TORRANCE TRIBUNE April 3, 2014 Page 5 “The Warriors will have one last chance to come away with a rivalry game win this year when they travel to Torrance to take on the Tartars April 9.” Burkley & Brandlin LLP A T T O R N E Y S A T L AW Living Trusts/Wills, Probate, Employment Law, Personal Injury Trust and Estates Litigation, Business Litigation, Civil Litigation 310-540-6000 *AV Rated (Highest) Martindale - Hubbell / **Certified Specialist Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law, State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization Kings Looking Royal Again By Adam Serrao Maybe they were bored. Maybe they were tired. Or maybe the Los Angeles Kings had just lost interest in what is a very long season this year. Whatever the reason was, though, there was no secret to the fact that the Kings just plain looked bad before the Olympics this year. After some players watched and some took part in the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, however, it was almost like the team was reinvigorated. Perhaps inspired by the great display of talent seen on what was, at the time, the world’s biggest stage, Jonathan Quick and company swiftly took notice and brought their collective game up to the next level. Regardless of the results of a handful of games this week after this column was written, the Kings post-Olympics looked much more like the ones that won the Stanley Cup in the 2011-2012 season. With their offense back on track and a stingy, dominant Quick in the net, there is reason to believe that this year’s Kings can put together a run and bring the Cup back to Los Angeles once again. Coming into the 2013-14 season, the Los Angeles Kings were one of the favorites around the NHL to reclaim the much-coveted Stanley Cup. Halfway through the season, those same Kings, with the same players on the team, had nearly fallen out of playoff contention. The offense was horrible. It seemed as if Quick lost a step. Every time you watched a Kings game, the only action you would see would be from the other team while losses began to pile up and shutouts became regular. In recent weeks, Quick and the Kings were the ones racking up the shutouts as a slight break in play for the Olympics apparently got this team back on track. Kings coach Darryl Sutter went from being on the hot seat to re-enlisting his team in the style of play that won a championship nearly two years ago. With elite goaltending, an everimproving offense that controls the flow of the game, and a strong, physical defense, the Kings should be back in business just in time for the playoffs. One of the main reasons for the Kings’ elite play in the second half lies behind the hockey stick of Jeff Carter. Carter had an excellent showing at the Olympics, perhaps giving him the momentum that he carried over into the final portion of the NHL season. Though Carter has played 10 fewer games than most of his teammates, he still led the team in goals as of press time and was second in points. In the first seven games after the Olympics, Carter racked up four goals and two assists to give him six points while also scoring the game-winner in two of four contests in that same period of time. Carter’s efforts not only on offense but on defense as well have sparked the Kings to their second half surge. The Kings have spent most of their season tangled up in the middle of a tough Western Conference, but as usual began turning things on when it counted. “To be hitting our stride at this point and beating some very good teams we had to play in the East right now, that’s a confidence booster,” Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said last week. Doughty’s right. With the playoffs steadily approaching, the Kings continued to rack up quality wins like the one they earned last Tuesday when they pulled out a gritty 5-4 shootout victory on the road versus Washington--remarkably coming back from two goals down in the third to seal the victory. Two days later, the Kings walked into Pittsburgh and took down the Penguins by a final of 3-2, keeping Sidney Crosby relatively quiet for most of the game. The Kings, of course, wouldn’t be where they are today without the play of the aforementioned Doughty and Quick. Doughty is also a player who was dominant in the Olympics and carried his play over to lead the attack on offense for the Kings. “I know he lays some big hits, plays well defensively and is a guy that when he’s on the ice, you need to be aware at all times because he can jump into the play and be a threat to score,” said Tyler Bozak of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Doughty has performed well all season long and continues to do so. He’s a player who could find himself in the running for the Norris Trophy come the end of the season. A player who could take home the Vezina Trophy in the coming years started off the season very slowly, but has recently rounded out back into the goalie who was nearly unbeatable in the playoffs over the past two years. After the break, Quick was instrumental in the Kings’ streak of seven straight wins, allowing only seven goals in that same period of time. Barring an unlikely slump over the last three games (but still with a big enough cushion in the standings to make a playoff berth all but set in stone), the Kings looked to be peaking at the perfect time. With more than just one winning streak of at least five games since the Olympic break, the Kings are a much different team than the one that suffered through an especially difficult January. With the new inspiration that has currently found the Kings and the team’s stellar play since the break, the rest of the NHL should take notice and be on guard. These L.A. Kings might be much like the ‘11-’12 Kings and very well could make another aggressive run at the Stanley Cup, taking the hockey world by storm. • Another Rivalry Nail-Biter By Adam Serrao If you didn’t already believe it after the game between North High and West High two weeks ago, last week’s game between the South High Spartans and those same West High Warriors did its part to prove it once again. The baseball teams from around the city of Torrance really don’t like each other. No matter what their respective records may be, in rivalry games this year they will play each other particularly tough. Last Wednesday afternoon at South High, the Warriors found that out the hard way once again. Following a 7-4 loss at North where the Saxons scored three runs late in the game to break the tie and take the win, West fell victim to its counterparts this time from the south side of the city. With a run in the bottom of the seventh and final inning, the Spartans broke a tie and took a win, dropping the Warriors to 0-2 when facing fellow Torrance rivals so far this season. The Warriors have no problem starting games. So far this season, West has been finding it easy to score in the first three innings and most times it jumps out to early leads. The problem comes in the later innings when the Warriors seemingly find it difficult to close people out. It was no different last week against the Spartans. West jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Josh Williams reached first, stole second and scored on a single by Nyles Nygaard. It only took one inning of play for the Spartans to respond when J.B Guyton walked and later scored on a single by Sam Camacho. The Warriors kept their offensive attack alive in the third, manufacturing a run with a walk, a bunt single and a sacrifice fly by Nygaard to get their second run on the board. After that third inning, however, the West High offense would not be heard from again. The Spartan offense wasn’t especially spectacular itself on the day, but it did the job to accomplish the task. Tying the game at two runs apiece with a run in the bottom of the fifth, South put itself in prime position to walk away with a win. In the bottom of the seventh inning with the score tied 2-2, West brought its star player Nyles Nygaard to the mound. Retiring the first two batters of the inning easily, it looked as if this one was going into extra innings. “We were down to our last strike with Kawika and he had a nice twostrike approach,” South head coach Grady Sain said. “Then we put him in motion and J.B. singled.” The players that Sain was talking about were Kawika Hubbell and J.B. Guyton. Hubbell singled with two strikes to right-center and Guyton followed that with a single of his own. With runners at first and third and Matt Mavrosakis at the plate, the game came apart for Nygaard. With a 3-1 count on Mavrosakis, Nygaard balked to send the winning run to the plate for South. “It was actually surprising for Nyles to actually balk like that,” South pitcher Matt Mogollon related. “But it was good for us.” The balk and the win pushed the Spartans forward on a four-game winning streak. Their current record of 8-2 has them sitting handily in first place in the Pioneer League standings. For West, it was its third loss in the last four games, pushing the team’s record to 4-5--good enough for a third place position in the Bay League standings. “It was an opportunity for us to get better as a ballclub,” West head coach Juan Cueva said. “I think we did that.” The Warriors will have one last chance to come away with a rivalry game win this year when they travel to Torrance to take on the Tartars April 9. Torrance High The Torrance Tartars traveled to Redondo Beach and took on the Sea Hawks in a doubleheader last Tuesday in two consecutive games that went on into the night. Torrance had a much easier time in the first of two. With a dominant first inning, the Tartars jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Two more in the third and one more in the fifth gave Torrance the eventual 8-4 win on the day. Junior JD Kruger was two for four at the plate, scoring a run and driving in three with a home run. Fellow junior Ryan Eastburn went two for four with an RBI and two runs scored. The Tartars weren’t as lucky in the second game. Held scoreless until the sixth inning, Redondo jumped out to an early 6-0 lead with two runs in the third inning and four more in the fourth. When Torrance finally scored, it was Eastburn again connecting with a home run to get his team on the board. It was a little too late, however, as the Sea Hawks’ offensive output proved to be too much and they came away with a 6-2 win. Eastburn finished one for two at the plate with a run scored and an RBI with his home run. Robert Sylvester scored the team’s only other run and went one for three on the night. North High The North High Saxons have been victims of an up-and-down season so far in this early baseball year, but continued their winning ways with a dominant performance against Cabrillo. Daniel Cobos was attempting to get any possible frustration from previous games out of his system, going four for five with two triples, two doubles and four runs scored on the night. Devin Nakagawa was right behind Cobos with the production at the plate, going three for five with four RBIs to contribute to the Saxons’ 14-2 win. The Saxons will begin league play next Wednesday and Friday with consecutive games against their division rivals, the Centennial Apaches. • Up and Adam ON APRIL 7 VEGAS LEAGUE STARTS! COME JOIN THE FUN! Every Monday at 6:30PM for 19 weeks at PV Bowl Then go to Las Vegas on Saturday, August 23! PRIZE MONEY! Call Rick at (310) 326-5120 to reserve your spot!
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