Babe Ruth

GLENDALE — It might have taken a bit longer than Coach Phil Torres and Co. would have liked, but the San Gabriel Valley 16-18 Babe Ruth All-Stars are back in the Babe Ruth World Series, nonetheless. The All-Stars, which feature a Crescenta Valley High coaching staff and six current or former Falcons players, defeated Modesto, 9-1, on Tuesday night in Watsonville in an if-necessary championship game of the Pacific Southwest Regional. San Gabriel was defeated for the first time in the tournament when it lost to Modesto, 2-0, earlier in the evening, but any offensive ills were quickly remedied in the nightcap, as San Gabriel expunged a 1-0 deficit with a five-run outburst in the bottom of the first inning en route to the runaway victory.

GLENDALE — Playing in front of a lively crowd that was mostly against them didn’t sidetrack the members of the San Gabriel Valley Babe Ruth 16-18 All-Star team. A clutch first-inning home run and some solid pitching helped San Gabriel Valley to a 5-2 victory against host Watsonville in a winner’s-bracket contest of the Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament late Sunday night at Watsonville High. Cody Regis continued his torrid hitting with a first-inning home run and pitcher Bryce Rutherford scattered two hits in a complete-game performance to send San Gabriel Valley into today’s 5 p.m. championship game against Watsonville or Modesto for the right to advance to the World Series in Washington later this month.

GLENDALE — In its second-round game of the Babe Ruth League 16-18 Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament on Saturday in Watsonville, the San Gabriel Valley Babe Ruth All-Stars made sure there would be no late-inning comeback by their opponent. A day removed from holding off East Sacramento by a single run in an opening-round win, San Gabriel Valley put the hammer down on Utah, 13-0, with an offensive barrage highlighted by two home runs from Cody Regis and backed by a quality start from Danny Vargas, who went five innings and earned the win. “It was a good momentum game for us,” said San Gabriel Valley sophomore outfielder Troy Prasertsit, one of five players from Crescenta Valley High on the team, which is also coached by Falcons Coach Phil Torres.

GLENDALE — The San Gabriel Valley 16-18 Babe Ruth All-Stars got out to a comfortable lead in their first game of the Pacific Southwest Babe Ruth Regional Tournament on Friday night, but the frenzied finish was anything but comfortable for the Southern California champions. East Sacramento clawed its way out of a six-run deficit to pull to within one run in the bottom of the seventh inning, but San Gabriel Valley picked the would-be tying run off second base to seal a 6-5 win in Watsonville.

GLENDALE — As freshmen last spring, Elliott Surrey, Nate Rousey and Troy Prasertsit played leading roles in helping a youthful Crescenta Valley High baseball team turn a potentially lost season into yet another playoff appearance in a string of many. Now the trio are members of a San Gabriel Valley Babe Ruth 16-18 All-Stars team that is trying to extend a different kind of tradition of success when it takes part in the Babe Ruth Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament, beginning today in Watsonville, for a chance to reach the Babe Ruth World Series for the fourth time since 2004.

GLENDALE — Watsonville, home of the 2009 Babe Ruth League Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament, is the next stop for the San Gabriel Valley Babe Ruth 16-18 All-Stars. If all goes well in the small Monterey Bay-area town, the Southern California Babe Ruth champion-squad, which is coached by Crescenta Valley High baseball Coach Phil Torres and features five Falcons players, will plot a course further north to the Babe Ruth World Series in Moses Lake, Wash. But first things first.

GLENDALE — The 2009 season concluded for the La Crescenta Babe Ruth 14-year old All-Star team with a heartbreaking eight-inning 6-5 loss to North End in a loser’s bracket elimination game of the Southern California All-Star Tournament at Stengel Field on Sunday. “It was a great game after the fourth inning, it was just a see-saw battle and [North End] ended up ahead,” La Crescenta Coach Marcel Martinez said. “They’re taking it pretty hard. It’s been a long time since I’ve had such high expectations for a team to win and advance and this was that team.

Less than 24 hours removed from a heartbreaking 7-6 loss that saw it give up a six-run lead, the La Crescenta 14-year-old Babe Ruth squad bounced back to the tune of a 14-0 mercy-rule win against Simi Valley in five innings on Saturday afternoon at Stengel Field in a loser's bracket elimination game of the Babe Ruth 14-year-old Southern California Tournament. "I guess it's safe to say that pretty bad loss is far behind us," La Crescenta Coach Marcel Martinez said. Jonny Psaltis twirled five innings of two-hit, shutout ball, striking out four and not allowing a Simi Valley runner to get past second base.

GLENDALE — Just a day removed from staving off elimination to the tune of a 15-run offensive, it was the La Crescenta 15-year-old Babe Ruth All-Star squad that was on the wrong end of an offensive onslaught. La Crescenta gave its best in rallying from an early double-digit deficit, but it wasn’t enough to stay alive, as Torrance prevailed, 13-7, to eliminate the locals in Friday night’s Babe Ruth 15-year-old Southern California All-Star Tournament at Stevenson Field in El Segundo.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — What appeared to be a victory quickly turned into a heart-breaking defeat Friday night. Now, the members of the La Crescenta Babe Ruth 14-year-old All-Star team will have no choice but to regroup quickly after they surrendered three runs in the top of the seventh inning in a 7-6 loss to Westchester in an opening-round contest of the Southern California All-Star Tournament at Stengel Field. La Crescenta, which will meet Simi Valley in an elimination game at 4 p.m. today at Stengel Field, squandered a 6-0 lead through four innings before Westchester awoke.