Arcadia

SOFTBALL Glendale 3, Arcadia 1: Casey Ramirez pitched a complete game to lead the Nitros to a Pacific League road win on Tuesday backed by offensive contributions from Meghan Spencer, Janette Avina and Sheila Araji. Flintridge Prep 8, Chadwick 0: Denise van der Goot struck out 15 batters and went four for four at the plate to lead the Rebels in a Prep League home win on Tuesday. Other Prep (12-4, 9-2 in league) standouts included Ashley Kim (two for three with a run batted in)

ARCADIA — With two games remaining in the regular season and in the hunt to qualify for the playoffs, Glendale High softball Coach Christine Paknik offered a suggestion concerning her team. “We have to go back and work on the basics,” Paknik said shortly after Glendale suffered an 8-1 loss Thursday afternoon to host Arcadia in a Pacific League contest. “Then we are going to have to stick to the basics and attack. “We can either kick ourselves or learn from it.” Arcadia (8-11, 6-6 in league)

After two seasons at the helm of Hoover High football and following one of the more successful seasons for the Tornadoes in some time, Andrew Policky has stepped down from his post as Hoover's head football coach to return to his alma mater, taking over as the new Arcadia head football coach. Policky, an Arcadia graduate, announced his departure to his team on Thursday after accepting his new position on Wednesday. “When I was at Hoover, it wasn't something I thought a lot about,” said Policky of returning to Arcadia, where he played football and graduated in 1999 and later returned as an assistant coach.

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — One rally from down two runs just wouldn’t be enough for the Glendale High softball team to defeat Arcadia on Thursday. In order to get their 10-8 Pacific League win over the Apaches, the Nitros would have to do it twice. The second comeback was final and the more impressive of the two, as Glendale strung together seven consecutive hits for five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, highlighted by Amber Veliz’s go-ahead two-run triple. “I wanted to win so bad,” said Veliz, who went three for four at the plate with two triples, three runs batted in and three runs.

BOYS' WATER POLO Hoover 12, Arcadia 11 : Hakop Baghumian finished with five goals to lead visiting Hoover to a Pacific League-opening win Tuesday. Ryan Moguel finished with three goals and Alek Keshishyan added two to help Hoover improve to 10-5. South Pasadena 11, Flintridge Prep 6 : It was an exciting day for the Rebels, who hosted South Pasadena Tuesday. Flintridge Prep's junior transfer from Loyola High Johnny Treinen was eligible to play in his first match and Prep wanted revenge for a one-goal loss suffered to the Tigers in the Los Altos Tournament earlier this year.

NORTHWEST GLENDALE — Two innings of miscues added up to six innings of bad news for Coach Rich Henning's Hoover High softball team. Henning and the Tornadoes fell on hard times in the field and at the plate Thursday afternoon to the tune of a 13-2 Pacific League loss against visiting Arcadia. The game was called after six innings because of the 10-run mercy rule. "We couldn't rebound from the first two innings," Henning said after two first-inning errors helped give the Apaches a 2-0 lead before they batted around in the second to extend the lead to 5-0. "We couldn't recoup and it's going to be about repetition and working harder.

ARCADIA - No matter where he sat or stood, the view wasn't pretty for Hoover High football Coach Andrew Policky on Friday night. Policky spent the first half of Hoover's Pacific League road game against Arcadia in the pressbox before returning to the sideline for the second half. Unfortunately for Policky and the Tornadoes, it didn't matter where the coach was, as things didn't turn out for the best as Hoover suffered a 49-6 defeat. Hoover dropped to 2-4, 0-3 in league after beginning its season with two straight wins for the first time since 2005.

LA CRESCENTA - Despite some lineup shuffling and a change of scenery, the Crescenta Valley High girls' tennis team wasn't able to make up any ground on Arcadia when the rivals met for the second time this season in Pacific League play on Tuesday. In fact, the Falcons fared slightly worse in their most recent 16-2 defeat at home after losing to the Apaches, 15-3, on the road on Sept. 6, but Falcons Coach Sam Hyun couldn't really fault his team's effort. “I cannot blame them, they did their best, but score-wise, we are worse than last time,” said Hyun, whose team fell to 9-4 and 5-3 in league, staying in third place.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE ? In recent seasons, games between the Crescenta Valley High and Arcadia baseball teams have gone close to three hours with low-scoring contests usually the norm. Crescenta Valley and Arcadia, for years the top squads in the Pacific League, met in their first of two meetings this season on Friday. The game took about three hours, but the bats for both teams proved to be the story. And in another contrast, Crescenta Valley fell to fifth place in league after it was handed an 11-7 loss by Arcadia Friday night at Stengel Field.

ARCADIA - It appeared hope for capturing the Pacific League baseball title and avenging a previous loss against its rival was running low for the Crescenta Valley High baseball team Friday night. Down two runs headed into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Falcons appeared to be down to their final out after consecutive strikeouts. The second, however, came on a wild pitch to CV's Joe Torres that rolled to the fence. Torres beat the throw to first, representing the tying the run and bringing the potential winning run to the plate.

LA CRESCENTA - A few minutes after the Crescenta Valley High softball team suffered a 3-1 Pacific League home loss against Arcadia on Thursday, Crescenta Valley Coach Mark Stamford didn't want to know how many runners the Falcons left on base. Seconds later, Samford inquired about the total number of runners stranded - eight. PHOTOS: Crescenta Valley vs. Arcadia softball   "The big stat [is] how many runners we left on base," said Samford, whose team could have locked up sole possession of second place behind Burbank in league with a victory Thursday as Burroughs lost to the first-place Bulldogs.

It was a roller coaster week for area sports. Glendale Community College announced plans to cut its award-winning cheer program this fall , a decision that is "not easy," according to Dean of Student Affairs Paul Schlossman, but "one that has to be made. " Cheerleading is not an official intercollegiate sport, and the move will provide $25,000 a year in savings to a cash-strapped athletic department budget. Still, the cheer program has brought the school a measure of esteem and visibility, appearing in national competitions and commercials for major brands like ESPN and Snickers . Coach Jessie Moorehead expressed hope that the team can still function as a club, raise the money for travel on its own and continue to amaze with high-flying stunts like these: From a coach without a team to a team without a coach: Hoover football's Andrew Policky has stepped down after two seasons to return to Arcadia, his alma mater.

ARCADIA - On an evening in which the Crescenta Valley High track and field teams proved themselves the dominant area program within the Pacific League, both Glendale and Hoover highs also enjoyed some success at Friday night's Pacific League Finals at Arcadia's Salter Stadium. A few victories came from multiple-event winners, including by the Falcons' super sophomore tandem of Megan Melnyk and Emmie Walker. Melnyk was dominant in the distances, coming from behind to clinch the 800-meter run, while holding off a hard-charging challenger in the 1,600.

After two seasons at the helm of Hoover High football and following one of the more successful seasons for the Tornadoes in some time, Andrew Policky has stepped down from his post as Hoover's head football coach to return to his alma mater, taking over as the new Arcadia head football coach. Policky, an Arcadia graduate, announced his departure to his team on Thursday after accepting his new position on Wednesday. “When I was at Hoover, it wasn't something I thought a lot about,” said Policky of returning to Arcadia, where he played football and graduated in 1999 and later returned as an assistant coach.

BURBANK - In the span of 14 innings and less than 24 hours, the Crescenta Valley High baseball team has created quite a stir atop the Pacific League standings. Not yet a full day removed from displacing Burbank from its spot alone in first and creating a four-way tie, the Falcons took on host Burroughs on Wednesday afternoon and delivered the Indians a 4-2 loss that left three teams standing at the top of the Pacific League. PHOTOS: Crescenta Valley vs. Burroughs boys' baseball “Coming into this week, our coach told us we had to win these two games,” said Falcons senior Ted Boeke.

ARCADIA - It was a must-win situation for the Crescenta Valley High boys' volleyball team Tuesday evening, but Falcons Coach John Nelson wasn't quite sure why they didn't play like it. The Falcons needed to win their regular season finale against host Arcadia to finish in fourth place in the Pacific League standings and, in turn, earn an automatic playoff berth. Arcadia needed the win just as badly, as both teams went into the match at 5-6 in league play. Ultimately, the Falcons were flat and succumbed to a more energized team that played up to the high stakes and were swept, 25-23, 25-16, 25-17.

PASADENA - Heading into the home stretch in the Pacific League, Paul Park is pleased with his overall play. Nonetheless, the way the Crescenta Valley High boys' junior golfer sees it, there's still room for improvement and Park's effort Thursday raised his confidence of doing that going forward. PHOTOS: Pacific League boys' golf “I'm doing a lot of things well right now, like striking the ball,” said Park, who shot a two-over-par 72 on Thursday in Pacific League match No. 4 at Brookside Golf Course No. 2. “That really helped me out today on some different holes.

ARCADIA - Each year the Crescenta Valley High swim teams look forward to their dual meet with Pacific League rival Arcadia. While the Falcons can usually count on the Apaches giving them their stiffest competition in league, it's not to say it's dramatic. Crescenta Valley dominated on both sides in its league dual meet finale Tuesday at Arcadia, as the Falcons boys and girls posted 114-56 and 119-51 victories, respectively. “There's that ongoing rivalry, Arcadia is still a quality team,” Crescenta Valley boys' Coach Jan Sakonju said.

GLENDALE - It was a night of missed chances for the Crescenta Valley High baseball team Friday night. Trailing Arcadia by a run heading into their final at-bats, the Falcons put the tying and winning run on base but ground into a game-ending, 6-4-3 double play. It allowed the Apaches to walk away with a 3-2 Pacific League win. “We gave ourselves chances in the last two innings, you know,” Crescenta Valley Coach Phil Torres said, “and [we] hit it right on the nose to end the game, but hit it right where the shortstop was standing.