San Gabriel Valley

GLENDALE — With a 9-2 win over Cape Cod Thursday night in Washington in the quarterfinals of the Babe Ruth 16-18 World Series, the San Gabriel Valley Babe Ruth All-Stars showed that just because they aren’t the top seed in the playoffs, they can’t be counted out as a favorite to capture the team’s fourth title in the last six years. Paul Paez allowed just one run on three hits with nine strikeouts over six innings and catcher Matt Page went three for three and drove in four runs on Thursday to help San Gabriel Valley rebound from a 9-2 loss on Wednesday that cost it an opportunity to win the American Division and enjoy a first-round playoff bye. The All-Stars, who count nine Crescenta Valley High players among their fold and are coached by Falcons Coach Phil Torres, will play Hammond (Ind.

GLENDALE — Playing in front of a lively crowd that was mostly against them didn’t sidetrack the members of the San Gabriel Valley Babe Ruth 16-18 All-Star team. A clutch first-inning home run and some solid pitching helped San Gabriel Valley to a 5-2 victory against host Watsonville in a winner’s-bracket contest of the Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament late Sunday night at Watsonville High. Cody Regis continued his torrid hitting with a first-inning home run and pitcher Bryce Rutherford scattered two hits in a complete-game performance to send San Gabriel Valley into today’s 5 p.m. championship game against Watsonville or Modesto for the right to advance to the World Series in Washington later this month.

GLENDALE — Already down by two runs, nobody panicked in the dugout. The members of the San Gabriel Valley 16- to 18-year-old Babe Ruth baseball team couldn't afford to, as they were one loss away from elimination. San Gabriel Valley responded in a hurry, and kept its dreams of winning a championship alive for at least one more day. Crescenta Valley High senior pitcher Dustin Emmons drove in two runs and struck out eight in six innings Tuesday night to power San Gabriel Valley to an 8-2 victory against Nederland, Texas in a second-chance bracket game of the World Series at the Babe Ruth National Complex at Don Edwards Park in Newark, Ohio.

GLENDALE ? They did it again. They had to overcome a first-round loss and the fatigue of playing seven consecutive days, but the members of the San Gabriel Valley 16- to 18-year-old baseball team can call themselves champions. For the second time in three years, San Gabriel Valley ? featuring six locals and piloted by Crescenta Valley High Coach Phil Torres, along with two of his Falcon assistants ? won the Babe Ruth World Series in Newark, Ohio. San Gabriel Valley defeated the co-host team, Licking County of Ohio, 7-4, on Friday in the if-necessary title game to win the crown at the Babe Ruth National Complex at Don Edwards Park.

GLENDALE — Their postseason journey started at Arcadia High, the site of numerous memorable games for a handful of Crescenta Valley athletes. Their run then took them to Alameda, a six-hour drive away from home and a plane ride away from their dream destination. Their mission ended in Newark, Ohio, where their dreams came true. Crescenta Valley's Dustin Emmons, George Adrian, Micah Dunham, Zack Torres, Kam Krise and Bryan Longpre went to Newark in hopes of bringing home a World Series title for the San Gabriel Valley 16- to 18-year-old Babe Ruth baseball team.

ARCADIA ? Behind a three-hit complete-game shutout from A.J. Talt, the San Gabriel Valley Babe Ruth All-Stars continued their trend of winning big in the Southern California round of the 2008 16-18-year old Babe Ruth Tournament with a 13-0 drubbing of the La Crescenta/Glendale All-Stars in an elimination game on Wednesday at Arcadia High. In each of San Gabriel Valley?s three wins, the team has posted 10 runs or more and won by an average margin of over 13 runs, with its only loss coming, 6-1, at the hands of Arroyo Seco on Sunday.

ARCADIA — Riding high off their win over their San Gabriel Valley counterpart on Wednesday in the SoCal Babe Ruth 18 Tournament, the Arroyo Seco Babe Ruth All-Stars turned in a repeat performance on Friday. Behind Leo Madrid, who pitched five scoreless innings and staked the team to an early lead with a three-run homer, Arroyo Seco held defending-champion San Gabriel Valley to one run on three hits to clinch the tournament title with a 5-1 win. "That was Leo's first at bat, first pitch — that was pretty impressive," said Arroyo Seco shortstop and 2007 St. Francis High graduate Joe De Pinto of Madrid's first-inning shot that scored him and Mitchell Maseredjian for a 3-0 lead.

GLENDALE ? Youth might be the best ? and only ? option for the San Gabriel Valley Babe Ruth baseball team when it takes the field to compete against the best that the rest of the country has to offer during the next week. One thing will be certain for San Gabriel Valley, which will compete in the 16- to 18-year-old division of the 38th annual World Series at the Babe Ruth National Complex at Don Edwards Park in Newark, Ohio, beginning Saturday: It will have three bona fide starting pitchers with tons of big-game experience.

ARCADIA ? As the sun began to dip low in the sky over Giambrone Field at Arcadia High Friday evening, it was the Arroyo Seco Babe Ruth All-Star team that seemingly had everything to lose. Locked in an extra-inning battle with San Gabriel Valley, an Arroyo Seco win would send the team straight to the Babe Ruth Western Regional Tournament beginning Thursday in Watsonville. A loss in the game that was pushing three hours in length going into the ninth inning would trigger an ?

Strong winds and subfreezing temperatures are expected in inland and mountain areas across Southern California on Thursday in the wake of a winter storm that dumped snow and rain on the region. Temperatures are expected to range from the upper 20s to low 30s from interior valleys in San Luis Obispo County to the Antelope, San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys in Los Angeles County, according to the National Weather Service. The frigid temperatures are a result of a cold, dry air mass.

Glendale City Councilman Ara Najarian is in a fight for his seat on the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority after failing to get appointed for another term - an outcome he claimed was orchestrated by officials upset by his opposition to a 710 Freeway extension through Pasadena. Several representatives for San Gabriel Valley - who've been pushing to connect the 710 and 210 freeways - declined to support Najarian at a procedural vote last week of the City Selection Committee, a group of elected officials from cities throughout Los Angeles County that send nominations for confirmation to the MTA board.

SAN MARINO - For the first several weeks of the season, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy first-year basketball Coach Ty Buxman plans to pay extra attention to the progress being made by his players in the rebounding department. It's an area that Buxman said the Tologs will need to continue improving on before beginning play in the rugged Mission League in January. Buxman got a glimpse of what might be in store Tuesday night, as Flintridge Sacred Heart grabbed 33 rebounds en route to a 48-22 win against South Region in a pool-play contest of the San Gabriel Valley Classic at San Marino High.

Good morning, readers. Today is Monday, August 20. Pasadena city officials are not pleased with any of the Metropolitan Transportation Agency's proposed routes for the Long Beach (710) Freeway extension. The city is exploring ways to overturn a 2001 voter initiative that formally offered the city's support for an extension that would connect the freeway to the Foothill (210) Freeway in Pasadena from its current terminus in Alhambra. Pasadena Sun Police are searching for suspects after a man was stabbed while intervening in an argument at an Arcadia park . Pasadena Star The final projects of Measure B, a $25 million school bond approved by voters in 2004 to fund La Cañada Unified School District projects, are wrapping up . Officials say the bond covered more projects than originally expected, but dollars from the bond are expected to run out by the end of the summer.

State agricultural inspectors have enacted a quarantine and are going door-to-door in a Hacienda Heights neighborhood in an effort to help save the state's $2-billion citrus industry and beloved backyard fruit trees from a disease that has wreaked havoc in Florida and Brazil . The sale of citrus trees is banned in a five-mile radius around the Los Angeles County neighborhood where Huanglongbing, or yellow dragon disease, was first detected...

More than 3,000 Southern California customers were without power Friday after a short-lived but strong thunderstorm hit the region and residents braced for a day of high winds. Southern California Edison estimated that 3,196 customers did not have electricity early Friday morning, mainly in the San Gabriel Valley. At the height of the storm more than 20,000 lost power, said Vanessa McGrady, a spokeswoman for the utility. A high-wind warning issued by the National Weather Service remains in effect until Saturday afternoon in Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

Public health officials have issued air quality warnings for valleys from San Fernando to San Gabriel, and cautioned residents to protect themselves against extremely high temperatures through Thursday. Daytime highs through Thursday could hit 107 degrees in the Greater Glendale area, 105 degrees in Pasadena, according to the National Weather Service. Los Angeles County public health officials today said the blistering heat, combined with unhealthy air conditions, could spell serious trouble for the elderly, small children and pets.

The music industry may have entered the Internet era of iTunes, YouTube and illegal downloading, but that hasn't stopped some local stores from purveying tunes in their most concrete form - the vinyl record. As vinyl has made a comeback among hip new indie groups, it has maintained its popularity for collectors and those in search of the classics, and the San Gabriel Valley is home to some of the best places to find records new and old.   Permanent Records The new kid on the block, Eagle Rock's Permanent Records opened June 4 after its owners, Lance Barresi and Liz Tooley, relocated from Chicago.

Once again, hundreds of area Little Leaguers took to various baseball and softball fields around Glendale, La Crescenta and Montrose. Some of them were able to compete outside the area and state in their quest for championship glory. The San Gabriel Valley Babe Ruth 16-18 All-Star team reached the World Series in Washington for the first time in two years and the Foothill Major, Crescenta Valley 9-10 and Crescenta Valley Junior all-star softball teams advanced to the Southern California State Tournament, falling just short of reaching the regional tournament.