Tag Archives: Westchester

Softball Roundup: Westchester rallies to advance to D-2 semis

Fresh off an opening round upset of Wilson, Westchester had two rally twice in order to knock off 15th seed Maywood 8-7 to advance to the LA City Division II semifinals.

Veranae Woods had three RBI’s and Sharnitra Woods scored and drove in a run for the Comets.

Westchester trailed 2-0 in the first and 5-4 after the third inning of play.

The 10th-seeded will travel to No. 6 Arleta on Tuesday.

In other games…

Venice bats get hot early in win

Softball: Venice gets the top seed in Division II playoffs

Winning their first Western League title in six years, Venice was reward with the top seed in the Division II softball playoffs. The Gondoliers who finished 23-3-1 under first-year coach Daniel Soto will host San Fernando Chavez of the East Valley League in the first round. The winner will face either Bravo or Hollywood in the quarterfinals.

Westchester was selected as the tenth seed and will travel to the eastside against seventh seed Wilson.

First round schedule is below:

LA City Division II Softball Playoffs

First round, Tuesday, May 14th at 3 p.m.

Baseball: Hamilton, Venice, and University qualify for the D1 playoffs; Westschester left out

Hamilton may have won the Western League but its weak schedule seemed to hurt them in LA City Division I playoff seeding as they were the only conference champion to be left out of the main draw. The Yankees will battle Arleta in the Wildcard game on Wednesday for the right to face off against Marine League co-champion Banning.

Two other Western League teams earned Division I wild card spots as Venice will host Carson and University will travel to the valley to take on Birmingham.

Westchester had the best RPI in the Western League but lost their final four games in conference play to put them in fourth place and that setback most likely kept them out of the playoffs.

LA City Division I Baseball Playoffs

Wild Card games
Wednesday, May 15th at 3 p.m.

No. 20 Arleta at No. 13 Hamilton
No. 19 Universty at No. 14 Birmingham
No. 18 Carson at No. 15 Venice
No. 17 Maywood Academy at No. 16 Verdugo Hills

Main Draw
Wednesday, May 22nd at 3 p.m.

Softball Roundup: A slow start does not stop Venice from taking the Western League

Venice pitcher Milana Casillas threw a complete game in the Gondoliers 12-2 victory over Westchester. / Photo: Paul Alvarez Jr

Venice pitcher Milana Casillas threw a complete game in the Gondoliers 12-2 victory over Westchester. / Photo: Paul Alvarez Jr

Two days after beating Westchester in a mercy rule game, Venice found themselves struggling in a tied contest heading the fourth inning.

Then the bats got going as the Gondoliers grab three runs and four more in the fifth to clich their first Western League crown in six years with a 12-2 win over the Comets.

“Came out flat and realized quickly that [Westchester] brought their ‘A” game,” said Venice head coach Daniel Soto. “We had to step up our game and rose to the occasion. They also had some players today that did not play against us [on Tuesday].

Leanna De La Paz went three-for-four with two RBI’s, Gabriela Patino drove in two more runs and Kira Wessels had an inside the park homerun.

After coming throwing a five inning no-hitter in their last meeting, Venice pitcher Milana Casillas was nowhere near as dominate. The senior gave up eight hits and five walks in a complete game victory

“I struggled throwing strikes, but glad that my teammates were able to back me up when I needed it,” said Casillas.

Track: Olympian Carmelita Jeter surprises Westchester’s Destinee Brown at her signing day ceremony

Westchester sprinter Destinee Brown (left) smiling as she gets a surprise visit from Olympic Gold Medalist Carmelita Jeter (right) after she signs her letter of intent with Cal State Fullerton / Photo courtesy of Westchester High

Westchester sprinter Destinee Brown (left) smiling as she gets a surprise visit from Olympic Gold Medalist Carmelita Jeter (right) after she signed her letter of intent with Cal State Fullerton / Photo courtesy of Westchester High

Westchester sprinter Destinee Brown was already excited on Friday when she signed her letter of intent to Cal State Fullerton and her coaches decided to shock her with a special guest.

The deception was on when girls’ basketball assistant coach Andre Collins called Brown into the training room to talk to head trainer Courtney Watson.

Instead of chatting with Watson, standing there waiting was three-time Olympic medalist Carmelita Jeter to congratulate her.

It was a pleasant surprise for the senior.

“Oh gosh, that was kind of crazy,” said Brown about her initial reaction. “I was like, ‘Is that really Carmelita?’ I know she has a busy schedule, so it meant a lot for her to show up for this moment.”

This was not the first time the two has crossed paths as Brown worked out with Jeter during spring break in March.

“I have been getting more focused and working harder especially after spending the time with Carmelita,” said Brown.

Track: Westchester’s Destinee Brown commits to Cal State Fullerton

Westchester's Destinee Brown

Westchester’s Destinee Brown

Westchester’s Destinee Brown, one of the favorites to win the LA City 100 and 200 meter titles, has verbally committed to run track at Cal State Fullerton.

The senior place third in the 100 meters at the LA City finals last year and qualified for state for the Comets.

Brown was also part of Inglewood’s 4 x 100 meter relay team her sophomore year that made state back in 2011.

A multi-sport athlete, she averaged 13 points and eight rebounds a game on Westchester’s basketball team that made it to the LA City Division 2 finals.

Baseball: University hangs on in a crazy 7th to beat Westchester

Sometimes when you recieve a generous gift, your immediate response to return the gesture in kind.

That what University nearly did in picking up a big Western League victory on the road in wild seventh inning of an 10-5 win over Westchester.

Leading 6-3, University seemed to break the game open when Miguel Solis single to right field cleared the bases on an error by Westchester’s JT Taylor and was able to score on a throwing error by catcher Aaron Greenfield to give the Wildcats a seven-run lead.

Instead of cruising to an easy three outs, University relief pitcher Isaac Yoshinaga decided to make things a little more interesting.