NFL draft: USC WR Jordan Addison selected by Vikings at No. 23

• April 28, 2023

Jordan Addison will be paired with another high-powered wide receiver at the next level.

The former USC receiver was selected in the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday night, going to the Minnesota Vikings with the 23rd selection. Addison’s selection makes it four straight years USC has seen a player taken in the first round.

Addison will line up in Minnesota across from Justin Jefferson, who led the NFL in receiving yards (1,809) and receptions (128) in 2022 while earning NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors.

“They told me, if I fall to them, they’re going to make sure they come and grab me,” Addison told reporters on a video conference call from the draft following his selection.

The 5-foot-11, 175-pound Addison arrived at USC prior to the 2022 season as a transfer from Pittsburgh, where he won the Biletnikoff Award as college football’s top receiver in 2021. But after spending his career playing exclusively in the slot at Pitt, Addison transferred to USC for the opportunity to expand his repertoire in Lincoln Riley’s offense.

Addison led USC in receiving in his lone season as a Trojan, with 59 catches for 875 yards and eight touchdowns. He scored the first points of USC’s season and was used in inventive ways, lining up outside, moving in motion and utilizing his explosive speed to create separation from defenders.

An ankle injury suffered against Utah cost Addison most of three games as he struggled to regain his usual form. But he still was named to the All-Pac-12 first team.

He joins a Minnesota team that won the NFC North in 2022 before losing to the New York Giants in the first weekend of the playoffs. The Vikings already have a lot of pieces in place in their seventh-ranked offense, from quarterback Kirk Cousins to running back Dalvin Cook to Jefferson.

But they needed a second receiver to pair with Jefferson after cutting veteran Adam Thielen in March. Addison, the fourth consecutive receiver selected on Thursday night, fills that hole and has the potential to make an immediate impact as a rookie for Minnesota.

Addison pointed to his successful transition to USC as evidence he can quickly learn Coach Kevin O’Connell’s pass-friendly system.

“He gets his playmakers the ball,” Addison said. “They’re never in one spot.”

Addison is a polished route-runner who consistently gets open despite not having elite speed. He ran a 4.49-second 40-yard dash at the NFL combine. So how does he compensate for his smaller frame?

“Make plays, catch the ball, score touchdowns,” Addison said.

Cousins sounds eager to work with him.

“He is a natural wide receiver,” Cousins said on Bleacher Report’s draft show. “I’ve played with some guys through the years that were great athletes; they could run well, they could jump well. But playing the position of wide receiver just didn’t come naturally to them. A guy who can attack the football with great hands, adjust to the football well, run great routes, that’s pretty exciting to be able to get that polish right away when he shows up for OTAs.”

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Wilson finds way past Marina in first round of CIF-SS boys volleyball playoffs

• April 28, 2023

LONG BEACH – The Long Beach Wilson boys volleyball team has become used to dominating its opponents.

That might have made things more difficult in its win over Marina, 25-15, 25-22, 20-25, 25-14, Thursday in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 2 playoffs.

Coach Christopher Ceballos said his team, the No. 1 seed in Division 2, forced a style of play that wasn’t getting results.

“We kind of let our foot off the gas again and we weren’t taking what the defense was giving us,” he said. “We were trying to do what we wanted and it wasn’t within the system. We kind of broke down when we didn’t need to.”

Still, Wilson (31-1) prevailed over Marina (16-15) despite a stumble in the third set.

Marek Turner and Ian Nolte paced the Wilson attack with 13 kills apiece. Turner added three blocks.

Braden Pool-Harris tallied 26 assists, and Max Cherin led the Bruins with four blocks.

Alden Jacobs converted a team-high three aces for Wilson.

Wilson dominated the first set. Turner’s two blocks and two kills, as well as Jacobs’ three aces and one block, launched the Bruins to a 25-15 set win.

The second set didn’t come as easily for Wilson. The Bruins jumped out to an early 5-1 lead on big kills by Turner and Nolte, but Marina kept pace. Three kills and back-to-back aces from Miles Rodden helped Marina narrow Wilson’s lead to 23-22 late in the set, but a kill by Cherin followed by an error by Marina sealed the 25-22 set win for Wilson.

Marina continued its momentum in the third set. The Vikings built a 17-11 lead with help from Derek McMullin, who had two kills and a block in the set. After a Wilson timeout, Caiden Rodriguez’s three kills extended Marina’s lead to 19-14.

With Marina leading 22-17, a Dyllan Nguyen ace brought Marina close to set point.

Wilson narrowed the Marina lead to four, 24-20, but a Caiden Rodriguez kill won the set for Marina 25-20.

Rodriguez tallied nine kills for Marina, while Dyllan Nguyen had 27 assists and two kills. Rodden had 10 kills and three aces for Marina. McMullin led in blocks with three.

Wilson regained its dominance in the fourth set thanks to Turner, who had five kills in the final set. Cherin added two kills and two blocks to help the Bruins to a 25-14 win and a 3-1 match victory.

Turner’s mindset was straightforward in the final set.

“Just go out there and dominate the finish,” he said. “Just dominate, honestly. We just needed to keep the same intensity and stay focused.”

Wilson moves on to face Orange Lutheran in a second-round game Saturday.

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Cypress baseball beats Pacifica with HR in 9th inning to claim share of Empire crown

• April 28, 2023

CYPRESS — Chewy Thomas’ two-run home run in the ninth inning not only gave Cypress a 2-1 victory over Pacifica in a key Empire League game Thursday at Cypress High School.

The home run gave the Centurions (21-7, 9-1) a share of the league title. The Mariners (21-3, 9-1) had clinched a share of the tile by defeating the Centurions on Tuesday.

The teams split their two league games against each other, but since the Centurions won a coin flip, they will go into the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs as the league’s No.1 entry, which could help them receive a home game in the first round of the playoffs.

Pacifica will be the league’s No. 2 entry.

Thomas’ game-winning blast capped a dramatic finish to the game, as it came after Chad Gurnea had hit a solo home run in the top of the inning to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead.

Nick Montgomery started off the inning for Cypress with a walk.

“I told my teammate Nick, just get on and I got you,” Thomas said. “I was just sitting fastball like every at-bat and just adjusted from there. And I got a pitch I could hit and luckily put a good swing on it and it got out.”

The pitching and defense for both teams was outstanding.

Gurnea was the starting pitcher for the Mariners and went seven innings before being replaced by Ayden Valdez in the eighth.

“We’ve faced a lot of really good arms and I compared him to some really good guys that we faced to my players,” Cypress coach John Weber said of Gurnea. “And our players were like, ‘No coach. He’s better.’ ”

Cypress starter Luke Matlock kept the Mariners off the board through four innings but got into some trouble by walking the first two batters in the fifth.

After a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third, Gabe Cobian entered the game in relief and pitched out of the jam with a flyout and strikeout, with an intentional walk in between.

After the intentional walk, Cobian retired nine in a row and didn’t allow a hit until Gurnea’s home run.

“Cobian came in and did an amazing job for us,” Weber said.

Weber said he did not tell his team that they had won the coin toss until after the game.

“I didn’t want to add anything more to the game,” he said. “I’ll use the cliché. When your back is against the wall, why add more information to it. For me as the coach and the guy that has to have a pulse on the group, I didn’t want to share that with them until just now.”

The Centurions and Mariners came into the contest ranked No. 7 and 9, respectively in the division. Weber expects his team to move up to No. 5 when the pairings are announced on Monday morning.

Weber said the Division 1 playoffs equate to the “best tournament in the country at this point.”

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Swanson: Texans don’t let C.J. Stroud get away, draft him No. 2 behind Bryce Young

• April 28, 2023

Bryce Young went where we all knew he would Thursday – No. 1, to the Carolina Panthers.

His buddy, C.J. Stroud, went No. 2 in the NFL draft, the Houston Texans doing well to block out noise building in opposition to the Ohio State prospect.

Young was the odds-on favorite to hear his name called first – and why not? What’s not to like?

His 5-foot-10, 204ish-pound stature, perhaps. Otherwise, the former Santa Ana Mater Dei High star has the IQ and instincts, the poise and pedigree. He’s a responsible, elegant quarterback. Level-headed and buttoned-up, with a multi-million-dollar smile. Seems like a real nice guy, “a safe pick,” said Cam Newton, the QB who went No. 1 in 2011, the last time the Panthers picked first. “A very safe pick.”

And to start the NFL draft, Young slid safely into No. 1. Here’s to a long, illustrious NFL career following his Heisman Trophy-winning tenure at Alabama – and to Stroud, too.

What about Stroud, the former Rancho Cucamonga High School standout – what was there to quibble with there?

The dude is 6-3, 214 pounds. He has probably the biggest and most accurate arm of all the quarterbacks in this year’s draft. Threw for 8,123 yards and 85 touchdowns (vs. just 12 interceptions) while going 21-4 in two seasons as Ohio State’s starting quarterback. He was a Heisman finalist both years.

For a while, people thought he’d go No. 1. But then they got on podcasts and got to talking.

“C.J. Stroud is an interesting guy,” NFL insider Michael Lombardi said earlier this month, on The Sports Betting Network’s platform. “When you talk to people in the league, they’ll tell you – this is not a knock, this is just a conversation – not an easy guy to coach.

“He’s very – the word that people use is – very not believing in what you’re saying.”

Skeptical, a sentiment that grew after former Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn said Stroud “ghosted” the folks at the high-profile Manning Passing Academy. And with the hullabaloo following a report that Stroud scored low on multiple S2 Cognition tests, which NFL teams use to assess athletes’ ability to process information.

Not the warmest welcome to the league. But also, kind of perfect.

If you’re a public school kid from the Inland Empire who didn’t start until your junior season, you can take it. If you’re a self-taught quarterback who grew up mimicking YouTube videos because your family wasn’t in position to employ a quarterback coach, you can take it.

And if you missed out on some high-profile passing tournaments back then because of commitments to your basketball team, you get it. When you didn’t get any college recruiting interest after your junior year, not until Colorado called on Christmas Eve, you know to keep the faith.

If you’re someone who’s dealt with real-life adversity, who watched your mom struggle to make ends meet as your father serves a long prison sentence, you know you’re tough enough. You can take it.

“God has battled-tested me,” Stroud told ESPN’s Suzy Kolber moments after hearing his name called, speaking to a prime-time TV audience from the heart, his comments unrehearsed. “I have the armor of God on me. Everything I’ve been through has prepared me for this moment right here.”

Stroud is plenty strong, but he’s also really dang good. The smart pick for a Texans team that has struggled without a reliable quarterback in two seasons since Deshaun Watson was dealt to the Cleveland Browns.

“I think he’s the best quarterback in the draft, and I think he’s going to have the best NFL career,” said Mark Verti, who, as Stroud’s coach at Rancho Cucamonga, is both biased and a witness for how very coachable he is, for how cerebral.

The Houston Texans select Rancho Cucamonga alumnus C.J. Stroud with the second overall pick in the 2023 #NFLdraft.

(Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) pic.twitter.com/qwO6ZoGwc7

— James H. Williams at Coachella (@JHWreporter) April 28, 2023

Stroud wowed Verti and his staff at his first Cougars scrimmage, before he even knew the offense, because of how he read passing lanes like a basketball player. And then often after that, when the backup quarterback would come to coaches at halftime to tell them, say, “if we do the out-and-up on the left corner, he’s gonna bite.” And he would, and Rancho Cucamonga would put six more points on the board.

“That stupid test score,” Verti said. “That was a shock because that was his strength for us; his vision and awareness were unmatched. He’d see things on the whole field.”

He’d see, and he’d deliver – right on the money, in high school and at Ohio State, where he completed 69.3% of his passes.

Stroud explained once: “I don’t want my receivers to have to do anything but catch the ball.”

And he always wanted all of his receivers to catch the ball, Verti said.

“It wasn’t for stats, how he’d spread the ball to people in practice, or in a game,” Stroud’s former coach said. “He always wanted to make sure to spread the ball around, he was always going to get a guy a touchdown pass.”

CJ Stroud interview immediately after being drafted and putting the Houston Texans hat on for the first time.

Check out what the franchise has to say. pic.twitter.com/reHFp4jBR1

— V̷a̷t̷o̷r̷ (@Vator_H_Town) April 28, 2023

On Thursday, he wanted to make sure all of the kids watching realized the significance of his second-overall selection. When Kolber teed up the question, “What would you say to all the young boys …?” Stroud knocked it out of the park.

“I’m a living testimony that you can really do anything, because I come from nothing,” he said. “And to that little boy, that little girl out there, man, you can do anything you put your mind to.”

That’s what it took. Good old-fashioned dedication and discipline. Self-discipline.

“People think you have to get a quarterback coach,” Verti said. “But so many college coaches liked that he didn’t have a quarterback coach and that he wasn’t a robot. So many parents are afraid to not do something if they think it’ll hurt their kid, but he’s an example you don’t have to do that.

“You don’t need to pay money to someone to train you to be a good player, you just have to work hard. And I think he did it the right way.”

Keep doing that, and it’ll be just a matter of time until Stroud proves critics they got it wrong.

​ Orange County Register 

El Dorado baseball clinches playoff spot with victory over Foothill

• April 28, 2023

PLACENTIA – As El Dorado pitcher AJ Frausto said, “It was make it or break it.”

El Dorado made it to the playoffs by beating Foothill 4-0 in a Crestview League baseball game Thursday, the final day of the regular season for both teams.

A solo home run by El Dorado junior center fielder Isaac Cadena in the bottom of the fifth inning broke up a scoreless tie.

Frausto, a junior right-hander, threw a complete game.

The Golden Hawks finished second in the league (4-2 league record), and Villa Park won the league championship. The top two finishers in a four-team league like the Crestview are guaranteed berths in the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

The playoff brackets will be released Monday at 10 a.m.

Frausto scattered five hits over his seven innings. He struck out nine, gave up one walk and hit one batter. .

Foothill senior right-hander Andrew Parker held El Dorado hitless through four innings, facing the minimum 12 batters. Then Cadena entered the lefty-hitter’s box to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning and launched the first pitch he saw over the right-center field fence.

“I was actually looking for a fastball,” Cadena said, “and he came in and he just hung a curveball.”

Two outs later Lucas Raya singled. He scored on Brady Abner’s double into the right-center field gap for a 2-0 lead.

El Dorado, No. 10 in the Orange County Top 25,  scored its other two runs with two outs in the sixth inning. Evan Rolbiecki was hit by a pitch and scored on Cadena’s triple into that right-center field gap. Cadena scored on an error to make it 4-0.

Frausto’s fastball had as much pop in the seventh inning, when he struck out two Knights, as it did in the first inning.

“I knew what I was going to get from AJ,” said El Dorado coach Matt Lucas. “He’s one of our best competitors.”

So competitive that when Lucas visited the mound with two outs in the seventh, Frausto was adamant about finishing the game.

“I told him, ‘Come on, man, I’m not taking you out of this game,’” Lucas said. “‘I’m just giving you a little breather.’ And AJ was saying ‘I’m ready to go! Lets go, lets go!’”

Frausto understood the importance of Thursday’s game.

“Getting the ball, I knew I had to come out and do my thing,” Frausto said. “I was very happy that I stayed consistent in all my innings.”

County No. 12 Foothill, which beat El Dorado 10-2 on Tuesday, had its best chance to score in the second inning.

Parker hit a one-out single, advanced to second base on an errant pick-off throw to first and moved to third on Brian Harbour’s single. Ezekiel Vargas laid down a bunt that was fielded quickly by El Dorado first baseman Abner who slung the ball to catcher Raya in plenty of time to tag out Parker.

Foothill went 3-6 in league, as did El Modena. Because El Modena won two of its three games against Foothill, El Modena is the league’s No. 3 representative and Foothill is No. 4.

Foothill, a CIF-SS Division 1 team, is 14-14 overall, so it has the .500-or-better record required to be considered for an at-large playoff berth.

El Modena, a CIF-SS Division 2 team, went 14-12-1 overall and meets the criteria for an at-large berth.

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Want to intern this summer for The Orange County Register? Here’s one opportunity taking applications

• April 28, 2023

The Asian American Journalists Association, Los Angeles Chapter sponsors a summer internship in The Orange County Register newsroom, and applications are being taken now.

The deadline is May 5; here is what you need to know:

The Orange County Register is seeking a talented, dedicated intern for its local news desk. The intern will work 30 to 32 hours per week, covering general assignment and breaking news, as well as Little Saigon and other Asian communities. Preference will be given to applicants invested in or interested in the Vietnamese or other Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, and who have ties to Southern California.

Applicants should have experience in news or feature writing.

Interns may be required to work remotely at the time of the internship.

This position is funded by a grant from the Asian American Journalists Association, Los Angeles Chapter. Interns will be matched with a mentor and receive a free AAJA membership.

Send a cover letter, resume, three writing samples and at least two references to Register local editor Heather McRea at [email protected] by 5 p.m. Friday, May 5. Use the subject line AAJA-LA/REGISTER REPORTING INTERNSHIP.

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South Pasadena pays $500,000 to settle civil rights lawsuit from Black Lives Matter protesters

• April 28, 2023

South Pasadena will pay $500,000 to settle a civil rights lawsuit filed by Black Lives Matter protesters who alleged the Police Department failed to protect them against attacks by white supremacists during a series of protests in 2020.

Fahren James, the founder of Black Lives Matter South Pasadena, and Victoria Patterson, a Black Lives Matter supporter who has lived in the city for nearly 30 years, filed the lawsuit in 2021, alleging they were spat on, struck with rocks and, in one instance, nearly hit by a truck.

But they said South Pasadena police refused to take action against their assailants in all but one of the attacks and never properly classified any of them as “hate crimes,” according to an amended complaint in the case.

“I am an African American woman who was the victim of multiple hate crimes, but SPPD treated me as less than human, particularly when they sided with my White attackers, leaving them free to attack me again and again,” James said in an October 2021 statement announcing the filing of the case.

The department’s failure to arrest or cite individuals accused of assaulting the protesters “emboldened their attackers and left them in grave danger,” according to the lawsuit.

The city investigated and sustained 21 complaints against officers, according to a prior statement by attorney Laboni Hoq. The investigation found that officers had failed to follow the rules for reporting hate crimes, had not taken detailed and accurate reports, were hostile and dismissive to those reporting the crimes, and had turned off their body cameras improperly.

The city blamed the poor policing on a lack of training and assigned the officers to receive additional instruction on the “policies and procedures in place regarding hate crimes,” a spokesperson said in August 2021.

“After months of complaints by Plaintiffs and community members, the City finally investigated them and found that over half the police force had violated SPPD’s Hate Crimes and other policies in their response to attacks on Plaintiffs and other BLM protesters,” Hoq wrote in the amended complaint in November 2022. “However, on information and belief, the City failed to discipline a single officer in connection with these findings, resulting in zero accountability for the harms Plaintiff suffered.”

South Pasadena previously denied the allegations in prior court filings and initially attempted to have the case dismissed.

A press release announcing the settlement states the South Pasadena City Council authorized the $500,000 payment “in the interest of resolving this matter.” Deputy City Manager Domenica Megerdichian, listed as the point of contact on the release, declined to comment or to provide the settlement agreement without a reporter first submitting a public records request.

“While the City and its officers have been dismissed, this is an ongoing litigation with other parties, so we are not commenting at this time,” Megerdichian said in an email.

The alleged attacks happened from July to November 2020, according to the lawsuit. In the first, Joseph Richcreek spat on James and Patterson and “spewed racial epithets” at them. South Pasadena police were called, but did not arrest him. Two days later, the lawsuit states, he returned and threw rocks at James, hitting her leg.

When James attempted to have him arrested, the officer who responded told her she would have to make a citizen’s arrest before he could get involved. The same man came back a third time a week later and threatened the group with a metal pipe, and a responding officer declined to arrest him.

Richcreek eventually was charged with two counts of misdemeanor battery for spitting on the women, but not for the other incidents. Attorneys for James and Patterson attributed the prosecutors’ decision not to treat the matter as a hate crime to South Pasadena’s allegedly biased police work, which did not include interviews with witnesses.

In October 2020, another man “intentionally drove his truck over a sidewalk and almost hit James in order to stop her from putting up a protest sign.” Though officers arrived and found the truck still parked on the sidewalk near where James had been standing and were provided video of the incident, they did not arrest or cite him, as the officers believed he was not attempting to hit her.

The department later put out a press release saying it would recommend charges to the District Attorney’s Office, but prosecutors  declined to pursue the case.

A coalition of civil rights and criminal justice advocacy groups asked Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office to investigate the South Pasadena Police Department in 2021. Bonta’s office acknowledged the complaint at the time and said it would review the matter, but has not released a conclusion.

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Horse racing notes: Juan Hernandez gets his first Kentucky Derby mount

• April 28, 2023

SANTA ANITA LEADERS

Through Thursday

JOCKEYS / WINS

Juan Hernandez / 5

Umberto Rispoli / 5

Edwin Maldonado / 4

Abel Cedillo / 3

Joe Bravo / 2

TRAINERS / WINS

Peter Eurton / 3

Craig Lewis / 3

Doug O’Neill / 3

Three tied / 2

WEEKEND STAKES (SANTA ANITA)

Saturday

• $200,000 Grade II Santa Maria Stakes, fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up, 1-1/16 miles

• $100,000 Grade III Providencia Stakes, 3-year-old fillies, 1-1/8 miles (turf)

Sunday

• $100,000 Grade III Wilshire Stakes, fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up, 1 mile (turf)

• $100,000 Santa Barbara Stakes, fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up, 1½ miles (turf)

DOWN THE STRETCH

• The Bob Baffert-trained Adare Manor, fresh off an allowance victory, heads a field of six in Saturday’s $200,000 Grade II Santa Maria Stakes for older fillies and mares at Santa Anita. The 4-year-old Uncle Mo filly will be ridden for the third consecutive race by Juan Hernandez, winner of Santa Anita’s Classic Meet riding title in a breeze and tied with Umberto Rispoli with five victories apiece through the first week of the Hollywood Meet. Adare Manor has won three of nine races for earnings of $381,600.

• Edwin Maldonado, who turned 40 on Dec. 1, is riding as well as ever. He won a career-high-tying four races on one card at Santa Anita last weekend and is sparking memories of 10 years ago when he snapped Martin Pedroza’s stranglehold on the riding title at Fairplex Park and then won the Hollywood Park fall meet in 2012. Maldonado revitalized his career during the 2021 Del Mar summer meet thanks in great part to a potent working relationship with agent Tony Matos.

• Hernandez has parlayed immediate success since arriving at Santa Anita in 2020 with the chance to ride in his first Kentucky Derby. The 31-year-old Hernandez replaces Hall of Famer Victor Espinoza aboard the John Shirreffs-trained Skinner, who was third, beaten by only a half-length by Practical Move in the Santa Anita Derby. Skinner, 21st in the Derby points standings, drew into the race Thursday morning when Sunland Derby winner Wild On Ice, 20th on the list, suffered a catastrophic injury during a workout at Churchill Downs.

— Art Wilson

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