April 24, 2025
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
With less than two weeks remaining in the regular season, only the Gateway League title for baseball had been cliched while first place in the 605 League, Gateway League, Mid-Cities League and Olympic League for softball had not been decided. And of the 16 area baseball and softball teams, all but one was mathematically alive for at least a CIF-Southern Section playoff spot.
BASEBALL
605 LEAGUE
Artesia High has had an inconsistent league season, sweeping Whitney High, getting swept by Cerritos High, splitting with fifth place Pioneer High and more recently losing a game to Oxford Academy before tying the Patriots in the back end of the home and home series. The Pioneers are 14-7-1 overall and 3-4-1 in league action as they will visit John Glenn High on Tuesday with third place on the line. Artesia is half a game behind the Eagles. The second game in the home and home series will be on May 2.
Glenn hosted Pasadena High this past Wednesday in non-league action and dropped a 5-2 affair, giving up three runs in the top of the seventh inning. The Eagles (7-13, 4-4) visited St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy on Apr. 24 head of the big series with the Pioneers.
Once again, the league title will come down to the final week when Cerritos (14-11, 7-1) squares off with Oxford Academy, which is 5-1-1 in league. The front end of the home and home series will be at Cerritos on Tuesday and if the hosts win, they will clinch the league outright.
GATEWAY LEAGUE
Gahr High’s attempt of an outright league title was dashed this past Tuesday when the Gladiators dropped a 4-1 decision to Warren High. The two met again the next day on Warren’s field and the Gladiators gave up a run each in the bottom of the sixth and seventh inning, losing to the Bears 2-1 and seeing their record fall to 11-10, 5-3. The season-series wraps up on Friday at Gahr before the blue and gold hosts last place Bellflower High on Tuesday before going to Bellflower on Wednesday.
La Mirada High completed its league slate with a 2-1 win over Bellflower this past Monday, improving to 19-6, 10-2 and will be off until May 6 when it entertains Arcadia High. Gahr’s loss to Warren this past Wednesday gave La Mirada its third straight Gateway League title. The Matadores have had a daunting schedule that featured four four-game weeks-Mar. 25-28 (Boras Baseball Classic), Apr. 1-4 (league games), Apr. 9-12 (National High School Invitational in Cary, N.C.) and Apr. 15-19 (the Gahr series plus West Ranch High last Saturday, a 12-4 victory).
“This break is exactly what we need at the right time,” said La Mirada head coach Jimmy Zurn. “We’re never dodging anybody; we’re going to play the toughest schedule we can find. This year, I think [playing] 17 games in the last four weeks is a gauntlet, considering travelling, the Boras Classic, the Gahr series, West Ranch. Downey is very good; we had a makeup game with Warren mixed in where we had to win four straight league games in four straight days. I’ve never had a schedule like [this one]. The break is well-deserved and needed. We’re going to play Bellflower [this past Monday] then I’m giving them the rest of the Spring Break off. I couldn’t tell you the last time I had a Spring Break off.”
In the bottom of the fifth inning against West Ranch, senior infielder Maverek Russell, who will soon be taking his talents to UCLA, collected his 117th hit, tying R.J. Lamb for the school record in career hits. Lamb played for La Mirada from 2014-2017.
“He’s the best of the best,” said Zurn. “I couldn’t be happier for a better kid. La Mirada High baseball and the tradition and the players that we’ve had and the fact that he tied it [and is] on the brink of breaking that record is a tribute to him. He’s the best hitter I’ve ever coached. He’s just a tremendous kid. Obviously, he’s going to UCLA for a reason. I couldn’t be happier for him and his family.”
MID-CITIES LEAGUE
Norwalk High, which went 3-17 last year and lost all 12 Gateway League contests, have turned it around now that the Lancers are back in the Mid-Cities League. The Lancers (11-8, 7-4) were slated to visit Lynwood High this past Tuesday and will entertain the Knights on Friday before hosting Firebaugh High on Tuesday. One more win in the final four games will clinch no worse than third place, and the two opponents are below the Lancers in the standings.
OLYMPIC LEAGUE
Another team having a turnaround campaign in Valley Christian High, which thrashed Heritage Christian High 12-1 this past Tuesday to improve to 12-9, 4-1. Junior Josh Hulse pitched a complete game, one-hitter as he and senior Riley Jones have combined to go the distance in the last four games and seven times in the last nine outings. The Defenders, who are two games ahead of Heritage Christian for second place, hosted the Warriors on Apr. 24 and a win will most likely lock up no worse than second place. V.C. will travel to league-leading Maranatha High on Tuesday.
SOFTBALL
605 LEAGUE
It will have been two full weeks since Artesia was in action when it hosts Oxford Academy on Tuesday. The Pioneers, who were upset by Whitney 18-12 on Apr. 15, are 9-8, 3-3 and will have home games against Glenn (May 2) and Pioneer (May 5) before ending the regular season at Cerritos on May 6. Artesia is currently tied for third place with Oxford Academy, a game behind Pioneer.
League-leading Cerritos (11-6, 7-0) has not played since defeating Glenn 8-2 on Apr. 17 and will host Whitney on Tuesday and Redondo Union High on Wednesday. The Dons are seeking their seventh straight league title.
For Glenn to get to the playoffs, it will need to win its last four games, three of which are at home, and get some help. While the Eagles are sitting at 8-7 overall and winless in six league games, they could sneak into at least a tie for third place with wins over Oxford Academy on Monday, Pioneer on Tuesday, Artesia on May 2 and Whitney on May 6.
Whitney (7-9, 2-5) is also playing for its playoff lives as the fifth place Wildcats will host Pioneer on May 2 in between their games with Cerritos and Glenn.
GATEWAY LEAGUE
Despite an up and down season from the first game, Gahr is still in the running for at least a share of the league crown. The Gladiators, who have not won more than three games in a row, are 11-11-2, 4-1 as they host last place Mayfair High on Tuesday before going to first place La Mirada on Thursday.
La Mirada, which lost to Orange Lutheran High 13-3 last Saturday evening in the championship game of the La Mirada Classic, is 20-4, 5-0 as the Matadores will visit fourth place Paramount High on Tuesday.
MID-CITIES LEAGUE
Norwalk has also had an up and down season, sitting at 11-11-1 overall. But the Lancers have won six of seven league games and are in second place, a game behind Warren. Those two will face each other on Thursday but before that, the Lancers entertain third place Firebaugh.
OLYMPIC LEAGUE
Valley Christian fell to California High 7-1 this past Tuesday in non-league action and took its 11-4-1 record into an Apr. 24 home game against Heritage Christian. The Defenders are 3-1 in league action, a game behind Whittier Christian High, whom they will face on Tuesday on the road.
BOYS TENNIS
The divisional brackets will be released on May 3 and five area teams will be vying for a division championship. Cerritos won the 605 League, sharing the title with Oxford Academy while Whitney finished in third place. Norwalk won all 10 Mid-Cities League matches while La Mirada tied Lynwood for second place and V.C. captured the Olympic League, winning all eight league matches.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Saturday will be the day that five area teams find out who they play, what division they are put in and where they have to go for their first round matches. Whitney finished on top of the 605 League with a 12-0 mark while Cerritos and V.C. finished in third and fourth places with league marks of 8-4 and 6-6, respectively. Gahr came in second place in the Gateway League with an 8-2 record while La Mirada was in third place in the Mid-Cities League at 4-3.
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