Sierra Canyon wins one against Chaminade

By Jacob H. Pollon

 

The Sierra Canyon baseball team is scuffling a bit heading into Spring Break.

After splitting two games with St. Francis last week, the Trailblazers were shut out twice this week against Chaminade and needed nine innings to out last the Eagles 7-5 after blowing a four-run lead.

Owen Knutson, Armando Solorio and Johnny Hagopian combined for the Friday win in West Hills.

Knutson had four strikeouts ans Solorio had five strikeouts. Each pitched 3 1/3 innings.

Hagopian went the final 2 1/3 to pick up the win.

Greyson Gullage had two hits and three walks for the offense.

Andrew Nelson was 1 for 4 with two runs and two RBI’s.

UC-San Diego bound Julian Areliz had a hit, walk and RBI.

Mikhal Johnson and Austin Jahng each had a hit. Ethan Montes had a hit and an RBI.

Earlier in the week, Sierra Canyon lost 4-0 in West Hills and 1-0 in Chatsworth.

Areliz had two hits, including a double in the opening game of the week.

Montes, freshman Desi Delgado and Gullage each had a hit.

Delgado had two hits in the close 1-0 setback.

Montes was good on the mound. The right-hander gave up two hits and a walk with three strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings of work.

Sierra Canyon plays Warren, Saugus and Burbank before resuming Mission League play in April.

Sierra Canyon wins two Mission League games, heads for Spring break

By Jacob H. Pollon

 

The Sierra Canyon softball team is starting to heat up and find its groove.

After some rain outs and a light schedule waiting for a few transfers to serve their sit-out period, the Trailblazers have won three of their last four games.

This past week, included two Mission League wins against Alemany and Chaminade.

In the 12-0 shut out victory against Alemany, Sophia Debs and Duke-bound Hailey Shuler combined for the goose egg with 13 strikeouts. Debs had eight punch outs and Shuler had five.

Both were stellar at the plate.

Debs was 3 for 4 with two doubles and three RBI’s. Shuler tripled and doubled.

Sophia Sarni, a sophomore standout, was 4 for 4 with two doubles and five RBI’s.

Natalia Areliz and Nina Peyton-Johnson each had two hits. Both doubled. Arleiz had two RBI’s.

Against Chaminade, Sierra Canyon won 8-3.

Shuler went the whole way with five strikeouts. She also homered and walked three times.

Sarni was 4 for 4, doubled and had an RBI. Debs was 2 for 4, homered and had two RBI’s. Peyton-Johnson had two hits, including a double.

Lianna Lara hit a home run and finished with three RBI’s.

Sierra Canyon takes some time off for Spring Break before getting back at it in early April with a tournament up North near San Francisco.

Sierra Canyon softball gearing up for league play

By Jacob H. Pollon

 

The Sierra Canyon softball team split a pair of games last week.

The Trailblazers took down Kennedy of Granada Hills on Monday 4-3 thanks to a walk-off home run by Hailey Shuler.

The Duke-bound pitcher helped herself at the plate going 2-3 with two home runs and three RBI’s.

Sophia Sarni was 3 for 4, Nina Peyton-Johnson homered and doubled and Sophia Debs picked up the pitching win the circle.

In the 10-4 Mission League opener setback, Shuler doubled and was intentionally walked twice.

Natalia Areliz was 2 for 3 with an RBI.

Sarni had a hit and two RBI’s.

Debs had two hits, including a double and an RBI.

Sierra Canyon is 3-2, 0-1. All three wins have come against LAUSD schools (Cleveland, Chatsworth and Kennedy).

The Trailblazers are back in action this week with games against Alemany on the road on Tuesday and a home game against Chaminade on Thursday before a long break until early April.

Sierra Canyon splits two with St. Francis

By Jacob H. Pollon

 

The Sierra Canyon baseball team keeps moving along.

The Trailblazers split a pair of Mission League games this past week and shut out El Segundo on Saturday for a 2-1 week.

Ethan Montes and Armando Solorio combined on a 2-hitter with five strikeouts in Wednesday’s 6-3 victory.

Andrew Nelson was 3-4 with a double and two RBI’s. Nelson also walked and scored a run.

Desi Delgado, a promising freshman, had two hits, walked, an RBI and scored a run.

Montes helped his own cause at the plate with a double and scored a run.

Jack Shtrum, son of 1994 Montclair Prep graduate Jenny Rousso, had an RBI.

In the 3-1 setback a day earlier at M.J. Siegel field, freshman right-hander Sean Parrow gave up three earned runs, yielding four walks and struck out six.

Jonny Hagopian went three string innings, striking out four.

Nelson, Delgado and UC San Diego-bound Julian Areliz each had a hit for the Trailblazers.

Greyson Gullage doubled for Sierra Canyon.

Saturday’s 3-0 shut out against El Segundo saw Owen Knutson and Hagopian combine on a four-hit blanking of the Eagles.

Delgado had an RBI triple and scored a run, Gullage had an RBI hit and Ajani Wrighster doubled.

Sierra Canyon is back at it with three key games against Chaminde this week.

Tuesday at Chaminade, Wednesday at home and Friday back in West Hills.

Sierra Canyon ties, wins big and wins close

By Jacob H. Pollon

 

The Sierra Canyon baseball team made it through the rain this week with no losees.

After a disappointing 9-9 tie on Tuesday, the Trailblazers managed a 7-0 shutout win Friday and a walk-off 3-2 win on Saturday to wrap up a week against Alemany of Mission Hills with no losses.

UC San Diego-bound Julian Areliz had a walk-off single Saturday and went 2-4 with two RBI’s to lead the Trailblazers.

Armando Solorio went five strong innings giving up just one earned run on five hits and a walk with one strikeout.

Jack Shtrum had a sacrifice fly RBI in the bottom of the seventh to save Sierra Canyon from defeat and force extra innings for Areliz’s heroics.

Owen Knutson and Johnny Hagopian combined on a 7-hit shutout with seven strikeouts Friday in the dominating win.

Ajani Wrighster was the star at the plate going 4-4 with a home run, three RBI’s and two runs scored. Ethan Montes had two hits.

Montes was solid Tuesday in the tie. Montes was 2-3 with a home run and two RBI’s.

The only bad feeling from Tuesday was Sierra Canyon led 9-1 in the fourth inning before having to settle for the tie.

The Trailblazers have two games with St. Francis of La Canada next week. Tuesday in Chatsworth and Wednesday away.

Sierra Canyon girls basketball loses to Etiwanda for third consecutive time

By Jacob H. Pollon

 

The Sierra Canyon girls basketball team came up just of the Open Division state championship game for a second consecutive year after a close 54-51 setback against Etiwanda last Tuesday night in the So. Cal. state regional final.

A week earlier Etiwanda knocked off Sierra Canyon to win the Southern Section Open Division championship with a 65-44 win at Cal Baptist Univ.

Tuesday’s win was the third consecutive loss for the Trailblazers against Etiwanda, including last year’s state regional final.

Sierra Canyon was a lot closer this last game than it was in the section final.

The Trailblazers tied the game at 42-42 before a Grace Knox 3-pointer untied the game and kick-started a mini 7-0 run. Sierra Canyon got to within 49-48 in the final 90 seconds but couldn’t get over the hump.

Sierra Canyon (31-3) got off to a great start and led 7-0 letting everyone know things would be different. But, Etiwanda countered with an 8-0 run and the game would ebb-and-flow from there.

Jerzy Robinson, who will be the face of the program for the next two years, scored 25 points to lead Sierra Canyon.

Emilia Krstevski scored 14 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Mackenly Randolph scored 10 points.

Louisville-bound guard Izela Arenas was held to just two points.

Knox had 17 points to lead Etiwanda, which only received seven points (albeit all in the fourth quarter) from McDonald’s All-American Kennedy Smith.

Puff Morris scored 12 points and Arynn Finley added 10 points for Etiwanda.

The future is bright with Robinson and Krstevski for Sierra Canyon.

Sierra Canyon back in Open Division state regional final for second time in three years

By Jacob H. Pollon

 

The Sierra Canyon girls basketball team is back in familiar territory after a one-year hiatus.

The Trailblazers advanced to the state Open Division regional championship game after a wild 76-69 victory against Ontario Christian on Saturday night.

Sierra Canyon will play arch-nemesis Etiwanda Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Rancho Cucamonga. The winner will play for the state championship at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Jerzy Robinson score 29 points, McDonald’s All-American Mackenly Randolph scored 19 points and Izela Arenas had 17 to lead Sierra Canyon (31-2).

It took a total team effort to come away with the win and hold off fantastic freshman Kaleena “Special K” Smith.

Smith scored 35 points, including eight 3-pointers in a gargantuan effort for the Knights (28-5).

Ontario Christian punched the Trailblazers in their mouth and led 29-17 in the first half before Sierra Canyon responded with a 13-0 run and took a 30-29 lead at halftime.

Ontario Christian splurged ahead again, behind Smith and Amanda Abojiewe.

Sierra Canyon was finally able to create separation in the fourth quarter. Robinson and Randolph were too tough in the paint.

Now, the Trailblazers turn their attention to Etiwanda for a sixth meeting in the last three years.

Crazy ending ends Sierra Canyon season

By Jacob H. Pollon

 

The Sierra Canyon boys basketball team’s season came to a disappointing end Wednesday after a close 69-68 setback against St. Joseph of Santa Maria in an Open Division regional quarterfinal game.

The Trailblazers miraculously took a 68-67 lead thanks to an Ethan Johnson 3-pointer in the right corner with  under 8.5 seconds remaining.

Tounde Yessoufou had previously missed two free throws allowing Sierra Canyon a chance.

Confusion ensued after Johnson’s 3-pointer, multiple times. St. Joseph coach Tom Mott yelled for timeout right after Johnson’s 3-pointer went in. The game clock never stopped and went all the way to zero. Sierra Canyon players and fans seemingly thought the game could be over. The referees correctly put time on the clock, 5.3 seconds. The ball went through the hoop with about 6.5 seconds remaining.

St. Joseph used an out-of-bounds to out-of-bounds pass to setup their final play. The clock started early. Yessoufou caught the ball off-balance in front of the Sierra Canyon bench, 80 feet away from the basket. The referees correctly stopped the game and basically did a do-over with 5.3 seconds. The clock again hit zero, although the referees already whistled for a stop in action because the clock started on the out-of-bounds pass.

Yessoufou caught the ball, passed to Julious Price and as Price was going to shoot a wild, long 3-pointer, Mott called for timeout. Again, the clock ran to zero causing even more confusion.

The referees correctly put 2.1 seconds on the clock.

Yessoufou caught a pass from the right sideline, came down and popped right back up from 15-feet and made the shot at the buzzer giving the Knights a crazy 69-68 victory.

Sierra Canyon was stunned.

Yessoufou finished with 26 points and Price had 25 to lead St. Joseph.

Justin Pippen scored 18 points, Noah Williams scored 15 and Isaiah Elohim 12 to lead Sierra Canyon.

The Trailblazers led 37-30 at one point in the first half before enduring a crazy 17-2 run from the Knights.

Sierra Canyon trailed 47-39 before going ahead 62-57 but couldn’t close it out.

This is the first time Sierra Canyon will not be in a regional semifinal game since 2017.

Sierra Canyon baseball gets a tie and close loss against Harvard-Westlake

By Jacob H. Pollon

 

The Sierra Canyon baseball team proved it will be a tough out in the Mission League this year.

The Trailblazers earned a 4-4 tie last Tuesday in the school’s home “Opening Day” and were on the short end of a close 2-1 setback on Wednesday at O’Malley Family Field in Encino.

In the tie game, freshman right-hander Sean Parrow kept the Wolverine bats as silent as possible.

Parrow 5.0 IP 4 H 3 ER 4 K

Solorio 1 IP 1 H 1 R 0 ER 1 SO

Nelson 2-4 1 RBI 1 R

Delgado 1-3 2 R

Areliz 1-2 1 RBI 1 BB

Wrighster 1-3 2 RBI

Jahng 1-1 1 R 2 BB

Ethan Montes went 4 2/3 innings giving up four hits and three walks with four strikeouts. Armando Solorio got four outs.

Mikhal Johnson had a hit and an RBI.

The Trailblazers game against neighbirhood-rival Chatsworth was canceled due to wet field conditions on Saturday.

Sierra Canyon resumes play this week with three games against St. Francis of La Canada.

Sierra Canyon loses a close one 3-2 against Rio Mesa

By Jacob H. Pollon

 

The Sierra Canyon softball team got off to a great start with easy victories against Los Angeles Unified schools Cleveland and Chatsworth two weeks ago.

The winning ways were put on hold last week after a 3-2 nonleague setback against Rio Mesa.

Sophia Debs and Duke-bound Hailey Shuler each pitched three innings for the Trailblazers (2-1).

Natalia Areliz and Sophia Sarni each had an RBI to lead the offense.

Sierra Canyon is off until March 7th.

The Trailblazers are close to welcoming a couple new players sitting out the first month as part of the transfer process.