Drummond: More PYLUSD students taking and passing AP tests
- October 12, 2023
Advanced Placement students at the four comprehensive high schools in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District completed another stellar year, with a significant increase in both the pass rate and the number of examinations administered.
And 63 seniors who earned the International Baccalaureate diploma at Valencia High School exceeded the number from the county’s other IB high schools, a record held for seven years.
Passing scores – three or higher on a five-point scale for AP and four or higher on a seven-point scale for IB – can earn university credit and allow students to bypass introductory courses. Decisions on credits and placement are made by individual universities.
A total of 4,493 AP examinations were administered during the annual May testing period to freshman through senior students at El Dorado, Esperanza, Valencia and Yorba Linda high schools, a nearly 7% increase over last year. The already high pass rate increased by 2%.
Here’s how each high school scored on the AP tests, according to district-provided data:
El Dorado administered 1,156 exams in 25 subjects for an 84% pass rate, up from 1,008 exams in 22 subjects for a 77% pass rate last year.
Esperanza administered 565 exams in 22 subjects for an 83% pass rate, up from 548 exams in 20 subjects for a 78% pass rate last year.
Valencia administered 1,557 exams in 29 subjects for an 86% pass rate, up from 1,473 exams in 24 subjects for an 87% pass rate last year.
Yorba Linda administered 1,215 exams in 26 subjects for an 88% pass rate, up from 1,083 exams in 27 subjects for an 88% pass rate last year.
Interestingly, AP Chinese language is now offered at each high school, and the pass rate for the 51 students who took the exam this year was 100%. And the number of chemistry exams administered jumped nearly 75% to 229 with a 98% pass rate.
The IB program at Valencia administered 412 exams in 19 subjects with a 93% pass rate. Currently, 65 seniors and 95 juniors are enrolled in IB, according to Fred Jenkins, IB coordinator.
Scores on 13 of the exams were significantly higher than world averages, including economics, computer science, psychology, biology and history, ranging from 18% to 75% higher.
The Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education diploma, offered at Valencia since 2021, represents “breadth across the curriculum and depth in selected subjects, with a balance of maths and sciences, languages and arts and humanities,” according to program criteria.
This year, the number of exams given increased by 122%, from 46 to 102; the pass rate increased by 9%, to 80%; and the number of 10th through 12th grade students taking an exam increased by 70%, from 44 to 75.
Jim Drummond is a longtime Yorba Linda resident. He gives his opinion on local issues weekly. Send e-mail to [email protected].
Orange County Register
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Lakers lean on D’Angelo Russell in preseason victory over Kings
- October 12, 2023
ANAHEIM — The Lakers have yet to play a true “home” game so far during the preseason, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell during Wednesday night’s 109-101 victory over the Sacramento Kings.
Even with the Lakers sitting three-fifths of their known starting lineup to begin the regular season, purple and gold paraphernalia was spread out throughout the Honda Center – a little more than 30 miles southeast of the team’s Crypto.com Arena.
Everything the Lakers did well received a strong ovation from the crowd, including when Anthony Davis walked onto the floor for his pregame on-court routine. Or when Davis and LeBron James, both in street clothes, joined the team on the bench and were shown on the jumbotron.
But once the game started, D’Angelo Russell, the Lakers’ lone known starter who played, gave the crowd plenty to cheer for.
Russell led the Lakers with 21 points (8-of-12 shooting, 2 for 5 from 3-point range), eight assists, three rebounds, one steal and a blocked shot in 21 minutes.
After playing 16 minutes apiece and having his playing time limited to the first half in the first two preseason games, Russell’s minutes were ramped up Wednesday, helping give the Lakers a boost when they needed it.
He scored or assisted on 13 consecutive points midway through the third quarter, including knocking down back-to-back pull-up 3-pointers as part of a 13-3 run to give the Lakers a 70-62 lead before he was subbed out for the duration.
Russell averaged 14.5 points on 61% shooting (75% from behind the arc) in the first two preseason games.
“D-Lo has been phenomenal,” Ham said pregame. “Just really the communication between he and his teammates, he and myself, making sure we get exactly what we want out of the offense and the beginning stages, laying the foundation. He’s been awesome.
“We understand there is a lot more cohesiveness as opposed to last year at this time and D-Lo is right at the forefront of that. He’s commanding the ball, making good reads, shooting the ball well, competing defensively. So, everything is in a good space.”
Gabe Vincent added 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting while Rui Hachimura, Taurean Prince and Christian Wood each scored 13 points apiece.
“We spoke to them about just having the right mentality and the right mission,” Ham said. “And we reiterated that at halftime – specifically to some of our young guys – of the type of approach you got to have to play at this level. Everybody embraced the message. Our older guys did immediately, and then a couple of our young guys woke up at halftime and came out and really took their play to another level. Things are not going to always be perfect. But as long as you keep swinging at it and trying to put your best foot forward, you’ll be great.”
James, Davis and Austin Reaves sat for rest. Cam Reddish (right ankle soreness) and Jarred Vanderbilt (left heel soreness) also didn’t play and remain day to day.
Davis played 27 combined minutes – all in the first halves – in the first two preseason games. James and Reaves made their preseason debuts in Monday’s victory over the Brooklyn Nets in Las Vegas.
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James previously said he plans to play in half of the team’s six preseason games, and Ham confirmed that remains the plan.
The Lakers will play the Golden State Warriors on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena and the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday in Los Angeles before closing out their exhibition slate against the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 19 in Palm Springs.
“The approach right now is just to maximize each and every day,” Ham responded when asked what the ramp-up period will look like for James in the regular season. “Whether it’s an off day for him – he’s just not playing in the game but he’s still active in terms of working on his body, getting on the court getting reps in.
“It’s easy with him navigating these so-called challenges of the unknown because he takes such good care of himself and (is) constantly preparing himself. Again, not just being available but available at the highest. We’ll just take it day by day and see where it goes.”
“The group that we got has been fun. A lot of good guys out there that I have fun playing with and just enjoying watching them do well, and when it comes my way I feel the same energy back, so I like where we’re at as a team.” pic.twitter.com/vW0E14btdu
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) October 12, 2023
Darvin Ham discusses his takeaways from tonight’s matchup with the Sacramento Kings. pic.twitter.com/xh3NADjS0n
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) October 12, 2023
“Me and my guys are just doing a good job moving the ball… we just had some good action.” @Mike_Bresnahan with Gabe Vincent following his 18-point performance against Sacramento. pic.twitter.com/0zBgstUxGC
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) October 12, 2023
Christian Wood on where he’s at three games in: “I think I’m starting to find my rhythm. I think I’m getting better every game… I feel like the coaching staff is putting me in positions to find my spots on the floor.” pic.twitter.com/dTmfsLiY2n
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) October 12, 2023
“I’m just trying to be aggressive more.” Rui Hachimura on what has been working for him. pic.twitter.com/DSBJTTSmY2
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) October 12, 2023
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Kings can’t slow Avalanche’s top line in season opener
- October 12, 2023
LOS ANGELES — The Kings kicked off the season with at least a puncher’s chance at the franchise’s third Stanley Cup title, but they were dropped by a bonafide heavyweight on opening night.
Mikko Rantanen had two goals and a pair of assists and Nathan MacKinnon added a goal and two assists as Colorado handed the Kings a 5-2 defeat on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena. Cale Makar notched a goal and an assist and Miles Wood clinched the game with an empty-netter.
Wingers Carl Grundstrom and Quinton Byfield scored goals for the Kings, while Cam Talbot stopped 31 of 35 shots in his Kings debut, with at least three of the four goals he allowed coming on very challenging opportunities.
Colorado’s big three – MacKinnon, Rantanen and Makar – accounted for all four goals against Talbot and combined for nine points before Wood slammed the door. Alexandar Georgiev made 35 saves for the Avalanche, who won the Stanley Cup two seasons ago and opened this campaign as the favorite to win it at most sportsbooks.
“We want to make sure that we set the tempo high at the beginning of the season. We have a lot of guys on this team that can produce,” Makar said. “Everybody was looking good tonight.”
Kings coach Todd McLellan said he needed more from his special teams units, which were outscored 1-0, and greater commitment blocking shots, an area where the Avs doubled up the Kings 23-11.
“Territorially, it was fairly even. What they did better than us was commit to finishing things: they went and got pucks; they got sticks on pucks, they got bodies in front of pucks, they broke plays up defensively that we didn’t do. Then, offensively, they went and got pucks and tipped pucks, and we didn’t do that.”
Though the third period began with the Kings enjoying a bit of wind at their backs from a buzzer-beating goal before the second intermission, they found themselves trailing by multiple scores anew five minutes into the frame. Former Kings defenseman Jack Johnson’s long, slow but steady shot from a sharp angle to the near side was redirected far side in textbook fashion by Rantanen. Wood scored into the vacated cage with just less than four minutes to play.
The game had unraveled somewhat early in the second period, as the Kings gave up two high-skill goals in a 53-second span. First, it was Makar adjusting his shooting angle to create a four-man screen that gave Talbot next to no chance at a save while shorthanded. Then it was some five-on-five sizzle from Rantanen as the Finnish forward’s sharp-angled shot from in tight sailed over Talbot’s head and into the net for a 3-0 advantage.
The Kings pushed back with their first goal of the young season when Grundstrom did Grundstrom things. The winger, whom former Kings captain Dustin Brown affectionately named “The Tonka Truck,” barreled into Johnson on the forecheck, initiating a sequence that swiftly culminated in his clawing back a goal to make it 3-1 at the 6:18 mark. They halved their deficit with a mere 4.6 seconds left in the frame when Byfield’s centering pass for Adrian Kempe was deflected skyward and into the net for an own goal by Makar, which was credited to Byfield.
One positive byproduct of the Kings’ awkward last-second roster shuffling was that winger Alex Laferriere was able to carry the momentum from a strong preseason into his NHL debut, which would not have been possible with a full complement of wingers (Arthur Kaliyev was suspended and Viktor Arvidsson remained injured). Not only did the 21-year-old look every bit an NHL player, but he dropped both his gloves and Colorado’s Logan O’Connor. It was Laferriere’s first fight at any level of competition.
Last spring, Laferriere was still a sophomore at Harvard, though his Ivy League education didn’t lead him to intellectualize his traditional solo lap around the ice before the game.
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“I was trying not to think, actually, if I thought too much something bad [might] happen, so I tried not to think about it too much, I just skated around in a lap,” Laferriere said.
The Kings started the game with vigor as well, but they found themselves ceding the only goal of the first period.
The Kings mounted an early 6-2 shot advantage and drew the game’s first penalty. But seconds after Colorado killed it, the Avalanche scored on a play when MacKinnon vanished in the far corner of the offensive zone and reappeared in the low slot for a feed from Rantanen for a goal.
After the game, Makar offered his read on the Kings, after Game 1 of 82.
“They’re pretty much the same system. They play a little bit of a different PK this year,” said Makar, who won the Norris Trophy in 2022. “They’re definitely a very defensive team, so you have to play the game as a team, no one man is going to be able to break the puck out alone or anything like that.”
Orange County Register
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Real Housewives of Orange County finale: Tears and truth serum
- October 12, 2023
Move over, Tamra Judge, there’s a new villain in Orange County – and he’s not even a housewife.
“The Real Housewives of Orange County” wrapped up the second of two reunion shows on Wednesday with the revelation that Shannon Storms Beador, who worried all season that too much housewife tittle-tattle would scuttle her relationship, had in fact been dumped by boyfriend John Janssen.
Like most things with Shannon, it’s complicated.
The episode opened with a montage of Shannon and John clips from Season 17, ending with a warm moment in which he told her he was ready to take their relationship to the next level, fueling Shannon’s dream that once her twins left for college this fall, she and John might shack up together.
Bravo’s Andy Cohen, hosting the reunion show, quickly got Shannon to acknowledge that the couple was no longer together, and all had not been as rosy as she’d tried to portray on the show.
“We argued,” she said. “He would leave and ghost me and he wouldn’t speak to me for days. I had never been more in love with anyone in my life than I had with John Janssen.”
Why say he was ready to “take it to the next level” if he was thinking of ending it, Cohen asked her.
“He was trying to get through filming, so that he didn’t look bad,” Gina Kirschenheiter interjected as Shannon reached for the first of many tissues.
“He said it on camera and a week later he broke up with me,” Shannon said as tears flowed.
“Ugh, horrible!” Jenn Pedranti said.
After a tangent into Shannon’s frantic season-long efforts to keep her castmates from talking about her relationship with John on camera – more on that in a moment – the end of that relationship resurfaced on the show.
“He broke (bleepin’) up with me,” Shannon tearfully said. “He broke my (bleepin’) heart. Can I look back at certain scenes and you can see that he’s checked out? Absolutely I can.
“I’m like embarrassed,” she said. “I feel like I’m a smart person that has a semi-decent head on my shoulders. And I’m like, ‘My god, look at how he’s looking at you,’ or, ‘Did you not see things?’”
Cohen noted that photos on Shannon’s social media recently had shown her out with John.
“Are you back together?” he asked.
“No,” she replied.
“Are you hoping?” Jenn asked.
A few questions later, Cohen said asked what he really wanted to know: “Is he a friend with benefits?”
“Sometimes,” Shannon replied.
“Wow,” Cohen said. “All right. We’re gonna leave it there.”
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The shadow of Shannon’s recent DUI arrest again loomed over the proceedings. As in the first reunion show a week earlier, a text slide filled the screen at the start to note that the reunion had taken 10 days before that arrest.
And there’s really no way the show could have avoided acknowledging that, given that a large chunk of the second reunion episode again involved talk about Shannon getting drunk in a reality show setting.
After Shannon told Cohen that in fact she does consider Heather Dubrow to be a Machiavellian figure, Heather pushed back against Shannon’s portrayal of herself as someone who would never tell the other housewives about her love live’s highs and lows. Well, certainly not the lows.
“Please don’t get angry at me,” Heather began. “You tend to drink and then call some of us.”
Guess what? Shannon got angry at her.
“You know what, Heather, that is a (bleeped) up think to say to me,” she shouted.
“It’s not! You’re the town crier,” Heather replied.
“Do I go out and drink sometimes?” Shannon replied with a righteousness she probably regretted 10 days later. “For you to say I need rehab. For you to paint a picture so I’m calling people every single night.”
She turned from Heather to Emily Simpson.
“For you to say I need a breathalyzer –”
“I think it’s a good invention,” replied Emily, who during the season suggested Shannon use one before calling after she’d had a pop or two.
Shannon then turned to Gina.
“You saying it’s truth serum, when I haven’t had an intimate conversation with you,” she said, attacking Gina for her quip during the season that the sauce gets Shannon spilling secrets. “Let me reiterate, Gina. I don’t like you.”
Gina rolled her eyes, she does it very well, and then Emily turned the conversation in a surprising direction, ignoring the facade of reality around the show to discuss the nature of what a Real Housewife does.
“You share things with people that you’re on a show with while you’re filming, (and then) you act like you don’t understand how this works,” Emily told Shannon. “If you don’t want any of us to talk about it, and you don’t want it to come out –.”
“– don’t tell us,” Heather interjected.
“Our job is to say how we feel and to say the truth about what’s going,” Gina said with the kind of confidence that comes from having memorized the Real Housewives code of conduct.
“My job is to be Shannon Storms Beador!” Shannon replied at considerable volume. “So I am not going to look at things and go, ‘Oh, I am on a reality show, so I’m going to act different now.’ I act the way I am.
“Do you know what I’ve done on reality TV?” Shannon continued. “I took my shirt off when I gained 42 pounds” – a clip is helpfully provided. “I’m the first housewife that’s delved into infidelity.”
The housewives are unimpressed.
“Why does that make it better than anybody else?” Heather asked.
“Gina had a DUI,” Emily added. “Tamra weighed me at the gym.”
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But really, the rest of the episode wasn’t nearly as interesting as what you’ve read already. You don’t really need a play-by-play of the the hearing by the House Special Committee on Who Called Who a Loser at BravoCon do you?
Nah, didn’t think so. Suffice it to say that by the end of the episode, most everyone had made up. Heather and Tamra, certainly had. Shannon still didn’t like Gina.
And with a round of tequila shots, and Red Bull shot for post-DUI teetotaler Gina, we bid our fair housewives adieu.
Orange County Register
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USC’s Caleb Williams brings ‘king vibes’ into potential crowning game v. Notre Dame
- October 12, 2023
LOS ANGELES — The familiar shouts came back in July, the budding king of Los Angeles obliging a slew of Dodgers fans for autographs on the day he tossed out a ceremonial first pitch, center Justin Dedich describing the scene after practice Wednesday.
Ca-leb! Ca-leb! Ca-leb!
And this had, of course, become commonplace for Caleb Williams, a public-savvy superstar who needs no reminder about humility. But Dedich, his affable fellow captain at USC, still chimed in anyway.
“I wouldn’t want that signature,” Dedich recalled joking to fans.
The two have built a close bond, quarterback and center, close enough that Dedich can accidentally snap a ball directly into Williams’ groin and joke that it was on purpose. Close enough that he assumed the public address microphone at Dodger Stadium that day in July to fire off digs at his QB.
“I try to be the guy in his life that’s a little bit of a (jerk) to him,” Dedich said Wednesday, a grin beaming underneath his mustache. “Everyone praises him, and stuff, and I just try to make little side remarks to keep him humble.”
In the past couple of weeks, adding a flourish to his touchdown celebrations, Williams has shed just a hint of that public humility. In a new custom, endorsed by Lakers star LeBron James himself, Williams has placed hands over his head in a king-me gesture after scores against both Colorado and Arizona.
“It’s just kind of an energy thing for me, kind of a persona that I’m taking on, I guess you could say,” Williams said of the celebration, after practice Wednesday. “Just kind of feeling that way.”
“Just, king vibes.”
The world first saw a sneak preview of King Vibes at this same inflection point almost a year ago, with USC taking down Notre Dame, 38-27, at a key place in the schedule. Williams threw four touchdown passes and receiver Jordan Addison placed an invisible crown on his quarterback’s head in the midst of a runaway Heisman Trophy race. And with 10th-ranked USC (6-0, 4-0 Pac-12) not publicly favored for the first time all season amid a trip to South Bend, with his back-to-back Heisman odds slipping ever-so-slightly behind Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr., Williams has the chance to make another emphatic statement against the Fighting Irish.
But oh, will it not be easy.
For a full first quarter against Arizona last week, Williams looked off. He overthrew a streaking Tahj Washington, smacking his hands together repeatedly in frustration afterward. He overthrew Brenden Rice, then fired too wide, on a later drive, to Washington again.
He rebounded in dramatic fashion, realizing Arizona’s defense was packing coverage and beating the Wildcats with his legs. But Williams’ final numbers through the air were tempered, if not efficient – 14 of 25 for 219 yards and a score. And a look at his final line against blitzes reveals why: just 6 of 14 for 84 yards, per Pro Football Focus.
It’s a major point of emphasis against Notre Dame, an elite and versatile defensive unit that features five players who have generated more than 10 pressures thus far this year (by comparison, no Pac-12 team has more than four).
“Their linebackers are super aggressive … those guys are so good, they like to blitz ’em,” offensive line coach Josh Henson said Wednesday. “We gotta be ready to pick up those blitzes.”
Williams, in turn, will need to be ready for them, operating with more early-game assertiveness against pressure.
“Not taking sacks on first and second down is huge, and that’s something I didn’t do as well last game,” Williams said Wednesday. “In our last game, I had three first and second-down sacks, and in the first couple games, I think I had zero total, something like that.”
Indeed: Williams didn’t take a first- or second-down sack, actually, until USC’s fourth game of the season at Arizona State. He’s faced considerably more pressure against Colorado and Arizona, leading to full quarters when he’s looked out of rhythm, and USC was well aware – as Williams said Wednesday – that opposing teams would look to copy any successful schemes.
The Fighting Irish might mix together the best version of a blitz- and defensive back-heavy coverage Williams has seen all year. And thus, a potential second crowning moment awaits.
Orange County Register
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Dodgers stunned again as Diamondbacks complete shocking NLDS sweep
- October 12, 2023
PHOENIX — Lightning does strike twice and the Dodgers are the charred victims, left smoking and unrecognizable as the 100-game winner they were during another pointless regular season.
For the second consecutive year, the Dodgers were eliminated in their first playoff series despite facing a team that finished a distant second behind them in the National League West. The Arizona Diamondbacks will move on to the NL Championship Series after hitting a postseason record four home runs in one inning and beating the Dodgers, 4-2, on Wednesday night to complete a shocking three-game sweep in the NL Division Series.
“There’s not a lot of words other than hurt, disappointed, frustrated and a little bit embarrassed,” center fielder Kiké Hernandez said of the feeling in the clubhouse after the game.
First baseman Freddie Freeman also struggled to answer questions.
“It’s hard to find words right now,” he said. “Yeah, it’s hard to put into words right now. Frustrating. Me and a lot of us didn’t play the way we wanted to. They just came out swinging in all three games and beat us.”
The Dodgers have lost six consecutive postseason games since winning Game 1 of their ill-fated NLDS against the San Diego Padres last fall. Twenty-two games better than the Padres during the 2022 season, they were 16 games better than the Diamondbacks during the 2023 regular season. They went 1-6 against those two teams in October.
“I don’t know the answer, and it’s ironic that these are teams that we’re very familiar with,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “You get in a series and it gets flipped on its head, I just don’t know that answer.”
The first team in baseball history to win 100 games or more in four consecutive full seasons (2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023), the Dodgers have been utter failures in the postseason those same years. They followed those epic regular seasons with first-round exits in three of the four postseasons, advancing only in 2021 when they stalled out in the NLCS instead.
“I mean, it’s obviously super frustrating,” All-Star Mookie Betts said. “There’s no real known cause for it. They played better. We didn’t do much. I can’t speak for all of us, but I know for sure I did absolutely nothing to help us win. There’s no words for it.”
The Diamondbacks led at the end of all but two innings in this series, dominating the Dodgers in every phase.
The Dodgers’ three starting pitchers – Clayton Kershaw, Bobby Miller and Lance Lynn – recorded a total of 14 outs between them while allowing 13 runs.
According to Elias Sports, the 4⅔ innings from their starters are the fewest by the starting pitchers in the first three games of a postseason series in MLB history.
But the Dodgers were able to outhit their pitching problems all season thanks in large part to their two MVP candidates – Betts and Freeman. But Betts and Freeman were no-shows in the postseason. They went a combined 1 for 21, the lone hit an infield single by Freeman in the first inning of Game 2. Over the two NLDS losses to the Padres and Diamondbacks, Betts has batted .080 (2 for 25). Stretching back to 2021, he is 3 for 38 in his past 10 postseason games.
An offense that has averaged 5.4 runs per game over the past two regular seasons (first in the majors in 2022, second this season) has managed just 2.6 per game in two postseason series.
“Not good. I don’t know. It just did,” Freeman said when asked how that happened.
“We didn’t do it for three days. Not good by us.”
The Dodgers were 4 for 38 (.105) with runners in scoring position during last year’s NLDS defeat (including an 0-for-20 stretch). This year, they slipped in the clutch again, going 4 for 17 (.235) with RISP against the Diamondbacks. Only four consecutive two-out singles in the seventh inning (producing their only runs of Game 3) buoyed this year’s number.
“(That is) just how playoff series go,” Hernandez said. “You’ve got to capitalize every time you have a chance. You only get so many chances. … We weren’t able to capitalize. Regardless of what they did offensively, for us as a group and a unit and a lineup and the guys that we have and what we’ve been doing all year, to score only two runs in each game. … They just played better. There’s no other way of putting it. We fell short and we didn’t capitalize on the few opportunities that we had. We’re here now.”
Only the bullpen performed up to its regular-season standard, holding Games 2 and 3 close with 7⅓ scoreless innings in Game 2 and 5⅓ scoreless innings in Game 3.
Out of it after the first innings of Games 1 and 2, the Dodgers at least stayed in this one until the third inning.
Lynn held the Diamondbacks scoreless for the first two – the only two innings in this series during which the Dodgers didn’t trail by multiple runs.
But he gave up a leadoff home run to Geraldo Perdomo in the third inning and another homer to Ketel Marte two batters later.
It was hardly shocking. Lynn led the majors with 44 home runs allowed during the regular season But he gave up another home run to Christian Walker two batters after Marte’s 428-foot shot.
When Gabriel Moreno followed by sending a 2-and-1 fastball from Lynn into the Dodgers’ bullpen, it was briefly ruled a home run. A replay review overruled that – so Moreno hit Lynn’s next pitch 420 feet into the center field seats, taking the foul poles out of play.
“I got behind in counts and they made me pay. Plain and simple, and that’s what they’ve been doing all series,” Lynn said.
It was the first time in postseason history that a team has hit four home runs in one inning and Roberts watched all 1,626 feet of home runs before pulling Lynn.
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“You’ve got two outs and a low pitch count, and you figure that this run of right-handed hitters, you’ve got to be able to navigate it somewhat with two outs, nobody on base (after Walker’s homer),” Roberts said. “Then two homers later you’re down 4-0.
“I had some guys ready (in the bullpen). Obviously, I can’t predict the future. I try not to be reactionary and get ahead of things. I just can’t predict the future. The way he was throwing the baseball, I didn’t expect that.”
No one in the Dodgers’ clubhouse expected to be packing up for the winter so soon. But there they were, winners of 211 games over the past two regular seasons but just one in two postseason series.
“We just didn’t play well. It’s as simple as that,” utility man Chris Taylor said of the back-to-back postseason failures. “I don’t think there’s a magic answer. It’s not like, ‘Oh, if we did this, we would’ve (won).’
“At the end of the day, they played better than we did. When you get to this late in the season, usually the hot team wins. They’re feeling good right now. They’re playing the best baseball they’ve played all year, I think. And we were probably playing our worst baseball we’ve played all year.”
Count ’em!
The @Dbacks are the first team in MLB history to hit FOUR homers in a single #Postseason inning! pic.twitter.com/gW89bANgtu
— MLB (@MLB) October 12, 2023
Gabriel Moreno made sure his next swing was VERY fair! #Postseason pic.twitter.com/nBX1RYx6wb
— MLB (@MLB) October 12, 2023
“You can point to a million different things, but at the end of the day, you gotta play well.” @mookiebetts speaks on his struggles and the relationships created this season. pic.twitter.com/L8A1QBiJpJ
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) October 12, 2023
“It’s hard to find words right now… me and a lot of us didn’t play the way we wanted to.” –@FreddieFreeman5 pic.twitter.com/ouvmmq5h4X
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) October 12, 2023
Dave Roberts tips his hat to the Diamondbacks and reflects on the #Dodgers’ performance in the postseason. pic.twitter.com/t73XRsgftO
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) October 12, 2023
“Obviously, it’s just a disappointing end.” Clayton Kershaw speaks on his emotions after tonight’s loss. pic.twitter.com/t1DcYaufxA
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) October 12, 2023
The @Dbacks beat LA. #Postseason
(MLB x @BudweiserUSA) pic.twitter.com/WHhGj1BVXW
— MLB (@MLB) October 12, 2023
Orange County Register
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Short-handed Kings adjust to their new normal
- October 12, 2023
LOS ANGELES — The Kings went into battle for the first time this season on Wednesday night, yet when they hosted the Colorado Avalanche they were far from full force or even complete attendance.
Carrying 21 players due to salary cap constraints and down all the way to 19 in uniform at game time as a result of Arthur Kaliyev’s suspension and Viktor Arvidsson’s lower-body injury, the Kings also dressed an unbalanced defense corps due, in large part, to other logistical concerns.
For the players in the dressing room, this is the new normal.
“Take it day-to-day and try to stay in the present. We know we have a good team, but when you’re missing a soldier, it can have an impact,” said center Phillip Danault, who added that he while was confident in the team’s culture, the situation definitely presented a novel challenge.
In some ways, it mirrored the situation the Kings and other teams experienced in the long shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, which wreaked havoc on seemingly everything, including all the best-laid plans in sports between 2020 and 2022. That upheaval went beyond the playing surface, too. As a result of the vast adjustments that had to be made in order to complete the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs and play two seasons with varying fan attendance capacity, the NHL and its players’ association drastically re-worked their Collective Bargaining Agreement to reflect the new economic realities, reconfigure escrow processes and implement what has been a nearly flat salary ceiling to this day, likely to see its first significant increase next season.
As General Manager Rob Blake and Coach Todd McLellan have been very quick to point out, the Kings are not the only organization in this situation or a similar one with a shortened roster and, sometimes, a short bench, too.
“Three or four teams are now forced to dress 19 skaters as they are choking for cap space. On top of that, many teams are being forced to carry less than full 23-man rosters for the same lack of cap space. As it stands now, the players have collectively lost 28 NHL jobs from opening night rosters,” player agent Allan Walsh said via text message.
“Allowing the Upper Limit to rise just another $1 million would have alleviated this issue,” he added. “The NHLPA approached Gary Bettman this past summer to negotiate some flexibility to the upper limit and was rebuffed. The NHLPA understood very well what was coming.”
McCLARY HONORED
The Kings sported stickers on their helmets on Wednesday in honor of Lou McClary, the team’s NHL security representative for 42 years from its inception in 1967 all the way through 2009. McClary died in August at age 96.
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Each player wore the sticker on his helmet in the position where the Ace Bailey and Mark Bavis sticker was typically displayed for one night.
“The L.A. Kings are incredibly saddened by the passing of Lou McClary, long-time NHL security representative and tremendous friend,” the Kings said in a statement. “Lou represented the Kings and hockey in Los Angeles with great pride dating back to our inaugural season. We will miss Lou’s unmatched vigor and enthusiasm, and our thoughts are with Judy, Brian, and the McClary Family at this difficult time.”
SPANISH BROADCASTS ANNOUNCED
The Kings will have a dozen home games broadcast in Spanish on Tu Liga (1330 AM) again this year, a tradition that began in the 2018-19 season with play-by-play man extraordinaire Francisco X. Rivera. His “goooooooooooooooool” calls will resonate alongside a new analyst after Nano Cortés opted not to return this season.
Broadcasts will be available Nov. 9 (Pittsburgh), Nov. 16 (Florida), Nov. 18 (St. Louis), Dec. 27 (San Jose), Jan. 2 (Toronto), Jan. 4 (Detroit), Jan. 20 (New York Rangers), Jan. 22 (San Jose), Jan. 24 (Buffalo), Feb. 10 (Edmonton), Feb. 20 (Columbus) and Feb. 24 (Ducks).
Orange County Register
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WNBA Finals: A’ja Wilson, Aces rout Liberty, grab 2-0 series lead
- October 12, 2023
By W.G. RAMIREZ The Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — It’s rare that the Las Vegas Aces leave Coach Becky Hammon speechless. After Wednesday night’s dominant performance in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals, she was in awe.
A’ja Wilson scored 26 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and the Aces routed the New York Liberty, 104-76, to take a 2-0 series lead in the best-of-five series.
“The character of this team and their absolute buy into the person to the left or right’s success is authentic,” Hammon said. “And it’s tough to deal with when you share the ball and people are skilled and competitive. They were good tonight. They don’t leave me speechless very often, but they executed defensively, offensively shared it – everything we’ve been asking them to do.”
Wilson finished 10 for 16 from the field on her way to recording her 26th double-double this season – including her fourth of the playoffs. She’s the third player in WNBA Finals history to have at least 25 points and 15 rebounds in a game.
The defending champion Aces are now one win away from becoming the first team since the 2001-02 Sparks to repeat as champions. Game 3 is Sunday in New York. No team has ever rallied from a 0-2 deficit in the WNBA Finals.
“We know what’s on the line and we had to make sure we came out and took care of home court,” Wilson said.
Chelsea Gray also had a double-double with 14 points and 11 assists, throwing some beautiful no-look passes for easy baskets. Jackie Young finished with 24 points and Kelsey Plum had 23. It was the second straight game that the guard trio dominated the Liberty.
“Vegas is playing their best basketball at the moment,” New York coach Sandy Brondello said. “They’re playing with a lot of confidence, you see the chemistry that they have. And for us, we haven’t taken the steps forward, we haven’t shown it. We’re disappointed, very disappointed, because we’re a way better team (than) what we showed.”
Jonquel Jones (22), Breanna Stewart (14), Betnijah Laney (12), and Sabrina Ionescu (10) accounted for 76.3% of New York’s points, as the Liberty got just 18 points from six others who played.
New York, which lost by 17 in Game 1, came into the game a perfect 9-0 after losses this year. The Aces made sure that streak ended with a dominant first and third quarter. They opened the game scoring 19 of the first 21 points, with 12 points coming from 3-point range. Las Vegas hit seven of its first nine shots – a blistering 77.8% clip – including four 3-pointers.
New York, meanwhile, missed nine of its first 10 attempts.
“It started with our defense,” Gray said. “We kept our pressure up, our physicality and we were able to play with our flow offensively.”
The Aces’ lead grew as high as 21 points in the opening period before taking a 38-19 lead into the second quarter. Las Vegas set a new record for most points in the first quarter of a WNBA Finals. It was also the most points the Aces scored in any quarter all season.
The Liberty came charging back from a 22-point second-quarter deficit behind a 12-0 run and outscored the Aces 25-14 in the period to cut Las Vegas’ lead to eight, 52-44 at halftime. Jones scored 16 of her points in the second quarter.
New York couldn’t carry its momentum into the third, however, as the Aces used a 17-3 run to extend their lead to 69-47. The Aces outscored the Liberty 28-13 in the third quarter, with 20 points coming from Wilson and Young.
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The Liberty couldn’t close the gap and now will try to avoid getting swept.
GUARD PLAY
For the second straight game, New York’s guards struggled to find their offensive rhythm, finishing 9 for 34 from the floor. Laney finished 4 for 15, Ionescu was 2 for 10 and Courtney Vandersloot – who didn’t score her first point until the fourth quarter – was 3 for 9. The trio – which combined to shoot 40% from 3-point range during the regular season – is now 20 for 60 (33.3%) from the field in the series, including 8 for 33 (24.2%) from behind the arc.
STOKED TO SHOOT
Kiah Stokes finished with eight points after making a season-high two 3-pointers. Her first one came during Las Vegas’ opening run in the first quarter. Her second one was the Aces’ first basket of the second quarter. In five separate games, she hit one 3-pointer during the regular season.
“For her to come out and have the night that she did today doesn’t come as a surprise because we see the work that Kiah puts into practice every single day,” Wilson said. “They can continue to look overlook Kiah, sleep on her all day. We love her in our locker room.”
Orange County Register
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