Sports Briefs: Morikawa aims to honor ‘The King’
La Cañada’s Morikawa tabbed to Team USA
Former four-time All-Area Boys’ Golfer of the Year Collin Morikawa will take aim at a prize named after one of his sport’s greats.
The La Cañada High alumnus will be representing more than just his school as a member of Team USA in the Arnold Palmer Cup, one of amateur golf’s biggest tournaments.
Team USA will square off against Europe in a Ryder Cup-style tournament taking place from Friday through Sunday at the Atlanta Athletic Club in the 20th edition of the annual competition.
This year’s event will be the first since the passing of Palmer on Sept. 25.
Several famous golfers have taken part previously, including Matt Kuchar, Brandt Snedeker and Rickie Fowler.
Morikawa’s teammates include Louisana State’s Sam Burns, Texas A&M’s Chandler Phillips, University of Virginia’s Jimmy Stanger, Stanford’s Maverick McNealy and Oregon’s Norman Xiong.
Six Flintridge Prep baseball players honored
The Flintridge Prep baseball team picked up two first-team and six overall selections on the Prep League awards list.
The Rebels finished 14-8-1 and 7-5 in league to finish in third behind archrival Pasadena Poly and Rio Hondo Prep.
Flintridge Prep earned advancement to the CIF Southern Section Division IV playoffs, after being moved up two divisions, and was defeated, 10-5, by Arroyo Grande.
Senior second baseman Danny Chiarodit and senior utility player Kendall Kikkawa nabbed the Rebels’ first-team selections.
Chiarodit batted .358 with 29 runs and 11 runs batted in.
“It was really great having him as our three-year starter at second base,” Flintridge Prep coach Guillermo Gonzalez said. “He was one of the leaders that we had and someone the guys could look up to on hitting and defense. It was a privilege to have him.”
Kikkawa played football, basketball and baseball and mirrored that versatility in the lineup as he played several positions for Gonzalez.
Kikkawa batted .364 with 23 runs and 21 RBI along with seven doubles.
“We had him play everything – shortstop, outfield, third base – he even pitched a couple of games,” Gonzalez said. “He batted at the top of the order and did a great job. He’s another three-year starter who will be tough to replace.”
Flintridge Prep has four additional players on the second team in junior utility Nicholas Davis (.327 with 17 runs and 12 RBI), sophomore first baseman Thomas Kosakowski (team-best .407 average), junior utility Bradley Noble (.375 with 15 runs and eight RBI) and sophomore shortstop Max Rosenfeld (.304 with 19 RBI and 18 runs).
St. Francis Soccer Camp
The St. Francis Summer Soccer Camp, led by St. Francis Coach Glen Appels, will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 24-28 at St. Francis High’s soccer field, 200 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada.
The camp is designed for boys and girls, ages 6-18, and will cover a variety of skills, film sessions and more.
The cost is $180 per person and includes a T-shirt and water bottle.
For more information, contact Appels at gappels@sfhs.net or call (818) 790-0325.