Crescenta Valley

GIRLS' SOCCER Crescenta Valley 4, Glendale 0 : The Falcons improved to 8-4-1 and 6-1-1 in the Pacific League on Monday at home, as they got three first-half goals en route to an easy win. Olivia Bird, Jacque Phinney, Cassandra Orozco and Sarah Worden scored goals. BOYS' SOCCER St. Francis 2, Harvard-Westlake 2: Billy McCreary and Matt Laterza each scored one goal Monday night for the visiting Golden Knights in a Mission League match. St. Francis (4-7-7, 3-1-3 in league)

Crescenta Valley bounced back from a tough loss against Arcadia last week when the Falcon volleyball team held on for a 25-22, 27-25, 25-14 victory against Hoover (1-12, 1-6). Crescenta Valley improved to 4-4 in Pacific League play (5-11 overall). In a see-saw battle for the first two games, Hoover jumped out to a 10-7 lead in game one on consecutive aces, yet consecutive kills by Falcons Kim Cox and Maggie Rajtar tied the game at 13, setting the Falcons up for a 16-13 lead ? their first lead since 3-2 ?

What began as a mutual exercise in frustration and futility for the Burroughs and Crescenta Valley high football teams on Oct. 2 at Moyse Field ended as anything but. For three quarters of the both teams? Pacific League opener, the Falcons seemed intent on inflicting self-sabotage, while the Indians appeared utterly incapable of fully capitalizing on three turnovers and numerous Crescenta Valley mistakes. Beginning in the final seconds of the third quarter, however, the two rivals engaged in a slugfest that saw five lead changes and jaw-dropping big plays from both sides and ended in a thrilling 34-32 win for Crescenta Valley.

GLENDALE — As successful as they were in the opening game of the Junior Softball Southern California State Tournament, the members of the Section 2 champion Crescenta Valley team had no problem with playing two on Saturday. As the day stretched on, the winning continued for the local Junior squad, which followed up a 14-0 win over Section 9 champion San Bernardino Reid Park with a 6-3 winner's bracket victory over Section 8 champion Victorville later in the afternoon at King Street Field in District 33 La Mesa to clinch a spot in the semifinal game at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

BURBANK — Many of the local girls’ high school golf players are consistently showing they can match up well with the top players from around the region. Christine Cho and Katie Park of Crescenta Valley and Burroughs’ Emily Tubert proved that in a big way Thursday afternoon at the seventh annual Burbank Girls’ Invitational Golf Tournament at De Bell Municipal Golf Course. The Harvard University-bound Cho and Park helped the Falcons win the tournament’s A Flight competition for the second time in three years.

Spring is rapidly approaching (though the rain may suggest otherwise) and with the change in weather comes the commencement of the 2007 season of spring sports. Soon we will be hearing the crack of a bat in the warm sunshine or the splash of water as a row of capped swimmers leap into the pool. Golf, boys' tennis, boys' volleyball, softball, track and baseball all begin spring training as we wrap up winter sport playoffs ? in fact, competition for some spring sports begins as early as next week.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Behind a stellar offensive performance from its No. 3 hitter, Crescenta Valley Tile finds itself back in the hunt for the La Crescenta Babe Ruth Division 13-15 championship. When Crescenta Valley needed its slugger to come through, Jimmy Smiled delivered with power. Smiley finished with two hits, including a two-run home run, to spark Tile to a 5-1 victory against Trotta on Monday night at Stengel Field. Crescenta Valley (16-7-1) and Trotta (19-2) will meet in the tournament's if-necessary championship contest at 6:30 p.m. today at Stengel Field.

BURBANK - Burbank High pitcher Daniel Starkand and his counterpart at Crescenta Valley, Kyle Murray, battled in a valiant head-to-head tie baseball game through seven innings Friday. Unfortunately for the two hurlers, neither was around to garner a decision when the game was finally decided in the 10th inning. Both Starkand and Murray pitched well and gave way to relievers after the Bulldogs and Falcons were knotted at 1 through regulation. Despite having its chances to win the contest in regulation and in extra innings, Burbank wasn't able to cash in on its opportunities.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE - Sometimes miracles come about in mysterious ways. On other occasions, they can appear to literally fall from the sky, which was the case for the Crescenta Valley Tile Babe Ruth baseball team on Tuesday evening. Tile received a two-run error on a dropped popup in its final at-bat in the seventh inning that tied its if-necessary championship game versus La Crescenta Trotta before scoring an additional run an inning later in winning the game, 3-2, and capturing the La Crescenta Babe Ruth 13-15 Tournament title at Stengel Field.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Behind a stellar offensive performance from its No. 3 hitter, Crescenta Valley Tile finds itself back in the hunt for the La Crescenta Babe Ruth Division 13-15 championship. When Crescenta Valley needed its slugger to come through, Jimmy Smiled delivered with power. Smiley finished with two hits, including a two-run home run, to spark Tile to a 5-1 victory against Trotta on Monday night at Stengel Field. Crescenta Valley (16-7-1) and Trotta (19-2) will meet in the tournament's if-necessary championship contest at 6:30 p.m. today at Stengel Field.

LA CRESCENTA - Taking a brief break from spring practice sessions, a quartet of area high school football teams looked for early indications to determine how their respective skill position units would respond facing live competition. For the most part, Crescenta Valley, Hoover, Burroughs and Burbank had mixed results during the first day of the annual Gordy Warnock Passing Tournament at Crescenta Valley on Friday afternoon. Crescenta Valley and Hoover each split their two games, while Burroughs and Burbank dropped both of their contests.

For the first time since 2008, the Crescenta Valley High baseball team captured the Pacific League championship this season. The last time that happened was also the last time the Falcons (20-7) advanced past the first round of the playoffs. Whether or not history repeats itself this season will depend on how well the Falcons match up with Tustin, which visits Stengel Field at 4:15 p.m. today for a CIF Southern Section Division II first-round game. The first key, according to Falcons senior right fielder Troy Mulcahey, a veteran of the last three CV teams, is to approach the game with an appropriate level of focus and urgency.

LA CRESCENTA - An unlikely CIF Southern Section Division III playoff run that began with a come-from-behind victory over the 10th-seeded squad, followed by a win against the No. 7 team, came to a screeching halt Saturday evening for the Crescenta Valley boys' volleyball team. The unranked Falcons dropped their quarterfinal match against visiting No. 2 seed South Torrance, 25-15, 22-25, 25-18, 25-21. "Like I told my guys, they made a couple big plays that we didn't. We missed a couple.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE - Technically speaking, Crescenta Valley High's baseball team assured itself a share of its first Pacific League title since 2008 on Tuesday afternoon with a lopsided win over last-place Muir. But Friday night was truly the Falcons' night. After a league-title drought and a seven-game losing streak against archrival Arcadia, Friday was most assuredly still circled on the Falcons' calendar, having clinched a share of league or not. And thanks to seven brilliant innings from Kyle Murray, plenty of timely hitting and a cavalcade of CV momentum, the Falcons wrapped up the league crown all for themselves with a resounding 7-0 win over the Apaches at Stengel Field.

LA CRESCENTA - First the Crescenta Valley High boys' volleyball team broke Cerritos' spirit with a decisive win in a pivotal third game. Then the host Falcons simply broke the match wide open with a fourth-game rout to claim a 25-19, 22-25, 25-14, 25-13 victory in a CIF Southern Section Division III second-round playoff game on Thursday night. "That was a blast, it was so much fun," said Falcons outside hitter Wesley Cormier, who finished with 10 kills and four blocks and had four kills and an ace in the final game, which Crescenta Valley led by as many as 15 points.

BOYS' GOLF Crescenta Valley in CIF Southern Section Northern Team Divisional: The Falcons placed 16th in the 19-team event Monday at Soule Park in Ojai. Playing without three regular scorers, the Falcons shot a 431. Andrew Cho paced Crescenta Valley, which finished second in the Pacific League, with a five-over-par 77. The Falcons also received an 83 from David Moreno, 87 from Andy Kim, 91 from Michael Rinder and a 93 from Cody Renfro. "They did OK, and it was an opportunity for some of the others to play and get more experience," said Crescenta Valley Coach John Pehar, who said the Falcons were without Adrian Chia, Paul Park and Patrick Kallas because of advanced placement testing.

There won't be much time for the four playoff-bound area boys' volleyball teams to prepare for their first-round matchups, which were revealed by the CIF Southern Section Saturday morning and will be played at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night. Two Pacific League teams, Burroughs and Crescenta Valley, will open play in Division III, while St. Francis faces an uphill climb in Division I and Providence will measure its progress against a team it faced earlier this year in Division V. Burroughs hasn't met up with its first-round foe, Village Christian, since last April at the Crescenta Valley Varsity Tournament.

While there wasn't much suspense in determining which boys' golf teams from the Pacific League would qualify for the playoffs, Crescenta Valley High, Burroughs and Burbank enter the postseason with varying goals. They will look to achieve them at the CIF Southern Section Northern Team Divisional, which will begin at 1 p.m. Monday at Soule Park Golf Course in Ojai. Crescenta Valley, Burroughs and Burbank will be joined by league champion Arcadia in the 19-team event. The top three teams from the seven divisionals will move on to the CIF Team Championship Final, which will take place at 8 a.m. Thursday at Rancho San Marcos Golf Club in Santa Barbara.