SPORTS NOTEBOOK:
GLENDALE — The following are odds and ends from the area sports scene.
FORMER FALCON BACK
IN STARTING ROTATION
Former News-Press Boys’ Athlete of the Year Dustin Emmons left Crescenta Valley High as the program’s all-time wins leader after four seasons as a starting pitcher.
However, during his sophomore season at UC Riverside, he became a middle reliever, an excellent one at that, as his earning All-Big West Conference honors would attest to.
But Emmons recently got back into the starters role with the Corvallis Knights and it doesn’t look like he’s lost a step.
Emmons made his debut for the Knights, a member of the summer collegiate West Coast League, on June 16.
Against the Kitsap BlueJackets, Emmons led the Knights to a 3-0 win. He spun seven innings of shutout ball, allowing four hits, while striking out four and walking two.
The win is part of a seven-game streak in which the Knights have gone 6-0-1.
Heading into Monday night’s game against the Portland Dukes in which Emmons was scheduled to start, the Knights are 9-3-1.
BALDRIDGE, REAL SOCAL
ELIMINATED IN FINAL
The Real SoCal Blue U17 girls’ soccer squad, which featured Crescenta Valley High’s Tori Baldridge, Summer Davidson and Frances Boukidis, advanced to the title match of the U.S. Youth Soccer Far West Regional Championships on Sunday in Lancaster, but lost to Washington’s Crossfire Premier, 3-0.
Baldridge, the reigning All-Area Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year, keyed a defense that registered four consecutive shutouts in the tournament prior to Sunday’s game.
On Friday in the quarterfinals, Real SoCal defeated Arizona’s Gilbert Soccer Club Arsenal Premier, 2-0, with Baldridge assisting on a goal.
However, Saturday’s 1-0 double-overtime win against the rival SoCal Blues might have taken a bit out of Real SoCal as it fell behind early on Sunday and had to play catch-up.
BOXING SCENE BEYOND
GLENDALE GLORY
In the days following June 12’s historic Glendale Glory boxing card — the first sanctioned event in city history in more than 60 years — there’s plenty of comings and goings as it relates to Glendale boxing.
Glendale’s Vanes “The Nightmare” Martirosyan, who attended the event, will square off with Andrey Tsurkan on Saturday at the “Latin Fury” pay-per-view card emanating from the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ.
Martirosyan (24-0, 15 KOs) will fight for the third time this year with Tsurkan (26-4, 17 KOs) looking to provide his stiffest test.
Art “Lionheart” Hovhannessyan, who made his return to the ring at the Glendale Civic Auditorium after a nine-month layoff, will continue a busy summer.
Glendale’s Hovhannessyan (8-0-1, 3 KOs) is scheduled to fight on July 18 at Hollywood Park and again on Aug. 20 in Commerce.
As for Gapo Tolmajyan, who like Hovhannessyan was victorious at Glendale Glory, he recently went back to Armenia to get married.
In other domestic boxing news, Glendale’s Kahren Harutyunyan, whose Art of Boxing Promotions put on Glendale Glory, welcomed his first child on Saturday, as Narek Harutyunyan was born at 7:30 p.m., weighing 7.6 pounds.
PAIR OF GAELS
NOTCH ALL-LEAGUE
Though the Holy Family softball team didn’t qualify for the postseason, two of its players recently earned All-Horizon League accolades.
Freshman Elena Lomeli, who played outfield, infield and pitcher, was named to the first team after batting .333 with a team-best three home runs and a .486 on-base percentage.
Senior Adriana Quintero, who caught and played the infield and outfield, led the Gaels with a .541 on-base percentage.
“Elena proved to be a very good all-around player who got on base one of every two times to help set the table,” Holy Family first-year Coach Greg Ziomek said. “Adriana was a player that we could use in different roles, and she got on base by walks and errors.”