EL SEGUNDO HERALD May 10, 2018 Page 5
Playoff Push for Eagles This Week
By Gregg McMullin
As the 2018 El Segundo High School
spring sports come to a close this week,
the Eagles were in complete control of their
playoff position. The baseball team needed
to split with Santa Monica to win its 36th
league title, while the softball team needed
help and a sweep this week to win its third
league title in five years. The boys volleyball
team won its fifth league title in eight years
and started the playoff push this week.
Baseball Team Eyes League Title
The Eagles swept Hawthorne 13-0 and
16-0 to improve to 8-0 in Ocean League
play. They’ll need a split with Santa Monica
this week to win their second consecutive
Ocean League title and the program’s 36th
league title overall.
Junior third baseman Ethan Burner has had
a great season and he added to his all-league
resume by going 4-for-4 and scoring three
times in the first game against Hawthorne.
He scored the team’s first run on a passed
ball. Benny Casillas, who was hit by a pitch,
also scored on the same passed ball to make
it 2-0. Mateo Camano singled in the second
inning and scored on a long fly ball by Ian
Bonham. In the third inning, doubles by Matt
Romero and Julian Rodriquez pushed the lead
to 4-0. Burner’s two-run single and Jaime
Galicia’s sacrifice fly stretched the Eagles’
lead to 7-0. Rodriquez kept up his sizzling
bat with a two-run double to make it 9-0.
In the fourth inning, the Eagles would tag
on four more runs for the final 13-0 score.
Quinn Kirsten picked up his fourth Ocean
League win by going five innings, giving up
four hits and striking out six. Burner threw
the sixth inning and struck out all three batters
he faced on 12 pitches.
The Eagles continued their offensive
domination against the Cougars with another
convincing shutout. El Segundo combined 13
hits, five walks and two hit batters to score
16 runs in a mercy rule-shortened game.
Burner led the charge with three more hits,
while Ian Bonham and Mateo Camano each
had two hits. Julian Rodriquez had a triple
and four RBIs.
The Eagles’ pitching was so dominant that
Galicia and Cooper Sutherland combined on
a perfect game. Galicia started and struck
out five in two innings, while Sutherland
faced nine batters in his three innings and
struck out four.
El Segundo faced Palos Verdes in the final
round of the Redondo Tournament and fell
6-5. In a game that featured teams of similar
styles, the Eagles took an early lead only to
see the Sea Kings tie the game at 2-2 in the
first inning. The Eagles took a 3-2 lead in
the third inning, but the Sea Kings countered
with two runs and added one more in the
fifth inning to take a 5-3 lead in the fifth
inning. El Segundo’s two-run rally in the
seventh inning to tie the game at 5-5 was
short-lived when Palos Verdes won it on a
walk-off single by Luc Balcom in their half
of the seventh inning.
The Eagles played host to Santa Monica
on Tuesday. With Galicia expected to start,
the Eagles were a huge favorite to win and
wrap up another Ocean League title. The CIF
playoff will start next week and the Eagles
are expected to receive a first round home
game either Thursday or Friday.
Golf Tournament
to Benefit El Segundo
American Legion Baseball
The Kemer Brett Memorial Golf Tournament
gets underway tomorrow (Friday, May
11) at Chester Washington Golf Course with
a 12:30 p.m. shotgun start. Tournament director
Craig Cousins says this year’s program
is one of the best social events that brings
back some of El Segundo High’s legendary
former athletes. You won’t want to miss
the After-Hacking party get-together at the
Old Town Patio at 115 Richmond St. For
information on playing, please contact Coach
Cousins at 310-413-1090.
Softball Team Continues
Push to Playoffs
The Eagles have put themselves into position
to win or share the Ocean League title.
To win it outright, they’ll need Santa Monica
to defeat Culver City earlier this week. Also
part of the equation is the Eagles had to
sweep Hawthorne and defeat Samo on the
road in the final game of the regular season.
The Eagles improved to 7-1 in league play
by blasting Beverly Hills 16-0 and Lawndale
24-3. Neither game was really as close as
the final score indicated with El Segundo
in total dominating form. Against Beverly
Hills, Katie Croxall and Kaela Little each
went 3-for-3 to lead the Eagles. Little had a
big day by hitting two doubles and a triple
with three RBIs and three runs scored. In all
the Eagles had 10 extra base hits, including
eight doubles. Audrey Butler, Adri Hebert
and Monique Benjamin had two hits apiece.
Butler went the distance on the mound
and tossed her best game of the season by
throwing a no-hitter. She struck out 10 and
walked only one. In her two Ocean League
starts, she is 2-0 and has given up just two
hits and struck out 20 in 10 innings.
The Eagles faced North Torrance in a
non-league matchup. There’s a good reason
why North Torrance is one of the top teams
in the CIF Southern Section Division 2. The
Saxons played great defense and limited
the hot-hitting Eagles to just four hits as El
Segundo fell 2-0.
This was a game of great defensive plays
by both teams and a great pitchers’ duel.
North scored its first run when Marrisa Garza
tripled to start the game and scored on Bella
Gonzales’ single. In the second inning the
Saxons threatened to score, but great a great
play by Kaili Reitano at second base and a
fly ball caught by Kaela Little snuffed out
any potential rally.
In the fourth inning, the Saxons took advantage
of two El Segundo errors to score
their second run. In the fifth inning, the
Saxons loaded the bases with one out. Eagle
starter Monique Benjamin induced two weak
ground balls to stop the rally.
The Eagles’ best opportunity to score came
in the fifth inning. Julia Chavez drew a walk
to start the inning and then Kat Kakuske and
Audrey Butler each singled. However, all
three runners were left stranded.
In the seventh the Saxons had a leadoff
double wasted when Kaili Reitano, in relief
of Benjamin, struck out the next two batters
and got a ground ball out to end the inning.
To lead off the seventh inning Kakuske, who
was 3-for-3, reached on a single. Jade Johnson
was hit by a pitch, but then the Eagles then
went out in order and fell 2-0.
The Eagles will enter the CIF playoffs
next week and hope to represent the Ocean
League as the top team.
Boys Volleyball Team
Wins Ocean League
The Eagles ran the table and won the Ocean
League. Their reward was a first round home
match in the CIF Southern Section Division
1 playoffs against Servite on Tuesday. A
win against the fourth place team from the
Trinity League would send the Eagles to the
second round, most likely against top-seeded
Newport Harbor tonight at 6 p.m. •
Mike Dugan from front page
the City’s bottom line and believes the Council
made great strides in controlling costs that
also led to balanced budgets with surpluses
the last few years. “Coming from the private
business sector, I was amazed at some of the
costs and quite frankly some accounting and
payroll issues,” he said of his assessment of
the City’s finances upon his arrival in 2014.
“We have addressed some very difficult
issues including City employee contracts
and have made corrections and adjustments
where employees are now sharing more in
their cost of benefits. It’s never easy when
you deal with someone’s paycheck, but it
was necessary to get back to competitive
market conditions and I believe that we did
that with dignity and respect for everyone.”
Arguably the most divisive issue Dugan
“struggled with” during his term was the
TopGolf project that came close to fruition.
He pointed to the proposed agreement as an
example of decision-making based on what
he felt was questionable data and a lack of
information. “In my opinion, the potential
TopGolf deal was a case study in how not to
make a decision,” Dugan said. “I’m convinced
that there was never a thorough vetting of
issues and alternatives and that the closed
door decision to make a very bad deal for the
City, with the appearance that it was a very
good deal, should never have happened. Also,
the lack of quality information around the
Raytheon deal was a missed opportunity for
the City to make a better fair and equitable
deal. The RFP process is definitely the best
path forward for The Lakes and I hope the
new council will perform due diligence in any
future deals with businesses and developers.”
As for what advice he can offer to the
two new Council members, Dugan noted
that in his experience, what you see and
what you are told by some individuals may
not be the entire story. “Don’t be afraid to
ask questions and don’t be afraid to disagree
with fellow Council members,” he said. “The
worst advice I ever got entering the Council
four years ago was that people wanted
consensus on issues. My advice is to get the
full story before you ever take any action.”
Dugan also pointed out that the Council is
elected to represent the residents and to provide
oversight to the city manager and city
attorney. “I encourage the new members to
work through these two individuals and to
hold them accountable for the performance
of the City,” he said.
Though no longer serving as an elected
official, Dugan emphasized that he isn’t going
away. An active member of the El Segundo
Kiwanis Club for over 20 years, he plans to
continue supporting local youth through that
organization as well as high school football
and soccer programs. Otherwise, he looks
forward to “full retirement mode” in which
only he and his wife Marcy can add things to
his schedule. “Now that she has also retired
[from her photography business], we will
travel more and enjoy the opportunity to be
more spontaneous,” he said. “When we’re
not on the road, I will definitely golf more –
hopefully on a more regular schedule. I also
hope to get back to some restoration project
and, like many, am always on the lookout
for a good muscle car build.” After all, he
will need something else to “struggle with”
now that he’s retired… •