By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Some six weeks after the start of the spring sports season, all Pasadena area baseball and softball teams will finally have started their respective league races. Most leagues have already begun, but Flintridge Sacred Heart softball in the Mission League and Pasadena and Muir in baseball (Pacific League) get underway […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor
Some six weeks after the start of the spring sports season, all Pasadena area baseball and softball teams will finally have started their respective league races.
Most leagues have already begun, but Flintridge Sacred Heart softball in the Mission League and Pasadena and Muir in baseball (Pacific League) get underway today (Tuesday).
Baseball:
** The most compelling game of the day is a Del Rey League showdown between the co-league leaders.
La Salle is 5-5 overall, but most importantly, the Lancers have started league play 2-0, after wins over Serra and St. Paul.
Ethan Patrick has led the offense, but the Lancers are getting solid pitching and timely hitting of late from their entire lineup.
Bishop Amat (6-4, 2-0) has league wins over St. Paul and Cathedral.
Amat earned those two road victories by a margin of 12-2.
** Maranatha (8-2, 3-1) holds a share of the Olympic League lead with Village Christian, a team the Minutemen beat on the road in 8 innings last week.
On Tuesday, Maranatha will host Whittier Christian (9-6, 2-2) at 6 p.m.
The Heralds defeated Maranatha, 7-6, in their first match up on March 10.
** After a dismal 0-7 start, St. Francis started Mission League play with two wins over Crespi.
The Celts managed to avoid a sweep on Friday, defeating the Golden Knights, 5-2, in their three-game league series.
St. Francis (2-8, 2-1) holds a third-place spot in league, and can do themselves a big favor by winning another series.
The Golden Knights and Chaminade (7-3-1, 2-2-1) begin the first of their three game series today at the Glendale Sports Complex at 3:30.
St. Francis has started to turn the corner and has seen dramatic improvements in both their pitching and hitting.
Softball:
** FSHA (9-1) will host Alemany (7-3) at 3:30 in a battle of Mission League programs that have started the 2017 season with the highest winning percentage.
The Tologs have won six consecutive games heading into Tuesday, and over that time, FSHA outscored its opponents by a margin of 86-12.
** Pasadena (6-2) hosts Burroughs (7-4) at 3:30 as Pacific League play gets underway for the Bulldogs.
PHS enters Tuesday on a five-game win streak, and has consecutive wins over Keppel, San Gabriel Mission, Keppel again in a tournament, San Marino and Rio Hondo Prep, respectively.
Burroughs has won three of its last five games, but enter after an 11-6 loss to El Segundo.
** Maranatha (9-1), the area’s most successful teams thus far, is on the road at San Marino (2-1) at 3:30 in a nonleague contest.
The Minutemen look to rebound from its lone loss of the season, a 2-1 setback to Olympic League foe, Whittier Christian on March 23.
