Chapjian added to All-Star squad after big night
GLENDALE — The following are odds and ends from the local sports scene.
CHAPJIAN NAMED TO ALL-STAR TEAM
Having seen Sako Chapjian turn in some stellar offensive performances throughout the first half of the season, Glendale Angelenos Coach Tony Riviera believed an addition to the California Collegiate League All-Star Game was warranted.
Shortly after Chapjian, a former standout at Hoover High and Glendale Community College, hit a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Angelenos a 10-7 league win against the visiting Conejo Oaks at Stengel Field on Friday, Riviera figured he needed to make a case for the infielder/outfielder to be added to the CCL All-Star game.
“He leads the team and league with [five] home runs and I thought right after the game Friday that he definitely deserved to be in the All-Star game,” Riviera said. “That grand slam was the icing on the cake.
“I made some calls to the league commissioner Pat Burns and some of the other coaches in our league. He and the coaches were open to it.”
Chapjian will be one of 10 Angelenos scheduled to participate in the contest, which will be held at 6 p.m. July 13 at Stengel Field. The game will be televised on Fox Sports. Seventy-one players will take part in the game.
Chapjian is batting .254 (17-57) with five home runs and 13 runs batted in through Sunday. He’s tied for the league lead in home runs and has scored 17 runs.
The other Glendale players scheduled to participate are first baseman Ellis Whitman, catcher Chad Nacapoy, outfielders Aaron Brown, Matthew Young and Franco Broyles, designated hitter Alex Muren and pitchers Greg Fowler, Thomas Korn and Sean Wardour.
FALCON WATER POLO CLUB ADVANCES
The La Crescenta-based Falcon Water Polo Club recently qualified three teams to participate in the United States Water Polo Junior Olympics, which will be held Aug. 4-7 in Irvine.
The 18-and-under team qualified for the Junior Olympics at the Coastal Zone Qualifications, which were held in Pomona. The squad finished 4-1 and placed fifth in the 12-team tournament. The club posted victories against Foothill Black, L.A. Water Polo White, Santa Barbara B and Rose Bowl.
The team consisted of Dakota Davy Bertram, Shelby Gregg, Adrienne Ingalla, Kim Fraisse, Lena Hathaway, Tyler Brown, Devin Grab, Rachel Claus, Aimee Minsal, Sabrina Hatzer, Nayiri Kechichian, Stefanie Loporchio, Shannon Hovanesian, Elissa Arnold and Katie Benson.
The under-16 Blue squad took eighth place in their portion of the tournament, with wins against Foothill Black and Conquerer (16-7).
Team members are Maggie Connell, Hatzer, Arnold, Grab, Benson, Gabriel Isacson, Ashley Taylor, Lynley Fernandez, Grace Algeo, Liza Echeverria, Sabrina Pierce, Sirius Pinget, Carolyn Magistrate and.
The White team took 13th and will also participate in the tournament. The squad features Julia Vitagliano, Shannon Renn, Bianca Vera, Savannah Pierce, Natalie Krebsbach, MacKenzie Duke, Eliza Arslanian, Yoselin Galdamez, Jesse Gabor, Kimberly Chernich, Any Aghakhanian, Caitlin Connell, Molly Bertram and Isabelle Seeto.
ROUSEY TO DEBUT
ON SHOWTIME
Burgeoning mixed-martial-arts female fighter Ronda Rousey will make her Strikeforce debut live on Showtime as part of the “Strikeforce Challengers 18” card on Aug. 12 in Las Vegas.
Rousey, who trains, among other places, at the Glendale Fighting Club and is cornered by Glendale’s Edmond Tarverdyan, will take on Sarah D’Alelio (4-1) in a televised bout.
With a 2-0 professional record, Rousey has created plenty of buzz early in her career, as she’s a former Olympic bronze medalist in judo, went 3-0 in amateur MMA fights and has won her two professional MMA bouts in a combined 74 seconds.
D’Alelio was originally slated to face superstar Gina Carano at an earlier card, but when Carano pulled out of the bout, it was offered to Rousey. She was forced to turn down the June bout, as the promoter she had already signed on to fight with refused to let her out of her contract. Rousey and D’Alelio then signed on for a Strikeforce event at the end of June, but would’ve been relegated to the unaired undercard.