Page 6 April 16, 2015 TORRANCE TRIBUNE Opening Day Filled With Fireworks By Adam Serrao The fireworks during the national anthem two Mondays ago at Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles weren’t the only fireworks present for the Dodgers Opening Day and first game of the year versus the San Diego Padres. Sure, Opening Day only represented one of a long, 164-game regular season, but what the new front office of Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi saw unfold on the field was certainly much to their liking, to say the least. Former Dodger Matt Kemp brought his own fireworks back to L.A. as he roughed up the reigning National League MVP, CY Young Award winner and his former teammate, Clayton Kershaw for two hits and three RBI’s, but it was a pair of new Dodgers that immediately breathed new air into their team and gave fans a reason to believe that this Dodgers team may indeed be better than any of the years past. Gone is the power of Matt Kemp and the speed of perhaps the fastest man in baseball, Dee Gordon. What has been lost on offense, however, has certainly been made up for in defense. A new shortstop and second base platoon of Jimmy Rollins and Howie Kendrick must have heard about how everyone was nervous with the supposed decrease in offensive productivity. Not only did Kendrick go 2-for-4 with a triple, run scored and an RBI, but Rollins delivered a one out, threerun home run in the bottom of the eighth inning on a 3-and-2 count that brought the Dodgers back from behind and put them in the lead for good as they snuck away with a 6-3 victory over the Padres in the first game of the season. “I’ve seen that too many times when he was in a Phillies uniform,” said former Dodger and new Padre, Matt Kemp. “I knew right away it was gone. He got a pitch that he wanted and put a good swing on it. He’s clutch, man. He’s one of those guys who gets big hits when his team needs them.” Kemp is right. Rollins has tormented the Dodgers all too often during his 15-plus years in the league, but now gets to deal the pain to the rest of the league for a change. The lifetime .267 hitter put together a preseason in which he batted .313 and after his 2-for-4 effort on Opening Day, Rollins began the season batting .500 with three RBI’s and a home run. Not bad. “It was a lot of fun in a big situation, being able to come through and help the team get the victory,” Rollins said of his game-winning blast. “That’s what you want on Opening Day, to get the ‘W’, the first ‘W’ out of the way, get that left column rolling,” he continued. “When I hit it, Howie said he got the chills.” Despite Kendrick putting together a great game himself, he decided to take the time out to break down Rollins’ at-bat: “That was a veteran at-bat,” he said of Rollins fighting back from an 0-2 count to work it to 3-2. “He fouled off those sliders and got a pitch in the honey hole – that’s what we call it – and he didn’t miss.” He certainly didn’t and neither did the rest of the Dodgers. After a spring in which the team out-homered their opponents 49-24, the Dodgers left the yard twice in the first game of the season (Adrian Gonzalez also went deep). Despite the loss of certain key offensive pieces in the offseason, the Dodgers were never worried about a decrease in offensive productivity. Friedman’s and Zaidi’s moves this offseason were primarily based on analytics; that is, the empirical analysis of baseball, especially baseball statistics that measure ingame activity. What those analytics told the front office was basically that the Dodgers could afford to give up offense in order to replace the defensive deficiencies created by former Dodgers, Ramirez and Gordon. There is no questioning the fact that both Rollins and Kendrick are far and away upgrades at their respective defensive positions over their predecessors. To replace the power of Ramirez, however, and the speed of Gordon was going to be the hard part. Well, with a triple and a double for Kendrick and a single and home run for Rollins, the two new Dodgers did their part to combine for the cycle in their first game donning Dodger blue. It was certainly a great day to be a “new guy” wearing Dodger blue. While Kershaw has had two subpar outings to start the season and looks to have picked up right where he left off last postseason in St. Louis (0-1, 5.84 ERA), Yasiel Puig, too, seems to still be on vacation. Aside from Adrian Gonzalez making history as the first player ever with five home runs in the first three games of the season, it has been the new guys who are bringing the Dodgers back from behind in games and, in turn, led the team to their first victory of the year. Not only did Rollins and Kendrick do the job, but to the front office’s utmost pleasure, the bullpen stepped up big. Rookie Yimi Garcia, veteran Joel Peralta and newcomer Chris Hatcher simultaneously held the Padres scoreless and, for at least one day, delivered Dodger fans from their constant nightmare of last season that was the sixth, seventh and eighth inning relief. Opening Day was just one game, however. In the games since then, the Dodgers have repeatedly found themselves attempting to come from behind due in large part to little offense, which has, in itself, been taxing the starting pitching and the relievers. If the team ever hopes to be successful over a long period of time, veterans like Puig, Juan Uribe, Carl Crawford and the catcher’s spot are going to have to contribute as well. It’s still too early to tell how this offense, starting pitching and bullpen will hold up over a 164 game season, but Opening Day, at least, gave fans hope. Hope that the newcomers like Rollins, Kendrick and the ‘pen would fill into their roles nicely. Hope that the front office truly does know what it’s doing. Most importantly, hope that your Los Angeles Dodgers may actually have a team that can finally reach the World Series. Opening Day was, indeed, just one game, but Opening Day; fireworks, festivities and all; showed Dodger fans everywhere why they love baseball and why they love L.A. • STARS & STRIPES A M E R I C A N M A D E C L O T H I N G S T O R E COME CHECK US OUT! GREAT CLOTHING INCLUDING DENIM, HATS, BAGS, SHOES AND MORE 1107 Van Ness Ave.Torrance, CA 90501 • 310.320-3207 LEE 101 USA, WOOLRICH, SAVE KHAKI, MINNETONKA MOCCASIN, PENNY, JAN SPORT, DULUTH, REYN SPOONER, TRETORN, BALL, BURTON, STANCE, RAINBOW SANDALS, FILSON, TEVA, NEW YORK HAT, PADDY WAX, RICHER & POORER, SCHOTT USA, STRATHTAY Open Mondays through Saturdays Noon to 6pm North Girls on Top Again By Adam Serrao The North High Lady Saxons have been enjoying quite the year in High School athletics. After their dominant play in basketball in which the girls won the Pioneer League and CIF division title about a month ago, the school is back at it, except this time, with softball. The Lady Saxons have been a force to be reckoned with on the softball diamond for quite some time now. After last year’s performance in which they finished the year at 26-8 (8-2 in league play) and in first place in the Pioneer League standings, the North girls find themselves on top of the rankings once again this year. There’s no telling if North will repeat its performance from last season and make it back to Division 3’s playoff quarterfinals or even further, but head coach Howard Miller certainly has his players minds set on the prize and expectations at an all-time high. The Lady Saxons couldn’t have asked for a better way to start their season this year. An opening game against Carson certainly looked daunting on paper being that Carson has done its fair share of celebrating over the last few years, but a 4-0 shutout victory over their neighboring-city foes on Opening Day got Miller and his team started off the right way. North didn’t have as much luck in their first tournament of the season, taking a loss to Millikan in the initial game of the Dave Kops Tournament of Champions, but the team figured out what it was like to lose and rebound back together quickly. A 5-0 win over Downey not only ended a two-game losing streak for the Lady Saxons, but it also began a seven-game winning streak that resulted in both a Torrance National Tournament title and a two-game sweep over the Palos Verdes Sea Kings. All that stands between North and the start of league play, which figures to be extremely competitive this season, is a trip to the Woodbridge Classic Tournament at Bill Barber Park. The Lady Saxons wound up losing their first two games of the tournament to Brea Olinda and Rosary, respectively, and after a win versus Garden Grove, took a loss that hit relatively close to home when their cross-town rivals, the Torrance Tartars, beat them 8-5 last Saturday morning. League play is set to begin this week for North High and the rest of their Pioneer League opponents, but a re-match against the Tartars has certainly been circled on the calendar as it approaches. The game will be played this coming Wednesday. For coach Miller and the rest of his No. 1 ranked Lady Saxons (Southern Section Division 4), it will only matter what happens when the games begin to count. This Wednesday, the rivalrymatchup will certainly do just that. Torrance High Head coach Don Glavich and the rest of his Lady Tartars have heard all of the hype that has been surrounding the Saxons not only in previous years, but this year as well. To put it lightly, his team is not fazed in the slightest. While the Tartars recently defeated their rivals from North High with an 8-5 victory last Wednesday morning in the Woodbridge Tournament, they also remember a game closer to the beginning of the season in which the Lady Saxons came out on top. A 7-2 loss in the Torrance National Tournament to North High gave their bitter rivals the Tournament victory and a piece of success that Glavich and company hope will be short-lived this season. Just as North will look forward to a re-match with Torrance in order to get payback, the No. 2 ranked (Southern Section Division 4) Lady Tartars will have revenge on their minds for the aforementioned 7-2 defeat that snapped Torrance’s six-game winning streak at the time. Aside from that loss, Torrance has been enjoying a great start to a regular season that will see league play start this week with a matchup against their inner-city rivals, South High. The real season doesn’t start until league play starts, so follow your Tartars here to see how they fair against the much-hated Saxons and the rest of the Pioneer League this year. South High With all of the excitement surrounding North and Torrance, South just kind of gets left out See North Girls, page 10
Torrance_041615_FNL_lorez
To see the actual publication please follow the link above