McCarthy spotty in spring debut

Glendale native Brandon McCarthy allowed two runs on four hits over two innings in his first Cactus League appearance on Monday as the Texas Rangers’ starting pitcher in a 13-9 loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

McCarthy, who is competing for the fifth spot in the Rangers’ rotation, walked one and struck out two and was saddled with the loss. While working on a new cut fastball, he threw 46 pitches and did not give up a run in the second inning after allowing four batters to reach base in the first.

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‘Lionheart’ wins via stoppage

Glendale-based lightweight Art “Lionheart” Hovhannisyan improved to 11-0-1 on Saturday night with his sixth knockout in a fifth-round stoppage of Hensley Stratchan at the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage.

Hovhannisyan controlled the fight until the fifth round, when Stratchan (3-7-1, 3 KOs) opened a cut with a right hand. Hovhannisyan responded with a blood-drawing right of his own before hammering Stratchan, who had fought just nine days prior, into submission. Referee Jack Reiss stopped the fight with 1:45 left in the fifth round when Stratchan signalled he could no longer continue while being battered along the ropes.

Zaun starts spring off right

Milwaukee Brewers catcher Gregg Zaun, a St. Francis High graduate, went one for two and drove in two runs in an 8-7 Cactus League loss to the Oakland Athletics on Friday.

In the Brewers’ Cactus League opener on Thursday, Zaun, a 15-year Major League veteran, who is in his first year with the Brewers, went one for three with a run scored in a 5-3 loss to the San Francisco Giants.

Fighters find time for fundraiser

Boxer Vanes “The Nightmare” Martirosyan and mixed martial artists Roman “The Emperor” Mitichyan and Manny Gamburyan are confirmed as participants in the second rendition of the celebrity basketball game fundraiser “Shooting Stars for Hope,” event  organizer Edgar Melik-Stepanyan said on Wednesday.

The game will take place at 7 p.m. March 12 at Hoover High with all proceeds benefiting the Desi Geestman Foundation, which provides assistance to families affected by cancer.

Mitichyan and Gamburyan will be making their second appearance in the game, while Martirosyan will be a first-time participant.

Tolog trio commits for the fall

Three of the swimmers who will be counted on to lead the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy girls’ swimming team this season recently committed to four-year universities.

Andrea Kropp, who is returning to high school swimming after a one-year hiatus, will attend Princeton, while teammates Madeline Talt and Briana Swinney will attend UC Davis and San Jose State University, respectively.

Saturday CIF playoff matchups announced

Four area high school teams will compete in CIF Southern Section playoff games on Saturday.

The only local game is the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy girls’ soccer team’s Division II opener against Brea Olinda at the Glendale Sports Complex at 11 a.m.

The Crescenta Valley girls’ water polo team is at the Lompoc Aquatic Center for a Division IV quarterfinal match with Lompoc Cabrillo at 1:45 p.m.

In girls’ basketball, Crescenta Valley travels to face Riverside Martin Luther King in a Division I-A second-round contest at 5 p,m. before Flintridge Prep faces host Milken Community in a second-round tilt at 7:30 p.m.

Glendale club teams make a splash in Florida tournament

The Olimpiakan water polo club boys’ teams at the Florida International Tournament.

Two boys’ water polo teams from the Glendale-based Olimpiakan Reservner Water Polo Club won championships in their respective age divisions at the Eighth Annual Florida International Tournament held Feb. 12-14 in Fort Lauderdale.

The 17-and-under squad defeated Los Angeles water polo club in the tournament championship, 12-6, on Sunday after outlasting FTC Hungary, 13-12,  in the semifinals on Saturday.

Earlier Saturday, the Olimpiakans posted a 10-9 win over host club South Florida. The team opened the tournament on Friday with a 14-6 win over the Raiders water polo club from Canada and went on to defeat the Puerto Rican national team, 15-10 later on Friday. … Continue Reading

Sacred Heart soccer on Saturday

The CIF Southern Section Division II girls’ soccer first-round playoff game between Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy and visiting Brea Olinda, which was originally scheduled for 3 p.m. on Friday, has been changed to Saturday at 11 a.m.

The game will still be played at Glendale Community College’s Sartoris Field, as originally planned.

CIF girls’ soccer playoff brackets released

Three area girls’ soccer teams learned their postseason fates on Monday afternoon, when the CIF Southern Section offices released its divisional playoff pairings.

Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy (16-1-3), which is the No. 2 seed in Division II and Mission League runner-up, is set to open the playoffs at 3 p.m. on Friday at Glendale Community College against Brea Olinda, the third-place team from the Century League.

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A fine day for Falcons

The boys’ and girls’ soccer teams from Crescenta Valley High each claimed Pacific League titles in their regular-season finales on Friday.

The Falcons girls entered the day two points behind Burbank in the league standings and defeated the Bulldogs, 2-0, to win their second straight league crown.

The boys’ squad captured the first league title in program history with a 6-0 blowout of Burbank that allowed it to leapfrog Muir for a one-point lead in the final standings. Both games were makeups of contests postponed by rain on Tuesday.