Edison baseball headed to Japan
What has been a plan in the making for nearly two years, the Edison High baseball program will realize the fruits of its efforts when it departs next week for a trip to Japan.
The Chargers will play five games against club teams and a high school all-star team during its trip. They depart Wednesday for Tokyo and will play and sight-see in parts of the country through July 26. They are scheduled to return to Orange County July 27.
“We’re so excited for this trip,” Edison Coach Cameron Chinn said. “We’ve known about it for some time now, but going through the school year and getting ready for summer ball, has taken us to the point to where now, we are about to leave on our trip. It should be an incredible experience and one we are looking forward to.”
Chinn said he had the idea to plan the trip and since then, the program has raised money through various fundraisers including a recent golf tournament and a local restaurant dine-out that took place Wednesday. He said the work of parents of players in the program have helped make the trip a reality.
“I thought it would be a great trip,” he said. “We have had a number of Asian-Americans players in our program, so them getting to experience playing in Japan makes it extra special. I thought it would be a really great thing to see how the Japanese play the game there, see some of the country, and experience their culture.”
The Chargers begin their five-game trip in Tokyo with one game. From there, Chinn said their entourage will travel by bullet train to their next destination, Anjo, which is a Sister City to Huntington Beach, and will play their final four games there.
Chinn said among the team’s travel plans are sight-seeing excursions to see a professional baseball game at the Tokyo Dome — where the Chargers also will play one of their games, Toyota headquarters, and the hitting facility of Major League player and career hitting record-holder Ichiro Suzuki.
Edison recently took part in the American Legion Baseball 4th Area Tournament which started Saturday at Paramount High. The Chargers dropped their opener Saturday to Long Beach Wilson, 3-0, shut down Downey Sunday, 8-0, and were eliminated after a 2-1 loss to Wilson Monday.
Edison will compete in the San Clemente Tournament which starts Thursday, and will serve as one of the host sites for the tournament.
Water Polo
Tyler Middleton has been hired as the varsity boys’ and girls’ water polo coach at Marina High, Marina Athletic Director Michelle Spencer announced in a statement.
Middleton replaces Tony Karaman as Marina’s boys’ coach, and takes over the girls’ program from Phil Geiger who resigned the post to become the head coach of the Lakewood boys’ water polo program, Spencer said.
Middleton, a 31-year- old native of Southern California who currently serves as a youth coach for Huntington Beach Water Polo Club, was on two Murrieta Valley High teams that won a CIF Southern Section championship. He went on to play at Whittier College, where he helped guide the Poets to their first Southern California Interscholastic Athletic Conference championship since 1976. Members from that 2004 water polo team will be inducted this fall into the Whittier College’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
