hadley have progressed,” DeBlasio said. “Now Jack can just play free and he doesn’t have that weight on his shoulders anymore.”

San Clemente seemed to be feeling out Beckman in the opening set like a boxer in the early rounds of a match. After many ties and lead changes, Beckman won the first set with a kill from Morrison.

The Tritons comfortably won the second set and edged Beckman in the third after a block by Cayden McInnes.

Kosolcharoen and Loper each had two aces for San Clemente and McInnes added one late in the fourth set.

Beckman had four players with over five kills. Returning All-County junior Gavin Looney was second in kills for the Patriots and Jack Frame also had a good game offensively.

The Patriots have been playing a challenging schedule and have now lost four of their last five matches. The losses were to Loyola, Torrey Pines, Mater Dei and now San Clemente.

They are expected to fare well in the South Coast League. Beckman won its league opener against Aliso Niguel on March 5 and beat Tesoro in a tournament earlier this season.

“I love that Beckman is in our league,” DeBlasio said. “The more battle-tested South Coast League teams can be, the better off we will all be in CIF. It’s a lot more fun playing matches like this than kind of waiting around for CIF.”

Beckman doesn’t play again for another two weeks when it travels to Hawaii for the Iolani Varsity Invitational.

San Clemente will play Trabuco Hills on the road Tuesday.

​ Orange County Register 

USC’s upset bid falls short in Big Ten Tournament loss to Purdue

• March 14, 2025

INDIANAPOLIS — Appropriately, the USC men’s basketball team battled until the end.

Having survived a double-overtime thriller against Rutgers the previous night, the Trojans led for a significant portion of their second-round Big Ten Tournament game on Thursday night but could not hold off Purdue in the final minute.

Trey Kaufman-Renn matched his career high with 30 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 28.3 seconds left, and Purdue scored the final five points to beat USC, 76-71, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Desmond Claude scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half for the Trojans (16-17), who defeated Rutgers on Wednesday night but didn’t look fatigued against Purdue (22-10). Wesley Yates III added 13 points and Matt Knowling and Rashau Agee added 11 points apiece.

The sixth-seeded Boilermakers trailed by 10 points in the first half, but they tied it by halftime and emerged from a back-and-forth second half thanks largely to Kaufman-Renn, who shot 12 for 20 from the field and 6 for 11 from the free-throw line.

After Kaufman-Renn’s free throws gave the Boilermakers a 73-71 advantage with 28.3 seconds left, Claude missed a short jumper with 22 seconds left. Purdue got the rebound and Kaufman-Renn was fouled with 13.8 seconds remaining and split two free throws.

The 14th-seeded Trojans then were looking for a tying 3-pointer. Claude threw a pass toward Yates, who slipped and fell to the floor. Big Ten Player of the Year Braden Smith caught the ball for the Boilermakers, was fouled with 3.6 seconds left and made both free throws to clinch it.

USC used a 14-1 burst in the first half to grab a 28-18 lead. Purdue’s Camden Heide drained two 3-pointers during a 10-0 burst to tie it with 4:23 remaining. The Boilermakers tied it again at 35-all on a Myles Colvin 3-pointer with 41 seconds remaining.

USC capped an 8-0 run with a Chibuzo Agbo 3-pointer to open a 52-46 lead less than five minutes into the second half.

Agbo hit another 3-pointer to give the Trojans a 56-50 lead with 12:28 remaining before Purdue responded with a 9-2 run and took a 59-58 lead on Fletcher Loyer’s basket with 9:21 remaining.

Claude hit jumpers on three occasions to give USC a two-point edge. After the third time, Kaufman-Renn had two baskets around a one from Smith to give Purdue a 71-67 edge with 2:25 left.

Claude drove for a basket with 2:07 remaining and then swished a free-throw line jumper to tie it at 71-all with 54.5 seconds to play, setting up the late drama.

Loyer scored 14 points and Smith had 12 points and nine assists for Purdue, which had lost five of its previous seven games.

Purdue shot 47.3% from the field and 9 for 23 from 3-point range, while USC shot 43.5% overall but just 7 for 24 from behind the arc.

The Boilermakers advance to face third-seeded Michigan in Friday night’s quarterfinals. The teams split their two regular-season meetings, with each winning at home.

UP NEXT?

The Trojans again proved they have the athletic skill and length to match up with most teams and pushed Purdue despite all of their starters having played the bulk of the double-overtime game the night before. On talent alone, USC appears to be a candidate for an NIT bid.

More to come on this story.

​ Orange County Register 

Ball from final out of Dodgers’ 2024 World Series win going to auction

• March 14, 2025

TOKYO — Will Smith and Walker Buehler combined on the final pitch of the Dodgers’ first full-season World Series championship in 36 years last fall.

Now, their charitable foundations are combining with the Dodgers to help with California’s wildfire recovery efforts.

The baseball that Buehler threw past Alex Verdugo for the strikeout that ended Game 5 of the 2024 World Series is going to be auctioned off with all proceeds going to fire relief efforts through Smith’s charity, Catching Hope Foundation. Also participating in the effort are the Buehler Family Foundation and the Dodgers.

“This prized baseball represents one of the most special moments in the long history of the Dodgers,” the team said in a press release announcing the auction. “We applaud and support Will and (his wife) Cara for taking the initiative to help so many others through this cherished piece of sports history.”

The ball will be on display at Dodger Stadium during the first homestand of the regular season (March 27-April 2). The auction, hosted on the Memorabilia Network, has opened for registration. Bidding will begin March 21 with an opening bid of $150,000 and run through April 5 at 6 p.m. PT.

“Los Angeles has not only become home to us, but it has welcomed and supported our family since 2019,” Will and Cara Smith said in the press release. “Our goal here is to give back and partner with the city that means so much to us in the years of rebuilding that are to come.”

​ Orange County Register 

Madison Keys, Iga Swiatek breeze into Indian Wells semifinals

• March 14, 2025

INDIAN WELLS — Madison Keys extended her winning streak to 16 matches, reaching the BNP Paribas Open semifinals with a 6-1, 6-1 wipeout of wild-card entry Belinda Bencic on Thursday.

Keys, the Australian Open champion and the No. 3 seed at Indian Wells, needed just 65 minutes to set up a meeting with top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, who defeated Liudmila Samsonova, 6-2, 6-3, later Thursday. Keys beat Sabalenka in three sets in January at Melbourne Park, denying Sabalenka a third consecutive title.

Bencic, a 28-year-old from Switzerland, was coming off an upset of third-seeded Coco Gauff in the fourth round, but she never had a chance against Keys.

Iga Swiatek reached the semifinals at Indian Wells for the fourth consecutive time in her bid to be the first woman to win the tournament three times. The No. 2 seed from Poland beat eighth-seeded Qinwen Zheng of China, 6-3, 6-3, in a rematch of a Paris Olympics semifinal from last summer won by Zheng.

Swiatek, the defending champion, has a 10-match winning streak in the California desert. The five-time Grand Slam champion also won the event in 2022. Zheng ended Swiatek’s 25-match winning streak at the Olympics last year.

Swiatek converted all five of her break points, but Zheng broke twice on her way to winning six games, matching the total Swiatek had dropped in the tournament coming into the match.

On the men’s side, Daniil Medvedev reached the Indian Wells semifinals for the third consecutive year, earning a tight 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7) victory over 20-year-old Frenchman Arthur Fils.

The 29-year-old Russian, seeded fifth, needed 2 hours, 25 minutes to keep alive a bid for a third trip to the final of the event. That included a brief delay in the third set when gusty winds blew debris all over the stadium.

Holger Rune moved on to his first Indian Wells semifinal by rallying for a 5-7, 6-0, 6-3 win over Tallon Griekspoor.

Ben Shelton, at 22 the youngest American man to reach the quarterfinals at Indian Wells since 2004, couldn’t go further. Jack Draper of England moved on to the semifinals with a 6-4, 7-5 victory.

Second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz was facing 25th-seeded Francisco Cerundolo in a late match Thursday night.

Mirra Andreeva advanced to the women’s semifinals with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Elina Svitolina.

More to come on this story.

​ Orange County Register