Sports

RELOAD, NOT REBUILD

This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Redondo High girls’ softball team.

But don’t tell that to Redondo’s opponents.

The Sea Hawks graduated several top players from last year’s team that advanced to the Southern Section Division III final before suffering a 3-0 loss to St. Lucy’s in the title game. But they still appear to be the class of the South Bay this season.

Coach Paul Collette said the inexperience of the Sea Hawks (8-3, 3-1 in the Ocean League) was a concern at first.

“It took last year’s team basically two years to do what they were able to accomplish,” he said. “But (this year) they have already stepped up. It has taken four games, and there’s a little inconsistency because of youth.”

Redondo entered the week in a four-way tie for first place in the Ocean League.

The Seahawks appear to have the pitching to match any team in the South Bay. The Sea Hawks are led by junior Kerry Martin, who is 8-3 with a 0.30 earned-run average. She has given up only three earned runs and one walk in 71 innings.

The young Sea Hawks also feature juniors such as Heather Peters at shortstop, Meghan Dunbabin at second base and Kelly Reed at catcher. The top senior is third baseman Selena Fine. Martin is the team’s top batter with a .394 average followed by Peters at .371 and Fine at .359.

Reed has excelled on defense and helped fill the void left by the graduation of All-Southern Section catcher Jennifer Rios.

HONOR ROLL

The honors continue to roll in for Inglewood High basketball standout Paul Pierce.

The latest came this week with the announcement that Pierce has been named state player of the year by Cal-Hi Sports. The 6-foot-7 senior forward led Inglewood (26-4) to national prominence before the team lost to Dominguez in the Southern Section Division II-A semifinals.

Pierce, who will attend Kansas in the fall, also was named Division II player of the year last week and scored a game-high 28 points to lead the West to a 126-115 victory over the East on Sunday in the McDonald’s All-American High School Basketball Game at St. Louis. He also was named state Division II player of the year by Cal-Hi Sports.

Several other South Bay boys also were honored by Cal-Hi Sports. Milt Palacio, a 6-3 senior guard from Serra, was named all-state in Division IV and Todd Ammons of Chadwick, a 6-1 senior guard, made the Division V team. In addition, junior guards Brian Jones of Banning and Tremaine Mayeaux of Redondo were named to the all-state underclass team.

Inglewood also placed a player on the all-state girls team. Yanick Clay, a 6-1 senior forward, made the third team.

Two other girls also were honored by Cal-Hi Sports. Tiffany Washington of Bishop Montgomery, a 6-2 junior center, made the all-state Division III team and 5-10 sophomore Kawai Matthews of Narbonne was named to the all-underclass team.

Washington also was one of two Bishop Montgomery players named to the All-Southern Section Division III first team. Teammate Tashara Carter, a 6-0 sophomore, also was honored. Seniors Leah Santa of Redondo and Devyn Johnson of Morningside also made the first team and Andrea Miller of Redondo the second team.

In addition, Nicole Legaux of St. Mary’s was named to the All-Division IV first team and Kerry Massey of Gateway Christian was chosen to the All-Division V second team.

ON THE RUN

The powerful Morningside boys and girls track teams will be among the area squads represented at the 28th annual Arcadia/Foot Locker Invitational Track and Field Meet on Saturday at Arcadia High.

Field events start at 5:30 p.m. and running events at 6:30 p.m.

The Morningside boys, who have won three consecutive Southern Section Division III titles, will be led by triple jumper Michael Turner, who has a state-best of 50-feet, one-half inch. The Monarchs will also compete in the 1,600-meter relay, where they rank among the state leaders.

The Morningside girls, who won their fifth consecutive Division III title last season, also will send a top contingent to the meet, including Rori Kelly in the 100-meter hurdles and Nicole Thomas in the 300-meter hurdles. Thomas is the national leader this season in her specialty with a time of 43.2 seconds.

The Monarchs also will compete in the 400 and 1,600 relays. Morningside ranks among the state leaders in both events with bests of 47.1 in the 400 and 3:52.01 in the 1,600.

Among other South Bay participants in the meet will be Molly Mehlberg of Peninsula in the 3,200 meters and Reynda King of St. Mary’s in the triple jump. Mehlberg is ranked among the national leaders with a best of 10:45.40 in the 3,200.

ON THE MARC

Senior pitcher Marc Mosman turned in a brilliant performance when Cal State Dominguez Hills defeated Concordia in a nonconference game last week in Carson.

Mosman set a school record when he struck out 17 batters the Toros’ 5-0 victory.

How masterful was Mosman’s effort?

At one point, he struck out 10 in a row. He gave up only five hits.

STRUGGLING

The Harbor College baseball team continues to struggle in its quest to win its third consecutive South Coast Conference championship and 10th conference title in a row.

The Seahawks (17-11, 8-5), who split four conference games last week, find themselves in the unaccustomed position of fourth place in South Coast play going into an important game against Long Beach at 2:30 p.m. today in Harbor City. Harbor also will play Chaffey in a nonconference game at 1 p.m. Saturday in Ontario.

Long Beach entered the week tied for second with East Los Angeles at 9-3, two games behind first-place Cerritos. The Seahawks suffered a heartbreaking 7-6 loss to Cerritos in 12 innings last week.