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Forbes
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Trey Mancini Ready, Willing, And Seems Able To Help Join A Playoff Race
Trey Mancini is not one to give up. He didn't when he was diagnosed with cancer in 2020, nor after sitting out all of 2024. The 33-year-old first baseman opted out of his minor-league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday. It would be wise for the many MLB teams needing to score runs to give him a call. Mancini turned back the clock this year with the Triple-A Reno Aces, dealing out 16 home runs, 62 RBI, .302 average and .895 OPS in 74 games. His 62 runs and 92 hits both ranked second in the Pacific Coast League. His 156 total bases were fourth. BALTIMORE: Trey Mancini of the Baltimore Orioles celebrates after hitting a walk off single against ... More the Los Angeles Angels at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on July 8, 2022. (Photo by) That's his best production, albeit at a lower level, over an extended stretch since he missed all of 2021 battling colon cancer. Over the previous three years for the Baltimore Orioles, Mancini averaged .274, 28 homers, 78 RBI with an .814 OPS. "It's definitely been a wild ride since, and I think it's taken until this year to fully process it and try to move past it," Mancini told Nikki Pica of Nevada Sports Net in late May. "I think in the few years following it's always on the forefront of your mind and you know you're worried about your health more than anything else and it's a scary thing to go through. It's a mental warfare so you have to figure out how to get through it. 'It puts things in perspective. At the same time, I came back and wanted to do well just as much as I did before I was diagnosed with cancer. So, that never changed, and you have to learn how to deal with everything and it takes years. I didn't play last year, and I think that was huge for me just taking a step back, being away from the game. I thought I was going to retire and having an appreciation for where I was and just trying to enjoy every day. It's been really rewarding being back and being able to play and be on this team.' HOUSTON: Trey Mancini of the Houston Astros reacts after hitting a single against the Philadelphia ... More Phillies in Game Six of the 2022 World Series at Minute Maid Park on Nov. 5, 2022. (Photo by) Mancini earned the MLB Comeback Player Award in 2021 by hitting 21 homers with 78 RBI in 147 games. He had 10 homers in 92 games the next year when he was traded to the Houston Astros, in need of a first baseman for a playoff push. Mancini hit eight homers but batted only .176. He got a cherished World Series ring, though he was not much help, batting .048 (1-for-21) in the post-season. He signed with the Chicago Cubs in 2023 and hit only .234 with 4 homers, then unofficially 'retired' last year. Back To Baltimore Or Elsewhere? Going back to the Orioles, where veteran first baseman Ryan Mountcastle is on the injured list and lefty hitting Ryan O'Hearn is slumping after a great first two months, is a possibility. Baltimore ranks 18th overall in scoring. Other clubs are in much more need of offense, however. The Kansas City Royals are dead-last in scoring. Ranking 22nd through 26th are the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, Texas Rangers and Cleveland Guardians. At No. 20 are the Minnesota Twins. All these clubs are solidly in the hunt for a playoff berth. BOSTON: Trey Mancini of the Baltimore Orioles hits a three run double against the Boston Red Sox at ... More Fenway Park on Sept. 19, 2021. (Photo By) The Boston Red Sox, despite ranking sixth in scoring, are in the hunt, too. They may be the best bet of all, with first baseman Tristan Casas out for the season with a knee injury. Veteran journeyman Abraham Toro has been filling in. He has 39 homers over seven seasons with five teams. Mancini hit 35 in 2019 for Baltimore. Best of all, he is a .338 career hitter at Fenway Park, where the legendary left-field wall beckons power-hitting right-handers. Mancini has 13 doubles, 5 homers and 30 RBI in 39 games at the ballpark. Other Comebacks Red Sox legend Tony Conigliaro homered in his first time up in the big leagues and was destined for greatness. BOSTON: Tony Conigliaro is surrounded by Boston Red Sox teammates after being hit by a pitch by Jack ... More Hamilton of the California Angels in the fourth inning at Fenway Park on Aug 18, 1967. He missed the entire 1968 season, however, after getting hit in the eye with a pitch. It happened midway through Boston's 'Impossible Dream' season of 1967 when the 22-year-old slugger already had 104 career homers. It kept him from playing in the World Series one year after Boston has finished in ninth place. Conigliaro came back in 1969 and 1970 to total 56 homers and 198 RBI before double vision from the injury essentially ended his career at age 26. He had a heart attack at five days before his 37th birthday in 1982, and was confined to a wheelchair until dying in 1990. The Red Sox established the Tony Conigliaro Award that year. It is presented annually to honor MLB players who best 'overcome an obstacle and adversity through the attributes of spirit, determination, and courage that were trademarks of Conigliaro.' Mancini won the award in 2021. Current Boston reliever Liam Hendricks won in 2023 for battling non-Hodgins lymphoma while with the Chicago White Sox. Hendricks signed with Boston and missed all of 2024 after needing Tommy John surgery. The Orioles' Eric Davis had colon cancer surgery during the 1997 season. He won the award that year, when he came back to hit a home run in the playoffs. CHICAGO: Bo Jackson of the Chicago White Sox hits a pinch-hit home run in his first at-bat of the ... More 1993 season against the New York Yankees after missing all of 1992. (Photo credit should read BRIAN BAHR/AFP via Getty Images) Two-sport star Bo Jackson won the award in 1993 for helping the Chicago White Sox make the playoffs after missing the entire 1992 season. He had sustained a devastating hip injury in a 1991 playoff game with the NFL's Los Angeles Raiders. He never returned to football and the injury forced him to retire from baseball at age 31 in 1994. Trey Mancini is eager to keep swinging and possibly power a ballclub into the 025 playoffs.
Los Angeles Times
08-03-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
High School Roundup: Sage Hill girls' soccer to host regional final
The Sage Hill girls' soccer team has walked a tightrope for much of the postseason, and that theme has continued this week. Freshman Capri Hall scored on a penalty kick, as the Lightning struck in extra time for a 1-0 victory over visiting Santa Maria on Thursday to advance to the CIF State Southern California Regional Division IV final. Senior Cambria Thomas earned the penalty-kick chance for top-seeded Sage Hill (13-3-3), which will host La Mirada (13-8-6) in the championship game on Saturday at 5 p.m. The Lightning prevailed over the Matadors in penalty kicks a week ago after the sides failed to produce a goal through regulation and overtime in the CIF Southern Section Division 4 title game. Four of the past five matches have gone past regulation for Sage Hill, with three of those being decided in a penalty-kick shootout. El Centro Central 2, Laguna Beach 1: Seniors Mishel Villanueva and Joseph Rosas scored for the visiting Spartans on Thursday in a CIF State Southern California Regional Division IV semifinal. Senior Nayan Martlin scored for Laguna Beach (16-5-5), which was the CIF Southern Section Division 4 champion. Senior Max Garner drew the assist for the Breakers, who also won the Pacific Coast League title this season. Central (26-2-4) will travel to take on top-seeded Carlsbad Pacific Ridge (22-2-3) in the regional final on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Los Angeles Times
23-02-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Laguna Beach girls' water polo back on CIF pedestal after sudden-death win
WALNUT — Presley Jones and Kara Carver were senior leaders all season for the Laguna Beach High girls' water polo team. It was appropriate, then, that they were both involved in a huge play with a CIF Southern Section championship on the line Saturday afternoon. Sophomore teammate Liv Taub had drawn an offensive foul on San Clemente in the Division 1 title game at Mt. San Antonio College. Carver suddenly took off down the pool, and Jones passed it to her on the counterattack. Carver earned a penalty shot and Jones put it away into the upper-left corner, lifting the Breakers to a 10-9 victory in the first sudden-death overtime period. It's Laguna Beach's eighth CIF championship, and first since 2020. 'Such a fitting ending,' said Jones, who scored her fourth goal of the match. 'I've been on the same team as Kara since we were 8, 9 years old. We've spent countless hours in the pool. I saw her on that counterattack, and I knew that she was going to make something happen. To be able to put it away and finish the season like that is really special.' Carver led with a match-high five goals for Laguna Beach (20-11). Goalkeeper Siena Jumani, the third Breakers senior captain, also played a key role as she made eight saves. Coach Katie Teets' Breakers had started the season 0-6, but the Pacific Coast League champions were able to hold up the CIF plaque at the end. Along the way, they won three sudden-death overtime matches, including victories over Foothill and JSerra. Saturday's triumph was the biggest of all. 'It feels really rewarding,' Jumani said. 'At the start, we were all kind of shocked, like, 'I don't know how this season is going to go. We started off so rough, but we worked really hard for it.' Brooke Schneider, a junior, also scored for Laguna Beach. The Breakers took an 8-7 lead late in regulation on Carver's backhand goal, but San Clemente's Hazel Thrash tied it on a power-play strike with 53 seconds left. Phoebe DeMoss, Thrash, Macey Punak and Talyn Pelkey all scored a pair of goals to lead the Tritons (22-8). Jones scored off a foul in the first three-minute overtime period, but Pelkey answered in the second to send the match to sudden death. The Laguna Beach victory happened, well, suddenly. 'That happened so fast,' Teets said. 'I didn't even see Kara up. I was watching Liv, then I look up and Kara already has the lead that she needs. She's just so instinctual … she's a special player.' Carver was able to join her older sisters Rachael and Hannah in bringing a CIF championship to Laguna Beach. She and Jones will be rivals in the future, at USC and UCLA respectively, but first they teamed up for another Breakers title run. Both have played in many USA Water Polo Junior Olympics title matches, Carver said, so they were used to the big stage. 'To me, it was the perfect way to end it,' Carver said. 'I feel like a lot of the season has been us working together, so it was kind of special for us to work together on the last play.'
Los Angeles Times
20-02-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Laguna Beach boys' soccer edges past Long Beach Poly in CIF quarterfinals
LONG BEACH — Dakota Guzman couldn't contain his excitement at the end of the proceedings on the pitch on Wednesday at Long Beach Poly. The senior midfielder approached Laguna Beach boys' soccer coach Andy Thomas, lifted him in the air, and exclaimed where the team was headed. That destination is the semifinals after the visiting Breakers held on for dear life in the second half of a 2-1 win over the Jackrabbits in the CIF Southern Section Division 4 playoffs. 'They bombarded us a little bit the last 10 minutes,' Thomas said. 'They bombarded us.' Laguna Beach (14-5-5) went unscathed, despite Long Beach Poly (10-8-6) pulling numbers forward and even sending its goalkeeper into the box for successive free kicks in the closing seconds. Breakers goalkeeper Cole Anderson made a point-blank save on Roger Juarez, who was left alone for a header in the box in the 63rd minute. Anderson absorbed the initial pace of the shot and caught the ball on a bobble. Another close call came in the 49th minute. Roberto Bermudez fed in a shallow cross from the left wing. Anderson sold out on a dive off his line to stop its progress across the goal. The ball laid precariously out of the reach of Anderson, and Guzman was there to clear it away with the Jackrabbits crashing the net. 'We just played more conservatively,' Guzman said. 'We didn't take any chances. We just played our game. Both of our center backs are pretty solid back there, and with me dropping in and playing conservatively, they really have no chance.' Julian Reichel opened the scoring, all of which occurred in the first half, when he settled down a ball played in behind the defense by left back Jackson Arrasin. 'I tried to get onside initially because I thought I was off, so I tried taking a few steps back, saw the ball go over,' Reichel said. 'I knew I had a chance. I didn't think there was a guy too close to me on my back. I saw the ball bouncing, I checked the goal quickly, and the keeper was on his line, not even close to coming out, so I knew I could take my time.' Poly equalized in the 24th minute on a pretty passing play. Kaya Paz, a driver of possession for the Jackrabbits in the midfield, forced a turnover deep in the attacking third and found Joshua Martinez in the center of the box for the goal. Laguna Beach, the Pacific Coast League champion, answered back via a set piece in the 38th minute. Center back Luke Singer served the ball up to the back post from the right corner flag, and Guzman headed it back across the goal and inside the post for a 2-1 lead. 'It means everything for me, and I think for the team, as well,' Guzman said of the playoff run continuing. 'We set a goal at the beginning of the season to win CIF. We've been building our team up for four years, and I think it's just time. It's really nice to see it all come through at the end of the year, and I'm glad we're here. I'm ready for semifinals.' Nayan Martlin narrowly missed giving the Breakers some breathing room, as his shot hit the left post squarely and stayed out in the 62nd minute. If the celebratory mood of the Breakers was something to behold after advancing to a semifinal date at home against Empire League champion Santa Ana (13-6-2) on Saturday night at 6 p.m., Thomas said it was a scene of pure jubilation in the second round at San Bernardino Indian Springs. Laguna Beach trailed 2-0 in the final five minutes of the game, before Tom Schmidt and Reichel scored to send the game to extra time. Martlin supplied the winner in double overtime. 'It's a bit of a turning point, isn't it?' Thomas said. 'If you know you can come back 2-0 down with five minutes to go, then you know you can do it, don't you? It's a bit of belief.' Singer weighed in on the second-round comeback, too. 'That game was insane,' he said. 'Maybe four minutes left, and we scored both of them off set pieces, so that was a really good win for us.' Also in the CIF Southern Section boys' soccer playoffs: Edison 3, Anaheim Canyon 2: Micah Novak had a goal and an assist for the visiting Chargers on Wednesday in a Division 2 quarterfinal game. Edison (15-4-1), the Sunset League champion, got three unanswered goals — from Novak, Ben Hickman and Oliver Worster — after falling behind 1-0 in the contest. Andrew Mosham made a save in the final minute to preserve the win for Edison, which plays host to Studio City Harvard-Westlake (12-5-2) in a semifinal on Saturday at 5 p.m. Los Amigos 3, Norwalk 3 (LA advances 5-4 on PKs): Erubey Bermudez had two goals and an assist on Wednesday in a Division 5 quarterfinal that could not be decided in regulation or extra time. Jose Vargas also had a goal and an assist for top-seeded Los Amigos (11-5-3), which will travel to take on Compton Dominguez (14-2-2) in the semifinals on Saturday.
Los Angeles Times
10-02-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Prep talk: Cooper Stearns of Irvine has become favorite basketball player among officials
Irvine High won its first league basketball championship since 1991, and its star player, Cooper Stearns, is also known for his golf skills, so much so that officials who work Irvine games are always talking golf with him. 'The referees know,' coach Harry Meussner said. 'They all want to talk to him about golf. Everywhere we go, they're talking about it.' The 6-foot-5 Stearns is averaging 19.5 points and 13 rebounds a game. He's one of the best two-sport athletes in Southern California. In the league championship game, he had 28 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists. Stearns has committed to Stanford for golf, is a three-time Pacific Coast League golf MVP and was MVP in basketball this season. He started playing golf with his father when he was 6. 'We would play at 6:30 in the morning on weekends at Santa Ana Country Club,' his father, Alan, said. 'He also played basketball the entire time.' While Cooper now outdrives his father in golf, he still hasn't passed him in the height department — his father is 6-6. It's been a dream season in basketball for Irvine, which is 26-2 and set to host Desert Christian Academy in a Southern Section Division 3AA playoff opener on Wednesday. . 'Everyone has put in their best work,' Meussner said of his team. 'We've really clicked. We've been consistent in a surreal way.' Just don't expect anyone in the Irvine program to challenge Stearns to a chipping match. One time it happened, everyone was excited. 'The rest of us were having fun,' he said. 'Everyone chipped it up close. He stepped up and got it within two.' Lesson learned. Don't challenge Stearns in golf or basketball. This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email
