Lawrence Has a New Look Thanks to Winning Ways

The Grant High baseball team continued to win, so Coach Jeremy Lawrence lost his beard and mustache.

After the Lancers upset North Hollywood last week, Lawrence said he would lose the facial hair if Grant could beat East Valley League leader Sylmar on Monday.

Grant won, 4-1, and Lawrence paid up. Even without the extra motivation, Grant beat the Spartans again on Wednesday, 10-0, in a game shortened to five innings because of the 10-run rule.

“They wanted to shave my head after that one,” Lawrence said. “But it’s gone far enough. At least I don’t have to bribe them to win anymore.”

GOLF

What a card: Aaron Levine of Calabasas apologized to teammates after costing his team the lead in the Frontier League tournament by signing an incorrect scorecard following the second round on Thursday.

Levine, who had played the previous three holes in five-over-par, forgot to ask his playing partners for scores on the 12th hole and didn’t give his out.

His partners assumed Levine parred the 12th, when he bogeyed the hole.

Levine said he didn’t realize the mistake until after he turned in his scorecard.

“I’ve never lost my temper on the golf course,” Levine said. “I just snapped out there. I felt bad for the team because that’s what this is for.”

Levine signed for a 78 when he actually shot 79 and his score had to be disqualified. The Coyotes, six-time defending league champions, were forced to count their sixth score, an 89 by Jon Herson, and fell two strokes behind Nordhoff midway through the league tournament.

Levine, who finished second in the league individual tournament a year ago, has been disqualified from this year’s individual tournament, but his scores can still count in Calabasas’ team score in the final two rounds.

TRACK AND FIELD

Decathlon pioneer: Hoover junior pole vaulter Bridget Pearson said she enjoys branching out in her sport.

“[Hoover] needed another long jumper at a [recent] meet and I tried it and took second,” said Pearson, who posted a 14-foot, 10-inch mark. “That’s nothing to be too proud of but there’s so many events I want to try like that. When the decathlon comes in it’s something I want to start.”

Coach Chris Pearson has encouraged his daughter, a former gymnast, to pursue other events, with an eye toward the decathlon becoming a sanctioned event for women in the future.

Women compete only in the heptathlon, but with the advent of women’s pole vaulting, women are participating in each of the required decathlon events.

“She’s not quite big enough for a thrower and kind of big for a vaulter and she started out as a high jumper,” Chris said of his daughter, who is 5 feet 11.

Add Pearson: Pearson said the title of “state champion” can be a burden at times.

“Everyone was expecting more of me; I could tell I wasn’t the only one who was disappointed,” she said after finishing fourth at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays. “It’s nice to know people are watching you but it’s hard because it’s not just you who’s losing, it seems like it’s everyone else, too.”