Galaxy’s Jones in Orbit Over Star-Struck Local Soccer Fans
Being the focus of a mob’s attention is not usually a good thing. Unless you were the Los Angeles Galaxy’s Cobi Jones on Saturday night.
Jones, a Westlake Village native and a star midfielder for the local Major League Soccer team, scored the organization’s first goal in a 2-1 victory over the New York/New Jersey MetroStars at the Rose Bowl before 69,255 frenzied fans.
Afterward, hundreds of fans raced onto the field, many of them surrounding Jones and straining to touch his uniform and dreadlocks.
The 25-year-old midfielder and former UCLA All-American was plucked from the scrum by Galaxy security officials and escorted to the locker room but seemed none the worse for wear.
“I think it was great for the players to have that kind of following,” Jones said with a laugh. “It makes our jobs easier and it shows that soccer can be a success here.”
Jones, who starred at Westlake High in the mid-1980s with fellow U.S. World Cup standout Eric Wynalda, said he finds his current situation somewhat surreal.
“I never thought, in college and when I first realized I could play soccer for a living, that I’d be playing in the United States,” said Jones, who has played professionally in England and Brazil. “I thought I’d be living the best years of my life overseas in Europe or South America. [MLS is] great for soccer and great for sports in L.A.”
Scout and about: Like many youngsters who play baseball, Josh Towers hopes to reach the major leagues someday.
Until recently, that was wishful thinking on his part. The freshman right-hander at Oxnard College had been hardly noticed by professional scouts.
But his 8-1 record and 2.03 earned-run average (6-0 and 0.86 in Western State Conference play) for the Condors, after an average pitching career at Hueneme High, is drawing more attention from the radar-gun-toting fraternity.
Towers, 6 feet 1 and 160 pounds, might never climb to the majors but he’s steadily improving his chances of playing professionally. He has 60 strikeouts and only 17 walks in 71 innings.
“He came out of nowhere,” a scout for a major league club said. “He’s one of the better [junior college] guys. He spots his fastball well and his curveball is probably his best pitch. . . . He’s a guy to keep an eye on.”
Patience pays off: Once again, months of waiting in the wings proved worthwhile for Craig Arnold.
The Cal Lutheran junior right-hander had pitched only four innings this season when he was handed the ball and asked to close the Kingsmen’s most important contest, the second game of a doubleheader against Claremont-Mudd.
Arnold entered the game with runners at first and third and Cal Lutheran holding a 9-6 lead with none out in the last inning. After surrendering a bloop single, he induced the next batter to ground into a double play.
Another groundout followed and Arnold’s save enabled the Kingsmen to take a one-game lead in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Four years ago, Arnold came through in a similar situation. A seldom-used reliever for American Legion power Newbury Oaks, Arnold was called on to protect a slim lead in the 15th inning of a nerve-racking Western regional final against Green Valley, Nev.
Two ground balls and a pop fly later, Newbury Oaks had qualified for the World Series and Arnold was a hero.
“When I went to the mound [against Claremont], all I could think of was the Legion game,” Arnold said.
That’s called thinking positive.
Stats
Tara Glaister and Jen Richardson became the first Cal State Northridge softball pitchers in more than 10 years to throw back-to-back no-hitters. The pair no-hit Southern Utah in a doubleheader last weekend. Kathy Slaten was the last pitcher to record back-to-back no-hitters when she blanked Loyola Marymount twice on March 15, 1986.
Quotebook
“I was hearing the splits, but I can’t do math very well when I’m standing still, let alone when I’m racing.”
--Kim Mortensen of Thousand Oaks High when asked whether she realized how fast her pace was in the 1,600 meters in the Arcadia Invitational at Arcadia High on Saturday night.
Honors
Pepperdine outside hitter George Roumain has been named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation player of the week. The 6-foot-6, 230-pound freshman had a .450 hitting percentage, 34 kills and 10 blocks in two matches.
Things to Do
Thousand Oaks High gets a chance to even the score Thursday when the Lancers travel to Camarillo for a Marmonte League softball matchup at 3:30 p.m. between two of the region’s top 10 teams. Camarillo beat the Lancers in their first league meeting, 4-1, after Mandi Comer hit a three-run homer in the top of the 11th.
Contributing: Fernando Dominguez, Irene Garcia, Dana Haddad, Steve Henson, Paige A. Leech, John Ortega, Tris Wykes.
