Paso Robles

GLENDALE — Nearly a week after wrapping up its sixth consecutive Pacific League title, the Crescenta Valley High baseball team is eager to get back on the field. The third-seeded Falcons will get that chance in today's CIF Southern Section Division II first-round game when they face off against Paso Robles at 4:15 p.m. at Stengel Field. When the playoff draws were released Monday, the Falcons were forced to wait to find out who they'd play after a wild-card game, as well as when they'd play.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE - Perhaps it was only fitting that in a game relatively absent of offense, it was a 22-yard loss that secured victory for the St. Francis High football team on Thursday night. On fourth and sixth with three seconds left on the Paso Robles 47-yard line, Golden Knights quarterback Jared Lebowitz took the snap in shotgun formation, ran backward and ran out a 9-3 St. Francis nonleague win over the Wildcats at Friedman Field. Though it was the Golden Knights' offense that ended the game on the field, it was most assuredly the play of the St. Francis defense that led the team to a 5-0 start.

Local Red Cross ready to help quake victims SOUTHWEST GLENDALE -- The Glendale-Crescenta Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross was on standby Wednesday to help the victims of Monday's deadly 6.5-magnitude earthquake that rocked the town of Paso Robles. Two people were killed by falling debris from buildings that were not scheduled to be retrofitted until 2018 on Paso Robles' main street and several others were injured in the wake of the quake, which was felt as far as San Francisco and Los Angeles.

For Wine Cave owner Scott Starkey, selling wine is more than just pulling the cork out of the bottle and pouring. His philosophy: ?Finding wines that you?re not going to get at Trader Joe?s or Costco.? At Wine Cave, buyers will find wines that may not be available anywhere else, ?that are good, some excellent, some phenomenal, and at really good pricing,? he said. Starkey will focus on selling wines from South America, in particular wines from Chile and Argentina. As far as selling wines from California, Starkey will offer bottles from wineries in Paso Robles in central California, a region overlooked by the wine industry, he said.

Erik Boal Dan Berry was his usual calm self during Friday's post-game interview, but that didn't mean there weren't a number of anxious moments for the veteran coach and his Crescenta Valley High softball players against Paso Robles. Despite traveling almost 200 miles to get to La Crescenta for their CIF Southern Section Division II playoff opener, the Bearcats built a three-run lead midway through the third inning, and gave the Falcon faithful some cause to worry about a second straight first-round postseason exit.

TODAY BOYS' VOLLEYBALL Flintridge Prep at Windward in CIF Southern Section Division V second-round match, 7 p.m. SWIMMING AND DIVING Crescenta Valley, Glendale and Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy in CIF Southern Section Masters Meet at Belmont Plaza pool in Long Beach, 5 p.m. THURSDAY BASEBALL Ventura or Paso Robles vs. Crescenta Valley in CIF Southern Section Division...

GLENDALE ? For a program that had missed the postseason the previous four seasons, not many would have bothered to predict that the St. Francis High baseball team would end that streak. Even when the Golden Knights qualified for the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs this spring, there probably weren't many who could have forecasted them make a deep run in the postseason. St. Francis has received stellar pitching, defense and timely hits to make believers out of its doubters since the playoffs began.

For the Crescenta Valley High baseball team, Monday was the beginning of a whole new ballgame. The Falcons have dropped down from CIF Southern Section Division I to Division II for this season's postseason. That means there's no chance of facing Mater Dei, the team that's beat them in the second round the last two seasons. Riding a 16-game winning streak that's seen the Falcons claim the Pacific League title, Crescenta Valley also earned the No. 3 seed, as it will await a wild-card winner.

Joyce Rudolph Kathleen Delaney's first book "Dying For a Change" [America House] is a murder mystery set in a small town facing the challenges posed by progress. The heroine, Ellen McKenzie, heads home to Santa Louisa after her divorce and hopes to start a new career in real estate. She finds the owners of a large chain discount store have chosen her city as its next location and residents are divided about the prospect. McKenzie is drawn into the drama when she discovers a man's body in a closet of the first house she is showing.

Charles Rich Paso Robles (13-13) at Crescenta Valley (21-3), 3:15 p.m.: The Falcons enter the postseason on a roll after winning their sixth consecutive Pacific League championship. CV will be led by pitcher Sarah Sherman (21-3) and catcher Amanda Peek. Other CV athletes expected to make contributions in this Division II matchup will be third baseman Kirsten Whitt and outfielder Megan Luna. Sherman, a senior right-hander, is also one of the team's better hitters.

Two emaciated mountain lion cubs rescued from the streets of Burbank on Tuesday will live out their days at an animal sanctuary. The female cubs, believed to be between 2 and 3 months old, were not with their mother long enough to learn life skills, such as hunting, said Cindy Reyes, executive director at the California Wildlife Center in Calabasas where the cubs were briefly housed this week. The cubs - which were days from starving to death when Burbank animal control officers rescued them from under a parked car after some residents tried hitting them with broomsticks to shoo the cats away - face many months of rehabilitation.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE - Perhaps it was only fitting that in a game relatively absent of offense, it was a 22-yard loss that secured victory for the St. Francis High football team on Thursday night. On fourth and sixth with three seconds left on the Paso Robles 47-yard line, Golden Knights quarterback Jared Lebowitz took the snap in shotgun formation, ran backward and ran out a 9-3 St. Francis nonleague win over the Wildcats at Friedman Field. Though it was the Golden Knights' offense that ended the game on the field, it was most assuredly the play of the St. Francis defense that led the team to a 5-0 start.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — While visible in a few brief flashes, the full force of the Flintridge Prep girls' basketball team's offense just couldn't break through the tall trees of Paso Robles. Despite weathering long stretches without scoring, the host Rebels rallied to trail by just four at halftime and got within five points with just over three minutes left in Thursday night's CIF Southern Section Division 4-AA opener. But their scoring surges proved hard to sustain in the face of the Bearcats' size advantage and, in the end, Prep could get no closer than the 42-32 final score.

PASO ROBES — Yet again, the St. Francis High football team turned in a stagnant performance early. And once more, a frenzied Golden Knights rally wasn't enough. St. Francis lost its second straight game on Friday night, falling to host Paso Robles, 42-28, and leaving the Golden Knights with plenty of questions to answer with the start of Mission League play just a week away. "It's hard to put my finger on what it is," said St. Francis Coach Jim Bonds, whose team, ranked fifth in the CIF Southern Section Western Division, fell to 3-2 with a league opener against powerhouse Gardena Serra awaiting Oct. 16. "It obviously didn't seem like we were ready to play in the first half.

GLENDALE — The following are previews of the area's upcoming high school football games this week. While it's not quite the "Battle for the Victory Bell," the annual Pacific League meeting between the football teams from Hoover High and Crescenta Valley is still an age-old area rivalry. At 7 p.m. at Moyse Field on Friday, it will hold plenty of significance in the moment, as well, for both the host Falcons (3-1, 1-0 in league), who are looking for a more convincing victory than their league-opening win over Glendale in order to establish themselves as a contender, and a Tornadoes squad earnestly hoping to avoid an 0-2 start in league.

SOFTBALL Crescenta Valley 3, Paraclete 2 : Erin Ashby hit a lead-off home run in the first inning to spark the Falcons on Monday in a consolation game of the High Desert Classic in Lancaster. Sidney House had a run-scoring triple for the Falcons (2-2) in the first inning. House then made it 3-0 when she scored on an error. Crescenta Valley starting pitcher Helene Cook picked up the win. She struck out two and gave up 10 hits in going the distance.   MEN’S GOLF Vaqueros place fourth in invitational : Brennan Amirkhizi carded a seven-over-par 79 on Monday to finish with a two-round score of 152 and help Glendale college take fourth with a 779 in the North-South Invitational at Hunter Ranch Country Club in Paso Robles.

For Wine Cave owner Scott Starkey, selling wine is more than just pulling the cork out of the bottle and pouring. His philosophy: ?Finding wines that you?re not going to get at Trader Joe?s or Costco.? At Wine Cave, buyers will find wines that may not be available anywhere else, ?that are good, some excellent, some phenomenal, and at really good pricing,? he said. Starkey will focus on selling wines from South America, in particular wines from Chile and Argentina. As far as selling wines from California, Starkey will offer bottles from wineries in Paso Robles in central California, a region overlooked by the wine industry, he said.

SEIFERT ? SCHWARZ Shannon Seifert and Terence Schwarz were married at Point Louisa Beach in Juneau, Alaska. The officiant was Cathy Connor , a longtime friend who introduced the couple (and fellow Alaskan). The couple had their immediate families, some extended family and friends in attendance at their fireside wedding. The bride is the daughter of Kathy Seifert, of La Crescenta. She grew up in La Crescenta and is a graduate of Crescenta Valley High School.

Editor's note: The top-10 high school games from the 2006-07 season were selected by the sportswriters of the Glendale News-Press. 1 St. Francis football defeats Saugus, 30-27, Oct. 6, 2006. "Neil Favor was looking for a chance to redeem himself. He got that chance with the game on the line. "After missing what would have been the go-ahead extra point just minutes prior, the senior place-kicker booted a 41-yard game-winning field goal with no time remaining to give St. Francis a thrilling 30-27 nonleague road victory against Saugus.

The Crescenta Valley High baseball team did not give up more than four runs in a game in the 2006-2007 regular season. With a strong pitching rotation, and a good defense to back it up, that statistic should come as no surprise. It should also come as no surprise that the Falcons moved on to the second round with a 2-0 first-round win against visiting Paso Robles at Stengel Field behind solid pitching from Dustin Emmons and errorless defense. "We don't make errors, we work so much on defense, it's like second nature for us," Falcons' second baseman Micah Dunham said.