HOLLEN ONE

It's kind of difficult for West Ranch golf coach Jeff Holen to gush about one of his freshman golfers.

Finding home

His wife sits in the faded peach-colored seats beyond Reese Field, clutching a pastel-colored fleece blanket.

Hart's turn again

Hart center fielder Trevor Brown carefully crafted out an answer as to what two Hart wins this week against previously Foothill League first-place Valencia meant.

Valencia eases into title share

There are a couple of things you can expect this time of year. Taxes are due on April 15 and around a week or so of that date, Valencia boys tennis is clinching a Foothill League title. For the third consecutive season, the Vikings will wear the crown after an 18-0 victory over Saugus clinched at least a tie for the championship with two matches remaining in the regular season. It was another in a ...

Video: Valencia Vikings Volleyball No. 1

This valley has produced some fine programs this decade - a national champion in Valencia softball, two-time state champion Saugus cross country, a state champion in Canyon football, but there is little argument as to what the dominant program has been in this valley.

Any room for wrestling?

He said it's now a running joke. Paul Strickland, a board member for the William S. Hart Union High School District, said items for future consideration are brought up at the end of board meetings. Strickland has brought up wrestling so often, it's now expected that he'll raise the issue every time. "At the last meeting, we had a number of people there for the ratification of the teachers' agreement. Also there were people there ...

TPC Valencia tries to let secret out

Some might argue that this is a football town. Others might say baseball, softball or even volleyball. But golf has entered the equation lately. With the success over the last five years of junior golfers and one professional, Jason Gore, and the abundance of courses in the area, golf is thriving. Identifying that, TPC Valencia, just five years old, is seeking to increase its membership. The country club opened up its course Monday to over ...

Angels bombed by Laird

ANAHEIM - The perception of the Texas Rangers going into 2008 is that, among other weaknesses, they don't have much hitting.

A selfless athlete is rewarded

The prep basketball season is well past us now, yet stories of selflessness are timeless. The amount of time Valencia High basketball player John Otavka will remember his senior season is the rest of his life. Otavka can tell people he was good enough to be selected to the Southern California Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association (SCIBA) Division II-AA first team for his contributions during the 2007-08 season. He was the only boys basketball player from ...

Vikes get the full seven again

Valencia's Robbie Mouselli kept an incredible streak going Friday at Canyon High. He reached base for the ninth consecutive plate appearance with a single in the first inning. Wait, wrong streak. Mouselli lost that one with a ground out in the third inning, but the more important one was Valencia receiving a fourth straight complete game - two of which being his. The senior pitcher bobbed and weaved through trouble late, relying on a steady ...

Foothill Leaders stay hot

For a good hour and a half, the best question to ask at Valencia High's baseball field Wednesday afternoon was what would come first - the anticipated rain or any energy from either side?

It's not over, but it's close

The West Ranch boys golf team continued to distance itself from the pack Tuesday. With the Wildcats latest first place finish at Robinson Ranch's par-71 Mountain Course, the young squad has continued to assert itself as the best team in the Foothill League. So after three straight first-place finishes, it's over - right? "The way I look at it, it's not over until it's over," said West Ranch head coach Jeff Holen. "I tell my ...

Torre changes the culture

LOS ANGELES - With 25 reporters surrounding him in the Los Angeles Dodgers' dugout Monday morning, manager Joe Torre proved to be the main attraction at Dodger Stadium on Opening Day.

Pure hitter

The fastball that Robert Stock threw in 2005 was accompanied with a sound. At 95 miles per hour, it came with the hiss of a snake. At the time, the Agoura High junior was one of, if not the most talked about prep players in the country. He wasn't exactly the kind of pitcher a 14-year-old would want to see in his first high school at bat. Yet Zachary Vincej, who already pulled off the ...

Local MLBers, play ball!

Young Major League Baseball is now the selling point for the National Pastime. It's on the cover of Sports Illustrated's 2008 baseball preview. It's a theme down the Interstate 5 at Chavez Ravine. And it's represented by the amount of success young players with ties to the Santa Clarita Valley have had in spring training. A total of six locals, five under the age of 27, competed on big league clubs at some point this ...

MVP race is on in Foothill League golf

West Ranch's Bennett commits to Sonoma State

West Ranch senior side-slinging pitcher Cody Bennett has verbally committed to Sonoma State University, according to West Ranch Wildcats head coach Casey Burrill.

Valencia's J.D. Busfield: Method to the magic

John Busfield is mostly inconspicuous among the people sitting on the block cement seating at Valencia High's baseball field.

West Ranch baseball blows things open with 7-run sixth to beat Canyon

It’s looking inevitable for Vikings tennis in Foothill League race

Valencia baseball finds the right approach

Coming off one of Southern California's most challenging spring break tournaments, Valencia Vikings baseball has its trap week.

West Ranch boys golf looking back at the league

The consistency that West Ranch boys golf has shown this year leaves its closest competition in the Foothill League in quite a hole with three Foothill League matches remaining.

COC's Alex Bishop: Still telling his story

Alex Bishop could have been one of those stories of high school athletic success that never amounted to anything more.

2013 All-SCV Boys Hoops: West Ranch's Kevin Harris, The deciding factor

West Ranch had one of the most imposing physical forces this valley has ever seen in power forward/center Ako Kaluna.

2013 All-SCV Girls Basketball: Canyon's Alia McCoy, Her best for last

COC’s winning streak ends at 10 straight

Hart graduate Chris Valaika is getting another shot at the Major League

Santa Clarita Valley athletes had mixed results in Spring Training

West Ranch golf and senior Joey Downey win again

West Ranch baseball gains steam

Proving again that it could be any team's day in the Foothill League, the West Ranch Wildcats knocked off the Saugus Centurions 13-6 on Wednesday.