People say good things come to those who wait. For the 2024 Culver City high school varsity baseball team they didn’t have to wait that long. Last year they took last place in the Bay league with a record of 3-7 and this year they won the league championship with a record of 7-3. Their overall record last year was 9-13-1and their record this year is a remarkable 24-4.
Last Tuesday they won their second straight CIF Division 4 playoff game 1-0 against Riverside Roosevelt at Roosevelt. “It feels great,” said second year head coach Devaughn Wallace right after the game. “The boys were well prepared, and we played very hard, and we wanted it a little bit more than Roosevelt.”
According to Wallace the long bus ride influenced the team in the beginning of the game but the team woke up just in time to get the victory. “We started a little slow, but our dugout is full of energy. One of our seniors got everyone together and gave a speech that picked everyone up and right after that we scored that one run. Senior leadership got us through that game.”
Wallace continued to talk about his team. “These players are not afraid of the moment. They have bought into the system. They love playing with their teammates. That’s a big thing in our program. We take it one pitch at a time, and we try to stay fundamentally sound. There are no words to describe how proud I am of this team.”
Now the Centaurs have a home CIF quarterfinal game on Friday against Oak Hills high school from the city of Hesperia at 3:15 p.m. Hesperia’s overall record is 23-6 and they are 15-0 as the first-place team in the Mojave River league.
The Centaurs first playoff game last week they beat Castaic 3-2. During that game pitcher Evan Reiter had a no hitter going into the sixth inning before giving up two runs. Also, in that game senior Henry Herrbach hit his first home run of his high school career.
Track and field teams set for CIF Finals
The boys’ and girls’ varsity track and field teams will be in action Saturday at Moorpark high school when they will be competing in the CIF Division 2 Finals. The field events start at 11 a.m. and the first running event starts at noon.
The Centaurs will be well represented in this prestigious meet. Morgan Maddox, who is one of the fastest runners in the state is expected to win the girls 200- and 400-meter dashes. Last week she recorded the fastest qualifying times in both events. She ran 23.99 in the 200 and 54.69 in the 400.
Savanna Mullins qualified in the 400 meters with a time of 56.71 and she took seventh place in the 300-meter hurdles in 45.76. Zakeyah Ross placed seventh in the long jump with a leap of 17-00.50. The girls 4X100 meter relay team placed fourth with a time of 47.87. The team consisted of Sanaa Belleard, Maddox, Zakiya Ugorsi and Mullins.
On the boys’ side the qualifiers included Duaine Mayrant, third in the 400 meters with a time of 48.59 and his twin brother Dontay Mayrant place fourth in the 400 at 48.74. Kingston Waring placed second in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 39.42.
The boys 4X100 meter relay placed third at 42.37. The team of runners were Nolan Johnson, Waring, James Wright and Dominic Bastiste. The 4X400 meter relay team of the Mayrant brothers, Waring and Asher Samuel placed first with a time 3:20.29 and Johnson placed fourth in the long jump with a leap of 21-009.00. The top finishers in each event will qualify for the Master Meet the following week at Moorpark high school.
“We are hoping that all of our runners and jumpers record their best times and jumps of the year so they can make it to the Masters meet,” said head coach Jahmal Wright. “All of them and our coaches, especially the girls coach Lashinda Demus, have worked so hard this season and that’s why we have so many student athletes competing in the meet on Saturday.”
