After its most wi ingest season under sixth-year head coach Troy Buckley, the Long Beach State baseball team is taking part in the NCAA Regional for the 21st time in program history this weekend. The Dirtbags (36-20) are in Coral Gables, Florida as the No. 3 seed in the regional hosted by the Univer...

CIF-Southe Section finals schedule Baseball Saturday’s championships At San Manuel Stadium, Riverside Division 1 Harvard Westlake vs. Murrieta Mesa, 7:30 p.m. Division 2 South Hills vs. Redlands East Valley, 4 p.m. Division 3 Redondo Union vs. Woodbridge, 1 p.m. Division 4 Laguna Beach vs. Kaiser, 1...

Deep waters are familiar territory to Brian Ortega. It’s where you take your opponent far into a fight, betting against their cardio, hoping it will lead to fatigue and eventual defeat. It’s a strategy Ortega and his coaches employed against Diego Brandao at UFC 195 in January. After two rounds, the...

OXNARD — The Rams opened the first of their six voluntary organized training activities (OTAs) on Tuesday with one notable, albeit expected, absence. Quarterback Nick Foles, who lost his job last season to Case Keenum and whose job status grew even more tenuous with the addition of Jared Goff, the f...

CHICAGO >> For the second time in less than a week, an injury to Alex Wood has created an opening for Julio Urias to join the Dodgers’ starting rotation. Wood was placed on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday with left posterior elbow soreness. The left-hander was still dealing with a sore left triceps...

CHICAGO >> The red, white and blue flags extending from Wrigley Field’s top deck whipped fiercely in a westerly wind as lightning flashed in the distance Tuesday afte oon. A light rain pelted Chicago’s North Side. The bleak, gray sky foretold gloom and so did the Dodgers’ injury report — first Alex ...

ANAHEIM >> Headed for one of their most impressive victories of the season, the Angels ended up instead with one of their most dramatic. Wins are wins, though. After jumping to a seven-run lead and seemingly hitting on all cylinders, the Angels’ pitching melted down and they had to eke out an 11-9 v...

LOS ALAMITOS >> High school softball offenses are improving around the country, but on Tuesday in the CIF Southe Section Division 1 semifinals at Los Alamitos High, two pitchers proved there’s still a role to be played by aces in the circle. Los Alamitos junior pitcher Ryan Denhart and Orange Luther...

OAKLAND >> The charcoal ball cap commemorating his team’s Weste Conference championship was flipped backward on his head and he wore a black leather biker jacket. His expression betrayed neither relief nor exhaustion, although either would be understandable or, even, expected. For a guy who just wea...

ANAHEIM >> When the first All-Star voting totals were released on Tuesday, Mike Trout was exactly where you'd expect him to be.Trout, the All-Star MVP each of the past two years, was leading American League outfielders by a healthy margin, seemingly a lock to start the game for the fourth straight y...

OAKLAND >> The charcoal ball cap commemorating his team’s Weste Conference championship was flipped backward on his head and he wore a black leather biker jacket. His expression betrayed neither relief nor exhaustion, although either would be understandable or, even, expected. For a guy who just wea...

CHULA VISTA >> Dominick Cruz mugged for the cameras with a can of Monster energy drink. He listened to the judges’ scores being read. He stood and waited, as did champion T.J. Dillashaw. UFC ring a ouncer Bruce Buffer, with an appropriately effective and dramatic pause, bellowed, “Aaaand ... NEW!!! ...

Temarrick Hemingway is staring into the camera. In the picture, his face is almost expressionless — no smile, no frown. A black jacket hugs his narrow shoulders, covering a slightly-askew white-collared shirt. No more than 180 pounds, he looks very much a teenager. “He doesn’t look like that anymore...

There is nothing more exciting to this writer’s ear than the mention of white sea bass being caught. This is what is begi ing to happen in Southe Califo ia action. After two weeks of wind and rain, some sea bass are hitting the decks of various charter boats to put claim to catching first white sea ...

CHULA VISTA, Calif. >> Dominick Cruz mugged for the cameras with a can of Monster energy drink. He listened to the judges’ scores being read. He stood and waited, as did champion T.J. Dillashaw. UFC ring a ouncer Bruce Buffer, with an appropriately effective and dramatic pause, bellowed, “Aaaand ......

Derrick Taylor, the Taft High coach, was at an AAU tou ament when his son called. Bryce Dejean-Jones had been the kid in Taylor’s 1988 Altima, riding to school each mo ing and back to Inglewood each night, for two years. After that, Dejean-Jones had gone to three colleges and had played well for the...

PARIS — Yes, they actually managed to complete a match on this wettest of weeks at the French Open. Two, even. And both involved surprises: Two of the top half-dozen seeded women lost within minutes of each other, No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska and No. 6 Simona Halep. Radwanska, the 2012 Wimbledon ru er-...

Los Alamitos and Calvary Chapel Downey are playing in CIF Southe Section semifinals this afte oon at 3. The Griffins (26-2), who are the No. 3 seed in Division 1 and ranked No. 1 nationally by MaxPreps, are at home against No. 2 seeded Orange Lutheran. The Lancers (29-3) are No. 2 by MaxPreps and ar...

ANAHEIM >> Two pitchers flirted with history on Monday night at Angel Stadium. With shadows on the field for an early holiday start perhaps making it more difficult on hitters, the Angels’ Jhoulys Chacin stood perfect through four i ings, and the Tigers’ Justin Verlander followed right along. After ...

OAKLAND >> Steph Curry’s final shot arced through the air, the orange sphere cutting across a backdrop of marigold T-shirts. The two-time NBA MVP watched intently, waiting for the shot to drop safely through the net. And when it did, he celebrated, biting a big mouthful of his jersey, chest bumping ...