EL SEGUNDO HERALD March 16, 2017 Page 5 SBA loans. Business credit lines. Cash management services. Commercial RE, construction and equipment loans. Ed Myska Senior Vice President 310.321.3285 emyska@grandpointbank.com 1960 E. Grand Avenue, Suite 1200 El Segundo, CA 90245 grandpointbank.com Five-Star Superior Rating by BauerFinancial Eagles Impressive in Own Tournament By Gregg McMullin El Segundo High School has played host to an early-season baseball tournament for the past 44 years. The Eagles have won it a number of times, but it won’t be this year. Though they fell in a semifinal thriller, they have demonstrated that they were one of the best squads in the 28-team tournament. They defeated Carson, lost to North Torrance and got by Royal to finish the tournament 4-1 overall. The Eagles scored three first-inning runs against the Carson Colts on their way to an 11-3 win. Jake Palmer and Spencer Palmer each had three hits to lead a 14-hit attack. The Eagles scored at least one run in each inning other than in the third when they threatened but came up empty. Spencer Palmer had another great night at the plate. He blasted two home runs and added a triple in the cavernous Carson High School baseball stadium. He led the team with five RBIs. Jake Palmer, who is hitting .553 to start the season 8-15, was three for three with a home run, double, single and four RBIs. Justin Ostler started for the Eagles and gave up two first-inning unearned runs, but then settled down. He scattered five hits and struck out five in four innings before giving way to Justin Mostert, who blanked the Colts the rest of the way. The Eagles faced North Torrance in the Gold Division semifinal of the El Segundo/ Stevenson Tournament. On paper the Eagles should have easily taken care of the Saxons, but that’s why the game is played. Even with a dominant pitching performance by Spencer Long, the Eagles lost a thriller 3-2 on a controversial play at the end. The Eagles scored their only runs in the first inning and took a 2-0 lead. CJ Shevlin was hit by a pitch and Jake Palmer walked. Shevlin ended up scoring on a fielder’s choice by Spencer Palmer and Jake Palmer scored on an RBI single by Nico Celestial. El Segundo had limited opportunities to add to their lead. The Eagles, who were limited to just four hits, threatened in the second inning when Brenden Casillas singled, stole second base and was balked to third base. Jackson Stone drew a walk, but Shevlin lined out sharply to the third baseman to end the inning. In the fourth inning Sean Emery singled, stole second base and Kobe Estrada walked--but Stone grounded out to end the threat. In the meantime, Spencer Long was dealing his own gem. He had a no-hitter through five innings and struck out seven and walked one. But the Saxons broke through with an unearned run in the sixth inning. Tyler Spilka reached base on an error and scored on Kyle Hatai’s single. Hatai lofted the first Saxons’ base hit just over the head of the outstretched Shevlin playing second base. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Cole Andavolgyi led off the inning with a double and Kento Utsaunomiya drew a walk. Glenn Searcy lined an RBI single to tie the game, and with one out Todd Takeuchi was intentionally walked to load the bases. With the infield drawn in, Spilka bunted the second pitch. It was fielded by Long and tossed seemingly in time to Casillas at the plate. Utsaunomiya came racing to the plate and was called controversially safe during the slide for the winning run. It was an unfortunate ending to a brilliantly pitched game by Long. Facing Royal in the last game of the tournament meant going up against a well-respected program that is routinely among the best in the CIF Southern Section Division 2. The Eagles escaped with a 3-0 win that was bolstered by the complete game shutout six-hitter by Jimmy Galicia. The Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Sean Emery blasted a double to centerfield and scored on Shevlin’s RBI single. In the sixth inning, Shevlin doubled and Spencer Palmer uncorked a 375-foot home run to make it 3-0. It was Palmer’s fifth round-tripper of the season. Emery led the Eagles, going three for three at the plate. Galicia was masterful on the mound in scattering six hits. In both the sixth and seventh innings, he worked out of jams. In the sixth Royal loaded the bases, but Galicia induced an inning-ending ground ball. In the seventh inning, the Highlanders had two infield singles. With two outs and runners in scoring position, Galicia got Jason Hyman to pop out to end the game. The Eagles face the Torrance Tartars today in a doubleheader starting at 3:15 p.m. with the second game at 6 p.m. Saturday, the Eagles host Hart at 11 a.m. in the first round of the Redondo Tournament. Softball The Lady Eagles got off to a rough start, bowing to Valencia (Placentia) 11-1 in the first game of their season. Julia Sanchez’s RBI double scored Cierra Kessler in the first inning for the only El Segundo run. Monique Benjamin got roughed up in her first start of the season. She gave up 10 runs--six earned--on 11 hits to a team expected to be one of the top offensive lineups in Southern California. The Lady Eagles faced Millikan on Tuesday and play host to Peninsula today in a doubleheader starting at 4:15 p.m. with the second game following at 6 p.m. News and Notes The 26th Annual El Segundo PTA Run 4 Education is on Saturday, April 22. New this year: Teams! Register as a team of “four” and compete against other teams in your age division! Visit www.ESRun4Education.com for online registration and more information on the race. • Los Angeles Rams Begin Building for Future By Adam Serrao After a crazy day in NFL free agency last Thursday afternoon that saw many big names from around the league on the move, the Los Angeles Rams failed to make a huge splash, though they were busy. Last Thursday was the first day of the new NFL year and also marked the first day that free agents could sign contracts with other teams. It’s no question that the Rams certainly have a lot of needs to address if they will look to improve on their 4-12 record from one season ago. The moves that the team has made thus far should improve the roster a bit, but Los Angeles has a long way to go if it wishes to compete in a perennially tough NFC West. Perhaps the most important thing that the Rams could have done this offseason is beef up their offensive line. Doing so would not only help the prospects of last season’s rookie quarterback Jared Goff, but it should also open up a few more holes for running back Todd Gurley. Neither Goff nor Gurley looked particularly effective last year. New veteran left tackle Andrew Whitworth will hope to change that. Whitworth, now age 35, has spent his entire 11-year career in Cincinnati clearing lanes for the likes of Jeremy Hill, Giovanni Bernard and others. The first-team All-Pro in 2015 finished second among tackles in the league last season according to Pro Football Focus. Whitworth will now be tasked with protecting Goff’s blindside while also leading the way for Gurley, who will be looking to rediscover the dominance that he displayed in his rookie season once again. While the Rams lost their leading receiver from one season ago, Kenny Britt, they will be giving a familiar face the chance to say hello to the Coliseum again. Britt went to the Browns, but former Serra High School star and USC Trojans standout Robert Woods has left the Buffalo Bills to play on the grass of the Coliseum once again. Woods is still young, at age 24, and should serve as a nice complement to Tavon Austin--but in all honesty, he’s not the kind of player that is going to turn next season around for the Rams. As a second-round pick by the Bills in 2013, Woods has compiled career stats of 203 catches, 2,451 yards and 12 touchdowns. There is hope that Woods may be hitting his prime and could be poised for a breakout year, but the Rams receiving core certainly doesn’t strike fear into any defense in the league just yet. The most important thing that Los Angeles did this offseason was free up some muchneeded cap space. The Rams traded starting defensive end William Hayes to the Miami Dolphins and released veteran center Tim Barnes, tight end Lance Kendricks, and defensive lineman Eugene Sims. None of those were necessarily impact players for the Rams last season and creating more cap room will go a long way toward giving Los Angeles flexibility in the future. The departures of the players freed up nearly $16 million in cap space, which will likely go toward the acquisition of other key free agents this offseason before the 2017-’18 campaign gets it start. The Rams can still use some help on the offensive line, particularly at the center position. As of last Thursday, the only center on the roster was a seventh-round pick from 2014, Demetrius Rhaney. Pahroh Cooper and Tyler Higbee round out the semi-recognizable names on the wide receiver and tight end depth chart, so L.A. could certainly use some more talent there as well. Help on defense at the linebacker spot and defensive line wouldn’t hurt a group that is now led by defensive guru Wade Phillips. Robert Quinn has continued to be the most impressive player on that side of the ball. Phillips will certainly be looking to add more impact players, especially with the possible departure of cornerback Trumaine Johnson looming. Johnson signed the franchise tag this offseason, meaning that the Rams will owe the five-year veteran $17 million next season. That number may just be too rich for a team that has a plan in place to work toward the future. As of last Thursday, Los Angeles had already been rumored to be shopping Johnson on the trade market. The Rams were certainly active at the beginning of this year’s free agency period with more moves likely to come in the near future. What fans need to keep in mind is the plan that owner Stan Kroenke originally had in place when he decided to move the team to Los Angeles. The new stadium in Inglewood is planned to open for the 2019 season. That’s when Kroenke and the rest of the Rams front office hope to field a legitimate team and compete for the NFC West title and perhaps even the Super Bowl. That means, in the meantime, Los Angeles is destined to rebuild. Creating cap space and making the necessary room for young players like Goff, for instance, to get some real NFL experience is currently the priority in Los Angeles. So far, this offseason has accomplished the immediate needs of the Rams. Don’t expect to see next year’s team win a Super Bowl, but hopefully they can finish with more than just the four wins that they ended with one season ago. – Asixlion@earthlink.net • Visit us online: www.heraldpublications.com
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