A Strong Start for the Monarchs

Ron Tatum said that during the regular season some of his Morningside High track and field athletes don’t receive the coaching they need from his dedicated but small staff.

Once the roster is pared down for postseason competition, however, the coaches are not stretched so thin and can begin providing more personal attention.

Yet it’s hard to find much fault with the job they’ve done thus far.

Morningside demonstrated it is well prepared for the Southern Section 2-A Division preliminaries by dominating the Ocean League final Friday at Mira Costa.

The Monarch girls opened defense of their 1991 state title by winning 10 of 14 events and placing 16 entrants into the prelims that begin Friday at Trabuco Hills. The Morningside boys will send 17 qualifiers.

The top three finishers in each event qualify for the prelims. So now that he’s dealing with a smaller squad, Tatum can bring the coaching down to a more personal level.

“Since there are fewer people around we can give them more quality time,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of coaches on staff, and although we don’t have a team the size of, say, a Peninsula, it’s difficult to get to everybody every day.

“Oftentimes we have to prescribe training and then send the athlete out to complete it on his own. At this point we now have the chance to work with them the right way.”

In addition to leading the Monarch girls to victories in the 400- and 1,600-meter relays, anchor Santisha Arnold won the 200, Sanoma Nickson won the 100 and 300 hurdles, Shirena Harris finished first in the long and triple jump and sophomore Tai-Ne Gibson won the 100.

After helping the Morningside boys win both relays, Travion Harris (100 and 200) and Edward Turner (400 and long jump) finished first in two events. Shawn Shamsiadeen was first in the 110 high hurdles and Levester Williams won the 300 intermediate hurdles.

“This was just the first phase of trying to qualify some people for CIF,” Tatum said. “That has been our main goal all season and that’s what we’re still working toward.”

The host Mustangs fared well in the girls’ distance races as Marina Linsley and Michell Siddons finished first and second in the 1,600 meters before flip-flopping positions in the 3,200.

Perennial track and field powerhouse Hawthorne prepped for the Southern Section 4-A preliminaries by winning big in the Bay League final at Peninsula High.

The Cougars qualified in nine boys and 11 girls events and will send 15 individuals and all four relay teams to UC Riverside on Saturday.

Demond Smith won the 110 high and 300 intermediate hurdles and Corey McCoy took the 100 and 200 sprints. Porchia King won the 200 and 400 sprint races.

For the Peninsula boys, Brian Choi qualified in three events and Maya Muneno won both distance races.

Leading, 5-2, entering the bottom of the seventh, it looked like Pacific League leader San Pedro was going to hand Carson its first home defeat.

But the Colts rallied and won the game, 6-5, when pinch-hitter Joey Sandoval stroked a two-out single to center.

“We had our best reliever (Eligio Lopez) on the mound and he couldn’t get the calls on the corners,” San Pedro Coach Jerry Lovarov said. “Then it seemed like our other reliever (Mark Miller) had struck the guy out on a curve down the middle but the ump called it a ball.

“Then the kid lined a 2-2 pitch into center field to beat us.”

With three to play, San Pedro (15-4, 12-2 in league play) maintains a two-game lead over Carson (14-8, 10-4) and a one-game advantage over Banning, which has four games remaining.

But the Pirates are still not a lock because they finish the season at Carson on May 18.

“If we continue to play the way we have--with average hitting but pretty good pitching and defense--I think we should be all right,” Lovarov said.

Redondo High won its first Ocean League baseball title since 1988 by beating Mira Costa, 9-0.

In earning his eighth victory against one defeat, Ted Silva struck out nine and allowed three hits.

Redondo (17-6, 10-1) collected 14 hits, including Frank Bignami’s two-run double that ignited a five-run third.

Seniors Silva and Bignami are the anchors of a Sea Hawk pitching staff that has been the key to the team’s success.

“There no question the dominant pitchers have been the difference,” Redondo Coach Tim Ammentorp said.

In the first league game of the year, the Sea Hawks lost at Beverly Hills when the Normans pushed across two unearned runs in the seventh inning. Since then, Redondo’s been perfect in league.

Yet there’s still work to be done.

“Our goal was to win 20 games before the playoffs and we’re at 17 with three to play so that’s still alive,” Ammentorp said. “Plus we just want to keep the edge and keep playing well.”

By defeating West, 6-4, on Friday, defending champion Torrance put itself in good position to claim a second consecutive Pioneer League title.

If the Tartars (13-8, 9-2) defeat 1-8 North on Monday, the title is theirs. “There won’t be any letdown,” Torrance Coach Jeff Phillips said.

The victory eased the pain of a loss two days earlier when the Tartars blew a seventh-inning lead. It also gave Torrance the seeding advantage in any tie-breaking situations.

“We’re feeling gratified,” Phillips said. “I thought we played well enough to win on Wednesday but we let it slip away. We knew winning one of two would get it and we got it done.”

On Saturday morning Lakewood beat Torrance, 10-2, in the consolation championship game of the Redondo tournament.

In softball, Torrance tightened the Pioneer League race by defeating West, 2-0. The victory moves the Tartars (19-6, 8-3) into a first-place tie with North, which lost to South, 4-1.

Kim Nuechterlein singled in the Torrance runs to support the two-hit pitching of Deanna Guerrero, who improved to 11-4.

Across town, Holly Bean pitched a two-hitter as South surprised the league-leading Saxons.

The loss dropped North (8-3) into a first-place tie with Torrance while South improved to 9-9 and 4-4.

In City Section softball, surging San Pedro strengthened its hold on the top spot in the Southern Pacific Conference standings by defeating Narbonne, 12-0.

Petrina Martinez (13-5) pitched a one-hitter and Victoria Brucker’s grand slam highlighted a seven-run first as the Pirates (17-5) improved to 10-0 in league play. Brucker contributed three hits and five runs batted in.

Banning secured a spot in next week’s City 4-A playoffs by defeating Carson, 1-0.

Jenny Vargas doubled in Banning’s only run in the sixth and Ompa McKenna (12-4) held Carson to three hits while striking out seven.

In boys’ tennis, junior Alex Sugai helped North (10-0) put the finishing touch on an undefeated season by leading the Saxons past West, 14-4. With three more wins, Sugai improved to 45-0.

North (16-1) received doubles victories from James and Steve Kim and Richard Hoang and Steve Tokeshi.