![](./pubData/source/images/pages/page5.jpg)
EL SEGUNDO HERALD June 14, 2018 Page 5
The Title “CIF Soccer Champions” Has a Nice Ring to It for Eagles
James Amerault flashes a smile as he shows off his CIF championship
ring.
Former two-sport ESHS athlete and current USC standout Lars Nootbaar was drafted in the eighth round of the MLB Amateur Draft
by the St. Louis Cardinals.
Tyler Villalobos was the recipient of a $1,000 scholarship awarded by Scott McCain.
Christophe Charles was named CIF Player of the Year.
By Gregg McMullin
The high school soccer season has been over
since March 10 and the El Segundo Eagles
had a magical championship season. With
the success the Eagles had, their end-of-theseason
banquet was delayed for good reason.
El Segundo High, which went 18-7-3 overall,
won the CIF Southern Section Division 5
championship. It was the program’s first CIF
title. To top that off, the Eagles went on to win
the school’s first ever CIF Southern Section
California Region championship.
To celebrate these epic championships, the
team was rewarded with championship rings
that were specially made and personalized for
players and the coaching staff. So the delay
in having the celebratory banquet was to have
these championship rings made. The ring
presentation finally took place at a banquet
hosted by head coach Andrew Kelley.
Before the presentation of the “bling,” Scott
McCain awarded his annual scholarship to
a deserving senior. McCain, who is also an
assistant coach, started awarding a scholarship
to a player a few years back. After reading
over the transcripts and interviewing each
senior, McCain chose Tyler Villalobos as the
selection for a $1,000 scholarship. Villalobos,
a standout football player besides one of the
soccer team’s captains, says it will help him
as he pursues a degree in criminology at the
University of Maryland.
Before Coach Kelley introduced each player,
he thanked the largest crowd to attend a
soccer banquet for their support. He said one
reason for the success of the soccer program
is because of the coaching staff at the lower
levels. Andrew’s father Alan Kelley led the
JV team, while former Eagle standout Gilbert
Cortez guided the freshman team.
Next, Kelley voiced his appreciation to
the team’s biggest supporters that included
Alyssa Lund, Donna Villalobos, Dale Bemis
and the team’s videographer Melissa Charles.
He said without their involvement, the total
team experience wouldn’t have been the same.
Kelley introduced the “rock stars of the
high school” that included Mason Bemis,
Seth Thompson, Loan Pismopulous, Ciaran
Feeney, Denis Vezina, Matt Sautter, Alejandro
Martinez, Tyler Villalobos, Sam Twigg, Andre
Hernandez, Nick Sautter, Caden Schepps,
Casey Lund, Abraham Hernandez, Malcolm
Holtzmann-Cisse, Kamini Ewing, Jack Finders,
Christophe Charles, Devontae Bowers, Nate
Salazar, Nate Abroms, James Amerault and
Anthony Waites. He then reminded the
audience that the season didn’t start the way
it ended and that there was some adversity to
overcome. Kelley pointed out that the Eagles
were successful because they were the most
competitive team -- maybe not the best, but
they never gave up. “We had some injuries
and it was next man up,” he said. “Though
we lost some tight games, the team knew
their potential. When we started rolling, we
didn’t miss a beat.”
The team’s Defensive Player of the Year
was Christophe Charles, while Jack Finders
was the Offensive Player of the Year. The All-
CIF Southern Section teams were announced
and Kelley was named Coach of the Year and
Christophe Charles Player of the Year. Logan
Pismopulous, Jack Finders and Casey Lund
were named to the All-CIF Southern Section
First Team.
It was a magical season that ended with
a CIF championship, a Southern California
Region championship and rings presented to
the players.
Nootbaar Selected by the St. Louis
Cardinals in MLB Draft
Former El Segundo Eagles two-sport megaathlete
Lars Nootbaar was selected in the eighth
round of the Major League Baseball amateur
draft. Nootbaar’s rise to the professional ranks
started when he led the El Segundo Little
League all-star team to its deepest run. They
were within a win of advancing to the Little
League Western Region and within reach of
the Little League World Series. He helped lead
his Babe Ruth all-star team to a third place
finish in the Babe Ruth World Series where
as a 14-year-old he had the highest batting
average. He played four years for the Eagles
and was a starter for three of them. His talents
landed him at USC where he played in 141
games over his three years as a Trojan.
Nootbaar left for University Park,
Pennsylvania and is expected to formally sign
his professional contract. He’ll be playing for
the State College Spikes of the New York-
Penn League (Class A Short Season). You can
follow Lars at www.statecollegespikes.com
Spencer Palmer Named All-American
Former El Segundo Eagle standout Spencer
Palmer had one of the best seasons an El
Camino baseball player has had in years.
Palmer’s baseball rise can be attributed to
his work ethic and focus. Besides being a
4.0 student in high school, Palmer was a
standout baseball and football player. After
an injury cut short his football playing days,
it also hampered his baseball playing too. It
wasn’t until his senior year playing for the
Eagles that he got his real playing time. As
a senior, he hit .426, with a team-leading six
home runs and 17 doubles.
In 43 games for the El Camino Warriors
this season, Palmer led the team in several
offensive categories. He hit .415 with eight
home runs, 39 RBIs, a .543 on base percentage
and 38 walks. For his incredible season, he
was named First Team All-Conference, First
Team All- Southern California and Second
Team All-America.
Another former Eagle also had a great year
at El Camino. Spencer Long, who teamed
with Palmer in leading the Eagles to an
incredible season in 2017, was named to the
All-South Coast Conference First Team for
the Warriors. For El Camino, Long was a
two-way player and handled shortstop when
he wasn’t pitching. He pitched in 10 games
and started in seven of those. He had a 4-4
record with a 2.68 ERA and 40 strikeouts in
47 innings.
Babe Ruth League to Crown
Champion this Weekend
The El Segundo Babe Ruth League wraps
up its season this weekend. The championship
elimination game on Saturday starts at 11
a.m. with the possibility of an additional
game on Sunday. The season has been highly
competitive with parity among the teams. With
the Little League season over and the all-star
tournaments set to begin next weekend, this
is a great opportunity to get your baseball fix.
ESGS 10u Gold Sizzles in Santee
The El Segundo Girls Softball (ESGS) All
Star season is underway and the 10u Gold
Team has started off with a strong 7-3-2 record.
Coming off last inning losses at tournaments
in La Mirada and Camarillo, the team set its
sights in Santee this past weekend. Sunday’s
pressure-packed elimination day did not
disappoint even the casual fan. El Segundo
defeated Claremont 6-3 in the first game
and then came back at 1:15 p.m. to win a
thrilling nine-inning (four-inning international
tiebreaker) 8-7 contest over Fullerton Hills to
play the host team Santee in the championship.
El Segundo battled for seven innings against a
highly touted Santee team. ESGS pounced first
to take an early 4-0 first inning lead. Chipping
away, Santee tied the game 4-4 heading into
the bottom of the fifth until ESGS took the
lead 5-4 in their half of the inning. Heading
into the seventh inning and trailing 6-5, Santee
scored four times and went on to 10-5 win.
The ESGS team consists of Ace Anderson,
Maggie Green, Jacynda Lindsay, Sienna Mayer,
Kalista McMillon, Charli Pages, Vanessa
Rodriguez, Hina Usuda, Taryn Walker and Allie
Stevenson. The manager is Eric Stevenson and
the coaches are T.D. Mayer, Matt McMillon,
Jim Walker and Rob Green.
ESGS continues the tournament schedule in
Laguna Niguel this weekend before playing
in the district tournament followed by a 4th
of July tournament in Escondido.