All it took was one spark to get things going for Port Of Los Angeles High softball.

Just one.

No one provides that one spark better for the Polar Bears than junior catcher Brianna Grayson.

With coach Melissa Bugarin-Espinoza back in the fray after sitting out last week due to the birth of a newborn baby girl, her…

RIVERSIDE COUNTY - The Rolling Hills Prep High softball team remains hot as they beat the Riverside heat, and host Hamilton of Anza, 18-0 in the second round of the CIF-Southern Section Division VII playoffs.

Senior first baseman Nicole Enciso went 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs, junior second baseman Cat Traylor was 4-for-4 with a run scored, and freshman left fielder Kami Knaudt was 2-for-4 with two RBIs for the Huskies, winners of 13 straight games.

Rolling Hills Prep (15-1) will face the University Prep-Concordia winner on…

VICTORVILLE - The road to a CIF-Southern Section Division V championship doesn't stop just yet for Mary Star High softball.

Powered by a one-hit shutout by freshman pitcher Marina Vitalich, and a blistering 19 hits from the offense, the Stars knock out host Victor Valley of Victorville, 14-0 in the second round of the playoffs.

Leading the hit parade for Mary Star was junior third baseman Cassie Demers.

Demers would go 4-for-5 with a double and 3 RBIs to lead the way, while…

NORTHRIDGE - For the second straight season, the Port Of Los Angeles High baseball team moves on to the semifinals of the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Small Schools Division playoffs.

Cole Micek threw a three-hitter to spark the visiting Polar Bears (12-14) to an 8-3 win over fourth-seeded Northridge Academy in the quarterfinals.

Andrew Lazo had a two-run single, Brandon Giordano was 2-for-4 with an RBI and Ray Afanador was 2-for-4 with a run scored for fifth-seeded, which plays at top-seeded Community Harvest…

Not even a 12-day layoff could stop San Pedro High baseball from achieving 18 consecutive victories.

Thanks to a two-out walkoff RBI-single by senior Jesse Bettencourt, the host Pirates were able to edge Garfield of Los Angeles, 5-4, to kickoff the CIF-Los Angeles City Section playoffs in grand style for their 18th straight win, putting fourth-seeded San Pedro (22-8 overall) into the quarterfinals.

With one out in the bottom of the eighth, Michael Samperio hit a single, then advanced to second base on a slow rolling ground ball to third by senor pinch hitter Jairo…

WILMINGTON - It's not often where a junior varsity team in any sport gets some recognition, but this one is worth recognizing.

The San Pedro High JV softball team has had a fare share of disappointments during the time their varsity team was winning CIF-Los Angeles City Section championships after another from the 2000-2009 seasons.

Now, they have finally earned a long overdue City title of their…

This coming Tuesday, May 22nd at 6:30 pm, there will be a South Shores Neighborhood Watch meeting at South Shores Magnet Elementary School auditorium. Topic will include local issues of "canners" or people collecting recycling, as well as door-to-door solicitors, crime trends in the greater San Pedro Area, as well as crime prevention tips and how to avoid being a victim.

For more details, visit TheSanPedroCoast.com.

WOODLAND HILLS - Another trip down 'Heartbreak Hotel' sadly was the story for San Pedro High softball against fellow perennial power El Camino Real of Woodland Hills.

All it took was a walk by sophomore first baseman Dayna DiBiasi with the bases loaded for the Conquistadores to bring in sophomore shortstop McKenna Arriola in the bottom of the seventh inning for the fatal winning run to give second-seeded El Camino Real a 2-1 win over the Pirates in the CIF-Los Angeles City Section quarterfinals.

This one was even more devastating for San Pedro (18-10 overall) to take than…

The newly coined phrase, from Maureen Dowd of the New York Times comes from the latest two-step by Jamie Dimon, CEO at JPMorgan, where he managed to orchestrate Wall Street's latest big bank debacle.  He'll soon be "Dancing with the Stars" in front of congress explaining his mis-adventure that created a $2 Billion trading loss, which could exceed $3 Billion when the dust settles, from a credit-default swap deal gone wrong.  Keep in mind that these are the same derivatives that helped trigger the financial crisis - sans mortgages.  Even though Ina Drew,…

My Rooney Thoughts for May 20, 2012

For most of my life now, I’ve been being told that we send our military into foreign countries to prevent terrorists from coming here and attacking our homeland.  In the sixties and seventies the Dulles Domino Theory was a major factor for why we went to war in Southeast Asia.  According to the theory, it was believed that the Commies were going to spread their influence throughout Asia, one country at a time.  That was during the peak of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and United States.  It was a scary time.  I can remember during my four years of military service of coming face-to-face with our Communists counterparts.  But what was even scarier to me, though, were the seventy-five foot high waves we encountered while sailing the North Pacific battling a typhoon.  Seventy-five feet! 

But wait, back to the threats.  The other day I came across some information that’s given me cause to relax a bit.  Do you know that in the…