June 12 2014 Page 5 Orioles Open Junior Tournament With Win Over Diablos By Joe Snyder The Tri Park Orioles started out well and went on to open the Carl Magee, Jr. Memorial District 37 Junior Little League Tournament of Champions with a 6-2 victory over the Lennox Diablos last Saturday at Jim Thorpe in Hawthorne. Tri Park, located in El Camino Village but consisting of players living in Hawthorne, Lawndale and Gardena, started out well with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. The key blow was a two-run home run from Danny Vaughn. Max Rojas went two-for-two, drove in one run, scored once and walked once. Much of the rest of the Orioles’ scoring was on walks. Bases on balls marred the game as pitchers from both squads combined for 15 free passes in a game that was stopped after five innings due to a two-hour time limit. Julian Diaz had two hits and drove in a run for the Diablos. “Both teams played well,” Tri Park manager Will Castellanos said. “There were a lot of walks.” The Orioles moved into the second round of the winner’s bracket against the Lennox Expos played last Monday night. The Expos defeated Lawndale on Saturday. The game and rest of the first round action on Saturday was marred by them starting approximately one hour and a half late, due to confusion of time by umpires, according to sources. The Junior Tournament runs through Sunday with the finals beginning at 4 p.m. with the first game and, if needed, a second game expected to start at 6 p.m. HOLLY PARK MAJORS FALL The Holly Park Major Little League Baseball Giants and Dodgers from Hawthorne Lennox Diablos batter Joyce Dempsey takes a swing in last Saturday’s Carl Magee, Jr. District 37 Tournament of Champions Junior baseball play. Photo by Joe Snyder. were eliminated in three games from the Carl Magee, Jr. Memorial Major Little League Baseball Tournament last week. On June 2, the Holly Park Giants were edged out by league rival Yankees 9-8. Last Friday, they fell to Westchester 6-1. A sacrifice fly driving in a Yankee run in the bottom of the sixth inning defeated the Giants, according to Giants manager Randall Odum. According to Odum, the Giants had strong performances from pitcher Angel Felascio and William Sham, who had two hits against the Yankees. Ten-year-old outfielder Jaden Collins had two outstanding catches against Westchester. According to sources, the Yankees are still alive in the tournament. The Dodgers had two battles with other Dodger teams, including against Lennox on May 31, then Del Rey on June 1 at Carl Nielsen Youth Sports Complex in Westchester. After rolling over Lennox 10-0, Holly Park lost to Del Rey 8-5. Both teams were tied at five before Del Rey scored three runs. The contest ended after five innings due to a two-hour time limit. On June 3, the Dodgers were ousted by the Wiseburn Reds, also from Hawthorne, 6-3. “It was a competitive game,” Holly Park manager Glen Bray said. “Part of sports is having a bad day and you’re eliminated. We’ll get ready for all-stars.” The Major Little League Tournament runs, at least, through Friday with the first championship game starting at 5:15 p.m. at Nielsen Park. If necessary, a second final will be played at the same spot on Saturday at 4 p.m. ST. MARY’S COMPETES IN STATE FINAL St. Mary’s Academy’s girls’ track and field athletes from Inglewood were involved in last Saturday’s California State Championships and faced very stiff competition. The Belles, who were second in the CIF-Southern Section Division IV Championships on May 24, were led by their 4x400-meter relay team of Alai Divinity, Aliyah Hale, Morgan Pecantle and Sierra Peterson which finished seventh at three minutes and 48.52 seconds. Running away with the meet was Long Beach Poly with a United States national best time of 3:38.05. Peterson, a senior, advanced to the finals in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. She placed eighth in the 200 clocking 24.43 seconds and was ninth in the 100 in 12.02. Winning both races in national best times was Poly senior Arianna Washington. Washington was timed at 11.22 in the 100, just .08 of a second shy of the national record of 11.14 set in 1992 by eventual Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones from Thousand Oaks, and 22.96 in the 200. With the seventh and eighth place finishes from Peterson, St. Mary’s had three points. The top eight competitors score. Poly, which many observers ranked as the top ranked overall girls’ track and field squad in the country, ran away with the state title with 70 points to 29 for runner-up Piedmont Hills. Santa Ana Mater Dei won the boys’ crown 30-28 over second place Castro Valley, led by Nathan Moore who won the long jump with a national best mark of 25 feet, eight three fourths inches. • One Man’s Opinion Another Man’s Opinion By Gerry Chong “Stupid is as stupid does” – Forrest Gump In a TV interview with Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan, President Obama was asked what the most important asset an American President needs to possess. “Judgment,” was his response. He continued: by the time an issue reaches the President, the easy questions have been answered, so the tough questions are usually 50-50 questions that require the President to exercise good judgment. So let’s evaluate him using his own criterion. Generally it is preferable to bring home a captured American prisoner or war. But what if that soldier openly and blatantly expressed his antipathy toward America and its military? What if he laid down his arms and walked away from his post and his military brothers? What if six of his fellow soldiers were killed by the enemy while searching for him? What if the Special Forces had always known when he was held, but chose not to free him because it was not worth endangering more soldiers to rescue a deserter? What if that deserter has said, “I am ashamed to be an American? And the title of US soldier is just the lie of fools. I am sorry for everything. The horror that is America is disgusting.” Was it good judgment for the President to bring him home while violating the law that requires such prisoner exchanges be made only in consultation with Congress? The President has apologized for violating the law but said it was inconvenient to consult with Congress. Good judgment? Having previously used Susan Rice as his chief prevaricator in proclaiming the Benghazi debacle to be a reaction to a video, the White House sent her out again to proclaim the deserter had served with “honor and distinction.” How humiliating it must be to be Susan Rice. Being too clever by half, President Obama used an intermediary to conduct negotiations to avoid the charge that he negotiates with terrorist organizations, thus placing a value on American lives, and encouraging future captures. More good judgment? And who did he release back to the battlefields of the Middle East? The Taliban calls them the “Gitmo-5,” a group of experienced Jihadists who helped run their organization. The Joint Task Force Guantanamo categorized all five as “High risk to the US.” Two of the five are wanted by the UN for the murder of thousands of Shiites in Afghanistan. One is the Taliban’s Deputy Minister of Intelligence. A second is a military commander with close ties to Mullah Omar. A third is Deputy Minister of Defense. A fourth was a provincial Governor. The fifth was responsible for border security for the Taliban. Query: Now that the Taliban has declared victory in negotiations with the Great Satan, how many deaths will these newly released terrorists wreak on infidels everywhere? So this is the “Judgment” the President claims is the most important asset a President needs to be successful. Forrest Gump was right: “Stupid is as stupid does.” • Low Voter Turnout Continues to Prevail By Cristian Vasquez California had another election last week and sadly the voter turnout was very low. The Sacramento Bee reported that the official election night returns were 3.2 million or 18.3 percent of the state’s 17.7 million registered voters cast ballots. While mail-in votes had not yet been included in the final, it is unlikely that the final tally for voter turnout will increase when the number of uncounted ballots is finalized. The issue of low voter turnout is nothing new in American elections: it is a talking point for news pundits, political strategist and campaign managers. Getting people out to vote will always impact an election, without a doubt. As much as some of us would like to see a higher number of Americans exercise their right to vote, the truth is that this mass disinterest by the public to engage in the election process is not likely to change much. It is no secret that voter turnout is higher during presidential elections and even those numbers are not impressive. So this brings up the question: how much does it matter that more people do not come out to vote? I am a firm believer that anyone with the right to vote should exercise it. However, if only 18 percent of Californians cast a vote on June 3, why is the other 82 percent not engaging? The way I see it is that 18 percent of voters came out to vote, keep track of the issues that matter to them, and do their best to stay engaged. So instead of convincing people to vote for the sake of voting and inflating the voter turnout numbers, elected officials should find ways to engage people who can vote but who don’t bother engaging. Granted, the right to vote comes with your right to refuse to vote. That is a completely legitimate reason to not cast a ballot. For some of us, the Democrat and Republican office is a choice between eating dirt or chewing through mud. As a result, many times we go to the polls not to pick the best option but to vote for the lesser of two evils. This further emphasizes the need for elected officials to connect with more of their constituents. In all fairness, at the local level it is easier for the community and elected officials to engage. For the most part, local mayors and council members are accessible and responsive to their constituents’ needs. However, at the state and national level this communication becomes more difficult to maintain, which then leads to the feeling of disconnect. It is on each and every one of us to vote. We have the right and information to make what we consider the best decision at the polls. It is too much to believe that we will ever reach 100 percent voter turnout and the reasons vary. For those who decide that they don’t want to vote, there is little that can be done. Funny man George Carlin once said that he does not vote because voting implies that he agrees with the system (he used more colorful words). Until that perception of our elections changes, voter turnout will continue to be abysmal. • “Was it good judgment for the President to bring him home while violating the law that requires such prisoner exchanges be made only in consultation with Congress?”
Lawndale 06_12_14
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