Page 6 March 10, 2016 EL SEGUNDO HERALD Story and Photos by Gregg McMullin The El Segundo high school softball program has enjoyed the fruits of success since the CIF Southern Section made it a sanctioned sport in 1974. In fact the Eagles won the very first CIF-SS softball title in 1974 and then followed up with titles in 1976 and 1978 while being runners-up in 1977, 2007 and 2009. Head coach Keith Cameron will enter his twentieth season as head coach of the Eagles; the longest tenured softball coach in the school’s history. Some of his coaching highlights over that twenty year span is seven league titles, advancing to the CIF playoffs in each of his seasons accept for one, winning the El Segundo Tournament five times including the past two and winning the San Luis Obispo Tournament last season. Coach Cameron says this year’s team is looking to add another CIF championship banner to the program’s history. With the talent the Lady Eagles have returning and the addition of some other quality players, Coach Cameron might just have something there. The Eagles will be strong defensively and have plenty of pitching depth. Senior, Megan Truesdale and sophomore Monique Benjamin lead a pitching staff. Coach Cameron will once again turn the catching duties over to Nayeli Diaz. The four year letterman was named the Ocean League’s top catcher last season. Though small in stature she has one of the South Bay’s best arms behind the plate and threw out 83 percent of the runners attempting to steal on her. Julie Roach could be one of the top first basemen in the area. Along with being a fine infielder she can flat out hit with power. Backing her up will be freshman standout Gaby Benjamin who looks promising both on the field and at the plate. At second base is sophomore basketball standout Melissa Euyoque and freshman Kaili Reitano. Both are smooth on the field, both have some pop in their bat and neither look intimidated. Third base looks locked down with Oregon State recruit Alyssa Pelegrin. Pelegrin was an All-Ocean League, All-South Bay and All-CIF selection last season and looks to return to those high standards again this season. Carlie Doucette logged plenty of experience last season at third base and is another option. Junior shortstop Emma Burner was an All-Ocean League selection as a sophomore and continues the legacy of great Eagle shortstops. The outfield is crowded with talent led by Allison Tatnall. The Arizona State recruit is another All-Ocean League, All-Area and All-CIF returning player who should have another great season. Others including Emily Skulick, Cierra Kessler, Gianna Taormina, Sarah Bergren, Jordan Dornblaser, Jasmine Krauss and Elena Wagner-Bagues makes this one of the most talented and deep outfields in the South Bay. The season opener was last night against Bay League power Mira Costa before they face Orange County powerhouse Kennedy High School, in the Torrance TNT tournament on Tuesday at 7pm at home. Baseball Team Looking Good The baseball team looks ripe to make a run at an Ocean League title and a deep run in the playoffs. The Eagles return four starters that should bolster the lineup with their experience. with the likes of Jake Palmer, Spencer Long, Brenden Casillas and Alex Rios. Palmer gives the top of the lineup some punch with his speed and gap hitting. Long will most likely hit third and has shown he can drive in runs. Casillas, just a sophomore, has greatly improved behind the plate and with his power is hitting fifth. Alex Rios’ speed both in the outfield and on the base paths makes him one of the top outfielders around. Coach Steve Eno, in his third year, is still toying with the defense but in the early going it appears the outfield could find Griffin Martes and juniors CJ Shevlin, Sean Emery and perhaps Kobe Estrada if Estrada isn’t playing shortstop. The infield is also up for grabs but appears to have either Spencer Palmer or Nico Celestial at first base and Dylan Sledge at second base. Long, Estrada or Martes will see time at shortstop and either Mario Morales, Celestial or Shevlin could see playing time at third base. Pitching looks deep with Long, Wyatt Boyce, Garrett Boyce, Bradley Heckman, Shane Kiel, Justin Ostler, Spencer Palmer, Shevlin and Emery all expected to see time on the bump. Jason Kehl, who was the starting catcher last season, was injured playing football guiding the Eagles to an 8-2 season and will most likely be regulated to a pinch hitting role. The Eagles are off to a fast start in their tournament having defeated Westchester and Carson already. They faced Bishop Montgomery, weather permitting, on Tuesday before taking on Cabrillo. The El Segundo Tournament finals are set for Saturday. • The Power of Trash-Talk By Adam Serrao The sport of MMA, or Mixed Martial Arts, may not be the most popular sport in America, chastised for its brutality and outright violence, but it can teach us all a great deal about sports and sportsmanship alike. The fight game nowadays isn’t what it used to be when Muhammed Ali was around and boxing. Ali could get away with trash-talking his opponents because he wasn’t lazy about it. Now, left and right, athletes are being humbled by the sport and learning that their over-the-top bravado may just be the thing that put them at a deficit in the first place. After boasting and bragging all month long about how he’s the best that ever was, Irishman Conor McGregor learned the hard way that modesty, every once in a while, isn’t such a bad thing to have. To everyone’s surprise, the normally 145-pound featherweight champion tapped to submission last Saturday night when facing Nate Diaz in Las Vegas for the Welterweight championship. “I’m just looking at your little frame and it just reminds me of an injured gazelle, strapped up,” McGregor said to Diaz in a pre-fight interview. “I’m a lion in there,” McGregor continued. “Your little gazelle friends are going to be staring through the cage looking at you and your carcass getting eaten alive. All they’re going to do is say: ‘We’re never going to cross this river again.’” Those were just a few of the verbal jabs that McGregor took at Diaz before the fight actually took place, but little did he know, Diaz was much bigger, and stronger, than expected. Diaz took the fight against McGregor on only 11 days notice after Rafael Dos Anjos withdrew due to a broken foot. To keep everything on schedule, McGregor had to move up two weight classes in less than three months to fight Diaz, going from featherweight, where he is accustomed to fighting at 145 pounds, to welterweight at 170 pounds. The shift in classes eventually took its toll on the former overconfident champion. McGregor came out looking like his normal self, landing jab after jab to the face of Diaz, visibly injuring his opponent in the first round. Despite a bleeding cut over his right eye, however, the much bigger Diaz never went down. With a two-inch reach advantage, the fight took a much different turn for Diaz in the second round. Landing 60 percent of his strikes in the second, as opposed to 37 percent in the first, Diaz wobbled McGregor and ultimately brought him to the mat where the fight would eventually end by submission. Once Diaz started to hurt McGregor, he kept pouring it on. Diaz was the bigger guy and neither McGregor’s words, nor his fists had an effect on the fight. “I took the chance in going up to 170,” Mc- Gregor said after the fight. “I was inefficient with my energy. I’m humbled in victory and defeat.” Now that the fight is over and he has taken the loss, McGregor has begun talking about being humble. Just one week ago when he was comparing Diaz to a gazelle, however, there was no modesty to be found. “I needed to recognize that a bigger man -- you must put the shots together a little bit more to stop a bigger man.” Diaz, the bigger man, took the fight on only 11 days notice after Dos Anjos’ withdrawal called for a new opponent. “I put in a lot of work and time and wasn’t getting the same love [as McGregor],” Diaz explained after the fight. While he didn’t have much time to prepare, Diaz stayed focused on his opponent, never went over the top with verbal barbs, trained hard and unlike McGregor, ultimately came away with a victory. Some might remember that less than four months ago, Ronda Rousey had the same game-plan as McGregor when she took on Holly Holm for the UFC championship. Rousey was overconfident and over-talkative before the fight, loudly expressing all of the ways that she was going to “handle” Holm in the octagon. What happened? Rousey lost for the first time in her professional career. Now Holm, who was previously an unproven champion, lost in an undercard match to Miesha Tate. Why did Tate win? “I feel we had a great gameplan,” she explained. “I thought I had to be like a pit bull with a bone.” When asked what’s next, Tate said, “I think I’m going to go eat some cupcakes.” Instead of thinking of the next way to insult her opponent or run her mouth, Tate was calm before the fight, training hard, eating right, and focused on herself. Now, the winner of her last five fights in a row can eat all of the cupcakes that she wants. Pride cometh before the fall. McGregor and Rousey certainly know that now and neither one of them are close to being what Ali was. That being said, the trash-talking between athletes should be reserved for those who are proven. The “win-at-all-costs” athletes like Ali, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant who used trash talking to their advantage, actually won - and won a lot. Now, athletes like McGregor and Rousey are getting in front of the camera and under the bright lights to say, ‘look at me’. It seems to be the case now that self-serving arrogance doesn’t win titles. It impedes upon them and sets athletes up for failure. Next time you hear someone running their mouth, acting overconfident and saying outlandish things about their opponent, expect a loss to quickly follow. • Eagles Looking For a Banner Year Are You Still Paying Too Much For Your Medications? You can save up to 93% when you fi ll your prescriptions with our Canadian and International prescription service. Get An Extra $15 Off & Free Shipping On Your 1st Order! Call the number below and save an additional $15 plus get free shipping on your fi rst prescription order with Canada Drug Center. Expires June 30, 2016. Offer is valid for prescription orders only and can not be used in conjunction with any other offers. Valid for new customers only. One time use per household. Use code 15FREE to receive this special offer. Call Now! 800-409-2420 Their Price CelebrexTM $910.20 Typical US Brand Price for 200mg x 100 Our Price Celecoxib* $76.67 Generic equivalent of CelebrexTM Generic price for 200mg x 100 Please note that we do not carry controlled substances and a valid prescription is required for all prescription medication orders. Use of these services is subject to the Terms of Use and accompanying policies at www.canadadrugcenter.com. Monique Benjamin slides in safely in a game last season. She’ll be counted on for her hitting and pitching this season.
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