Hurler

Edgar Melik-Stepanyan Jesse Meaux had long ago established himself as a dominating pitcher. On Tuesday night against Crescenta Valley, Meaux cemented his place amongst the best 12-year-olds around. The Foothill Little League District 16 Major Baseball hurler simply overpowered his opposition and appeared untouchable at times, striking out 10 in a 3-1 second-chance bracket final victory at Babe Herman Field. "He's a very strong kid," said Foothill Coach Richard Robbins of Meaux, who struck out the first batter in five of the six innings.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE ? To say Hoover High's baseball team has had a bad experience at the 41st Babe Herman Tournament would be an understatement. On Tuesday, the Tornadoes lost their third tournament game in as many tries, getting shut out for a second straight contest as they fell to Glendora, 9-0, at Stengel Field. "I don't think we came ready to play," said Hoover Coach Jim Delzell, whose team fell to 9-5. "I don't want to take anything away from Glendora, they're a good team, but we didn't play like we're capable of playing."

Saro Sarkisian NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- When 15 errors are committed in a softball game, it is not a pretty sight. But when the Virgil's Hardware Fireball's 10- through 12-year old Major Softball team committed 10 of those errors, it spelled disaster. The Fireballs fell to Photography As An Art, 12-5, in a Little League District 16 Tri-Cities Major Softball winner's- bracket quarterfinal game Friday at Scholl Canyon Park. Photography (20-1) will play the winner of Parkview/ Monterey Tow at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Scholl Canyon.

Grant Gordon Same story. Same ending. And once again, Flintridge Prep's Jenna Schachtner was the author. The senior right-hander twirled another gem as the Rebels won another Prep League game, defeating visiting Westridge, 5-0, on Tuesday afternoon. -- BOX SCORE -- -- Westridge 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- 0 1 1 Flintridge Prep 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 -- 5 9 1 -- -- Westridge IP R ER H BB K Mone 6 5 2 9 1 5 -- -- Flintridge Prep IP R ER H BB K Schachtner 7 0 0 1 1 16 -- -- WP - Schachtner (6-1)

LA CRESCENTA — Landing the first shot against an imposing, revved-up opponent set a great tone early. Even when down late in a close game, one jaw-dropping defensive play after another, one clutch delivery from the circle after the next kept the home team’s drive alive. But on Tuesday, the Crescenta Valley High softball team came just a few timely hits away from carrying on with a season that had previously known no heartbreak, only triumph, falling to visiting La Serna, 3-2, in the semifinal round and finishing with a school-record-tying 29 wins to just one tough loss.

Grant Gordon When inquiring about Flintridge Prep's Jenna Schachtner, chances are your answers will come in the form of cliches. The senior softball hurler gives the proverbial 110% every time she's on the field. She always gives it her all. She works as hards as anybody. She's the first one to arrive at practice and the last one to leave. Says Rebels' Coach Anne Konrad: "Her performance is always at the highest level. You never have to tell her to pick it up, she's always ready."

Hamlet Nalbandyan PASADENA -- The Glendale High baseball team had plenty of reasons for its lackluster performance in a 9-1 loss against St. Francis High at Pasadena's Brookside Park. After all, it's not easy playing five games in four days -- including two on Thursday -- and being short-handed on the mound. But judging from the way the Golden Knights performed Thursday, it really wouldn't have made much of a difference had the situations been ideal for the Nitros.

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — When Crescenta Valley High pitcher Heather Bacon took to the circle on Thursday afternoon, it’s a relatively secure assumption that the All-Area hurler didn’t have all that much pressure upon her shoulders. As reliable as Falcons offensive dominance has become this Pacific League season and the last, Crescenta Valley’s 11-run first-inning explosion was still surprisingly spectacular. The offensive barrage keyed a 17-0 five-inning league win for the Falcons against host Glendale, in which Bacon combined with Erin Ashby for a no-hitter and Crescenta Valley rolled to its seventh straight win. “We came out and placed the ball where we needed to place the ball,” said Falcons senior shortstop Baillie Kirker, who went three for three with a walk, three runs scored and three runs batted in. “Our whole lineup battled through.

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — Over the first three innings of Tuesday afternoon's gusty Pacific League softball game at Glendale High, the host Nitros matched the visiting Burbank Bulldogs inning for inning, play for play. Then the wheels came off for the Nitros, as the Bulldogs ran off four runs in the fourth inning en route to an 11-0 victory at Dalton Field, highlighted by the 16-strikeout, shutout performance of Burbank hurler Kristin Peraza. "The first three innings, it was a tight ballgame," said first-year Burbank Coach Kris Jones, whose team improved to 10-7 overall and 6-1 in league.

BURBANK — As far as pitching alone is concerned, Thursday's Pacific League matchup between Glendale High and Burbank was a duel between Nitros hurler Courtney Williams and her counterpart Kristen Peraza. Peraza went the distance, allowing just one earned run in a dominant three-hit performance, and Williams kept pace with an eight-hit, two-earned-run effort of her own. That's where the similarities ended, however, as Glendale dug its own hole with eight errors in the field and several more on the base paths to fall, 5-1. "We played well [at first]

The following are updates on local baseball players at the minor league level. Ryan Sherriff (Glendale Community College, 2011) starting pitcher, Palm Beach Cardinals: Plenty has gone right throughout the season for the former Glendale Angeleno, who is thriving with the St. Louis Cardinals' class-A Advanced affiliate. Sherriff, a left-hander, was selected the St. Louis Cardinals Minor League Pitcher of the Month for June. In four June appearances, Sherriff went 3-0 with a 1.98 earned-run average and struck out 14. Sherriff went at least six innings in each of his four starts, yielding two runs or less.

One moment Marco Estrada was on top of the world, enjoying a mountain of first-inning run support Wednesday afternoon and even driving in the last two runs of the six-run explosion himself with a rare feat for a starting pitcher - a two-out double. The next instant, the Milwaukee Brewers right-hander, who once played at Glendale Community College, was pulling up lame rounding first base, on his way out of the game and ultimately to the 15-day disabled list. Estrada was placed on the DL Thursday with a right quadriceps strain suffered while running the bases, according to a press release issued by the Brewers, who won Wednesday's home game over the San Francisco Giants, 8-5. "I almost wish I would have struck out on that," Estrada told mlb.com of his fateful hit after leaving the game in the first inning.

The following are updates on local baseball players at the minor league level. Ryan Sherriff (Glendale Community College, 2011) Palm Beach Cardinals starting pitcher: Sherriff made his season and Florida State League debut with the Class-A Advanced affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday after being brought up from the Class-A Short Season New York-Penn League Muckdogs on Saturday. The former Vaquero responded to the promotion by picking up the win in an 8-4 victory over the Daytona Cubs after going seven innings with four runs (three earned)

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE - For the sixth straight game, the Glendale High baseball squad failed to muster up an earned run. Unlike the previous five which ended in losses, however, Tuesday afternoon saw the Nitros receive a solid outing from starting pitcher Daniel Aragon and timely defense, as they capitalized on errors to nullify another subpar day at the plate for a 1-0 Pacific League victory over the visiting Pasadena Bulldogs Tuesday afternoon....

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Despite a 2-0 loss to Antelope Valley College at the Glendale Sports Complex on Wednesday, the Glendale Community College softball team had a brighter outlook on the bulk of the season that still lies ahead. The Vaqueros' optimism came from the solid outing turned in by No. 1 starting pitcher Jennifer Meza, who limited an Antelope Valley lineup averaging better than eight runs a game to just one earned run on four hits in seven innings and acknowledged she's on her way to reestablishing the form that made her an All-Western State Conference pick as a freshman.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — The short drive home from the Glendale Sports Complex must have felt long for the Glendale Community College softball team Saturday after getting blown out, 8-0, by Santa Barbara Community College. Santa Barbara hit the road early after its first game of the season — dispatching host Glendale in five innings. The easy victory came behind a stellar pitching performance from Kailey Snyder, leaving Santa Barbara's Coach Paula Congleton with little to critique.

COLTON — For a Crescenta Valley High softball team that had showed the resolve to come from behind in many a game this season, Thursday afternoon’s CIF Southern Section Division III first-round game was no different. But this time around, the Falcons ran into a Colton squad that proved to be just as resilient. What transpired was a see-saw affair that ended with the Yellowjackets prevailing, 6-3, over the visiting Falcons at Colton High. “It just didn’t fall our way today,” said Crescenta Valley sophomore third baseman Allison Lacey, who had two of her team’s six hits, including a solo home run in the top of the first that gave the Falcons a 1-0 advantage.

BURBANK — It was a battle of young pitchers in their first season with their respective programs when the Burbank High softball team took on Hoover Thursday in a Pacific League game. With the Bulldogs’ No. 1 pitcher, freshman Chrystal Diaz, sidelined with an ankle injury, fellow freshman Ashley Russo got the start against the Tornadoes. Hoover started sophomore Briana Manzanero, a transfer from Burroughs. Russo, who enjoyed success in the Burbank Little League program before coming to Burbank, had a no-hitter through four innings and gave up just one hit in helping the Bulldogs roll to a 10-0 victory at McCambridge Park.

GLENDALE — The following are updates on area Major League Baseball players .   Marco Estrada (Glendale Community College, 2003) Washington Nationals, starting pitcher: Estrada made his major league starting debut Saturday. Unfortunately for Estrada, it didn’t last too long. Estrada went 2 1/3 innings, giving up five runs and three hits in an 11-3 road loss to the Florida Marlins. Estrada, who was drafted in the sixth round by the Nationals in 2006, walked three and struck out four.