Sorted by date Results 51 - 75 of 109
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter It wasn't the kind of ending the 2015 Culver City High baseball team had dreamed about as they solemnly bussed home just before sunset along the scenic peninsula drive on the 19th of May. Skirting northward above the shimmering blue Pacific Ocean offered little solace to the Centaur squad that had lost 2-1 at Palos Verdes High on the very last play of their opening CIF playoff game. "Without question it was a well-fought game. I felt that of all the games we had...
The Culver City High baseball team will begin their 2015 post-season quest on the road. The Centaurs travel locally to Palos Verdes High on Tuesday, May 19, to take on the Sea Kings at 3:15 p.m. in a CIF Southern Section Division 3 matchup. Culver lost 8-4 earlier in the season to Palos Verdes, who finished third in the Bay League, on March 20 in the same ballpark. In that game the team had the lead until the bottom of the sixth inning when they gave up five runs. The winner will travel to...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter Pitching and defense wins baseball games. It also allowed the Culver City High baseball team to clinch a CIF playoff spot on a beautiful spring afternoon at Beverly Hills High on Tuesday. The Centaurs shutout the Normans 6-0 on a baseball diamond temporarily laid out on the campus' synthetic turf at Nickoll Field. Once again the fine pitching of Jay Sterner and Culver's stellar defense propelled them to win their third league game in a row and four of five to...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter Right now the sound of a broken record is sweet music to Culver City High baseball. The artist is Jay Sterner, the senior lefty pitcher who recorded his second no-hitter of the 2015 season. For this performance he and his Centaur teammates took their act on the road to tame Hawthorne High, 3-0, on Tuesday. More importantly, the win allows Culver to control its own destiny concerning a CIF playoff spot with three games remaining in Ocean League action. The...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter Baseball 2015, Ocean League style, is no walk in the park. The Culver City High Centaurs are currently 2-2 in competition with three crucial series remaining on their schedule. Archrival and league defending champion Santa Monica High is the next test this week. At stake is the league title and the now-difficult task of qualifying for the CIF Playoffs that starts in three weeks. Part of the early sense of urgency has to do with the two new league additions:...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter A brand new era in Culver City High softball began with a very satisfying 8-1 victory in its brand new ballpark on a picture perfect Thursday afternoon, March 19, against St. Monica High. The future of the Centaur program was also prominent in the win featuring the starting pitcher and catcher known as "The Freshmen Duo." The pregame festivities included player introductions, ceremonial first pitches, a student singing the National Anthem and a heartfelt...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter In baseball a no-hitter is always special. But it's even more remarkable when it occurs in a team's season home opener. Better yet, this actually happened immediately following the dedication ceremony for the newly reconstructed baseball field at Culver City High on Wednesday, March 11. Senior pitcher Jay Sterner allowed no hits in seven innings as the Centaurs beat local rival Venice High, 6-0. Senior catcher David Ko was behind the plate and the Culver fielders...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter The 2015 Culver High softball team is off to a promising start despite losing 8-3 to Rolling Hills Prep in their season opener in the St. Monica High Softball Tournament. The Centaurs earned their first victory of the season on Saturday, March 7, against Serra High, 4-2. The girls followed up with a 16-2 road rout of Blair High in Pasadena this past Monday. Manager John Sargent liked how his team rebounded on Saturday morning against a recommitted Serra team:...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter With an influx of young talent teamed up with the leadership of veteran seniors and a core of returning quality players the Culver City High softball team can't wait for the 2015 season to begin. Their scrimmage with Ánimo Academy on Saturday, February 21 at Veterans Memorial Park was a good sign for the program. With a brand new ballpark ready to open on campus within weeks the girls are beyond eager to play on the fresh dirt and grass. The field has yet to see o...
By Fred Altieri Sports Reporter It was the 2015 Ocean League girls basketball game of the year. Current three-year league champion Culver City High was on the road and on the ropes very late in the match and new-league upstart El Segundo High was the one landing the shots. The Centaur starting lineup of seniors Lindsey Tanita, Megan Yoon, Gwen Machado, Katie Lin and junior Kailey Tooke were down 40-38 with less than one minute remaining in the game. At stake was Culver's 36-game league winning...
By fred Altieri Sports Reporter Welcome to spring training 2015 – Centaur style. Baseball has always been alive and well throughout the Westside and South Bay high school ballparks and practice fields. For Culver City High this season that includes incorporating the campus asphalt blacktops as renovations are being completed on its playing field and facilities. While the Dodgers and Angels along with the 28 other Major League Baseball clubs are getting ready to open their training camps w...
Quartz Hill lies on a patch of a dusty plain with a constant flow of dry-afternoon wind in the southwestern portion of the High Desert just east of the Antelope Valley Freeway, otherwise known as the 14, that connects the ever-growing Palmdale and Lancaster area. That's where the Culver City High baseball team ended their season just as the sun was preparing to fade behind the San Gabriel Mountain range stretching westward towards the elusive Pacific Ocean. Last Friday, Culver High lost to host...
By Fred Altieri Observer Reporter It was a bittersweet week for Culver City High baseball when their 2014 Ocean League season ended just as it had the previous year: finishing in second place behind archrival Santa Monica High but easily qualifying for the CIF Southern Section Division III baseball tournament. The Centaurs will have to motor north to the desert area of Lancaster / Palmdale to take on the Quartz Hill High Rebels this Friday afternoon in first round action. Their quest for the lea...
By Fred Altieri Observer Reporter The time is now for Culver City High baseball 2014 as it prepares for its annual two-game Ocean League series with archrival Santa Monica High in the league's final week of play. Once again the league championship will go to the victor as it has been for the greater part of the past two decades-plus. Only this time the Centaurs, with a current 7-1 league record, need to win both games as they trail the Vikings, undefeated at 8-0, by 1/2 game in the standings....
By Fred Altieri Observer Reporter Centaur baseball continued to gather momentum as it took a two-game series from Inglewood High, 19-0 at home and 11-3 away, while extending its Ocean League unbeaten streak to four games. Actually it will be a six-game winning streak due to a two-game forfeiture by Culver City High's next scheduled opponent, Morningside High. The Centaurs are virtually 17-6 overall and 7-1 in league play. And the team has yet to play its best ball. Head coach Rick Prieto led...
By Fred Altieri Observer Reporter The Culver City High baseball team wasted no time getting back on the winning track in Ocean League action by taking both games in the season series against a much-improved Hawthorne High squad. With a 9-4 offensive burst on the road and a 2-0 tight one two days later at home. Centaur head coach Rick Prieto's words resonated with his players during last week's break in league play: "Hawthorne's a huge series. I've told the kids that from Day One." The team also...
By Fred Altieri Observer Reporter The Culver City High baseball team took a ride east out to La Habra High last Saturday, April 19, for a rare mid-season doubleheader. The Centaurs used a forced break into their season schedule as an opportunity to keep the team sharp for this week's Ocean League series against Hawthorne. La Habra proved to be a good test as the teams split the daytime twinbill. Culver took the opener 6-4 and had the lead going into the sixth inning of the second game only to...
By Fred Altieri Observer Reporter Culver City High baseball opened its 2014 Ocean League season with their biggest offensive thrust to date last Tuesday as they ventured to the Beverly Hills High home field at La Cienega Park and routed them 14-0. It was a reversal of fortune two days later as the Normans visited the Culver campus and beat the Centaurs 2-1, ruining their league home-opener as well as the inauguration of the team's brand new scoreboard courtesy of Grey Block Pizza. Culver is now...
By Fred Altieri Observer Reporter It's time to keep score in a brand new way. Culver City High baseball opens its 2014 Ocean League campaign this week on the road against Beverly Hills High on Tuesday afternoon. Two days later the two rivals battle it out in Culver City on the Centaurs home field, complete with a new scoreboard that was funded with a very generous donation from a local pizza restaurant. Culver head baseball coach Rick Prieto invited everyone to show up in appreciation to the...
By Fred Altieri Observer Reporter Culver City High baseball has initiated the 2014 season the same way the team played all last season: by winning often... with pitching and defense. After embarking on a 6-3 winning journey through the first three weeks of non-league play, the Centaurs continued their success during the first two games of a five-game schedule in the Anaheim Lions Tournament ending this week. Last Friday's home afternoon contest against Mira Costa High, the South Bay baseball pow...
Culver Prepares For Next Baseball Season (EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Part 2 of Fred Altieri’s interview with Coach Rick Prieto regarding the Culver City High baseball program) Rick Prieto – Culver City High Baseball Head Coach Our program for the 2014 baseball season starts in the summer. We do everything in stages. What we try to do in the summer is continue playing baseball and the good things we just finished doing in the spring season and keep building from there. We are obviously going to sp...
Coach Prieto Explains Benefits of His Baseball Camp (EDITOR’s NOTE: Observer reporter Fred Altieri interviewed Culver baseball coach Rick Prieto regarding his annual off-season baseball camp. Here is the first of this two-part interview Rick Prieto – Culver City High Baseball Head Coach Our baseball camp, which is called ‘The Fundamentals of Baseball,’ is now in its 16th year at Culver City High. We established it so we could develop a good relationship and have a better communication with th...
Culver Baseball Has Awards Banquet The Culver City High Baseball 2013 Banquet and Awards Night was held at the American Legion Hall on Sepulveda Blvd. in Culver City on Wednesday, June 5. Coach Rick Prieto related the night’s proceedings. “We thanked our administration, Principal Dylan Farris, Vice Principal Dr. Jon Chapman and Athletic Director Tom Salter. We especially honored our great parents for all they did this year for the baseball program, from transporting our players to games, the...
Serra Wins CIF Baseball Title Serra High is the CIF Division 3 baseball champion this season, a distinction Culver City sought. After Mira Costa eliminated Culver City, Serra defeated Mira Costa, 8-1 in the championship game last Friday at Dodger Stadium. Serra, a perennial power in football and basketball, won its first baseball championship in school history....
Culver’s Conqueror Loses In Playoffs Elsinore High, the team that eliminated Culver City in the CIF Division 3 baseball playoffs, won’t be going to the championship game. Mira Costa defeated Elsinore, 5-3 in the semi-finals this week. Mira Costa will play Serra Friday afternoon at Dodger Stadium in the finals....
