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EL SEGUNDO HERALD October 26, 2017 Page 5
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LA Dodgers Wave Pennant for the
First Time Since 1988 Title Year
By Adam Serrao
The Los Angeles Dodgers are this year’s
National League champions. A team that has
been knocking on the World Series door for
quite some time now has finally broken that
door down and made their grand appearance
on the world championship stage. That’s not
to say that the Dodgers have necessarily won
anything yet. They’ll still need a World Series
banner to make their magical season turn
complete—and by the time this article appears,
two games will have already been played and
we will have an early idea of how things are
progressing towards that goal.
A three-game sweep over their hated rivals
from Arizona followed by a 4-1 series victory
over a Cubs team that kicked the Dodgers out
of the playoffs last season finally gave all Los
Angeles players and fans the opportunity that
they have been craving for so long now. In just
three games, the Dodgers scored 20 runs and
showed a very loquacious Arizona team that
the latter is nowhere near the level of L.A.
Chicago quickly learned that fact as well. Last
year’s “team of destiny” was quickly removed,
as Clayton Kershaw and company made quick
work of the Cubs--all while looking extremely
powerful in the process.
“Up there with getting married and having
kids,” Kershaw explained of his team’s NLCS
victory, as he held back tears. “It’s right up
there with one of the best days of my life.
Winning the World Series is really all that we
play this game for. All the individual stuff is
great, but at the end of the day, I just want
to win a World Series. If we win, I might
retire, so I might just call it a career. It’s a
special thing, and I know that I’m not taking
that for granted.”
The sentiments that Kershaw echoed bring
to light just how difficult getting to the World
Series can be. The Dodgers themselves had
been trying for years now, only to walk away
at the end of their e postseason runs feeling
disappointed and dejected. A loss to the Cubs
last year in the NLCS. A loss to the New
York Mets in the 2015 NLDS. A loss to the
St. Louis Cardinals in the 2014 NLDS and
again in the 2013 NLCS. All just mere steps
away, knocking on the door. This year, the
Boys in Blue finally put it all together and
used their experience to knock the door down
and become the 2017 World Series favorites
going into the matchup with the Astros that
kicked off this past Tuesday.
The most interesting part about the Dodgers
making it to the World Series is the players
on the roster that have helped get the team
to this point. Every night, someone different
has stepped up to the plate--literally and
figuratively--to get the job done. Chris Taylor
wasn’t on the team’s roster to begin the 2017
baseball season. He was a castoff from the
Seattle Mariners and didn’t play in the outfield
until the Dodgers moved him there. Next
thing you know, he was the NLCS co-MVP
and a super-utility man who can easily be
called the team’s engine. The other co-MVP,
Justin Turner, was a castoff in his own right.
Delegated to the bench in New York with
the Mets, ex-Dodgers GM Ned Colletti saw
something in Turner. Colletti brought him to
the Dodgers, and like many other players on
this team’s roster have done, Turner honed
his craft and has now become one of the
best players in all of Major League baseball.
Many of the moves that this Dodgers
front office--and ex-front office mates like
Colletti--have made were at first unpopular,
but have built a foundation for a winning
ball club that exhibits all of the qualities of
the word “team” to a tee. Dee Gordon, the
former beloved Dodger second baseman, was
traded for a group of players that included
now starting catcher Austin Barnes and the
NLCS Game 5 hero, Kike Hernandez. The
team traded away much coveted pitching
prospect Zach Lee, which at the time was a
controversial decision. Who did the Dodgers
get back in that trade? Chris Taylor. Moves
like those, among others, that may have been
unpopular at the time are paying dividends
now and have proved to put the puzzle pieces
together that have been necessary in forming
this year’s World Series team.
“We’re right where we wanted to be since the
start of the year,” Taylor said of the team that
finished the season with the best record in the
MLB. The Dodgers, who had previously lost
16 of 17 games in September, never doubted
themselves. Their losing was more of a factor
of getting roles set for the postseason than
it was of being a bad baseball team. In the
same amount of time that everyone began to
write the Dodgers off and wonder if they had
what it took to be competitive in the playoffs,
Roberts and the team learned that they could
not trust Pedro Baez and Ross Stripling in
high-leverage situations. They learned that
they could rely on Brandon Morrow in the
eighth inning and bring in Kenta Maeda in
the middle innings to get out powerful righthanded
bats. Adam Liberatore, Grant Dayton
and, to an extent, Luis Avilan all fell off the
board while Tony Cingrani and Tony Watson
stepped up to form one of the best postseason
bullpens baseball has ever seen through the
first two rounds.
Every move by this Dodgers team has
been calculated from the start with the intent
to form one of the best ball clubs in team
history that has begun its first World Series
since 1988. While Dodger teams of the past
may not have had what it took to get the job
done, this team can never be counted out. The
Boys in Blue may not have won anything yet,
but this 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers baseball
team could go down as perhaps the best that
any of their fans has ever seen.
– Aserrao6@yahoo.com
Eagles Get Run Over by Lawndale
By Gregg McMullin
El Segundo High School head football
coach Steve Shevlin knew his team would
be facing a tough challenge when the Eagles
went on the road to play Lawndale. A year
ago El Segundo, Lawndale and Culver City
ended the Ocean League in a three-way tie
for the title. Lawndale’s potent offense was
poised to make up for last season’s 14-7 loss
to the Eagles and did so with a 49-14 win.
It marked just the second loss to Lawndale
in the past 14 meetings.
The Eagles found themselves trailing early,
but their confidence was boosted by the defense.
Eagle defensive end Alex Ron fell on
a bad snap in the end zone late in the first
quarter to make it 14-7 after Lawndale took
a 14-0 lead behind a pair of Jordan Wilmore
touchdowns. Lawndale stretched its lead to
21-7 before halftime on a 52-yard pass play.
The Eagles had stacked the line with eight
defensive linemen in the first half in their
attempt to stop the South Bay’s top running
back. They held Wilmore to 68 yards. In
the second half, Wilmore--just a junior--had
touchdown runs of 55, 43 and 70 yards with
260 yards rushing overall. On the night, he ran
for a total of 268 yards and five touchdowns.
Wilmore has rushed for nearly 1,800 yards
and 25 touchdowns this season.
The Eagles’ only offensive score of the
game came in the third quarter. Trailing
28-7, El Segundo marched 76 yards on 14
plays and scored on Matt Romero’s 27-yard
completion to Taj Balogun. Romero lofted a
high pass into the end zone where the 6’5”
Balogun outjumped the Lawndale secondary
and made an ESPN highlight-type catch.
Unfortunately, it was the only highlight of
the second half for the Eagles.
The Eagles return home Friday night to
host Hawthorne for the Homecoming Game.
They will need to be more disciplined and
not commit so many penalties against a
vastly improved Hawthorne team. Against
Lawndale, the Eagles racked up 13 penalties
for 105 yards.
Cross Country Host Meet
For just the second time in over 30 years,
El Segundo hosted a cross country league
meet. Last year’s meet was a highly successful
affair that proved to be challenging
and Ocean League officials decided to return
this year. The course, which winds its way
through Recreation Park on a couple of loops,
is compact with a couple of hills and plenty
of twists and turns to challenge its athletes.
The Lady Eagles, ranked fifth in the CIFSS
Division 4, fell short of overtaking Santa
Monica, a Division 1 school. Sophomore
sensation Sophia Zago finished second
in 16:35, while James Maltosz 16:44 and
Nikki Fulcomer 16:51 finished fourth and
fifth respectively.
The boy’s team, ranked ninth, also finished
second to Samo. Garrett Rifkin, a four-year
varsity runner, paced the Eagles as he finished
second by blistering the 2.7-mile course in
13:59. Seniors Ryan Hoerner (14:04), Noah
Fenton (14:22) and Elliot Bijlsma (14:23)
finished fifth, seventh and eighth respectfully.
The Ocean League Finals are set for
Wednesday November 1 at Kenneth Hahn
Regional Park
Girls’ Volleyball
The Lady Eagles wrapped up their home
regular season schedule with a salute to their
seniors and then went out and swept Lawndale
25-9, 25-14, 25-12. In the first game, the Eagles
jumped out to a 10-2 lead and pounded their
way to a win. In the second game, Lawndale
would be a little more pesky and made it a
contest by taking an 9-8 lead before Maddie
Kurke, Anna Allen and company took over.
Gracie Covey would befuddle Lawndale with
a number of ace serves and the Lady Eagles
pulled away. In the third game, Covey had
three consecutive ace serves to close out the
game and El Segundo came away with the
win. Kurke ended the match with 11 kills
and Allen had 23 assists.
El Segundo faced Hawthorne and swept the
Cougars in three games 25-14, 25-14, 25-8.
The Lady Eagles improved to (17-10) overall
and (6-3) in the Ocean League. As a team,
El Segundo hit a blistering 0.391 in the win.
The Lady Eagles faced Santa Monica Tuesday
on the road in a showdown for second
place in the Ocean League in the season
finale ahead of the CIF playoffs.
Jordan Doukakis Leads
Chico State to Big Win
Jordan Doukakis was one of El Segundo’s
top girls’ soccer players two years ago before
accepting a scholarship to play at Chico
“Baseball is like driving, it’s the one
who gets home safely that counts.”
– Tommy Lasorda
El Segundo’s girls’ cross country team finished a close second at the Ocean League #2 meet.
See Eagles, page 13