U.S. Open: Jessica Pegula, Jannik Sinner advance to semifinals

• September 5, 2024

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer

NEW YORK — The questions wouldn’t stop for Jessica Pegula: Why was she 0-6 in Grand Slam quarterfinals heading into her U.S. Open matchup against top-ranked Iga Swiatek? What could Pegula do about it?

Came up during her on-court interview after winning in the previous round. And again at the news conference that followed. And again during a brief TV interview right before striding onto the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday night.

If that all weighed on Pegula, the 30-year-old American hid it well, pulling off a big upset by easily beating Swiatek, 6-2, 6-4, at Flushing Meadows and earning a debut trip to the semifinals at a major.

“There have been so many freaking times, and I just kept losing,” said Pegula, who has won 14 of her past 15 matches, all on hard courts. “I know everyone keeps asking me about it, but I was like, ‘I don’t know what else to do. I just need to get there again and, like, win the match.’ So thank God I was able to do it. And finally – finally! – I can say, ‘Semifinalist.’”

She will face unseeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic on Thursday for a berth in the final.

Muchova, the runner-up to Swiatek at the 2023 French Open, made it to the final four in New York for the second consecutive year with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over No. 22 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia earlier Wednesday.

“I know she has a lot of experience going deep in Slams,” the sixth-seeded Pegula said of Muchova, whom she defeated at the Cincinnati Open last month. “I’ll worry about that, maybe, when I wake up in the morning.”

The other women’s match Thursday also will feature an American making her major semifinal debut, No. 13 Emma Navarro, against No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who has won the past two Australian Open titles. Sabalenka lost to Coco Gauff in the 2023 final in New York; Navarro ended Gauff’s title defense in the fourth round.

There are two Americans in the men’s semifinals, too, but they’ll face each other: No. 12 Taylor Fritz takes on No. 20 Frances Tiafoe on Friday. The other men’s matchup that day will be No. 25 Jack Draper against No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who defeated No. 5 Daniil Medvedev, the last remaining past U.S. Open winner in the field, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Wednesday night.

Pegula’s win guaranteed the tournament will feature multiple American men and women in the semifinal round for the first time since 2003 (Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick; Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati).

The lopsided nature of Pegula’s win was surprising, but she did not think this day would never arrive.

“I knew I could do it. I just had to go out and execute my game and not get frustrated,” she said. “Luckily I felt like I was able to take advantage of some things she wasn’t doing well very early and then was able to kind of ride that momentum throughout the match.”

Swiatek served poorly in the first set and her forehand was a real problem, with 22 of her 41 unforced errors coming on that side. Pegula made only 22 unforced errors in all and used terrific defense to keep forcing Swiatek to hit an extra shot.

“It’s never easy to play against Jess. She has a tricky ball because it’s pretty low and pretty flat,” Swiatek said. “I just made too many mistakes.”

Pegula repeatedly did what seemed nearly impossible lately against Swiatek, who counts the 2022 U.S. Open among her five Grand Slam titles and has led the WTA rankings for most of the past 2½ years: break her serve.

Entering Wednesday, Swiatek had lost just a pair of service games across four matches in the tournament, both in the first round – and she didn’t even face a single break point in any of her most recent three contests. That’s all part of why the 23-year-old from Poland was listed as a -350 money-line favorite against Pegula, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

But Pegula, whose parents own the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, didn’t have much trouble in that department, especially at the outset, breaking in each of Swiatek’s initial two service games, which both ended with double-faults, and three of the first six.

It helped that Swiatek was unable to properly calibrate her first serves early, putting just 2 of 12 – 16.7% – in play at the start, only 36% for the opening set.

“I didn’t really understand why my serve wasn’t working,” Swiatek said.

Even as the games kept going in her favor, Pegula didn’t show much perceptible emotion, whether grabbing a 4-0 lead just 21 minutes in or taking up that set, which was greeted with a slight shake of her left fist as she walked to her sideline seat.

Swiatek didn’t hide her thoughts that well. She smacked her racket against the top of the net. She slapped her right thigh after a forehand flew wide to get broken yet again and trail 4-3 in the second set.

Fifteen minutes later, it was over.

“I feel like when I have high expectations, I never perform well,” Swiatek said. “(But) it’s hard to have low expectations when everybody is expecting something from you.”

After losing to Gauff in the U.S. Open semifinals in 2023, Muchova needed surgery on her right wrist in October and was off the tour for about 10 months, returning this June. That was the latest in a series of injuries for Muchova, who called it “one of the worst ones that I had.”

“Now, looking back,” she said, “I’m, like, ‘Oh, it actually flew by, the time, and I feel strong again.’”

Muchova dominated the first set, racing to a 5-0 lead and finishing it off in 35 minutes. Then it became a test in the second, with both players struggling physically on a sunny afternoon.

Muchova left the court at one point for what she said was a needed trip to the bathroom, while Haddad Maia appeared to be pointing to her chest and trying to breathe deeply midway through the set before burying her head in a towel as trainers attended to her.

Muchova has had to get used to dealing with pain.

She had just made her second major semifinal of 2023, having lost to Swiatek in the French Open final, when she had to stop playing following the U.S. Open. When she finally got back to the tour this year, it left time for only 11 matches before returning to Flushing Meadows.

That was enough for Muchova to rediscover her game. She hasn’t dropped a set in her five matches and finished off this one with an ace down the middle.

Muchova, who missed most of the first half of the 2022 season because of back, abdominal and ankle problems, said she didn’t like to talk about her injuries.

“I’ve been through a lot of them,” the 28-year-old said.

Many fans hadn’t even taken their seats at Arthur Ashe Stadium when Muchova broke Haddad Maia in a 14-point game to take a 2-0 lead. The Brazilian faced that same deficit in her third-round match against Anna Kalinskaya but won the next game to start a turnaround, helped in part by a video review that gave her a point.

The U.S. Tennis Association acknowledged the next day that Haddad Maia’s shot was illegal, but the chair umpire wasn’t given the relevant replay that would have shown that.

Muchova wouldn’t allow a turnaround this time, denying Haddad Maia what would have been the second major semifinal of her career. She got to that stage in the French Open last year, but said she had trouble concentrating Wednesday.

“I didn’t put pressure on me because of her. It was me and myself, it was my ghosts inside my mind and I know all the tennis players have that,” Haddad Maia said. “Today was like an inner fight. I couldn’t manage that.”

SINNER, DRAPER INTO SEMIS

Sinner used an aggressive, net-rushing style to reach the U.S. Open semifinals for the first time by getting past 2021 champion Medvedev.

Sinner – a 23-year-old from Italy who was cleared in a doping case less than a week before the U.S. Open started after testing positive twice for trace amounts of an anabolic steroid in March – will face Draper on Friday for a berth in the final.

After Week 1 exits by Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, Sinner took over as the title favorite and now is the only man remaining in the field with a Grand Slam trophy. He won his first at the Australian Open in January by beating Medvedev in the final in five sets after dropping the first two.

As reflected by the accurate-as-can-be score, this matchup was unusually topsy-turvy as they took turns dominating a set at a time.

First, it was Sinner who was superior. Then that role was played Medvedev, the runner-up at Flushing Meadows to Djokovic last year and to Rafael Nadal in 2019. Then Sinner regained the upper hand in the third. In the fourth, from 3-all, Sinner surged, saving a pair of break points, then breaking Medvedev to lead 5-3.

“We know each other quite well. … We knew it was going to be very physical,” said Sinner, who lost to Medvedev in five sets at Wimbledon in July. “It was strange the first two sets, because whoever made the first break then started to roll.”

The key: Sinner won the point on 28 of his 33 trips to the net, including 9 of 11 on serve-and-volley approaches.

“We tried to work really hard on this aspect of the game,” Sinner said. “Trying just to mix up the game.”

Medvedev was particularly uneven. He only had one fewer winner than Sinner but finished with 19 more unforced errors. Medvedev fell to 9-2 in his career major quarterfinals, the only other loss being in the 2021 French Open to Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The 22-year-old Draper reached his first Grand Slam semifinal – and became the first British man to get that far at the U.S. Open since Andy Murray won the 2012 trophy – by overwhelming No. 10 Alex de Minaur, 6-3, 7-5, 6-2.

“It’s amazing. To be out here, my first match on the biggest court in the world, honestly, it’s a dream come true for me,” he said.

Draper has won all 15 sets he’s played so far, but things figure to get tougher against Sinner.

“This is not kind of like an overnight thing for me. I’ve believed for a long time that I’ve been putting in the work and doing the right things, and I knew that my time would come,” said Draper, whose upper right leg was taped by a trainer after he felt something at the end of the first set. “I didn’t know when it would be, but hopefully from here, I can do a lot of amazing things. I’m very proud of myself.”

Draper relied on his serve that reached 128 mph to set up some of his 40 winners in the match, and he broke the 10th-seeded de Minaur’s serve six times.

Draper has dealt with his own physical struggles. He beat eighth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime in the second round of his U.S. Open debut in 2022, but then he stopped playing in his next match because of a leg injury. That seemed like a distant memory Wednesday against de Minaur, an Australian who had won all three of their matchups.

“I feel the best, fitness-wise, I’ve been in a long, long time, and I think that’s where Alex has sort of got me in the past,” Draper said. “I also think he was maybe struggling a little bit today with something, which may have helped me.”

Top-seeded Jannik Sinner returns a shot to Daniil Medvedev during their U.S. Open quarterfinal on Wednesday night in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

YOUNG CAN RETIRE A WINNER WITH TOWNSEND

For as long as Taylor Townsend has had a racket in her hand, Donald Young and his family have been in her life.

That racket began in her right hand, but thanks to Young’s influence, she switched to swinging it with her left, just like he does. Young’s mother played doubles with Townsend’s mother. His father was Townsend’s first coach. And it was Young, a fellow Black native of Chicago, who made Townsend believe that a professional tennis career was possible.

That’s why it’s so meaningful that she might help the 35-year-old Young end his career on Thursday as a Grand Slam champion by winning the U.S. Open mixed doubles final, his last match before retiring from tennis.

“This is the decision. I’m happy with it and hopefully go one more – and it’d be really a dream come true and kind of a storybook ending for me,” Young said.

They beat the eighth-seeded team of Aldila Sutjiadi and Rohan Bopanna, 6-3, 6-4, on Tuesday night in the semifinals. Afterward, Townsend, 28, told fans that she wouldn’t be on the court in front of them in Louis Armstrong Stadium if not for Young’s impact.

He was the top-ranked player at the junior level in 2005, a year after turning pro. The ring bearer at the wedding of Townsend’s parents had grown up to become one of the young stars of American men’s tennis.

“Him winning junior Wimbledon, junior Australian Open, going onto the tour, breaking out on tour and then coming home and being able to bring that accomplishment to us and being able to see that stuff, it was the closest that I ever had to being near anyone that was doing this at this level,” Townsend said.

“So when he asked me to play, I just felt like it was an honor to be able to close that book for him, because he kind of opened that for me in that sense.”

Townsend, like Young, would top the junior rankings, when she won the junior singles and doubles titles at the Australian Open in 2012 and became the first American girl in three decades to hold the year-end No. 1 junior world ranking.

But both endured tough times on tour in the years that followed.

Young climbed to his career high of No. 38 in 2012, but a 17-match losing streak would send him tumbling. That same year, The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Tennis Association coaches decided that the then-16-year-old Townsend needed to work on her fitness, sending her back to their Florida training center rather than cover her expenses to play in one of its tournaments.

But even as they struggled, Young and Townsend were providing hope to others. Townsend said she recently ran into Young at the club where they used to play, and it was emotional seeing so many Black kids who looked up to her like she looked up to Young.

“It’s amazing because it really shows that we’re trending in the right direction,” Townsend said. “And for me personally, in my experience, seeing that and being able to have the visual representation, to see something that looked like me, that acted like me or that I could relate to in some shape or form, gave that little bit of hope that you could do it, too.”

Townsend’s career has been on the rise since she returned to the tour in 2022 after giving birth to her son. She has climbed into the top 50 in singles and is even better in doubles, winning the Wimbledon title in July with Katerina Siniakova. They are seeded third in Flushing Meadows and have reached the semifinals.

Young never reached the level of stardom that some predicted. He hasn’t won a match on tour since 2021 and doesn’t even play on it anymore, having switched to pro pickleball.

“Hindsight is 20/20, it didn’t exactly get to where I wanted it to be,” Young said of his career. “But how I choose to look at it is, if you asked the 10, 12-year-old me about the career I’ve had, he’d be super excited and pumped about it.”

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The USTA gave them a wild card into the mixed doubles draw for Young’s farewell and the duo has made the most of it. With two lefties on the court, they are a tricky team to play, forcing opponents to seek angles that are more easily found against righties.

Young actually is a righty, using that hand to eat and write, but plays tennis left-handed. Townsend also began playing with her right hand, mimicking her older sister, before training under Donald Young Sr. She struggled to keep her balance while moving, and Illona Young recommended she try playing lefty, like her son.

“So from that point we started drilling everything on the left side,” Townsend said, “and here we are.”

On Thursday, she and Young will play the third-seeded team of Italians Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, a chance to add a memory to all the ones they already share.

“So either way it goes I’m really excited and happy, again, I can share it with a person really close like family,” Young said.

AP sports writer Brian Mahoney contributed to this story.

​ Orange County Register 

Sparks lose again as Caitlin Clark has a triple-double for Fever

• September 5, 2024

INDIANAPOLIS — The Sparks can only hope they get the chance to see Paige Bueckers do for them what Caitlin Clark is doing for the Indiana Fever.

Clark became the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 100 3-pointers in a season and finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for her second career triple-double as the playoff-bound Indiana Fever beat the last-place Sparks, 93-86, on Wednesday night.

Clark made her second 3-pointer of the game and 100th of the season midway through the third quarter and added two more to reach 102 and finish 4 for 10 from long range. The No. 1 overall draft pick is the first rookie with 100 3-point baskets.

She also became the first rookie and fifth WNBA player with multiple triple-doubles in a season, joining Alyssa Thomas, Courtney Williams, Sabrina Ionescu and Candace Parker.

Aliyah Boston had 24 points and 14 rebounds for the Fever (18-16), who secured a playoff spot Monday night when Atlanta and Chicago lost. Indiana has won five straight for the first time since 2015 and is 10-1 at home since June 1.

Odyssey Sims had 20 points and six assists to lead the Sparks (7-26), who are going to have a good chance to land the top pick in next spring’s WNBA draft – widely expected to be Connecticut star Bueckers.

Dearica Hamby had 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals, while Rae Burrell added 16 points for the Sparks, who have lost five in a row on the road and are 2-15 away from home this season. Azura Stevens had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Kia Nurse added 13 points.

Clark made two free throws with 16.4 seconds left for a seven-point lead. Kia Nurse was long on a 3-pointer at the other end and Clark grabbed the rebound to complete the triple-double.

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“Of course I knew, but honestly, like, we were just trying to get stops,” Clark said in a courtside interview.

Clark also made a key defensive play when she poked a pass away in the paint and found Boston for a layup and a 91-84 lead with 25.2 seconds left.

Kelsey Mitchell added 18 points for Indiana, coming two points shy of her eighth straight 20-point game. NaLyssa Smith scored 13 points.

Caitlin Clark posted another LEGENDARY performance in the Fever’s win over the Sparks

24 PTS
10 REB
10 AST
3 STL
4 3PM
8-17 FG

She also recorded the 2nd triple-double of her career! Only rookie to ever do it and she had to run it back #WelcometotheW pic.twitter.com/0e5UIyyvXP

— WNBA (@WNBA) September 5, 2024

Odyssey is relentless. 😤

20 PTS | 2 REB | 6 AST pic.twitter.com/4GbANPi7pQ

— Los Angeles Sparks (@LASparks) September 5, 2024

Dearica showed off what she's been showing us all season. 💪

16 PTS | 7 REB | 5 AST | 3 STL pic.twitter.com/a26dR3SLUm

— Los Angeles Sparks (@LASparks) September 5, 2024

The bank is open for Rae Burrell

The LA Sparks are battling back in the 4Q on CBS Sports Network pic.twitter.com/6yiRyaxb44

— WNBA (@WNBA) September 5, 2024

The Indiana Fever defend home court and pick up the 93-86 win over the Los Angeles Sparks

Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston led the way with 24 PTS each, with CC recording the 2nd triple-double of her career!#WelcometotheW pic.twitter.com/UypDnl19GS

— WNBA (@WNBA) September 5, 2024

​ Orange County Register 

Portola girls tennis powers to fast start but aiming to break playoff ‘curse’

• September 5, 2024

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Portola’s girls tennis program could deliver its best team this fall, and do so without having its best player.

The Bulldogs are playing the season without standout junior Kenzie Nguyen. The former O.C. Register player of the year has shifted to homeschool and traveling for tournaments. She also is focused on college recruiting.

But despite her absence, the Bulldogs are off to a 6-0 start and earning rave reviews from rival coaches. Their early-season resume includes 6-2 win against Santa Margarita.

“We are the strongest we’ve been, which is incredible considering we don’t have Kenzie,” Portola coach Natasha Schottland said.

Fortunately for Portola, Nguyen’s twin sister Kylie remains on the roster to help lead the squad.

Kylie holds a Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) of about 8.0 and forms a strong duo with sophomore Jiah Lee, whose UTR rating is about 7.5.

Portola’s depth begins with returners Leanna Roman and Payton Nguyen and newcomer Imani Shah, who is from Great Britain.

Last season, Portola went 14-0 to capture the Pacific Coast League before falling on games to Palos Verdes in the first round of the CIF-SS Open Division playoffs.

It was the second consecutive season the Bulldogs fell in the first round in the Open playoffs, and the program’s fourth straight first-round exit overall.

Portola’s team this fall can certainly distinguish itself by advancing in the playoffs and breaking what Schottland calls the Bulldogs’ “curse.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing the competition this season and hope my team rises to the challenge,” she said. “I would love to break our curse of losing in the first round CIF.”

TEAMS TO WATCH

(Listed alphabetically, records entering Sept. 5)

Aliso Niguel (2-1): The Wolverines are defending Division 1 champion.

Beckman (5-2): The Patriots’ start includes a 3-1 showing at its Fall Showcase last week. Beckman has moved to the South Coast League from the Pacific Coast League.

Corona del Mar (2-2): The Sea Kings have handled reigning state champion Mater Dei 15-3 and University 14-4.

Fountain Valley (2-0): The Barons are heavy on returners, including Chloe Vu and Jaslyn Nguyen.

JSerra (2-0): The Lions opened with an 11-7 victory against Huntington Beach.

Mater Dei (0-2): The reigning state champion hasn’t been full-strength but could be dangerous in the Trinity league.

Orange Lutheran (4-0): The Lancers’ blend of experience and youth should provide more depth this season.

Portola (6-0): The Bulldogs went 4-0 at Beckman’s Fall Showcase to emerge as arguably the top team in the county.

Santa Margarita (7-1): The Eagles’ lone loss came against Portola (6-2) at Beckman’s Fall Showcase. They’re playing the California Tennis Classic this weekend at Clovis East.

University (3-2): The Trojans posted a 3-1 record at Beckman’s Fall Showcase. The Trojans fell to Santa Margarita 6-2.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

A look at some of the area’s top players to watch this season:

Daniela Borruel, Sunny Hills: The USC committed senior and reigning O.C. player of the year is vying to become the first O.C. girl to win three CIF-SS singles titles.

Anna Cherico, Mater Dei: The junior returns as the reigning Trinity League champion.

Kiara Deng, Beckman: Deng ranks as the No. 3 freshman in the state, according to Tennis Recruiting Network.

Grace Kersenbrock: Santa Margarita: Kersenbrock and fellow junior Emily Gao help lead the Eagles.

Kylie Nguyen, Portola: Nguyen has developed into one of the county’s top juniors.

Emilie Lew, Corona del Mar: Lew forms a strong junior duo with Polina Briggs.

Lisa Polkanova, Woodbridge: The All-County junior fell to Beckman’s Kiara Deng 7-6 (6).

Sophie Suh, Orange Lutheran: Suh ranks as the No. 1 freshman in California, according to Tennis Recruiting Network.

KEY EVENTS AND DATES

Here is a brief list of some of the key events this season: CIF-SS playoffs, Nov. 6-15; CIF Southern California Regional, Nov. 22-23; CIF State championship, Nov. 30, Fresno

Please send girls tennis news to Dan Albano at [email protected] or @ocvarsityguy on X and Instagram

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​ Orange County Register 

Dan Albano’s Orange County football Top 30 rankings, Sept. 4

• September 5, 2024

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OCVarsity’s Dan Albano votes weekly in the Orange County football poll. Here is his how he voted this week for the Top 25 plus his “Next 5” in the county:

ALBANO’S TOP 25 BALLOT

1. Mater Dei (1-0)

2. Mission Viejo (2-0)

3. JSerra (2-0)

4. Orange Lutheran (2-0)

5. Santa Margarita (1-1)

6. Servite (2-0)

7. Los Alamitos (2-0)

8. San Clemente (1-1)

9. Yorba Linda (2-0)

10. Tustin (2-0)

11. San Juan Hills (2-0)

12. Corona del Mar (2-0)

13. Edison (0-2)

14. Crean Lutheran (2-0)

15. La Habra (1-1)

16. Tesoro (1-1)

17. Villa Park (1-1)

18. El Modena (2-0)

19. Capistrano Valley (2-0)

20. Trabuco Hills (1-0)

21. Western (1-1)

22. Huntington Beach (1-1)

23. Laguna Beach (2-0)

24. Foothill (1-1)

25. Aliso Niguel (2-0)

Albano’s Next 5

26. Newport Harbor (0-2)

27. Troy (2-0)

28. Laguna Hills (1-1)

29. Brea Olinda (2-0)

30. Cypress (1-1)

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​ Orange County Register 

Authorities offer updates on their efforts to deter prostitution of children and young people along LA’s Figueroa corridor

• September 5, 2024

LOS ANGELES — Federal and local law enforcement officials Wednesday discussed a multi-agency effort to stamp out a so-called pipeline in which children and young adults in foster care are lured onto streets along the Figueroa corridor in South Los Angeles to work as prostitutes.

The 3.5-mile stretch of Figueroa Street stretching from Gage Avenue to Imperial Highway has been a hub for underage sex workers for decades. Women and girls in various states of undress can be seen walking the notorious “stroll” day and night while “johns” drive around the area looking to pick them up. Dozens of YouTube videos show the activity.

Since last year, a multi-jurisdictional task force has been focused on the epicenter of human trafficking and criminal activity, aiming to locate and assist trafficking victims, identify, arrest and convict pimps and traffickers, and disrupt buyers of sex services from minors and trafficking victims.

The effort is not aimed at prosecuting commercial sex workers, officials said.

During a news conference, U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said that while human trafficking is a global problem, “you don’t need to look to some far-off country to find it. It exists right here … a short distance from downtown Los Angeles and a stone’s throw from USC.”

Estrada added that many of the youths working the streets are “from the foster care system. These victims are as vulnerable as it gets. What we see is a human rights tragedy playing out every night.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the issue “is a scourge on our society. This problem reveals a gap in the safety net that should be protecting these children.”

Roughly 100 young adults leave foster care in Los Angeles County each month because they are turning 21. At that point, they are frequently vulnerable to pimps, “and the next thing they know is they are being trafficked around the country,” according to Bass.

When a young person in a group home turns 21, for example, “we literally pack their bags and put them on the road,” Bass said.

She said the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles, primarily a homelessness prevention program, has expanded to serve young adults aging out of the foster care system.

A lack of housing is one of the reasons young people are victimized by pimps along the Figueroa corridor — because they have no place to go, Bass said.

The Figueroa corridor initiative is designed to help the young women and girls who perform sex work in the area find opportunities and get them off the streets, Estrada said.

Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto described “appalling” street scenes witnessed during a recent night-time ride-along with Los Angeles police.

“Women and girls in various states of undress and a specific stroll for kiddies — a kiddies stroll,” she said. “In the daytime, it was nearly as bad.”

Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles also announced or discussed several cases Wednesday involving the sex trafficking of minors.

In one, suspected pimp Christian Brandon O’Neal, 21, of Moreno Valley, AKA Christian Brandon O’Neal Scurlock, was linked to minors working as commercial sex workers in the Figueroa corridor. In March, police camera footage on Figueroa Street showed O’Neal appearing to yell at a 13-year-old victim, take her clothes, and depart the area, leaving her completely naked on the street, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

A record check of two girls in the case revealed that both had been reported as missing juveniles out of California. Both victims told police that O’Neal had brought them to Las Vegas to provide prostitution services as minor commercial sex workers and that they usually worked on “Fig,” short for Figueroa Street. O’Neal required both minor victims to give him the money they earned from prostitution, prosecutors allege.

Last month, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging O’Neal with two counts of sex trafficking of a minor and two counts of transportation of a minor in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution and criminal sexual activity. O’Neal was arrested on Aug. 7 and was ordered jailed without bond by a federal magistrate judge. He has remained in federal custody since then and pleaded not guilty to the charges against him on on Aug. 27

In another case announced by prosecutors, Nanci Jasmin Castillo, 31, and Jonathan Gonzalez-Reyes, 38, both of Anaheim, are charged in a six-count federal grand jury indictment alleging they befriended a 13-year-old girl, provided her with alcohol, and sexually assaulted her, taking photographs and making videos of the attack.

Castillo and Gonzalez-Reyes discussed helping the victim run away from home and possibly trying to find her work on “Fig,” prosecutors said. Castillo and Gonzalez-Reyes have pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to go to trial in March 2025. They have been in federal custody since June.

In another case, Donavin Dwayne Bradford, 33, of South Los Angeles, is serving a sentence of life in federal prison after being convicted of recruiting and enticing teenage girls for whom he acted as a pimp and providing them for commercial sex work, prosecutors said.

From the summer of 2021 to February 2022, Bradford caused one of the minor victims – a then-15-year-old girl – to be used for commercial sex acts. As the victim’s pimp, Bradford expected the girl to earn him $1,000 per night.

The Los Angeles Daily News contributed to this story.

​ Orange County Register 

Angels top prospect Christian Moore has a meniscus injury, but could return this season

• September 5, 2024

ANAHEIM — The Angels provided good news – relatively, anyway – on first-round draft pick Christian Moore on Wednesday night.

Moore, who seemed to be blazing toward his major league debut before he was hurt on Friday night in Double-A, has a meniscus injury in his left knee, the team announced. The Angels said the injury will be treated “conservatively,” which suggests that surgery is not currently a part of the treatment plan.

Moore will remain with the Double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas to rehab, and it’s possible he could play again in the final month of the season, the Angels said.

Moore, 21, was the eighth overall pick in the draft in July, out of Tennessee. Because the Angels have so aggressively moved their top draft picks to the majors, there was widespread speculation that Moore would be in the majors before the end of the season.

He hit six home runs in his first eight professional games, fueling speculation that he would be up soon.

Moore was hitting .330 with a .948 OPS in 24 minor league games, but he hurt his left knee while trying to field a ball on Friday night. He had to be helped off the field.

The Angels and Moore spent several days collecting information from various doctors before releasing the diagnosis after Wednesday’s game against the Dodgers.

#Angels prospect Christian Moore was taken out of the game tonight after diving for a ball. He looked to be in some significant pain pic.twitter.com/N867JnoLPM

— Jared Tims (@Jared_Tims) August 31, 2024

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​ Orange County Register 

Keyed by improved preparation, USC’s run defense has been born anew

• September 5, 2024

LOS ANGELES — Eric Gentry lined up on the edge, kicking up turf in his stance, and in a blink LSU’s third-down formation appeared to him just as he had seen on tape.

The Tigers, USC and Gentry knew, went tight in short-yardage situations. Receiver backside. And knowing exactly what was coming, in an utterly crucial third-and-1 situation with fourth-quarter minutes waning, Gentry broke untouched through LSU’s right side and stuffed Tigers back John Emery Jr. for a 1-yard loss.

He came up bellowing in glee to his sideline, flexing every vein in his biceps, a 6-foot-6 dynamo finally unleashed amid a defensive overhaul.

On Wednesday, after USC’s practice, he was asked: did he think he would have a clear shot on that third down?

“I think every play, I’m gonna have a clear shot,” Gentry smiled. “Not to be arrogant, but shoot. Just intentions on making a play.”

He finished with seven tackles in just 29 snaps against LSU on Sunday night, part of a group of sudden playmakers in a 27-20 season-opening win, where the Trojans thoroughly exorcised the demons of a 2023 run defense that too often was gashed or steamrolled up the middle. The Trojans surrendered just 72 yards on the ground to the Tigers, fewer than they had allowed in all but one game (Nevada) last season, as returning players suddenly mucked up gaps in the offensive line that had sent running backs marching free in 2023.

When asked Wednesday, simply, why USC had improved against the run, Gentry smirked before a blunt reply.

“Our coaches,” he shrugged, chuckling as his words hung in the late-afternoon heat.

For two years in Trojans uniform, Gentry had alternated between flashes of slinky-armed greatness and flashes of action from the sideline, his snaps and utilization fluctuating week-to-week. New defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s scheme, head coach Lincoln Riley professed last week, had helped tailor roles to Gentry’s skillset – a 215-pound linebacker who defensive end Jamil Muhammad described as built like an edge rusher, linebacker and safety in one.  And Gentry’s evolution, too, starts with new linebackers coach Matt Entz, a man who Gentry said earlier in the fall had “been everything I’d asked for.”

They’ve shared a saying, Gentry described Wednesday: preparation plus desperation equals separation.

“If you’re desperate about preparing yourself for the worst, you’ll do good,” Gentry said.

Hints of Entz’s saying drifted across a variety of position groups, the new staff’s fingerprints felt in varying ways Sunday across stout run containment. Gentry and Cobb, prepared by film, suddenly attacked running lanes with a renewed ferocity. The secondary, so often unable to wrap up ball carriers under an old regime, missed only two tackles against LSU, according to Pro Football Focus. And bodies on USC’s defensive line – sporting custom “Dawg Work” hoodies before the game, distributed by new defensive coach Eric Henderson and his wife – burst from the interior and edge in key late-down situations.

“We did a great job, I thought, condensing their run game,” Riley said after the win. “Squeezing them, to where there wasn’t just a bunch of huge, open gaps.”

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Two plays before Gentry’s massive third-down stop, sophomore defensive end Braylan Shelby lined up for a first-and-10 in a “four-technique,” directly opposite an offensive tackle. Veteran edge Jamil Muhammad, Shelby reflected postgame, chirped at him where the tackle would move. So Shelby, seeing his man pull for a run, burst through to swallow up LSU’s Emery for a crucial 5-yard loss.

“That’s immediately juice,” a beaming Shelby put, postgame. “Juiced it.”

Credit strength work, as Shelby professed, for USC’s run defense improvements. Credit coaching, too. Credit players, who went into the offseason, Shelby said, mainly focused on stopping the run.

And suddenly, within the span of one week in Vegas, a once-downtrodden group showed an aggressive readiness for a new, physical conference.

“That,” Riley said Sunday, “was some pretty good Big Ten football.”

​ Orange County Register 

Angels pounce on Bobby Miller early, rout Dodgers

• September 5, 2024

ANAHEIM — If Walker Buehler’s start against the Angels on Tuesday represented a step forward in his attempt to pitch his way onto the postseason roster, Bobby Miller came out moonwalking on Wednesday.

The first five Angels batters reached base and scored against Miller, who gave up seven runs in five innings as the Angels beat the Dodgers, 10-1, on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium.

The nine-run margin of victory matched the largest of the Angels’ 58 wins this season. The two SoCal neighbors split their four meetings this season, with each team winning once at the opposing team’s ballpark.

“The atmosphere that we’re in is a playoff atmosphere,” Angels manager Ron Washington said of the two games played in front of sellout crowds in Anaheim. “We’re not in the playoffs, but it’s nice to be in that atmosphere. And they rose to the challenge, and hopefully we just can keep building on it.”

Miller might also be on the outside looking in when the playoffs start. He has not made a case to stay in the Dodgers’ plans when October comes.

The Angels made Miller’s night miserable from the start. Leadoff man Taylor Ward drew a seven-pitch walk, two close calls going against Miller. He hit Zach Neto two pitches later and Nolan Schanuel loaded the bases with a single.

Anthony Rendon drove in two runs with a ground ball single through the middle and Mickey Moniak jumped on a first-pitch fastball from Miller, sending it into the right-field seats for a three-run home run and a 5-0 lead.

Moniak has been the most threatening hitter in the Angels’ lineup since the start of August. In his past 22 games, he has batted .320 (24 for 75) with seven home runs (including four in his past five games) and a 1.030 OPS.

Miller struck out the side after Moniak’s latest home run, but he gave up a leadoff homer to Angels DH Niko Kavadas in the second inning. The No. 9 hitter came into the game batting .079 (3 for 38) in 12 games since being promoted for the first time.

Miller retired nine consecutive batters after Kavadas’ home run – then gave up another home run to Ward when he led off the fifth inning. That was Ward’s fifth home run during a 14-game hitting streak and the first of his three hits Wednesday.

“Besides the first inning, there was a lot of good in there,” said Miller, whose ERA is now 7.79 in his sophomore season. “Just a couple good fastball hitters, couple bad pitch selections. … There’s some good fastball hitters and just threw the wrong pitch at the wrong time, and they put some good swings on some not really bad pitches.”

Miller has seemingly done that a lot. He has allowed eight home runs in four starts since returning from the minor leagues.

His fastball remains his biggest problem. The velocity on his four-seamer was down at times this season after he returned from a shoulder injury. It was back up Wednesday to an average of 98.3 mph. But he didn’t get a single swing-and-miss on it and two of the home runs were hit off four-seam fastballs. The third was a two-seamer.

“You have to, as a starting pitcher, to be able to get ahead with different secondary pitches. You have to,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Unless you have 80-command and right now he doesn’t. It’s a fastball that hitters see so it either has to be commanded really well and moved to different locations or you have to be able to get ahead with different breaking balls. That’s just the way it goes. And if you can’t do that, then the catcher is in a tough spot. We have to get better.”

Miller will remain in the rotation and start against the Chicago Cubs next week – “I don’t think that right now we don’t have another alternative” – but Roberts acknowledged Miller’s chance at a postseason role is fading.

“I think where we’re at right now with certain players – Bobby, in this particular case – performance matters,” Roberts said. “It’s got to be better. And he knows that. You just can’t go out there and give up five runs and put us behind the 8-ball. It’s not about the stuff because as we’ve seen the stuff is there. I say it time and time again, it’s about performance. You’ve got to perform and give us a chance.”

Angels starter Griffin Canning has taken his share of lumps this season, but Wednesday was his best start of the season.

The 28-year-old right-hander had a 7.10 ERA in the first or second innings of his previous 26 starts this season. It was such an issue the Angels used an opener for him against the Toronto Blue Jays two starts ago. He followed that with six scoreless innings.

He was his own opening act Wednesday, retiring Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman in order in the first inning and giving up just two harmless singles through six scoreless innings.

Canning’s slider and changeup were particularly effective, getting 13 of his 18 swings-and-misses against the Dodgers.

“It was just a lot of fun competing against those guys. Obviously a really, really great lineup, so that kind of brings out the best in you,” Canning said.

“I feel like I was utilizing kind of everything. To some of those lefties I was dropping in curveballs to get ahead, kind of picking and choosing my spots with a changeup, and then later in the game, kind of relying on the slider, using the fastball to both sides.”

He ran out of gas in the seventh and gave up a run on two more singles, including a two-out RBI single by Andy Pages before Washington went to his bullpen.

Canning has a 2.04 ERA over his past three games. But Roberts didn’t sound impressed.

“I just think we got so far behind that guys just didn’t put together the at-bats that I think we could have,” he said. “No excuse with that, but I think at that point in time Canning got into a rhythm and we just didn’t take the at-bats that we could have.”

The Angels added three runs in the eighth inning against Dodgers right-hander Michael Petersen and finished the night 6 for 13 with runners in scoring position. They were 20 for 147 (.136) with RISP in the previous 23 games.

“I hope the offense is waking up and able to finish the rest of the season like that,” Washington said. “It would be nice to finish the rest of the season swinging the bats and getting that type of pitching. Canning was outstanding tonight. Good fastball, moving around, good off-speed stuff. He was just outstanding.”

Staff writer Jeff Fletcher contributed to this story.

RENDON PLATES @Angels | #RepTheHalo pic.twitter.com/uO1eIJF2L8

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) September 5, 2024

MICKEY MONIAK DINGER @Angels | #RepTheHalo pic.twitter.com/lAEHvNUCiA

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) September 5, 2024

Wash talks postgame after the win @Angels | #RepTheHalo | #AngelsLive pic.twitter.com/lprAjIAO7T

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) September 5, 2024

Wardy talks with @EricaLWeston after the win @Angels | #RepTheHalo pic.twitter.com/pP5ST6aOnh

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) September 5, 2024

Dave Roberts talks about Bobby Miller’s performance and the #Dodgers loss. pic.twitter.com/lWa4ZbVezu

— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) September 5, 2024

Bobby Miller discusses his performance tonight. pic.twitter.com/ydmCxJIcoZ

— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) September 5, 2024

Niko Kavadas goes deep @Angels | #RepTheHalo pic.twitter.com/V0vwOXmdwO

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) September 5, 2024

ANTHONY RENDON SHOWING RANGE @Angels | #RepTheHalo pic.twitter.com/dlpokPRavV

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) September 5, 2024

​ Orange County Register