EL SEGUNDO HERALD August 10, 2017 Page 5 El Segundo Inline Hockey Crowns Champions By Gregg McMullin The 2017 El Segundo Inline Hockey Association’s summer season crowned its champions. When other kids were spending time at the beach, riding bikes or going on vacations, these athletes were honing their inline hockey skills for the past few months. It culminated with the two top teams in each division playing for the chance to place their names on the El Segundo Cup, which resembles the NHL’s Stanley Cup. The Instructional division, coached by Tommy Tartaglione, featured 10 young athletes who were first-time skaters and range in age from four to nine. No score was kept--but each time a player knocked one to the back of the net, it was just as exciting watching these young athletes’ smiles. Old Yeller Wins Pee Wee Division Austin Kehl led his Old Yeller team to an 11-7 win over Team Gold. Kehl, who scored seven goals on an array of scoring opportunities, also assisted on two other goals. Brett Wilkinson scored twice and assisted on five goals. Mathew Riley scored the other one for Old Yeller. Old Yeller jumped out to an early lead when Kehl received a pass from Wilkinson and found the back of the net. Moments later, Wilkinson received a pass from Kehl and made it 2-0. Kehl would score three more goals with relative ease as Old Yeller increased its lead to 5-0. Wilkinson found an opening and slid one by Team Gold goalie Mark Monin to make it 6-0. Team Gold made it 6-1 with time running down in the first half when Ari Silverman pounded one to the back of the goal. Old Yeller increased its lead to 7-1 early in the second half thanks to the passing of Old Yeller and Kehl’s slap shot. Trailing 7-1, Team Gold changed some offensive strategies and Ari Silverman closed the deficit with two quick goals followed by one by Larry Klingaman to make it 7-4. Kehl, who had shown he could take over a game with his scoring abilities, scored two more times in a short period of time to make it 9-4. With a little more than three minutes remaining, Team Gold pulled their goalie and played with an extra attacker. Klingaman took advantage and scored twice, with Trevor Wessel adding another to close the gap. Mathew Riley found an empty net score for Old Yeller and Alex Rubin scored the game’s final goal for Team Gold with time running down for the final 11-7. Silver Bullets Defeat Blue Sharks 10-4 in Mites Finale The Mites Division are athletes between the ages of five and eight. With the way the Silver Bullets and Blue Sharks played, you would have thought these two teams were filled with older players based on their skating, passing and overall athleticism. The Silver Bullets proved to be the better team, thanks in part to the eight goals scored by Blake Romo. The Silver Bullets’ defense stymied the Blue Sharks and Silver Bullet goalie Xavi Avalos had plenty to do with shutting down the high-scoring Blue Sharks in the first half. He made seven saves and looked intimidating in goal. The Silver Bullets scored early and often and were relentless at sending the puck at Blue Dodgers Fill Team’s Few Holes at the Trade Deadline By Adam Serrao Though it may be hard to follow a baseball team that is blacked out from most television sets in its own city, it’s not hard to realize that the Los Angeles Dodgers are having what might wind up being the absolute best season by any team to ever play the game of baseball. When last week’s trade deadline passed, that “best team” got even better. The Dodgers might not have had to make any moves at all to improve a team that already has a better record than any other team in the game this year. By acquiring Yu Darvish from the Texas Rangers and Tony Watson from the Pittsburgh Pirates, though, the Dodgers may have just cemented themselves a spot in this year’s World Series. Fans deserve to be somewhat skeptical of the Los Angeles Dodgers, especially since the team has made it to the postseason with World Series aspirations for what seems like an eternity now. Yet still, every single year the Dodgers disappoint their fans and fall short of what is, of course, the team’s ultimate goal of bringing a World Series banner back to Los Angeles for the first time since 1988. While a roster that may go down in history as one of the best ever is certainly no guarantee of a world title, enjoying the history being made along the way is certainly something that should not be taken for granted. New Dodgers starting pitcher Yu Darvish will undoubtedly become a part of that history and he immediately got off to a great start with his new team by pitching a seven inning shutout while striking out 10 batters last Friday night against the Mets. Acquiring Darvish was not a necessity for the Dodgers. However with Clayton Kershaw’s absence from the rotation, Darvish’s presence immediately gave the team another ace to lean on in the postseason. The four-time All Star was acquired by the team just seven minutes before the deadline--again highlighting the Dodgers’ flare for the dramatic that has followed the team around all season long. The Dodgers didn’t give up much for Darvish, either. Willie Calhoun was the biggest name to join the Rangers in the deal, but parting with a player in the farm system who wasn’t even a top three prospect was a small price to pay for someone of Darvish’s stature. “We got our Ferarri,” Dodger closer Kenley Jansen said of the deal. That Ferrari has increased the Dodgers’ odds of winning DISH DEALS!! $49./99 mo. for 24 months ADD HIGH-SPEED INTERNET $14./mo. Switch to DISH and Get a FREE Echo Dot Control your TV hands-free with DISH Hopper + Amazon Alexa “Alexa, go to HGTV.” LIMITED TIME! Mention oer code FreeEchoDot Requires internet-connected Hopper® or Wally® and Echo, Echo Dot or Amazon Tap device. CALL TODAY - PROMO CODE: FreeEchoDot 1-855-900-9024 95 where available 190 Channels Now only ... Requires credit qualication and commitment the National League West from 100 percent- --where they already stood--to, well, more than 100 percent. The arrival of Darvish has also drastically increased L.A.’s chances of finally bringing home a World Series title. Another player who strengthened Los Angeles’ World Series odds was left-handed reliever Tony Watson. If the Dodgers had any holes on their roster whatsoever, it was at the number two spot in the starting rotation and in the bullpen with the need of a shutdown left-handed specialist. Darvish fills the void of the former, while Watson has stepped in to fill the void of the latter. Watson has been one of the best setup men in the league since entering the majors in 2011. In limited action thus far with the Dodgers, he has already shown an impressive ability to get the best hitters on other teams out--a skill that will certainly be needed come playoff time when the Dodgers look to eat innings in order to bridge the gap between their starting pitcher and Jansen. Darvish’s addition does more than just add another ace to an already loaded pitching staff. He also brings a right-handed quality pitcher to a rotation that is otherwise filled with lefties. “He seems like he just fits in perfect,” Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal said. “I was just happy that we got a horse--another horse--that we could fit into the rotation, so now you’re not seeing three lefties in a row. We knew we needed a righty starter.” Grandal wasn’t the only Dodgers player excited about Darvish’s arrival. “Just electric stuff,” Justin Turner gushed. “He’s got five great pitches. We’re excited to have him.” Jansen echoed Tuner’s sentiments. “Everyone was excited,” the Dodgers closer said. “Our goal is to win the World Series, ownership wants to win the World Series, so we’re all happy to have him here and see him pitch.” Absolutely nothing is guaranteed when it comes to playing the game of baseball in the month of October. No matter what a team’s roster might look like, how good they’ve played in the past, or how overpowering their statistics may seem, a World Series victory is never something that can be called a certainty. The Dodgers were the World Series favorites before they won at the trade deadline. The acquisition of Darvish and Watson cements that favoritism, but also puts a certain level of pressure on a team to win when it counts for the first time in 29 years. – Asixlion@earthlink.net Visit us online: www.heraldpublications.com Players from the Instructional Division pose with their trophies. The Silver Bullets celebrate their Mites Division championship. See Inline Hockey, page 14
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