Plates

GLENDALE — The following are updates on local baseball players at the minor league level. Fernando Valenzuela, Jr. (St. Francis High, 2000) Leones de Yucatan designated hitter : Headed into Saturday night's tilt with Minatitlan, Valenzuela, Jr. and Leones de Yucatan had just six games remaining and were out of the playoff race. However, the former Glendale Community College and St. Francis standout is on track for his greatest professional season. Valenzuela, Jr., who earned his first selection as a Mexican League All-Star this season, entered Saturday's action with a .357 average (117 for 328)

SAN MARINO — Before winning in rather unconventional fashion, the Crescenta Valley 9-10 All-Star Softball squad received a key defensive play from one of its outfielders. In an inning that had the District 16 champions three outs away from advancing to the second round of the Section 2 Tournament, Crescenta Valley right fielder Peyton Lindman Marshall caught a fly ball hit to her, then threw a runner out at second base for the double play. It stopped the bleeding that was District 40 champion Granada Hills scoring three in the inning to tie up the ballgame.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — The Jewel City Kiwanis squad received some unlucky news the night before playing in the second round of the District 16 Tournament of Champions Minor Baseball Tournament — one of its top players had suffered a broken finger. While there's no telling if Ethan Miller's bat and pitching would have done anything to change or prevent the 14-9 defeat to the Pacific Dolphins on Friday at Babe Herman Field, Kiwanis Coach Rafael Larin said he sure could have used him. "It was a big loss," said Larin, who had a four-hit day from Miller in the team's first-round win. "He would have pitched the middle innings, but instead we had to throw a lot of arms out there.

GLENDALE — The following are updates on area Major League Baseball players. Freddy Sanchez (Glendale Community College, 1998) second baseman, San Francisco Giants: Despite a 1-0 stumble against the Florida Marlins in which he went one for three with a walk, Sanchez has been heating up lately, building his average up to .294 after the Thursday loss to the Marlins. The 33-year-old has hit safely in five straight games, going 10 for 21 in the span and raising his average 24 points.

GLENDALE — Even though the Flintridge Prep baseball team had little difficulty overall in beating Chadwick by nine runs on Wednesday, the Rebels took a little bit of lingering frustration into Thursday's rematch at the Glendale Sports Complex after striking out looking five times in the opener. Prep made a point of being more aggressive from literally the first pitch on Thursday, hammering out eight first-inning runs to set the pace for a 15-0 Prep League win in a game shortened to five innings because of the mercy rule.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Set against the backdrop of Glendale Community College's baseball team vying for its greatest win of the season, Sean Spear fittingly turned in the greatest performance of his sophomore campaign. Playing against first-place L.A. Pierce, his former team, the Oaks Christian product hit for the cycle with a second triple added on, drove in seven runs and scored four more to propel GCC to an 18-9 win on Thursday afternoon at Stengel Field and into a first-place tie atop the Western State Conference South Division.

GLENDALE — The following are updates on local athletes at the collegiate level. Lonnie Kauppila (Glendale native, Burbank High, 2010) freshman infielder, Stanford University baseball: Known for his quick hands on the infield, Kauppila scooped up a couple of impressive awards over the past week, as Collegiate Baseball named the former Crescenta Valley and Burbank standout its National Player of the Week and the PAC-10 Conference named him Conference Player of the Week.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — There's not much needed to motivate the members of the Foothill 10- and 11-year-old All-Star Softball team prior to them taking the field. They cross the basepaths knowing they have an abundance of pitching, hitting and defense. More importantly, they realize if they put all of those elements together, there's a reasonably good chance that they can repeat as champions in the District 16 Little League Tournament. Foothill took the first step in its bid to repeat, as it banged out 12 hits en route to a convincing 23-6 victory against Crescenta Valley in an opening-round contest Tuesday night at Scholl Canyon Ball Fields.

O nce the lengthy practice in the late-afternoon concluded and the start of the Memorial Day three-day weekend began, Maddi Velasquez went straight to the batting cage adjacent to the Village Christian High softball field. For about an extra 30 minutes, Velasquez took her share of swings determined to further show her testament to being a dedicated player. With each pitch tossed underhand by one of the assistant coaches, Velasquez, a La Crescenta resident, hammered the balls off the netting.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Riding a six-game winning streak and hitting the ball hard all over the field, the Crescenta Valley High baseball team is spending its spring break heating up. The Falcons bats were white hot over their final two offensive innings of Wednesday’s closing game of the 44th annual Babe Herman Tournament, pounding out 14 runs on nine hits in that span to bury Jesuit, 19-9, in what had been a close game through four-plus...