Page 4 May 11, 2017 Hawthorne Keeps Sliding, Loses Two vs. Eagles By Adam Serrao The Hawthorne Cougars late-season slide has continued and now it’s beginning to become a bit difficult for the team and its fans to remember what it was like to win. Hawthorne has failed to come up with a victory in any game since the end of March when head coach JC Randolph’s team defeated Animo Leadership for the second time this season. With an eight-game losing streak, it has become safe to wonder if the Cougars will pick up another win before the end of this regular season to somehow sneak their way out of last place in the Ocean League standings. Last week’s matchup for Hawthorne may have been a little bit more exciting if it weren’t going up against an El Segundo Eagles team that is currently in first place in its division, has only lost six games all season long, and has now finished in second place or better in all three seasons that the team has been in the Ocean League. The Cougars received the full brunt of the Eagles’ power on both the offensive and defensive ends of the diamond. In a twogame set, Hawthorne was outscored by a total of 18-0 as the team took consecutive losses by scores of 4-0 and 14-0. In Game 1, it could be said that both teams got out to a slow start on Hawthorne’s home field. Hawthorne, however, never got going, while El Segundo eventually began putting runs up on the scoreboard. A double by senior Kobe Estrada knocked home Sean Emery for El Segundo’s first run of the game in the third inning. Despite the other three runs that the Eagles would eventually score, one run is all that the team would need. Junior Jamie Galicia pitched seven strong innings for El Segundo, allowing seven hits but no runs while striking out seven. Two of those hits came at the hands of senior Charles Phelps, who went two for four on the day. Senior Victor Valdez and junior Danny Villarreal each had a double, but were later left on base to round out the offensive output for the Cougars on the day. Coach Randolph went with Kealoha Noguchi on the mound and the pitcher, all things considered, had a nice outing. Noguchi has only tossed 16 innings this season--but in just over five last Tuesday afternoon, the senior only allowed one earned run and five hits. Senior Bernardo Robles came on in relief and allowed one hit and one run in just over one inning on the mound. “Pitching has been our Achilles heel all season long,” Randolph explained. “I’m just proud of the guys and how they always battle.” Game 2 went much differently for Hawthorne, Randolph and his pitching staff. Robles took the mound again for the Cougars and gave up eight runs (only one earned) in the first inning. By the end of the third, Hawthorne was down 12-0 and was clearly out of the game entirely. Opposing pitcher Spencer Long held the Cougars to just one hit over five-plus innings of work. In all, Hawthorne made 12 errors over the two-game series, which led to 13 runs of production for El Segundo. Hawthorne will cling on desperately to their final two games of the regular season against Lawndale to try to get a win. Though the Cardinals swept the Cougars (4-13, 0-8) last year, Randolph and his team know that this series is their best opportunity in league play to come away with a win. El Segundo will look to keep its first place standing alive as it takes on Santa Monica for two before the playoffs. Lawndale High The Lawndale Cardinals have experienced some success of late and will look to close out the regular season by climbing the Ocean League standings. Last Thursday afternoon, Lawndale hosted divisional rival the Beverly Hills Normans and walked off of the diamond with a 2-1 victory. For Lawndale, the win was the fourth in the team’s last six games and had head coach Robert Dempsey feeling optimistic about the direction of the ballclub. The Cardinals got their offense going quickly against Beverly Hills, putting up one run in the bottom of the first inning and one in the bottom of the second. Senior Salvador Mercado had a base hit to knock home Michael Zambrano for the team’s first run of the day. In the second, senior Hermilio Diaz knocked home Roberto Novelo for the second and final run of the contest. The rest was up to pitcher Jesus Sanchez. Sanchez pitched 5.2 innings, allowing only four hits and one run while striking out four. Senior Leo Cervantes came on in relief and closed the game out by retiring every batter he faced. The Cardinals (6-11, 2-5) will play three games in their final week of the regular season as the club takes on the Culver City Centaurs and the Hawthorne Cardinals (two-game series) while looking to stay hot to finish things off. Inglewood High The Inglewood High School baseball team closed its regular season out with back-to-back losses to the Peninsula Panthers. While the second game of the two-game set was forfeited by the Sentinels, Game 1 ended early because of a blowout. Though Inglewood was able to grab a run in the fourth and final inning of the game played last Tuesday afternoon in Inglewood, the Peninsula offense was simply too much. With three runs in the first inning, 12 in the second and nine in the third, the Panthers were well on their way to what wound up a 28-1 victory. Despite beginning the season with a 4-1 record, Inglewood (4-9, 0-8) and head coach Kewatta Wade finish things off with an eight-game losing streak as Bay League play simply proved to be too much for the Sentinels. • Chargers Ready to Take Over L.A. By Adam Serrao Now that the Chargers have officially moved to Los Angeles to share a market with the Los Angeles Rams, the team will certainly need to find a way to not only keep their fans from San Diego, but also accumulate fans that live right here in Los Angeles. With the recent release of the NFL schedule coming a few weeks ago, the Chargers got all of the help that they will possibly need. So far, the Rams haven’t done much to steal the hearts of football fans here in L.A. besides simply show up first. If the Chargers can get on the board quickly with a few key wins in some primetime games, they may become the first team to gain loyalty in the race for fame and visibility in Los Angeles. The time that you play and the days that you play on can do a lot for the image of a football team that is looking to gain popularity in a new market. Fortunately for the Chargers, not only did they receive primetime games in the upcoming season, but the Rams simply did not. The Chargers will open the season on Monday night in a game against the Denver Broncos and will play games on New Year’s Eve and Thanksgiving Day this year as they battle against the Raiders and the Dallas Cowboys, respectively. Those games will undoubtedly draw the attention of football fans all across the nation. While the Chargers will be enjoying their lovely schedule, the Rams will be banished to London to play against the Arizona Cardinals and will have only one game to play on a day other than a Sunday when they take on the San Francisco 49ers on a Thursday in what is sure to be nothing short of a snooze-fest. In addition to the advantage that they have in their prime television spots, there is much more allure surrounding the Chargers coming into this year’s regular season as well. Sure, the Rams had all of the buzz when they got to Los Angeles first, but winning just four games in a season with a quarterback that has yet to prove himself has turned down the volume on their attempt to take over L.A. The Chargers, on the other hand, have Philip Rivers. They have Melvin Gordon, who took the league by storm last year, and Keenan Allen, who will try to remain healthy and stay on the field. Not only do they have better players, but they have the better stadium also. That’s not to say that the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum isn’t one of the most historic venues around, but the StubHub Center--while not the best in the looks category or with historical value--will give the league its first truly intimate venue. A stadium that only seats 30,000 people will certainly offer a football experience that fans simply haven’t had before and is sure to tickle the curiosity of fans (and league owners) not only in Los Angeles, but across the league as well. If there is any question as to which team will garner more headlines throughout the regular season, it will be figured out for fact rather quickly. The league scheduled both the Rams and the Chargers to play on the same day and at the same time in Los Angeles on three separate occasions throughout the regular season. The Chargers will battle against a playoff team from last season when they take on the Miami Dolphins at the StubHub Center, while down the road the Rams will be playing in the Coliseum gainst a Washington team that lost most of its star players over the offseason. While the Chargers are taking on a team that most L.A. fans wanted to see play in Los Angeles in the first place when they host the Raiders at StubHub on New Year’s Eve, the Rams will be struggling to get fans to the Coliseum to watch them take on the 49ers. The third date will see the Chargers take on Washington while the Rams take on Philadelphia. The Rams may have the better matchup on paper, but much of the allure is lost when it is realized that the home team will almost certainly lose the game. When it comes down to it, wins and losses will decide who will own the city of Los Angeles first. Behind Jared Goff, Todd Gurley and perhaps defensive star Aaron Donald, most moderate NFL fans would be hard-pressed to name five other players on the Rams who are presumably supposed to bring their team to a victorious season this year. The Chargers have the players with name recognition, the stadium that fans are curious about, and the dates that will keep them on the minds of all fans who are looking to give their loyalty to a team in Los Angeles. If the Chargers stay healthy- -which has been a big if lately--they may have a chance to challenge the rest of the AFC West for a division title. The Rams, on the other hand, will be lucky to get any positive production out of Goff, their secondyear QB. Even if they do, it certainly won’t be enough to challenge the likes of the Seattle Seahawks and the Cardinals in the NFC West. The Rams moved to L.A. first--and for that reason, they currently have more fans in the area. With a little time and a lot of winning, though, the Chargers will be poised to take over as the team of Los Angeles well before the new stadium in Inglewood is prepared to open. A successful team is one that has the ability to gain attention across the league and the ability to gain fans from within the city. The current construction of the Chargers, which is in very stark contrast to that of the Rams, will have L.A.’s newest team taking over the city sooner than anyone would have otherwise thought possible. • –Asixlion@earthlink.net touch & take off! Plus, enjoy speeds up to 45Mbps at one all-included price, with no extra monthly fees. 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