Complete Game

Erik Boal As Glendale Senior Softball co-coaches Dave Miller and Dave Stauffer both said, never in Meghann Muirhead's entire Little League career did she have the opportunity to pitch in a championship game. That was until her coaches handed her the ball Wednesday in the second game in the best-of-three championship series in the Little League Western Regional Tournament at Jim Scown Field at the Northwest Little League Complex. And in the most pressure-packed situation of Glendale's entire summer, Muirhead stepped to the challenge against a quality South Everett (Wash.

GLENDALE - It was just the phenomenal start the Glendale Community College baseball team was looking to get. Faced with an unfamiliar opponent in Grossmont College, the Vaqueros turned to freshman right-hander Angel Rodriguez, whose consistent excellence has been a keystone in propelling GCC into the 2013 California Community College Athletic Assn. Baseball Southern California Regional. PHOTOS: Glendale Community College vs. Grossmont tournament baseball Rodriguez responded with a clutch performance, hurling a complete game and leading the Vaqueros to a 4-2 win over the visiting Griffins on a hot and breezy Friday afternoon at Stengel Field in the first game of the best-of-three series.

Peter Fuertes STENGEL FIELD -- Ask Glendale Community College baseball Coach Chris Zavatsky, and he'll tell you the team has been plagued by inconsistency. That almost cost the Vaqueros against San Diego Mesa College in the Vaquero Classic 2000 Baseball Tournament. However, the bats of John Manuel and Jason Botts saved GCC. Both had home runs in the bottom of the seventh inning -- Manuel's solo shot the game winner -- to lift the Vaqueros to a 6-3 victory at Stengel Field.

Saro Sarkisian SOUTHEAST GLENDALE -- Despite striking out nine batters and allowing only three hits, Glendale High baseball pitcher Carlos Cabrera didn't get much help from his team, as the Nitros produced just one run and were tied with Van Nuys after 6 1/2 innings. But in the bottom of the seventh, Kevin Hickcox blasted a two-run homer over the left-center field wall to lift Glendale to the 3-1 win the San Fernando Valley Tournament game Saturday at home.

Charles Rich PASADENA -- Riding the coattails of a four-game winning streak, Glendale High baseball Coach Jay Chadwick said his squad hasn't played a complete game this season. That might raise a few eyebrows among the members of the Pacific League coaching fraternity, who have had trouble recently beating the Nitros, but Chadwick doesn't pull any punches making such succinct comments. Chadwick's statements might serve as a motivational tool for his team, which posted a 5-3 road league victory against Pasadena on Tuesday.

Scott Hong (Glendale Community College, 2011) Occidental baseball senior: Once again, Hong is doing it all for the Tigers. But after leading the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference last season in saves, Hong has taken on the roll as starter when he's not manning the outfield. Hong leads Oxy in both wins and saves, as he's posted a 4-0 record with four saves and has a complete game to his credit. Hong has been brilliant to the tune of a 0.64 earned-run average with 29 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings to just eight walks.

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.

Erik Boal The late-game heroics that the Glendale Senior Softball All-Stars had become so accustomed to during the first round of pool play in the Little League Western Regional Tournament unfortunately belonged to East Redding on Monday. After spotting the Division 2 champion a three-run lead in the top of the first inning, Glendale eventually rallied to tie it in the fifth and seemed primed to record another come-from-behind victory. But East Redding pinch-hitter Randi Darrah hit a two-out flare into short left field in the top of the eighth that was bobbled and eventually dropped, which led to a pair of unearned runs and a 6-3 victory at Jim Scown Field at the Northwest Little League Complex.

Saro Sarkisian NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- The Mauerhan Plumbing Major Baseball team was sitting on the brink of an upset against the Montrose Travel Yankees in a Little League District 16 Tri-Cities Tournament second-chance bracket game at Babe Herman Field. Mauerhan Plumbing shut out the Tujunga League champions for four innings Saturday, allowing just two hits, but the Yankees stormed back to score six runs in the final two innings to pull off a 6-3 victory in the 9- through 12-year-old division.

Peter Samore GLENDALE -- A 4 1/2-hour trip for the Village Christian School baseball team for a CIF Southern Section Division V second-round game at Bishop Union paid off big Tuesday. Behind a 15-hit attack, the Crusaders moved on to the quarterfinals in an 11-5 win over the Broncos. Village Christian (17-5) will host Santa Ana Calvary Chapel -- a 10-1 winner over Riverside Notre Dame in a second-round game Tuesday -- at 3:15 p.m. Friday at Tujunga Field.

GLENDALE - It was just the phenomenal start the Glendale Community College baseball team was looking to get. Faced with an unfamiliar opponent in Grossmont College, the Vaqueros turned to freshman right-hander Angel Rodriguez, whose consistent excellence has been a keystone in propelling GCC into the 2013 California Community College Athletic Assn. Baseball Southern California Regional. PHOTOS: Glendale Community College vs. Grossmont tournament baseball Rodriguez responded with a clutch performance, hurling a complete game and leading the Vaqueros to a 4-2 win over the visiting Griffins on a hot and breezy Friday afternoon at Stengel Field in the first game of the best-of-three series.

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.

Scott Hong (Glendale Community College, 2011) Occidental baseball senior: Once again, Hong is doing it all for the Tigers. But after leading the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference last season in saves, Hong has taken on the roll as starter when he's not manning the outfield. Hong leads Oxy in both wins and saves, as he's posted a 4-0 record with four saves and has a complete game to his credit. Hong has been brilliant to the tune of a 0.64 earned-run average with 29 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings to just eight walks.

GLENDALE — The following are updates on area athletes at the collegiate level .   Dustin Emmons (Crescenta Valley High, 2008) UC Riverside baseball, junior: Despite receiving the absolute minimum of run support, Emmons put together an impressive complete-game effort to pick up a 1-0 win over host St. Mary’s on Saturday. The former All-Area Player of the Year allowed eight hits and walked one, while notching four strikeouts. He allowed a one-out double in the bottom of the ninth inning and recorded the final out on a popup with the tying run at third base.

SOUTHWEST GLENDALE ? With Jack Porras in a zone on the mound, everything seemed to click for the 9- and 10-year-old Foothill All-Star Baseball squad. Porras, a right-hander, had a vast array of pitches to confuse Tujunga. He struck out 12 and delivered a key two-run double in the third inning to help Foothill breeze to an 8-0 victory against Tujunga on Tuesday night in a Tri-Cities Little League District 16 All-Star Tournament contest at Pacific Park. Foothill, which opened the tournament Monday night with a lopsided 16-4 win against Jewel City/Jewish War Veterans at Pacific Park, will next face Crescenta Valley or Burbank in a winner?

SANTA MONICA — One week into the 2008 CIF Southern Section Division III softball playoffs, the games are getting tighter, the competition tougher and, of course, the stakes ever higher. None of it has seemed to affect the Crescenta Valley High softball team, which handled its biggest postseason challenge yet with textbook precision on Thursday and emerged unscathed from a quarterfinal showdown at Santa Monica to reach the semifinal round for the first time since 2000. Crescenta Valley’s 3-0 win over the Vikings started with the Falcons seizing an immediate upper hand — in the form of a two-run first inning — and ended with seven shutout innings pitched by Kali Cancelosi.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE ? An unbeaten Prep League season for the Flintridge Prep softball team continued on Saturday with a 7-2 defeat of Westridge. The Rebels slugged their way to a first-inning lead, which they preserved throughout the game behind seven strong innings from pitcher Lydia Kay and several nice defensive plays. ?We are swinging the bats really well and what I like is that it?s [batters] one through nine doing it and we can come off the bench and do the same,? said Prep Coach Julie Jaime, whose team improved to 8-3 on the season and 4-0 in league.

GLENDALE — The following are updates on local athletes competing in Major League Baseball. Jason Hirsh (St. Francis, 2000) starting pitcher, Colorado Rockies: Pitching Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards, Hirsh broke out of his eight-start winless streak in a big way. The 6 foot 8 right-hander not only earned his first win since April 22, but pitched the first complete game of his young career, in a...

Erik Boal Danielle Soule (Glendale, 2003) freshman first baseman, Colgate University softball -- As if hitting the first two home runs of her collegiate career weren't exciting enough, Soule was informed Wednesday she was selected as Patriot League Freshman of the Week. The former News-Press All-Area standout went three for eight in four games against Holy Cross, as Colgate (21-7, 3-1 in league) won three against the Crusaders. Soule drove in two runs, scored three times and walked twice, in addition to handling all 35 of her defensive chances.