EL SEGUNDO HERALD June 29, 2017 Page 5 TOC and Beach Cup Results Don’t Favor El Segundo Little League By Gregg McMullin The 2017 El Segundo Little League (ESLL) season is officially over with the Tournament of Champions (TOC) and Beach Cup tournaments completed. A season ago the ESLL swept the TOC, but it didn’t go quite as well this year. In the Beach Cup, the teams fought but came up short. The Tournament of Champions is a single elimination tournament involving eight local little leagues in the South Bay. The Dodgers, which won the ESLL title, faced Lunada Bay in the Major tournament and fell short in their first game. The Angels, who won the AAA Division, defeated Silver Spur 7-2 in the first game of the single elimination tournament. Matthew Fizulich, Grady Lubs and Logan Brooks all pitched and led a strong defensive effort. Each pitcher kept the opposing hitters off-balance all game long. Collectively, they combined for nine strikeouts while the defense played a clean game. Offensively, Ben Lee was three for four with a triple and three RBIs, while Grady Lubs was two for three with two RBIs. Logan Brooks had a two-run single, while Parker Levin scored three runs. In the second game, the Angles faced the Manhattan Beach Cubans and their high-powered offense. Both teams had their opportunities, but in the end it was the Cubans who prevailed 13-9. The Angels lost despite out-hitting the Cubans 15 to 14. Ben Lee, Logan Brooks, Grady Lubs, Vinny Baldino and Matthew Fizulich each collected multiple hits for the Angels. Beach Cup Round Robin Pool Play resulted in the Majors Angels and the AAA Athletics representing El Segundo in its annual Beach Cup Tournament against Manhattan Beach Little League. ESLL came in having won both division trophies last season, so Manhattan Beach was looking for a measure of revenge. Unfortunately for the locals, both ESLL teams fell in close games decided in the late innings. In the Major Division the Angels and MB Huskies battled and played a tight game, but the Huskies pulled out the 8-5 victory. The game was tied at 5-5 with the Huskies batting in the bottom of the fifth when they exploded for three runs and then held on for the victory. The Angels took a first inning lead when Xavier Rice drove in two runs with a triple. Manhattan Beach battled back to tie it at 2-2 through three innings. In the top half of the fourth inning, Cole Bernstein belted a two-run home run to right-centerfield that was estimated to be 275 feet. That gave the Angels a 4-2 lead and momentum. They would go on to score one more run before the Huskies would stage their comeback. The Angels collected 10 hits, led by Ethan Ralls and Xavier Rice who each collected multiple hits for the Angels. In the Minor Division the Athletics, which went 6-14-1 in league play, were eliminated in one of the best and most exciting games in the tournament. It came down to the last play of the game, but the Athletics were on the wrong end of a 7-6 defeat to Manhattan Beach. The game was tied at 6-6 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning when Manhattan Beach pushed across the winning run. The Athletics took an early lead in the first inning. Aaron Newman doubled with the bases loaded and two outs, scoring three runs. In the fourth inning Aaron Newman’s single scored Ethan Ayler from second base and Aidan Pearson’s fielder’s choice scored Chasen Lafollette to take a 5-3 lead. In the fifth inning, Aidan Smith drew a walk and eventually scored on a wild pitch to give his team a 6-5 lead. Newman led Athletics with two hits and four RBIs in three at-bats. All Stars in Action It’s all-star tournament time! All three El Segundo Little League teams have been in action since last Saturday and won their opening round games. The ESLL All-Stars will be wearing a Memorial Patch to honor Logan Goodwin. Logan was a 12-year-old from the Hermosa Burkley Brandlin Swatik & Keesey LLP AT T O R N E Y S AT L AW Lifetime El Segundo Residents Living Trusts/Wills, Probate, Employment Law, Personal Injury Trust and Estates Litigation, Business Litigation, Civil Litigation 310-540-6000 *AV Rated (Highest) Martindale - Hubbell / **Certified Specialist Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law, State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization Lakers Hand Franchise Keys to Lonzo Ball By Adam Serrao The Los Angeles Lakers have finally received what the team and its fans have been waiting ever so impatiently for. With the secnd overall pick in last Thursday’s 2017 NBA Draft, Magic Johnson, new general manager Rob Pelinka and the rest of the Lakers organization selected Lonzo Ball in the first round to join the Purple and Gold. Any time the Lakers get a new piece to add to their otherwise depleted puzzle, the sports world goes crazy--and like a busy day on Wall Street, craziness ensues as opinions and conjecture begin to frantically fly around the room as if people’s lives depended on it. The acquisition of Ball will certainly fuel that very same fire and as Lonzo takes the keys of what has been an old, rundown Ford Explorer, he’ll immediately be expected to turn it into a Lamborghini Veneno. That being said, it has become increasingly evident that the pressure mounted on the 19-year-old’s shoulders to deliver what the Lakers have been lacking is enormous, to say the least. The NBA Draft is a tricky place to try to build a team’s future. Throughout the years, there have been many players who were set to come into the league with all of the hype in the world surrounding them, only to quickly fizzle out and leave the team that drafted them curious, angry and still sitting at the bottom of the standings once again at the end of the year. Anthony Bennett in 2013 may be the best example of a number one overall pick not panning out. There was also Michael Beasley at number two in 2008, Adam Morrison at three overall in 2006, Evan Turner at number two in 2010…and who could possibly forget Greg Oden with the first overall pick in the 2007 draft? Needless to say, now Lonzo must do everything he can to not be mentioned in the same paragraph as those, and other, first round draft day busts. Lonzo may be the most NBA-ready player to enter the league from this year’s draft. Not only did he improve his Chino Hills High School team drastically on the way to an undefeated record and a national championship in his senior season, but he also carried UCLA during his freshman year in college. Lonzo has the unique ability to share the ball, get his teammates involved, and assist his roster in playing better overall team basketball. He led the nation in assists his freshman year and broke the UCLA record for most assists in a season in the only year he was there. Ball has shown throughout high school and college that he is a leader whose only concern is winning. His goal as a player is to make the players around him better--not to fill up the stat line with 60-point nights like a previous Lakers legend did so effortlessly on occasion. Ball should be able to improve his team in every way possible, but must first get past the enormous amount of pressure that has already been placed upon his shoulders. Magic didn’t hesitate to put that pressure squarely on Lonzo’s shoulders immediately after he was drafted. “You look to your right, there’s some jerseys hanging on the wall,” Johnson said to Ball. “We expect a Ball jersey hanging up there one day, all right? Good.” Who could be mad at Magic, though, when he flashes those big pearly whites and the entire room smiles with him? “So, Lonzo,” he continued. “Just leave me one or two records alright? Don’t break all my records. ”Even Pelinka got involved in the immediate praise heaped upon Ball before the latter had played even one minute of NBA basketball. “Those leadership qualities are what’s going to take the Lakers to our ultimate destination, which is winning an NBA championship,” Pelinka said. One second overall draft pick and the Lakers, their front office and fans everywhere are already thinking about championship. It wasn’t long ago that D’Angelo Russell was supposed to be the savior for the Lakers. Russell, the number two overall pick in the 2015 Draft, just got shipped out of town See Lakers, page 15 The El Segundo 10-11-year-old All Star team poses prior to the first game. See Little League, page 15
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