Falcons

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.

GIRLS' WATER POLO Crescenta Valley 12, Oxnard 4: The Falcons won the Oxnard Tournament on Saturday behind four goals from Sabrina Hatzer in the championship match against the host Yellowjackets. Elissa Arnold added three goals and Stefanie Loporchio scored twice for Crescenta Valley, which improved to 26-0. The Falcons played three matches on Saturday, including a 12-7 win over Newbury Park in the semifinals led by four goals from Shannon Hovanesian and 13 saves by Gabriel Isacson and a 10-1 defeat of Righetti in the quarters, in which Hatzer scored three goals.

BOYS' SOCCER Crescenta Valley 6, Culver City 0: Pavle Atanackovic scored a pair of goals Tuesday to lift the Falcons (4-0-4) to a pool-play road victory in the Westside Tournament. Crescenta Valley, which hasn't allowed a goal in its last five matches, got one goal apiece from Alex Berger, Erick Trejo, Eric Keshishian and Tony Royer. GIRLS' SOCCER Crescenta Valley 1, Golden Valley 0: The host Falcons (2-3) picked up a nonleague victory Tuesday.

GIRLS' VOLLEYBALL Crescenta Valley 2, L.A. Baptist 0: The Falcons won their final pool-play match, 25-18, 25-18, on Friday night in the opening round of their host tournament to finish second in Pool B and secure a Gold Division playoff berth for today's final round, which begins at 10:30 a.m. Crescenta Valley split its first two matches. It fell to South Hills, 24-26, 25-14, 15-4 before besting Van Nuys, 25-23, 24-26, 15-13. Viewpoint 3, Glendale Adventist Academy 0: Glendale Adventist put up a fight in the final game, racking up 22 points, but was still swept by Viewpoint, 25-14, 25-12, 25-22, in a Liberty League match Thursday.

GIRLS' GOLF Crescenta Valley 221, Burroughs 238: Audrey Chung of Crescenta Valley carded a five-over-par 41 on Wednesday to earn medalist honors in a nonleague match at De Bell Golf Club. Amy Park had a 43 for the Falcons (14-9-1). GIRLS' CROSS-COUNTRY Holy Family in Horizon League meet: The Gaels finished last in the five-team event Wednesday at Griffith Park. Alejandra Hernandez was ninth for the Gaels, who got a 10th-place effort from Gaby Diaz.

TRACK AND FIELD Crescenta Valley in Camarillo Distance Relays: The Falcons' quartet of Cali King, Diane Lombardi, Claudia Pham and Anneke Kakebeen took the top spot in the 4x1,600-meters relay Friday night in a time of 22 minutes 21.45 seconds — which was the second-best time in the nine-year history of the meet. King ran a 5:27.9 leg to lead off and the time was matched by Kakebeen on the anchor. Lombardi ran a 5:43.6 leg, while Pham followed in the third leg at 5:41.7.

SOFTBALL Crescenta Valley 8, Temple City 1: Hannah Cookson hit two home runs to lead the Falcons (4-0) to a win in the championship game of the Duarte Tournament on Saturday. Cece Martinez, Sydney House, Delaney Gay and Jessica Morena each recorded multi-hit games. Long Beach Poly 8, Hoover 4: Briana Manzanero, Kaitlyn Williams and Kenya Buckley each went two for three for the Tornadoes in a Cypress Tournament loss on Saturday. Hoover also lost to Fullerton, 9-1, in the same tournament on Saturday.

BOYS' SOCCER Crescenta Valley 2, Burbank 2: An Alex Berger goal off a throw-in inside the final minute of regulation saved the Falcons (4-0-6) from their first loss of the season in a Pacific League match Friday at Burbank. Berger also assisted on Pavle Atanackovic's first-half goal. Crescenta Valley, which tied Glendale in its league opener on Tuesday, is 0-0-2 in league. St. Francis 3, Crespi 0: Billy McCreary, Thomas Banks and Derek Bell all scored goals for visiting St. Francis, which improved to 2-7-4 and 1-1 in the Mission League on Friday.

BOYS' GOLF Crescenta Valley in Pacific League Match No. 1: Led by a seven-over-par 77 from Paul Park, the Falcons finished second with a score of 416 behind Arcadia (372) on Wednesday at Brookside Park No. 2 Golf Course. Crescenta Valley (7-3, 4-1 in league), which finished three strokes ahead of third-place Burroughs, got 82s from Adrian Chia and John Lee, an 87 from Aaron Peskett and an 88 from David Moreno. Maranatha 200, Flintridge Prep 200 (46-48): Jack Bouchard carded a one-over-par 36 to lead the Rebels, who fell on a card-off between the teams' No. 6 golfers at Altadena Golf Course on Wednesday.

GLENDALE - Just when it seemed like its playoff woes were bound to be lifted, the Crescenta Valley High baseball team suffered another first-round heartbreak at the hands of a double play. The 1-0 loss to Yucaipa at Stengel Field in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division II tournament Friday night marked the Falcons' sixth in a row in the playoffs, with the past three all at home in the first round. Last season, the Falcons fell to Tustin, 7-4. Their last playoff victory came in a 2009 wild-card game and they haven't advanced to the second round of CIF since 2008.

LA CRESCENTA - Though it's only May and it's only passing league, Crescenta Valley High's football team certainly wasn't treating Friday afternoon's first day of the Gordy Warnock Memorial Passing Tournament like any old spring day. Facing Pacific League-foe Burroughs in their second pool-play game of the day, the Falcons rushed onto offense with less than a minute remaining in a back-and-forth contest. Alas, a deep ball into the back corner of the end zone by quarterback Ben Rees drifted through the fingertips of receiver Connor Van Ginkel, whose outstretched dive came up just short, as the Indians prevailed, 22-16.

Scott Hong (Glendale Community College, 2011) Occidental College baseball senior: Hong wrapped up a phenomenal senior campaign at Occidental with a fitting accolade, as the former Vaquero was bestowed an All-Southern California Interscholastic Athletic Conference first-team selection. As a junior, Hong was a second-team All-SCIAC outfielder and also a first-team American Baseball Coaches Assn. All-West Region utility player. This year, he was a first-team all-conference selection as he did a little bit of everything and did it all very well.

LOS ANGELES - That the Holy Family High School softball team qualified for the playoffs is a victory unto itself. Considering there are no seniors on the Gaels' team and only one junior, that's a whole lot of freshmen and sophomores taking the field. Thus, there may indeed be a silver lining underneath Tuesday afternoon's postseason loss. “I know because I've seen it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year how they've progressed in so many ways,” said Holy Family sophomore shortstop Ginnes Paladini.

Two local softball teams will participate in the CIF Southern Section playoffs after the CIF office unveiled its playoff pairings Monday. Crescenta Valley High and Holy Family will have little time to prepare for their postseason contests, as both the Falcons and Gaels will take part in wild-card games Tuesday. Crescenta Valley (14-10-1) will make the short trip to Pasadena to face La Salle (12-12-1) in a Division III contest at 3:15 p.m. Holy Family (6-14) will host Frazier Mountain (14-7)

In the current state of CIF Southern Section postseason baseball, not even winning a league title is a guarantee for a first-round playoff home game. In the cases of Crescenta Valley High and Flintridge Prep, both teams shared titles in their respective leagues, but, fortunately for the Falcons and Rebels, they ended up on the right end of tiebreakers and will host first-round playoff games on Friday. As released Monday by the CIF Southern Section offices, the Falcons (20-7) will host Yucaipa or Great Oak in the first round of the Division II playoffs, while the Rebels (15-8)

After seeing their attempts to lead their respective boys' golf teams past the CIF Southern Section team divisionals fall short, six area athletes will strive to achieve individual success. The group will migrate north to Oxnard to participate in the 18-hole CIF Southern Section Northern Individual Regional, which will be held at 8 a.m. Monday at River Ridge Golf Club's Vineyard Course. Among those expected to participate will be Paul Park of Crescenta Valley High, Vince De Pinto and Mike Mozilo of St. Francis and La Cañada's Collin Morikawa, Robby Stehlin and Joshua Suh. The top 30 plus ties from the Northern and Southern regionals will advance to the CIF Southern Section Individual Championship Tournament, which will be held at 9 a.m. May 20 at La Purisima Golf Course in Lompoc.

RIVERSIDE - There's little the Crescenta Valley High boys' swimming team was unable to accomplish during the high school careers of Young Tae Seo and Harrison Thai. One thing the Falcons and their two standout seniors couldn't do, however, was go out with a second straight championship on Saturday at the CIF Southern Section Division II meet at Riverside City College. PHOTOS: CIF Southern Section Division II swimming final Try as it might, CV couldn't climb the uphill challenge it was dealt in a deeper Los Osos team that won six events and set three Division II meet records in the process.

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.

After falling just shy of a Pacific League championship the past three years, one could argue the Crescenta Valley High boys' basketball team would be the early favorite heading into the 2014 season. The league found itself in a wave of change this offseason, as Pasadena - the nine-time reining champion - had its coach of 18 years, Tim Tucker, step down and accept an open position at Maranatha in March. Even without the All-Area Player of the Year in Cole Currie, it appeared the Falcons were in the strongest position to not only take league but make another run in the CIF Southern Section Division I-A playoffs with a trio of key returners.