Sports

Simi Valley is a basketball town. Hang it from the rafters, put it on the scoreboard and cut down the nets—the Rat Pack insists on it. Bob Hawking started building a future empire’s foundation when he arrived at Simi Valley High in 1974. His 1984 boys’ basketball team cemented the sport’s legacy at the school. The 1984 Simi Valley team—spearheaded […]

The Conejo Oaks, a collegiate wood-bat baseball team founded in 2006, have returned to the diamond. The Oaks, who play their home games at Sparky Anderson Field at Cal Lutheran’s Ullman Stadium, opened the summer season with a 9-5 record. Players with local ties include Scott Radinsky (Westlake High graduate/ Saint Peter’s University), Jack Johnson (Westlake/Baylor), Nick Leehey (Newbury Park/UC […]

Don’t call it a comeback. Welcome to Part II of the Acorn All-Star Baseball Team; Part I hit driveways last week. We share more awards and reveal the final Acorn Power Poll of the area’s top public high school baseball teams. Cobra Kai shows no mercy—the Sports Editor/ Snot Otter has a little bit of mercy. It’s go time . […]

Rowdy Roddy Piper declared in “John Carpenter’s They Live” movie: “I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass. . . . And I’m all out of bubble gum.” Buckle up, boys and girls. The Snot Otter doesn’t serve bubble gum on the bumpy bullpen cart jaunt to Acorn Sports Island, but we do have one thing that […]

When Emperor Skroob decrees LeBron “King of Jabronis” James to comb the desert, the charlatan complies by scrubbing the Mojave with a limited edition Spaceballs the Movie Hair Pick. When the Snot Otter goes to work, he uses Yogurt’s flamethrower. For all the sports news that’s fit to print, this is a one-stop shop. It’s like a bodega, without feral […]

Since 2016, the Tribe has wandered in the wilderness foraging for birdies, from green to shining green. The Warriors wander no more. They are back in the clubhouse, stoking up stogies (metaphorical stogies—the Grateful Dead concert with Bill Walton levitating on Saturn’s rings can be found on page 532,387 and beyond), basking in the sweetest elixir of victory. Westlake High’s […]

Moorpark High’s baseball team celebrated a CIF-Southern Section Division 2 championship win. Taylor Busch launched a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning that cleared the fence in left field. Greg Lareva, a senior captain and outfielder, crossed home plate first. When Busch touched home, the Green Machine celebrated with a dogpile at Diamond Stadium in Lake […]

The Overachievers of Agoura fell from a blue heaven to the corkscrewing dust devils on the infield back on Earth. Agoura High’s softball team, which made a deeper postseason run than anyone in Acorn country, ran out of juice in the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 playoff semifinals, falling 14-6 to the Shrieking Banshees of ML King on May 11 at […]

Keller Slotnick of de Toledo High of West Hills committed to play college baseball at Shorter University in Rome, Georgia. Slotnick, an outfielder/first baseman/pitcher who lives in Oak Park, overcame major arm injuries to become the first Division II baseball commit in de Toledo history. “My goal has always been to play baseball for as long as possible and at […]