City Council Heaps Honors on Local Athletes

September 18, 2017
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Ringing in the Bling: ULV Softball Champs (see roster below)

LA VERNE, California, September 18, 2017 — The City’s budget took another hit on Monday, Sept. 18, with the awarding of In-N-Out gift cards to all the players on the 12-year-old and 10-year-old La Verne Little League all-star teams, as well as to all the players on the University of La Verne softball team.

 

All three teams recorded exceptional spring and summer seasons that drew special recognition from the City Council, which included the In-n-Out passes.

 

Coached by Julie Smith and assisted by Yvon Minogue and Henry Moranchel, the University of La Verne’s women’s softballers completed a remarkable season in 2017, finishing 31-14 overall and 20-8 in conference play.

 

The Leos won both the SCIAC regular season championship and the SCIAC Tournament championship, earning the team a trip to play in the NCAA Regional Tournament in Tyler, Texas. Not only did the Leos do well on the field, the team also achieved an overall 3.46 GPA.

 

The winning roster included: Hayley Jacquess, Alexis Schiff, Ashley Caro, Angelica DeAngelo,Haley Gomez, Elisa Ponce, Krystal Smith, Carly Condon, Michelle Deguzman, Melissa Garcia, Sienna Kendricks Rachel Ogata, Justice Borden, Samantha Morales, Katheryn Navarro, Shelby Tevis and Ashley Villavicencio.

 

The 12-year-old team that went farther than any other in La Verne history.

Meanwhile, the 12-year-old Little League All-Star Team, managed by Mark Smith and coaches Matt Kearns and Nate Smith, went farther on the road to Williamsport, Pa., home of the Little League World Series, than any other team in La Verne Little League history.

 

The Little League 12-Year Old All-Star Team won the District 20 Championship going 4-0 and outscoring their opponents 40 runs to 4. They then moved on to the Section 3 Tournament and won the championship by going 3-0. In the final game, Matt Bustos struck out 19 batters.

 

In the California State Tournament, the boys finished third out of 400 teams and actually led eventual World Series representative Santa Margarita entering the bottom of the sixth inning in a match-up of undefeated teams.

 

Team players included Nolan Smith, Morgan Smith, Justin Kearns, Matthew Bustos, Justin Santiago, Tristan Rambaud,Clayton Roland, Seth Wrightstone, Travis Owen, Mikah Smith, Gabe Hubbard and Tyler Holley.

 

The 10-year La Verne Little League all-stars promise a bright future for local baseball.

The 10-year-olds honored during the evening might have been the youngest to be recognized, but they showed they were equally deserving of their honors. The team, managed by Mark Garcia and coaches Aaron Garcia and Valeria Terrazas, also made it to the state tournament, showing that Little League baseball in La Verne indeed has a bright future.

 

All-Stars included Dominic Garcia, Jacob Gill, Cody White, Nick Ramirez, Samuel Duenas, Parker Birdseye, Patrick Mollett, Ayden Garcia, Marc Lopez, Sean Kassounian, Noah Jimenez, Anthony Terrazas, Hayden Fisher, and  Greyson Jones-Fernandez.

 

Since all the players are all student athletes, it was more than appropriate for the City Council also to use the evening to recognize new principals at four different La Verne schools. They were Kenneth Ritchie, Bonita High School; James Ellis, Ramona Middle School; Tameika Carter, Grace Miller Elementary; and Tammi DiGrazia, Roynon Elementary. Bonita Unified Superintendent Dr. Christy Goennier made the introductions on the celebratory night.

There are four new principals in La Verne schools this year, and they’ll be watching closely to ensure our local athletes perform just as brilliantly in the classroom.

 

Coverage sponsored by longtime La Verne Realtor Colleen Bennett (Sotheby’s International Realty).  

CalBRE#1013172, Ph. 909.374.4744

 

 

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