Sports

SOFTBALL RANKINGS

The Lakewood High softball team is the top-ranked squad in the Long Beach/Southeast rankings. The Lancers, who finished 23-7 last season, are off to an 8-1 start and favored to repeat as Moore League champion.

Here is a look at the area’s top five teams with league and division.

1: Lakewood, Moore, Southern Section Division II--The Lancers have three players headed to Division I universities. Pitcher Angelo Bessolo, who was 18-6 with two no-hitters and 11 shutouts as a junior, will attend Notre Dame, and second baseman Kelli Fitzgerald will attend Tennessee. Catcher Julie Lewis is headed to Miami (Ohio).

Junior outfielder Carrie Shoumaker, a first-team Southern Section selection, is also among eight returning starters.

2: St. Paul, Del Rey, Southern Section Division II: The Swordsmen appear ready to make a run at the league title after a third-place finish last season.

St. Paul (8-0), which won the Downey tournament, has been led by pitcher Stephanie Senteno (7-0), shortstop Michelle Bailon, second baseman Andrea Villegas and outfielder Angie Gonzalez.

3: Bellflower, Suburban, Southern Section Division II: The Buccaneers’ hopes to claim the league title outright after sharing it with La Mirada last season will rest on sisters Shannon and Sherrell Watson. Shannon, a senior first baseman, batted .394 last season and Sherrell, a sophomore pitcher, was a first-team all-league selection.

Senior pitcher Kelly Wilkerson also was named to the all-league team and senior shortstop Carrie Davis batted .436 and stole 35 bases.

4: La Mirada, Suburban, Southern Section Division II: Shortstop Nicole Larson and third baseman Kristy Osborne are among seven players back for the Matadores, who tied Bellflower for the league title and advanced to the Division II quarterfinals. Freshman pitcher Jennie Finch is a top newcomer.

5: Valley Christian, Olympic, Southern Section Division V: Susie Schoales led the Crusaders (24-3-1) to their first Southern Section softball title last season. The Crusaders also will rely on the the senior pitcher this season.

Schoales, the Division V player of the year, was 17-2 with a 0.48 earned-run average. She gave up only one run in her last 94 innings, including a stretch of 89 scoreless innings. She also pitched two no-hitters and seven one-hitters. Schoales has already thrown a no-hitter this season in a 1-0 victory over Long Beach Poly.

ALL-STAR FEVER

Tommy Prince, who helped lead Dominguez (32-3) to the Southern Section Division II-A championship and its first berth in a state championship game, has been selected to the All-Southern Section team composed of players from all five divisions.

Prince, a 6-foot-5 senior who averaged 19.7 points, is being recruited by UCLA, Arizona State, USC and Maryland.

Other players selected to the All-Southern Section team include Schea Cotton and Shaun Jackson of Mater Dei, Corey Benjamin of Fontana, Shomario Richard of Nogales, Paul Pierce of Inglewood, Doug Gottlieb of Tustin, Mike Garrett of Santa Barbara, Rico Harris of Temple City and Jason Collins of Harvard-Westlake.

Here is a look at the Southern Section divisional teams:

* In Division I, Damion Dawson of Long Beach Poly, Brian Johnson of St. John Bosco and Michael Batiste of Long Beach Wilson were chosen to the first team. Ortege Jenkins of Long Beach Jordan and D’Cean Bryant of Lynwood were named to the second team.

* Prince was among three Dominguez players named to the Division II team. Prince and Kenny Brunner were selected to the first team and James Brown was chosen to the second team. Marcus Lemons of Gahr was also a second-team selection.

* Kevin Daley of Artesia was chosen the Division III co-player of the year along with Collins. The 6-foot-6 senior forward guided Artesia (29-4) to its fourth berth in a state final in six seasons, the Southern Section Division III-A championship and its ninth consecutive Suburban League title. He averaged 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Kenzie Weir of Centennial was a first-team selection. Jonathan Nelson of Artesia, Kelvin Gibbs of Bellflower, Victor Padilla of Pioneer and Ishmael Sykes of Centennial were chosen to the second team.

* Troy Collins of Pius X was chosen the Division IV player of the year. The 6-7 senior forward, who was selected Camino Real League most valuable player, averaged 17 points and 12 rebounds to help the Warriors reach the semifinals. Teammate Allen Fletcher was chosen to the second team.

* Wayne Allen, Darius Rutledge, Kelly Hambrick and Monty Owens of Cerritos College have been selected to play in the first Southern California All-Star Classic April 18 at the Pyramid. The four helped the Falcons (32-2) win their eighth South Coast Conference title in 13 seasons and advance to the quarterfinals of the state tournament.

The game also will feature former Artesia High center Avondre Jones, who played at Chaffey this season after transferring from USC. Chris Blanton, Robert Darville, Mark Neal, Pete Sverkos and Marcus Woods of Long Beach City are also scheduled to participate.

A high school game at 7 p.m., featuring top senior players, will precede the community college contest. Larry Bell of Compton, Batiste of Long Beach Wilson, Brown of Dominguez, Bryant of Lynwood, Dawson of Long Beach Poly and Lemons of Gahr are among the players who will compete.

Information: (310) 984-8355.

COLLEGES

The Long Beach State volleyball team defeated UC San Diego, 15-5, 13-15, 15-8, 15-11, in its final home match in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play Tuesday night. Tom Hoff had 36 kills and Steve Walker had 66 assists for Long Beach (16-7, 11-7 in league play).

Sixth-ranked Long Beach split two home matches against No. 2 Hawaii last week. The 49ers lost to the Rainbows Thursday, 15-12, 11-15, 15-12, 15-11.

Long Beach rebounded Friday with a 15-10, 15-12, 15-13 victory Friday behind 33 kills and 10 blocks from Hoff and 20 and 14 kills from Geoffrey Cryst and Oren Zaslansky, respectively.

Long Beach, third in the MPSF Pacific Division standings behind Hawaii and Stanford, closes out conference play at USC April 19.

The 49ers will play in the 19th annual UCLA Volleyball Classic Friday and Saturday at Pauley Pavilion. Long Beach plays 10th-ranked USC at 5 p.m. Friday. The match will be followed by top-ranked UCLA (20-1) against No. 8 Cal State Northridge (13-7).

The consolation match is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Saturday with the championship game at 7:30 p.m.

* The Cerritos College baseball team is ranked fourth in the state and second in Southern California. The Falcons defeated El Camino, 11-9, in 11 innings Saturday to win their 11th game in a row.

Sophomore right-hander Roger Camacho is 4-1 with a 1.44 earned-run average in 43 2/3 innings for Cerritos (22-6, 12-1), which holds a two-game lead over East Los Angeles (10-3) in the conference standings.

* The Long Beach City College softball team improved to 21-1 and 7-0 in South Coast Conference play with a 15-1 victory over El Camino. Lisa Balbirnie (7-1) had seven strikeouts and Christine Benyak was four-for-five with two triples and four runs batted in.

INVITATION ONLY

Michael Granville of Bell Gardens and Andrea Anderson and Aminah Haddad of Long Beach Poly are among the entrants in the 28th Foot Locker/Arcadia Invitational Saturday night at Arcadia High.

Granville, the defending state 800-meter champion, set a national indoor record of 1 minute 50.55 seconds at the National Scholastic championships in Syracuse, N.Y., in March. The junior will run in a field that includes John Reyes of Colorado, who finished second to Granville in Syracuse, and Obea Moore of Muir. Granville will also run the 200.

Anderson and Haddad, the nation’s No. 1 and 3 returning runners at 100 meters at 11.57 and 11.63, will meet state champion Heather Sumpter of Muir. Anderson and Haddad, who run in the 200, will team on Poly’s 400- and 1,600-meter relay teams.

Five other Poly athletes are also entered in the girls’ competition. The Jackrabbits also have a team in the distance medley relay. Pam Simpson will run in the 400 along with Myesha Williams. Sherron Rhetta, Shavent Williams and Naeeman Witney will compete in the 800, high jump and triple jump.

Other entrants in the invitational girls’ division include Virginia Williams of Dominguez (100 and 200) and Kelly Black of Downey (high jump).

Poly’s Marcus Anderson and Patrick McCall are in the boys’ long jump and Kenyon Rambo will run in the 110-meter high hurdles and the 300 intermediate hurdles. Teammate Ty Anderson is in the triple jump.

LeJuan Gibbons of Long Beach Jordan (100), Gerald Williams of Lynwood (long jump and triple jump), John Davis of Long Beach Wilson (shotput and discus), Robert Heshmer of Lakewood (triple jump) are entered. Jordan, Poly and Long Beach Wilson are entered in the 400, 1,600 and distance medley relay, respectively.

Field events begin at 4:30 p.m. with the first running event at 6:30. Information: (818) 445-7507.