Zoe Prystajko strikes out 18 to lead Huntington Beach softball into tournament semifinals

• April 15, 2023

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Huntington Beach left-hander Zoe Prystajko provided another reminder Friday why she is one of the best softball pitchers in California.

The junior committed to Stanford struck out 18 to help lead the Oilers past previously undefeated Sutter 1-0 in the Best of the West Classic in Santa Maria.

Cali Bennett delivered the game-winning hit in the seventh inning as Huntington Beach (17-4) advanced to Saturday’s semifinals against Paso Robles at 11:15 a.m.

Prystajko matched her season-high for strikeouts and allowed two hits and three walks against Sutter, a Northern California school that entered the game with a 14-0 record.

Last season, Prystajko struck out 20 in a victory against Clovis.

Saige Anderson added three hits for Huntington Beach, ranked third in Orange County.

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The Oilers return to Sunset League action Tuesday by playing host to No. 1 Los Alamitos at 6 p.m.

In the Trinity League:

Orange Lutheran 6, Santa Margarita 3: Freshman Peyton May earned the victory and Tessa Jerue went 2 for 3 with a home run as the visiting Lancers (14-5, 5-0) remained undefeated in league.

​ Orange County Register 

Cody Bellinger returns, Dodgers’ bats go quiet in loss to Cubs

• April 15, 2023

LOS ANGELES ― Dodger Stadium held no ill will toward Cody Bellinger. The Dodgers’ longtime center fielder received a loud ovation before his return visit with the Chicago Cubs after a tribute video played before the game, showing his highlights from six years in a Dodgers uniform.

The announced sellout crowd of 52,298 clapped again before Bellinger’s first at-bat – he stepped out of the box and was cruelly penalized with an automatic strike for violating the pitch-timer rule – and again when he doubled into the right field corner in the fourth inning.

The only ill will Friday night was the Dodgers’ starting catcher; Will Smith could not play because he was sick. Without one of their hottest hitters, the Dodgers matched their season-low with three hits in an 8-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

Their other three-hit game? Tuesday night in San Francisco. As the baseball gods would have it, the Dodgers managed to sandwich those two losses around a 10-run outburst Wednesday night against the Giants.

Then again, consistency hasn’t been the Dodgers’ forte en route to a 7-7 record. They won three straight, then lost three straight, from April 3-9. In their other eight games, they haven’t won or lost two in a row.

“I think that to sync up hitting and pitching, get some traction, and win consecutive ballgames, that’s been hard for us to do at this point,” Manager Dave Roberts said. “Tonight, you’ve just got to flush it. We were in there the whole game, lost it late.”

The Dodgers trailed 3-2 after Max Muncy homered against Cubs starter Justin Steele in the seventh inning. It was Muncy’s fifth home run this week; he swatted four in San Francisco against the Giants.

Chicago then broke the game open with three runs in the eighth inning and two more in the ninth, all against Dodgers pitcher Andre Jackson.

The right-hander allowed solo home runs to Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki and Patrick Wisdom in the eighth. He allowed another homer to Yan Gomes in the ninth and one more run scored when Nico Hoerner stole second base, then scored on a double by Happ.

Happ finished 4 for 4 with three RBIs and a walk. Gomes homered twice and stole a base.

Jackson was charged with five earned runs in two innings, inflating his ERA to 8.64. Roberts had left-hander Caleb Ferguson warming up in the bullpen, but he did not want to use one of his high-leverage relievers in a game the Dodgers trailed and were struggling to string together hits.

“That’s a decision I made and obviously it didn’t work out,” he said.

Jackson acknowledged he might have been tipping his pitches.

“It comes in waves,” he said. “May be some tipping in there. I definitely left a lot of pitches in the middle of the plate.”

The final score obscured a serviceable start by Dodgers pitcher Noah Syndergaard, who allowed three runs in six innings. The right-hander relied on an effective changeup to strike out nine batters while walking two. He exited with the Dodgers trailing 3-1.

Syndergaard also struggled to coax speed from his four-seam fastball, which topped out at 92.5 mph, below his season average. He threw only eight four-seamers in the game out of 92 pitches total.

“The workload that I had in-between starts, I threw quite a bit,” Syndergaard said. “It might have been a little bit of that. I’ll just probably manage the workload intensity before my next start.”

After his first three regular-season starts, Syndergaard is 0-2 with a 5.63 ERA. Batters are slugging .515 against him. But he was not the Dodgers’ biggest problem Friday.

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Steele (2-0), a 27-year-old left-hander, kept the Dodgers off-balance with a four-seamer, slider and curveball. He became the first pitcher to throw seven innings against the Dodgers this season. He issued one walk and struck out eight.

The Cubs opened the scoring in the third inning. Gomes poked a single through the right side of the infield. With a 3-and-2 count on the next hitter, Gomes successfully stole the eighth base of his 12-year career.

Happ then shot a line drive into right field that bounced into the stands on one hop. Suddenly, the stolen base loomed large, as the automatic double drove in Gomes with the game’s first run.

Chris Taylor led off the bottom of the third inning with a towering solo homer to left field, tying the score at 1-1 and giving the Dodgers their first hit against Steele.

In the fourth inning, Bellinger burned his former team for a double into the right field corner, went to third on a groundout and scored on another, putting the Cubs ahead, 2-1. Gomes then led off the fifth inning by parking a changeup into the left-center field bleachers.

​ Orange County Register 

3 suspects arrested in connection with Home Depot thefts in Southern California

• April 15, 2023

Three people have been arrested on suspicion of being involved in a retail theft operation targeting Home Depot locations throughout Southern California, the California Attorney General’s Office announced.

On Wednesday, April 12, the California Highway Patrol and the Home Depot’s retail crime investigators served arrest warrants for three different suspects.

The alleged thefts began around October 2021 and occurred in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties, according to a state Attorney General’s Office news release.

The suspects allegedly would enter stores and steal power tools, among other things. Officials estimated the total loss in property at around $75,000.

The suspects face felony charges including organized retail theft, grand theft and receiving stolen property.

Other details surrounding the crimes and suspects were not immediately available.

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​ Orange County Register 

Huntington Beach lets 5-run lead slip away, loses to Notre Dame in Boras Classic South final

• April 15, 2023

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – Huntington Beach had a five-run lead and was four outs away from winning another prestigious baseball tournament.

Then everything that could go wrong for the Oilers did go wrong.

Notre Dame scored eight runs in the sixth inning to beat Huntington Beach 8-6 in the Boras Classic South championship game Friday night at JSerra High School

By winning the Boras Classic South the Saints (20-2) advance to the Boras Classic’s state championship game. It will face Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa, the Boras Classic North winner, on April 29 at Santa Clara University.

Huntington Beach had a 15-game winning streak going into Friday’s game. That streak included winning the championship of the National High School Invitational in North Carolina two weeks ago.

Notre Dame scored the eight runs with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Sherman Oaks school got six hits in the inning, including a two-RBI single by Colin Brown and RBI singles by Kai Gonzaga and Dean West.

Two Huntington Beach infield errors and a wild pitch that sent in a run contributed to the Saints’ rally.

“We’re never out of it,” said Notre Dame senior second baseman Adam Shlesinger, who had a single and scored a run in the sixth. “Because 1 through 9 (in the batting order), we can all get it done. We have confidence in each other and just pass the baton.”

The Oilers took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning. A double by Brian Trujillo drove in two runs.

They extended the lead to 5-0 with two runs in the fourth when Trujillo and Dean Carptenier had back-to-back run-scoring singles.

Huntington Beach had the bases loaded after Carpentier’s two-out hit but could not score more runs.

Huntington Beach also had the bases loaded in the fifth inning with no outs but did not score, to the disappointment of Oilers coach Benji Medure.

“When we had the bases loaded (in the fifth) and didn’t score, I didn’t like that at all,” he said. “I thought that was the turning point in the game.”

The Oilers tried build a rally the seventh inning. Ralphy Velazquez led off the inning with a double to deep center field, and Aidan Espinoza sent him to third base with a single. Velazquez scored on a groundout.

But that was all they would get in the inning.

Notre Dame is ranked No. 1 in CIF Southern Section Division 1 and Huntington Beach (17-7) is No. 5.

Huntington Beach reached the Boras Classic South championship game with a 6-0 win over La Mirada in the first round, a 6-2 win over Mater Dei in the second round and a 4-1 win over Aquinas in the semifinals.

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Notre Dame advanced to Friday’s game with a 7-1 win over San Dimas in the first round, a 3-0 win over JSerra in the second round and a 1-0 win over Orange Lutheran in the semifinals.

In other Boras Classic South games Friday: Cypress 15, San Dimas 3; Mater Dei 3, Maranatha 2; Orange Lutheran 8, Aquinas 2; Santa Margarita 5, Etiwanda 4; and San Dimas 3, Villa Park 1.

​ Orange County Register 

Coachella 2023: Blink-182 plays its first show with Tom DeLonge in nearly a decade

• April 15, 2023

Blink-182 wasn’t supposed to play Coachella this year, but on Thursday when festival producers revealed weekend one set times, it included a last-minute surprise on Friday at 6:45 p.m. in the Sahara Tent and fans lucky enough to have passes to the sold-out event lost their minds.

This was no ordinary Blink gig either because for the first time in almost a decade original singer-guitarist Tom DeLonge was back with his bandmates bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker.

Long before the pop punk trio arrived on stage, the crowd for Blink-182 spilled far beyond the vast cover of the Sahara Tent. When they did show up, they walked on to the theme from “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

“Family Reunion,” appropriately enough, kicked off the 18-song, hour-long set, and from the start it was clear that the trio and fans were overjoyed that the band was back together.

Highlights early in the show included “Rock Show” and “What’s My Name Again.” And of course DeLonge, noted space alien enthusiast, who wore a To The Stars T-shirt, and Hoppus, who wore a 7-Eleven/PAC-Man shirt, had no shortage of juvenile, filthy, funny banter all set.

The performance did include a few differences from the more recent Blink shows with Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba, who had filled DeLonge’s spot since his last show with the band in October 2014. “Edging” made its live debut, and DeLonge performed “Aliens Exist” with the group for the first time since 2001.

“First Date” got a big response from the crowd. “I Miss You” and “All The Small Things” even more so.

DeLonge seemed pretty sharp despite the long layoff. Hoppus and Barker were as sharp as always, Barker seeing to have no ill effects from a recent injury.

“Dammit” closed out the set and sent the crowd scattering, though no doubt many will be checking for tickets when the reunited Blink goes on tour later this year, hitting BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on June 16-17.

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​ Orange County Register 

Angels make three costly errors in loss to Red Sox

• April 15, 2023

BOSTON — The Angels’ infield defense has been responsible for their last two losses.

Angels infielders made three errors leading to four runs in a sloppy 5-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.

“We just made uncharacteristic mistakes,” Manager Phil Nevin said. “And when you do that at this level, you’re gonna have the outcome we did. We’re better than that. We all know that. Mistakes happen. It’s one of those nights.”

It’s the second one of those nights this week. An error and two misplays that weren’t ruled errors contributed to four runs in their two-run loss to the Washington Nationals on Monday night.

Although there was plenty of blame to go around in this one – from Patrick Sandoval’s control issues to the Angels’ 1-for-14 performance with runners in scoring position – the shabby infield defense was the biggest problem.

The Angels had a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning, when shortstop Luis Rengifo bobbled a grounder up the middle, for the first error. That runner came around to score on a bloop double.

Two outs later, the Angels were about to get out of the inning on a routine grounder to third baseman Anthony Rendon. He had plenty of time to make the throw across the diamond, but the throw was wide and short, bouncing past first baseman Jake Lamb. The tying run scored on the play.

The Red Sox took the lead on a Rafael Devers homer against Jimmy Herget in the fifth, but another Rendon error cost them two more runs in the sixth.

With two outs and two on, Rendon again cleanly fielded a grounder and had ample time to throw, but he again threw the ball wide. A run scored on that play, and a second run scored on a passed ball.

“Didn’t have the best grip,” Rendon said. “Got to hit him in the chest. It’s not my day today. It’s definitely a frustrating night, especially after saving one in the hole.”

Rendon had actually made a spectacular play to help bail the Angels out in the third inning. With two runners on and two outs, he dove to his left to snag a grounder. He then make a one-bounce throw to second to get the inning-ending force.

By contrast, the plays in the fourth and sixth were routine.

“He just threw them wide,” Nevin said. “Not many guys I would want out there other than Anthony Rendon. He’s one of the best third baseman in this league. He made a couple of mistakes. It’s uncharacteristic. I’m not worried about it. He’ll be back out there tomorrow and every day that he’s able.”

Despite the sloppy defense, the Angels still could have won if a few other things had gone right.

Sandoval walked three hitters in 3-2/3 innings.

“I felt pretty good early on,” Sandoval said. “Later in the game just kind of lost feel for the zone a little bit. Got to make some better pitchers in some bigger moments of the game.”

Left-hander Aaron Loup hit two batters before Rendon’s error opened the door for both to score.

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Offensively, the Angels jumped to a 2-0 lead when Hunter Renfroe launched a two-run double off the Green Monster in the first inning.

That was their last hit with a runner in scoring position all night.

The Angels then left two runners in the third, two in the fourth and they hit into double plays in the fifth and sixth. In the seventh, they had runners at second and third with no outs, and managed just one run. They left two more in the eighth and one more in the ninth.

One of the missed opportunities included a missed sign. When Rengifo came to the plate with two on and none out in the sixth, he tried to lay down a bunt but fouled it off. With two strikes he hit into a double play.

Nevin said Rengifo was not supposed to bunt at all.

“Just a miscommunication on the sign, and it didn’t work out,” Nevin said. “I want him to swing the bat there. We don’t really bunt too often. A drag bunt might have worked, but I’m not going to have him square around twice.”

​ Orange County Register 

Aliso Niguel softball handles Tesoro to tighten South Coast League race

• April 15, 2023

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ALISO VIEJO  — Aliso Niguel’s softball team showed the confidence and motivation Friday of a group that is ascending as the postseason approaches.

Freshman catcher Tessa Cowsill and Penn-bound seniors Chloe Lesko and Gigi Ganje each belted home runs and Katie Dunakin fired four scoreless innings of relief as the Wolverines cooled off visiting Tesoro 6-2 to move into a tie for first place in the South Coast League.

“It was monumental,” Lesko said of the victory. “I’ve never had a team, especially for my senior season, to  work so hard every day and it shows. It shows so true through all our efforts and all our energy.”

“Honestly, this win, it was expected,” the first baseman added.

Aliso Niguel (17-4, 3-1), ranked No. 16 in Orange County, missed the playoffs last season after finishing third in the four-team South Coast League. The Wolverines were 15-13 and applied for an at-large berth in Division 2 but didn’t receive one.

Now in its second season under coach Randie Baldwin, the Division 3 team is heating up. Aliso Niguel recently won the Gold Division in the Dugard Classic.

With the victory Friday, the Wolverines moved into a first-place tie with Tesoro (12-5-1, 3-1) in the South Coast, which now features five teams.

The Titans, ranked 11th in Orange County, were coming off 12-2 victory against defending league champion Mission Viejo (3-2 in league) and had ace Loula McNamara in the circle.

Tesoro opened a 2-0 lead on a solo home run by Kassidy Moore in the second and a sacrifice fly by McNamara in the third.

Aliso Niguel responded in the fourth with three runs to take the lead for good. Cowsill led off the inning by launching a 2-1 pitch over the fence for a solo homer, her fourth of the season.

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Four batters later, Ganje smashed a pitch to center for a two-run home run, her fourth.

Tesoro center fielder Sammy Weiss crashed hard into the fence pursuing the drive and left the game. Titans coach Leena Blake later said Weiss suffered a concussion.

“Great effort,” Ganje said of the pursuit by Weiss, a junior.

Lesko belted a two-run home run in the fifth.

Dunakin later added a RBI single to go 2 for 3. The junior didn’t allow a hit in the circle in relief of sophomore Olivia Kuhnel.

​ Orange County Register 

Grand Prix of Long Beach: Pato O’Ward off to strong start in 2023

• April 15, 2023

LONG BEACH — Pato O’Ward was one of three IndyCar drivers with a chance to win the series title in 2021 entering the final race of the season at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, which was pushed back from April to September that year because of the COV1D-19 pandemic.

Alex Palou had the best chance because all he had to do was finish 12th or better to secure the title. Palou finished fourth in the race and first in the series, with O’Ward taking third in the championship behind Josef Newgarden, who took second. O’Ward had gear-box issues in the race, finishing 27th after completing just 43 of 85 laps.

But O’Ward, of Team Arrow McLaren, is young and he’s fast and has all the makings of a driver who could be crowned champion one day in the near future.

O’Ward, 23, of Monterrey, Mexico, is off to a fine start this year ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix of Long Beach. He finished second at St. Petersburg and second at Texas Motor Speedway. With 82 points, he currently sits atop the series standings.

“It’s been the best start to a championship we’ve had the last four years now, so I can’t complain,” O’Ward said. “There’s a lot of positives to take out of what we’ve kind of brought. Speaking of first St. Pete, which arguably was our worst track last year, we had a very strong showing there.

“I’m looking forward to trying to replicate that here in Long Beach. It’s a track where we’ve sort of been there in the mix. But we need to take one more step to kind of really be the leader, so hopefully we’ve rolled off even stronger here than we have in the past, get something to work with for qualifying and then work on the race car.”

Friday was the first IndyCar practice and O’Ward had the fastest lap time of 1:06.6999. Saturday is qualifying with the race Sunday on the streets of Long Beach.

O’Ward is no different than any driver in this series or any other – winning is everything.

“It’s a long championship, right, there’s 15 races to go,” O’Ward said. “But, I mean, that’s ultimately why we do this, right? We do this to win Indy 500s, we do this to win more races, we do this to win championships. If you’re here to do something else, you should just stay home.”

So much has to go right and so many have to do their jobs well.

“There’s so much sacrifice, so much time that goes in from the drivers, the engineers and the mechanics,” O’Ward said. “I mean, it’s a 24/7 job, you know? We work on weekends rather than a normal 9 to 5 that works during the week, so it’s a bit of a different schedule.

“But nevertheless, it’s probably one of the toughest and most demanding sports all over the world. Not just for drivers, but for everybody involved.”

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O’Ward is in his fourth full-ride IndyCar season after doing one race in 2018 and eight in 2019 before signing with Arrow McLaren.

His best finish in Long Beach in three tries so far was fifth in 2022; the race was not run in 2020 because of the pandemic.

IMSA QUALIFYING

Filipe Albuquerque of Portugal won the pole for the GTP class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar series with a fast time of 1:09.909. Sebastien Bourdais, who won the Grand Prix of Long Beach main event three consecutive years when it was still Champ Car, qualified third with a fastest lap of 1:10.981.

Jack Hawksworth secured the pole for the GTD Pro class with a lap of 1:17.817. And Marco Sorensen won the pole for the GT Daytona class with a best lap of 1:17.811.

​ Orange County Register