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EL SEGUNDO HERALD January 4, 2018 Page 9
A Look Back at Sports, Part Two
By Gregg McMullin
And just like that, another year of El
Segundo sports is in the books. We just
welcomed in 2018 and said goodbye to 2017,
so it was a year to remember. Through it all,
it was another year in sports we won’t soon
forget. Attending and supporting our teams
was our priority. We celebrated their highs,
supported them during their lows and told
them how proud we were.
Eagles Earn All-League
Baseball Honors
Winding up the high school baseball
season, the Eagles won the Ocean League
and advanced to the CIF-SS quarterfinals.
For their efforts, they were rewarded with
eight players being selected to the All-Ocean
League teams. Jake Palmer was the MVP
andSpencer Long was the Most Outstanding,
while first baseman Spencer Palmer, outfielder
Sean Emery and pitcher Jimmy Galicia
were named to the first team. Second team
members selected included third baseman
Nico Celestial, second baseman CJ Shevlin
and outfielder Kobe Estrada. First-year coach
Billy Traber was named Coach of the Year.
The program looks to be solid for the
future. The JV team finished 15-8 and
was led by Cooper Sutherland and Dylan
Marquez-Wasson. The frosh/soph team
won the Ocean League title behind the hitting
of Kyle McMullin, the defensive play
of Danny Boulgarides and the pitching of
Cameron Long.
ES Little League
Crowns Champions
The El Segundo Little League wrapped
up its 63rd season that crowned the league
champions in the AA, AAA and Major divisions.
It was a day to crown champions and
to celebrate another memorable Little League
season in El Segundo. The day started with
the AA Division and the Red Sox defeating
the Angels 9-3, the Angels outscoring the
Cubs 13-7 and the Dodgers coming from
behind to defeated the Orioles 8-7.
It was another successful season that seems
to have flown by way too quickly. The years
to come will bring back memories of the four
months of practices and games, or sitting
in the bitter cold at games at Center Street
School or in the stands at Brett Field. And
who will forget visiting the snack bar and
ordering up some of Staci Sperber-McEwan’s
newest menu items? Over the four months,
there were no losers--only winners with
dirty uniforms, precious smiles and plenty
of memories to last a lifetime.
Beavers Repeat Championship
Babe Ruth League Season
The 62nd El Segundo Babe Ruth League
season came to an end when the Beavers
defeated the Seals 5-2 in a one-game playoff.
Led by second-year manager Joe Dornblaser,
a member of the 1974 ES Babe Ruth all-star
team that won the World Series, the team
capped off an incredible season. The Beavers
went 12-3 during the season and 13-3 overall.
Each of the all-star teams advanced to the
State tournament, but were eliminated before
advancing to the Pacific Southwest Regional.
American Legion Falls
In District Tournament
The El Segundo Blues won the Pacific
League title and was the top-seeded
team in the District Tournament. The defending
District tournament champions fell
in four games.
Softball Team Makes History
The El Segundo Girls’ Softball 14U All-Star
team made history. The team finished 34-7-1
overall, won four tournaments and captured
the LA/South Bay District Tournament. They
finished second at the State Championships
and advanced to the Western Regional National
Championships in Roseville, California. The
team played nine games over six days and
reached the finals against defending National
Champion Bonita Valley (Chula Vista) before
being defeated. Their second place finish in
the Western Regional is the best in the 50-
year history of the program.
Former El Segundo
Athletes Made News
Allison Reaser, Ryan Pordes, Nigel Nootbaar
and Lars Nootbaar as well as Lucas Roscoe
all made news last year. Reaser was one of
El Segundo High School’s top athletes when
she graduated in 2010. Since then she went
on to a stellar track and field career at San
Diego State. She vied for a spot on the U.S.
Olympic team in 2012 and 2016 and has
competed in events around the world. In the
summer of 2017, she earned a place on the
National team that competed in the Thorpe
Cup in Düsseldorf, Germany. It was her
third time making the team and this year
she helped her squad and the United States
win this year’s team title. On the first day,
she amassed 3,356 points by taking second
in the 100 high hurdles in 13.57 and winning
the 200-meter in 23.96. On the second day,
Allison won the 800-meter event in 2:13.49
and placed second overall with 5,782 points.
Pordes, who was a former El Segundo
Eagle standout pitcher, led his Suffolk College
(Boston, Massachusetts) team to a 25-17
overall record and a conference championship.
Pordes was 7-1 with one save and led the
staff with three complete games. His 3.20
ERA was the best on the staff, as were his
innings pitched.
Nigel Nootbaar wrapped up his pro baseball
career with the Lincoln Salt Dogs of the
American Association. The former All-State,
all-CIF and South Bay Player of the Year
pitcher for the Eagles was released.
Nigel’s little brother Lars, currently playing
baseball at USC, participated in the Cape
Cod League--one of the nation’s top summer
colligate baseball leagues. He played in 33 of
the team’s first 41 games and also organized
whiffle ball tournaments after games. Lars
could be the next former Eagle to make his
way to the professional ranks after his junior
season in 2018.
Roscoe has been playing lacrosse basically
all of his life. His talents haven’t gone unnoticed
and he was one of four freshmen
playing for the Eagles last spring. With his
Danish background, he had the opportunity
to travel to Kiel, Germany to join the Danish
National Lacrosse team as the youngest
player on the roster. He joined the team
for a tune-up tournament before the World
Championships to be held in Israel in 2018.
The team went 6-0 with Lukas scoring the
second highest number of goals and notching
the highest number of assists.
ESIHA Crowns
Summer Champions
The 2017 El Segundo Inline Hockey
Association’s summer season crowned its
champions. Austin Kehl scored seven goals
and led his Old Yeller team to an 11-7 win
over Team Gold in the Pee Wee Division. In
the Mites Division, Blake Romo scored eight
times as the Silver Bullets defeated the Blue
Sharks 10-4. Tornados held off the Titans to
win the Squirts Division. What started out
to be a lopsided game ended in a close 8-4
win for the Tornados. The Tornados’ Kyle
Oracion, who scored six goals, was also one
of his team’s top defenders as well.
Football Team Goes 8-3
For the fifth consecutive season, the
Eagles won at least eight games. With so
many holes to fill on both offense and defense
due to graduation, El Segundo wasn’t
expected to finish 8-3 overall. But players
like Danny McEntee (eight rushing TDs
Trojans End 2017 with Bowl Loss
By Adam Serrao
With a 24-7 loss in the Cotton Bowl last
Friday night, the USC Trojans fell in their
final game of the season and were defeated
by the Ohio State Buckeyes for the first time
since 1975. The Trojans may not have lost
the game as much as Ohio State’s defense
won it, but quarterback Sam Darnold certainly
had his share of mistakes that wound up
costing the team. While the Trojans took to
the field as this year’s Pac-12 champions, the
Buckeyes took the field looking to prove a
point. After being snubbed from the College
Football Playoff, their 17-point victory at
AT&T Stadium in Texas proved that they at
least belonged in the conversation. That same
playoff snubbing is also perhaps what gave
Ohio State the extra motivation it needed to
send the Trojans back to Los Angeles with
USC’s third loss of the season.
Throwing for 365 yards wouldn’t normally
seem like such a bad way to end a college
football season. When those 365 yards are
accompanied by three turnovers and eight
sacks in a 24-7 loss, though, that ending
quickly begins to lose its fairytale luster.
“Whenever you turn the ball over that much,
it’s hard to win games,” Darnold said at his
postgame press conference. “Just a lot of
stuff where we shot ourselves in the foot.”
That’s exactly what the Trojans did last
Friday night--shot themselves in the foot.
USC had four turnovers that led to 21 Ohio
State points, the first of which occurred on
the third play from scrimmage as cornerback
Kendall Sheffield stripped receiver Deontay
Burnett, giving the Buckeyes a one-touchdown
lead less than three minutes into the game.
As if that weren’t enough, Darnold and the
Trojans would give up plenty more before
the half. A second quarter pick-six by safety
Damon Webb that was returned 23 yards put
USC in an even deeper hole before Darnold
lost a fumble just before the half that led to
another two-play, 59-yard touchdown drive
for Ohio State. The Buckeyes would take a
24-7 lead into the half.
It was a leaky offensive line that undoubtedly
led to USC’s season-ending loss and Darnold’s
struggles in the game. A monstrous total of
eight sacks seemed to understate the amount
of times that the Buckeyes’ defensive front
was immediately in the backfield, rushing
Darnold’s hand into making a decision. The
Trojans were held scoreless in the second half
of play. The only time the team did score
on the night was after Ohio State muffed a
punt, setting Ronald Jones II and the USC
offense up in excellent field position for the
team’s only score of the game in the second
quarter of play.
All in all, Darnold’s typical inconsistency
was on display at the professional football
stadium last week. It’s obvious that the
quarterback has the ability to make the most
jaw-dropping passes in all of college football.
Even some quarterbacks in the NFL seem
incapable of making the throws that Darnold
completes to his wide receivers at times.
Just when the 6-foot-4 sophomore seems
to get rolling, though, the inconsistency
that has bothered him all season long rears
its ugly head again. He misses wide open
wide receivers and fails to take care of the
football--both of which oftentimes lead the
Trojans to having to come from behind or
in some cases even lose the game.
Darnold’s three turnovers in the game
raise his personal total on the year to 22.
That number alone is reportedly higher than
101 other FBS teams, according to Sports
Illustrated. Playing behind an offensive line
that is clearly in shambles certainly doesn’t
help his cause. Neither does taking that same
offensive line to go up against the extremely
elite pass rush of Ohio State. “Our defensive
line won that game,” Buckeyes head coach
Urban Meyer explained. “That quarterback,
we’ve got a lot of respect for him--but the
best way to disrupt a quarterback is to get
after him and we did. If you don’t let him
set his feet, you have a chance. You saw
there at the end of the game that quarterback
never set his feet.”
All of the chatter now surrounding the
Trojans, and more specifically Darnold, will
turn to questioning whether or not he’ll be
back at USC for his junior season or take
the journey into the NFL. Darnold will be
forced to make up his mind by the deadline
to declare on January 15, if he hasn’t made
up his mind already by the time this article
is published. Cases can be made for him
either staying or going, but in his own words,
Darnold has stated, “I’m really just focused
on just hanging out with my teammates for
the next couple of days. But it’s tough. I’ll
look at everything and make my decision
after that.”
On one hand, another year in college
certainly won’t hurt the maturation process
of a quarterback who clearly still needs just
a little bit more of it. On the other, an NFL
coaching staff would certainly help Darnold
in maximizing his potential. Oh, and the
millions of dollars he’d receive by signing
an NFL contract... There’s always that too.
– Aserrao6@yahoo.com •
Visit us online: www.heraldpublications.com
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