On the day I wrote about the competitive virtues of the Baseline League, all four of the league's baseball teams that qualified for the CIF playoffs lost their first-round games. Upland, Alta Loma, Rancho Cucamonga and Los Osos were eliminated from post-season competition on Thursday. Meanwhile, teams from the Sierra League, where Claremont will land in fall 2010, fared better. Chino Hills and Damien both won, while Glendora lost. Charter Oak and South Hills were both scheduled to play their first-round games on Friday.
Claremont High will get a little competitive relief when it moves to the Sierra League beginning in 2010. School principals from 42 schools in the Mt. SAC area have finalized their proposals today (see story), but the final re-alignment won’t be finalized until a vote by league representatives on Oct. 22. There are three proposals on the table, and all put Claremont in the Sierra League with Charter Oak, Chino Hills, Ayala and Damien/St. Lucy's high schools. The only question is whether the sixth team will be Glendora or South Hills. If it is South Hills, then Glendora will move to the Baseline League to replace Claremont. If Glendora stays in the Sierra, then South Hills will be moved to the Miramonte/San Antonio League and the Baseline League will be left with only five schools.
The move is intended to give Claremont some competitive relief from the bigger schools in the Baseline League – especially in football and basketball – as was noted in this blog back in November. But the Wolfpack will still have its hands full in the Sierra League, and there will be more distance to travel. There are probably other local leagues where Claremont would be a better fit, but numerous other issues factor into the equation, making this the logical solution. The next time leagues will have the chance to shift will be 2014, so let’s hope this works.
Happy 50th birthday this past week to my good friends Grant Warhurst (May 14) and Mike Greer (May 16), and this week to Larry Seligman (May 19). And happy 50th wishes to old friend Craig Allen, who celebrated May 4.
We're not getting too old. Some guy just proclaimed 50 the new 18... Okay, maybe that was me, but I'm going with it.
Cheers!
Congratulations to nephew Kevin Bosson, who recently wrapped up his freshman season as a pitcher for the Cal Poly Pomona baseball team. Kevin emerged as one of the top starters for the Broncos, and led the team with four victories, 59 1/3 innings pitched and 46 strikeouts. He posted a 4-5 record with a 4.55 earned run average in 11 starts.
Unfortunately, the Cal Poly folks didn’t seem to go to bat for Kevin when it came to post-season honors. He was surprisingly passed over as the California Collegiate Athletic Association’s Freshman of the Year, which went to Cal State San Bernardino’s Aaron Brooks. Kevin put up better numbers in every significant statistical category (Brooks had a 2-3 record, 4.70 ERA, 48 strikeouts in nine starts and 53 innings).
Maybe this one should have gone as a no-decision.
For those of you who've followed my blog, you may have noticed some of the artwork that I've chosen to include with my writings. Most of these were pieces portraying the Olympics or football and were done by artist Ernie Barnes.
Barnes died this week at the age of 70. A former professional football player, Barnes gained my attention with the paintings he commissioned for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Beth bought the set of five posters for me, and they still hang in my house. He was unquestionably my favorite sports artist.
The things that most captivated me about his art were his portrayal of athletic bodies and determination. I remember hearing that his characters always had their eyes closed, too. That is mentioned in the obituary from the April 30 Los Angeles Times.
The Times also provide a link to a photo gallery of Barnes and some of his work.
The Claremont High School varsity baseball team will play against Los Osos High at the Epicenter in Rancho Cucamonga on Saturday, May 9, at 1 p.m.
The Epicenter is home to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes minor league baseball team, the single-A California League affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Tickets to the event are available for $10 each in advance and are good for admission to all three Baseline League games at the Epicenter on May 9. The Claremont-Los Osos game gets the day started at 1 p.m., followed by Upland against Etiwanda at 4 p.m. and Alta Loma versus Rancho Cucamonga at 7 p.m.
All tickets are general admission and parking is free. Re-entry to the stadium will be allowed. Gates will open at noon.
To obtain tickets for sale and purchase, download a form from the Claremont High baseball Web site at www.claremonthighbaseball.com and return the completed form to Nicole Troli at nicoletroli@ca.rr.com, Debbie Inglese at eddeb6@earthlink.net or Sid Robinson at sid.robinson@verizon.net. Ticket orders are due Monday, May 4.
For more information, contact Troli at (909) 455-4059, Inglese at (909) 238-7153 or Robinson at (909) 227-9589.
I am sorry.
I’ve been really bad about blogging over the past six months. Not to make excuses, but this is a lot harder to maintain than I ever expected.
But it’s time to start writing again. I hope to be able to maintain the column again. And there is no better motivation than to share a few photos and memories from my 50th birthday party.
Thank you to everybody who joined us Saturday night at Piano Piano in Claremont. I’d never been to a dueling piano bar, but that was fun stuff. The best part, of course, was that so many people were there to share in the fun. Even Nick Salata, my old college roommate, and his wife Cathy drove out from Pasadena.
The event was especially fun because I could share the spotlight with Greg Setlich, whose 50th birthday is four days after mine. He had plenty of family and friends there, along with all the people we invited. It was just a ton of fun. It was just a gratifying feeling to look around the room and see old friends and new friends, and so many family members, having a great time.
I paid for my fun the next day, but it was worth every bit of it. Thank you Beth, and thank everybody for sharing this one with me. Enjoy the photos…
On the day I wrote about the competitive virtues of the Baseline League, all four of the league's baseball teams that qualified for the CIF playoffs lost their first-round games. Upland, Alta Loma, Rancho Cucamonga and Los Osos were eliminated from post-season competition on Thursday. Meanwhile, teams from the Sierra League, where Claremont will land in fall 2010, fared better. Chino Hills and Damien both won, while Glendora lost. Charter Oak and South Hills were both scheduled to play their first-round games on Friday.
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