San Gabriel

GLENDALE — To put it bluntly, the San Gabriel Valley 16-18 Babe Ruth All-Stars threw away a chance to advance to today’s Babe Ruth World Series, or at least a chance to keep their opponent, the Hammond (Ind.) Chiefs, from doing so in a semifinal game at Moses Lake, Wash. on Friday. With the Chiefs threatening with two outs and runners at the corners in the bottom of the eighth inning of a tie game, San Gabriel Valley catcher Matt Page tried to gun down Kevin Franchetti on his way to stealing second base.

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 ? Here?s something worth noting with respect to many of the nine area athletes competing on the San Gabriel Valley 16-18 Babe Ruth All-Star team: They are quite capable of changing a game quickly. A perfect example came Wednesday night. Troy Mulcahey, Troy Prasertsit and Nate Rousey of Crescenta Valley High each had two hits to help lead San Gabriel Valley to an 11-4 victory against Long Island in an American Division pool-play game of the Babe Ruth World Series in Moses Lake, Wash.

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 — Watsonville, home of the 2009 Babe Ruth League Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament, is the next stop for the San Gabriel Valley Babe Ruth 16-18 All-Stars. If all goes well in the small Monterey Bay-area town, the Southern California Babe Ruth champion-squad, which is coached by Crescenta Valley High baseball Coach Phil Torres and features five Falcons players, will plot a course further north to the Babe Ruth World Series in Moses Lake, Wash. But first things first.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — First-year Holy Family softball Coach Greg Ziomek would like to see his team’s battery recharged. The Gaels have tried their best under Ziomek, but he made it a point to explain to his squad that the pitching and catching needed to do a little better on the diamond. “The heartbeat of a team is the pitcher and catcher,” said Ziomek after Holy Family suffered a 17-8 loss to San Gabriel Mission in a Horizon League contest Tuesday afternoon at the Glendale Sports Complex.

NORTHWEST GLENDALE — For the Hoover High boys’ tennis team to succeed, it will need to keep working harder. That’s the poignant message that Tornado No. 1 singles player Andre Ratavousian made after sweeping his three sets to help Hoover record a 15-3 nonleague home victory against San Gabriel on Wednesday afternoon. “It was important for us to get the win, and I felt pretty good being able to get my first serve in a lot,” said Ratavousian, who lost seven games.

LOS ANGELES — Tara Sims played like an All-Star. The freshman goalkeeper for the Holy Family soccer team did everything within her power to keep the Gaels afloat, stopping a pair of breakaways and foiling several point-blank shots en route to finishing with 16 saves. Unfortunately for Sims, her teammates couldn’t pick her up in a 5-1 loss to San Gabriel Mission in a Horizon League match Tuesday afternoon at Rio de L.A. Park. At 3-7-1 and 0-5-1, it’s unlikely that the Gaels will qualify for the postseason for a third consecutive year.

SAN GABRIEL — Though still early in the season, things appear to be turning around for the members of the Renaissance Academy basketball team. There won’t be any parades up and down Foothill Boulevard in the next month, but at least the Wildcats seem to be getting acclimated as a unit after the 2007-08 squad reached the CIF-State Division V championship contest last winter in Sacramento. The Wildcats will take any and all victories, even at the expense of a neighbor.

BOYS? BASKETBALL Renaissance Academy 51, Lawndale 47: Derrick Simms and Gil Tacita each scored 13 points to pace the Wildcats (5-7) in a semifinal game of the San Gabriel Tournament on Monday. Renaissance will play Flintridge Prep for the championship today at 7 p.m. Flintridge Prep 54, San Gabriel 47: Kenyatta Smith scored 15 points and Aaron Fried added 12 on Monday night, as the Rebels (6-3) advanced to the championship game of the San Gabriel Tournament to play Renaissance Academy today at 7 p.m. Crescenta Valley 64, Temple City 49: The Falcons (7-4)