The Orange County Tribune April 12, 2023

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Volume 3, Number 26 n orangecountytribune.com n Wednesday, April 12, 2023 n orangecountytribune@gmail.com

State Pressing Suit vs H. Beach Over Housing Newsom and Strickland trade barbs

By Jim Tortolano Orange County Tribune

The ongoing legal battle between the State of California and City of Huntington Beach heated up this week when Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a motion to amend the state’s lawsuit against Surf City for failing to submit a required housing element that would meet state requirements.

At issue is the decision by the city council last

week on a 4-3 vote to not submit the housing element, since the state’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment would require in that document the city’s plan to zone for – but not necessarily build – 13,338 new residences within a 10-year period.

“Huntington Beach continues to fail its residents,” said Newsom. “Every city and county needs to do their part to bring down the high housing and rent costs that are impacting families across the state.”

The amendment is to the original lawsuit in which Huntington Beach declared –– and then backed off on –– a refusal to accept and process new apContinued on page 2

DO YOU REMEMBER ....?

Here’s the SQR department store in Anaheim on Lincoln Avenue. The photo probably dates from the 1970s. A long-time landmark in the city’s downtown area, it was torn down during the redevelopment of the 1980s. Girls from Garden Grove and other cities traveled there to buy Girl Scout outfits. In Jim Tortolano’s Retorts column (page 3) he challenges readers to qualify as “original” locals by recalling other long-gone parts of the scenery (Online Archive of California).

Inside The Tribune

Lakers play-in vs. Timberwolves is worth a smile

Westminster tax preparer is ‘guilty’ in federal court An Orange County tax preparer – based in Westminster – pleaded guilty Monday to a federal criminal charge for participating in schemes that caused nearly $3.8 million in losses to the United States government, including one orchestrated by a corrupt social worker who stole his clients’ identities to fraudulently obtain tax

refunds, welfare benefits and credit cards.

Anton Nguyen, 54, of Fountain Valley, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

According to his plea agreement, Nguyen operated a Westminster-based tax preparation company called Century Tax & Continued on page 2

SPORTS PAGES 8-9

The shoe is not the hero in “Air’ film

PAGES 6-7

n GARDEN GROVE CITY COUNCIL

Modernization plan for affordable housing OKd A complex of modernized and upgraded affordable housing is on the way as the Garden Grove City Council took action in support of that project.

With Mayor Steve Jones absent, the city council approved a preliminary award letter to New Tamerlane LLC to implement the substantial rehabilitation and “reset” of the project on Tamerlane Lane west of Harbor Boulevard and between Lampson and Chapman Avenues.

Garden Grove had been

assisting the original Tamerlane Associates in assembling 15 multi-family properties.

In 2022 that organization sold the properties to New Tamerlane, and in order to modernize them, the new owner is seeking tax credit and a loan which would amount to $12.5 million for a term of 58 years.

New Tamerlane will be responsible for renovation, interiors and exteriors of all 15 buildings and 78 units. Work would Continued on page 4

For breaking news and sports all week long, go to www.orangecountytribune.com

n GARDEN GROVE CI

2 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2023/ORANGE COUNTY TRIBUNE

Huntington Beach v. California Continued from page 1

plications for accessory dwelling units and lot splits in single family zones.

Huntington Beach Mayor Tony Strickland replied that amending the lawsuit was improper and that a whole new lawsuit regarding the housing element was required.

Additionally, he noted that

many other California cities have not submitted their housing elements, and that said that “announcing legal actions against Huntington Beach may grab headlines, but they do not intimidate or deter the city, and they have no effect in the court of law, where these conflicts of law will ultimately be decided.”

Westminster tax preparer Continued from page 1

Travel. From 2012 to June 2019, Nguyen and his co-conspirators filed hundreds of tax returns using personal identifying information (PII) belonging to other individuals without their permission to generate fraudulent tax refund payments from the United States.

One of Nguyen’s alleged coconspirators was John Tran, who is believed to be either 57 or 61 years old, of Fountain Valley, an Orange County Social Services Agency case worker from July 1994 to October 2018, who stole the Social Security numbers and other personal identifying information (PII) from his clients – many of them recent immigrants.

Tran and his co-conspirators used this stolen information to fraudulently obtain money from the federal government, the State of California, the County of Orange, and financial institutions.

Nguyen used the stolen identities that Tran provided to create fraudulent Forms 1099-MISC that falsely showed payments made to the identity theft victims by companies, including those controlled by Tran and other accomplices.

Nguyen prepared and filed federal income tax returns using the Tran-provided stolen identities.

Nguyen then used the purported payments on the fraudulent Forms 1099 as income to the identify theft victims, making them appear to qualify for tax credits, including the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit.

In turn, the reported payments to the identity theft victims were used by Nguyen’s clients to offset business revenues and reduce the taxes.

JIm Tortolano Editor and Publisher Marilyn Lewis Tortolano General Manager The Orange County Tribune is published on Wednesdays and Saturdays with some exceptions. Address is 9402 Luders Ave., Garden Grove, 92844.

E-mail : orangecountytribune@gmail. com.

Website: www.orangecountytribune. com.

Phone: (714) 458-1860.

Established Aug. 6, 2016. All opinions expressed in The Tribune, unless otherwise stated, are those of the individual writer or artist and not necessarily those of The Tribune.

A member of The Associated Press, the Garden Grove Downtown Business Association and Garden Grove Chamber of Commerce.

The Orange County Tribune Every Wednesday & Saturday

ORANGE COUNTY TRIBUNE/WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2023 3

News&Views Oh, gee! Who could forget Newberry’s?

Are you “OG?” Or perhaps “OGG?” OG is slang for “original gangster,” a term which started on the mean streets of L.A. and which has come to mean “old school” or a long-time-resident of an area or veteran of a profession or skill.

A lot of our readers are OG, mostly because – let’s face it – hardly anyone under the age of 40 reads a newspaper (or news website) any more). Jim Tortolano So, you may be OG if you remember: • The Green Shack in Huntington Beach where the oil workers, wildcatters and roustabouts liked to hang out • The slowly saluting giant Chevron service station attendant at Katella Avenue and Harbor Boulevard in Anaheim • Southern Hills Miniature Golf Course in Stanton on Beach Boulevard, where there were absolutely no hills • Belisle’s Restaurant at Harbor Boulevard and Chapman Avenue in Garden Grove, which served brownies as big as your head (well, almost) • Barber City, one of the communities absorbed into Westminster • Any of these now-defunct stores: The Treasury, Boston Stores, J.J. Newberry, SQR, Robert Hall, Orbach’s, Food Giant, Mayfair, Fazios, Wineman’s, Broadway, Montgomery Ward • Any of these now-gone eateries: The Pink Spot, Priscilla’s Cake Box, Imperial Restaurant, Charley Brown’s, Me N Ed’s, The Jolly Knight, Victoria Station, Bob’s Big Boy (gone from Orange County, anyway),

Retorts

Continued on page 4

CLEANUP at a fire scene on Ballard Drive in Garden Grove on Sunday (OCFA photo).

Garage fire did $10,000 damage A garage fire in Garden Grove Sunday morning did an estimated $10,000 in damage.

According to the Orange County Fire Authority, the blaze in the 10400 block of Ballard Drive (northeast of Orangewood Av-

enue and Brookhurst Street) was reported around 11:30 a.m.

About 30 OCFA and Anaheim Fire and Rescue firefighters rallied to the scene and had the blaze knocked out at 11:52 a.m., but electrical power lines were

Traffic stop shooting sent man to hospital A traffic stop in Santa Ana on Friday evening erupted into a shooting incident that sent a man to the hospital.

According to SAPD, the incident occurred around 6:41 p.m.

A two-man police unit was conducting a traffic stop at 500 S. Rosewood Ave. on a vehicle occupied by two male adults.

During that stop, a shooting incident occurred between a suspect armed with a handgun and an officer. The suspect sustained gunshot wounds to his upper

and lower torso.

Orange County Fire Authority firefighter/paramedics treated the suspect, who was transported to a local hospital where he was listed in stable condition.

The other occupant and officers were not hurt. SAPD detectives recovered a firearm at the scene.

Homicide detectives are seeking to speak with anyone with information regarding the case.

Call the SAPD Homicide Section detectives at (714) 2458390.

damaged.

There were no injuries and the fire was stopped from spreading into the house. Edison workers arrived to restore the power lines.

Two die in AH traffic accident

An early morning traffic accident Sunday in Anaheim Hills claimed the lives of two motorists.

According to the APD, the crash was reported at 12:24 a.m, at Nohl Ranch Road and Serrano Avenue.

Both drivers were pronounced dead at the scene and two passengers in one of the automobiles were injured and transported to an area hospital for treatment.

The driver’s names were not immediately available.

4 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2023/ORANGE COUNTY TRIBUNE

OurTowns Names in the News

THREE TOP TEACHERS

College honors announced for local students Colleges and universities are honoring local students for their academic accomplishments.

• Caleb Hohman of Huntington Beach has been named to the fall 2022 Honor Roll at the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas. He is a sophomore majoring in business.

• Sheila-Jasmine Walker of Westminster has joined the associate of occupational science in vocational nursing program at Stanbridge University in Irvine, California.

• Sabrina Nguyen of Westminster has been named to the fall 2022 Dean’s List at the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas.

She is a sophomore majoring in business.

• Nathan Gilreath of Westminster has been named to the fall 2022 Dean’s List at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Fix-up plans for affordable housing in GG Continued from page 1

include new paint, fixtures, flooring, etc.

According to a staff report, the new operators intend to add new amenities such as a playground, art, an office for on-site management and a community center to help provide services to tenants.

Also the council approved resolution of commendation to Rep. Lou Correa for his years of representing Garden Grovein the state legislature and in Congress. He is still serving in the House of Representatives, but after re-districting his constituency no longer includes the city.

Retorts: How original of an OG are you?

Continued from page 3

Garden Grove Unified School District Superintendent Gabriela Mafi and Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education Stephanie Heflin made a surprise visit to Alamitos Intermediate School to congratulate teacher Monique Becerra on being named one of only 15 semifinalists for the Orange County Department of Education’s 2024 Teacher of the Year program. GGUSD’s three Teacher of the Year nominees also include Paine Elementary Teacher Meghan Fusillo and Monroe Elementary Language Academy Teacher Rolando Nunez.

ALLAIN GARCIA has been named as District Office Classified Employee of the Year for the Huntington Beach Union High School District for his helpfulness and positive attitude. His family was invited to celebrate his recognition

Circus Wagon.

• The original name of these shopping areas: The Promenade (Orange County Plaza), Bella Terra (Huntington Center), The Outlets at Orange (The City), Koreatown (Garden Square), MainPlace (Santa Ana Fashion Square).

• These gone (or re-purposed) schools: Mendenhall Elementary (later a continuation school, replaced by housing), 17th Street School in Westminster (torn down for senior housing) Chapman Intermediate School in West Garden Grove (now an adult education center), Fitz Intermediate School (the original; closed because of earthquake safety issues, repurposed into Garden Grove’s first city hall, torn down).

• These organizations: Active 20-30 Club, Junior Chamber of Commerce, Tall Teens, Junior Women’s Civic Club, Silver Belles Grandmothers Club.

I could go on and on (and probably do). Which raises the question: in a few years, how many of the current stores, restaurants, landmarks, etc. will survive only as memories for a new bunch of OG’s?

Free OCTA bus rides on Earth Day On Earth Day, Saturday, April 22, you can do your part to honor the planet by taking advantage of free bus rides being offered by the Orange County Transportation Authority.

Riding OC Bus is a safe and easy way to get to popular destinations around Orange County, including bus routes that operate near Downtown Fullerton, Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm and more.

Choosing to take public transportation instead of driving helps reduce pollution and takes

cars off the road. The OC Bus fleet runs on clean, renewable energy, including compressed natural gas and zero-emission hydrogen fuel-cell electric and plug-in battery electric buses.

OCTA’s commitment to environmental sustainability and stewardship goes beyond Earth Day and is prioritized in OCTA’s Board and CEO Initiatives. OCTA utilizes funding from Measure M, the county’s half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements, to protect Orange County’s natural

resources through environmental mitigation and cleanup programs.

In addition, OCTA is working toward a 100% zero-emission future with its bus fleet by 2040.

OCTA introduced 10 hydrogen fuel-cell electric buses into its regular fleet in 2020 and has begun testing plug-in battery electric buses.

The pilot programs are helping the agency determine which technology, or mix of technologies, will perform best on Orange County streets.

ORANGE COUNTY TRIBUNE/WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2023 5

NewsUpdate Video shows police battle gunman at Louisville bank Video from police body cameras and a bystander released on Tuesday showed Louisville police exchanging fire with a shooter who killed four people at the bank were he used to work before he himself was fatally shot by an officer.

The footage shows the difficulty presented to police by the setting. The bank is elevated and surrounded by large glass doors which were reflective, meaning that the gunman – identified as Connor Sturgeon, 25, a former employee of the bank – could see the police officers, who

had difficulty seeing him.

However, three minutes after arriving at the scene, Officer Cory Galloway opened fire with a rifle and hit Sturgeon.

“I think we got him down.

I think he’s down! Get the officer,” said Galloway in reference to another officer who

was wounded.

Once Galloway was in the building, he found Sturgeon on the ground surrounded by shattered glass, with an AR-25 assault-style rifle on the floor, according to the Associated Press. He had purchased the weapon on April 4.

Also in the news … A term of four years and four months in federal prison was imposed on Robert Sanford, who hit two police officers in the head with a fire extinguisher during the Jan, 6, 2021 attack on the U.S Capitol building in Washington, D.C. He is a retired firefighter.

Colorado River water to be evenly split?

Weather: Cool and cloudy weather

The Biden Administration is proposing to evenly divide water from the Colorado River evenly among those states that use it.

The effect would be to reduce by as much as onequarter the water supplied to Arizona, California and Nevada.

According to The New York Times, the river is at historically low levels, caused by overuse and climate change.

Keep a sweatshirt handy for the next few days in the West Orange County area. The forecast calls for cloudy to partly cloudy weather for the next few days.

Wednesday should be cloudy with a daytime high of 65 with an overnight low of 54.

Thursday is partly cloudy with a high of 64 and a low of 52.

Friday’s forecast is for more partly cloudy skies with a high of 68 and a low of 51.

6 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2023/ORANGE COUNTY TRIBUNE

Arts&Living

MATT DAMON co-stars with Ben Affleck in “Air,” the story of the “Air Jordan” shoe (Universal Pictures).

The Shoe Isn’t the Hero in ‘Air’

Robert Richardson Movie Review tographer How athletes can shoot a corporate office park series of conversations begot a piece of the has exactly one line in the film and tween men in ill-fitting polos is mostly seen from behind and khakis. But Affleck and his merchandising pie and and in silhouette. It is about the music supervisor do have fun

By Lindsey Bahr AP Film Writer

The new movie “Air” is technically about a shoe. There is nothing especially extraordinary about this shoe. As the Qlike Nike designer Peter Moore (Matthew Maher) explains, the last significant change to footwear was made some 600 years ago when the decision was made to differentiate the right and left feet.

The Air Jordan is, at the end of the day, just another shoe.

No one coos about how comfortable it is. No one waxes poetic about its performance enhancing abilities or how many podiatrists recommend it for sporting purposes. No one even tries it on.

That’s because “Air,” directed

by Ben Affleck from a smart script by Alex Convery, is not really about the shoe at all. Nor is it about Michael Jordan, who

men – and they were all men – of Nike who defied the odds and signed the rookie despite being a very distant third to Adidas and Converse in the basketball sneaker game in 1984.

This is not a sports movie, however. If “Moneyball,” a spiritual cousin to “Air,” was baseballadjacent, “Air” is about as far away from the game of basketball as one can get. The sport and romance of basketball in “Air” is almost completely beside the point, which is in some ways the most honest way for a couple of Gen-Xers to make a sincere movie about a corporate brand’s biggest success.

“Air” is more “Mad Men,’’ but without the glamour. In 1984, everything was brown and drab, except for the grape-colored sports car driven by Nike CEO Phil Knight (Affleck, in a comedic role about C-suite eccentricities and ineffectuality). Even the new stuff looked old. There are only so many ways cinema-

with their conventional but not ineffective needle drops.

The center of “Air” is Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon), a Nike exec with a basketball scout’s eye for rising talent. He is not, at least on the surface, a slam

Good: HHH

dunk movie hero. Sonny is out of shape, as the movie reminds us with cruel frequency, he’s middle aged, he doesn’t have a family and he seems to do all his grocery shopping at the gas station.

All he has is this job, which isn’t going especially well. And Continued on page 7

‘Patsy Cline’ returning to Gem One More Productions is bringing back the popular musical “Always, Patsy Cline!” for a limited engagement at the Gem Theater in Garden Grove. Performances are scheduled for Thursday, April 20 though Sunday, April 30 in the historic theater on Main Street. Nicole Cassesso will reprise her role about the legendary country music singer and Adriana Sanchez will co-star as Louise Seger, Cline’s best friend and the play’s narrator. The Gem is located at 12852 Main St. Call (714) 741-9550.

ORANGE COUNTY TRIBUNE/WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2023 7

The shoe is almost irrelevant in ‘Air’ Continued from page 6

his big idea to bet on Jordan, and Jordan alone, has everyone – Knight; Jordan’s hot tempered agent David Falk (Chris Messina); Nike execs Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman) and Howard White (Chris Tucker); college ball coach George Raveling (Marlon Wayans); and Jordan’s mom Deloris (Viola Davis) – essentially telling him he’s crazy.

One big issue with “Air” is that the dramatic stakes never really quite crystalize or spark excitement in the way that the best movies do when you go in knowing the ending. There are no life-or-death scares or thrilling plane escapes at the end for Affleck to fall back on for tension. Nike was not even an unsuccessful company on the brink of collapse, they just hadn’t cracked the basket-

ball market to the satisfaction of their shareholders yet. It’s hard, as an audience member, to discern whether your own apathy is because you know the outcome or because the story hasn’t convinced you to care enough.

Still, this is movie that also has the potential to get better with time and rewatches. “Air” coasts quite well on its compelling, funny and self-aware script (which even allows room for an amusing disagreement about who exactly came up with the name Air Jordan) and charismatic movie stars.

And Damon, who gets one show-stopping monologue, is the perfect actor to carry the film in his first time acting for his old pal. Here’s hoping that the longtime friends make this a habit.

“Air” pivots about halfway

through when the Jordans finally enter the picture and, through Davis’ stoic performance, add a much-needed human element.

It’s easy to forget that athletes being compensated justly for the value of their image is a relatively new phenomenon. One wonders why the movie couldn’t have mainly been about her and her savvy.

There is an admirably sly subversiveness to the whole endeavor in its refusal to glamourize the shoe, the company or the guys they’ve made a movie about.

These are white-collar cubicle dwellers just trying to make it through the week and keep their jobs.

I’m not even sure the movie buys into its subjects’ self- written and occasionally contradictory mythologies. Credit to the filmmakers that this is not a TED talk.

How can you be romantic about a billion-dollar shoe company?

“Air,” an Amazon Studios/MGM release in theaters now, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for language throughout.

Running time: 112 minutes.

For a free subscription via e-mail, please send us a request to: orangecountytribune@ gmail.com.

8 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2023/ORANGE COUNTY TRIBUNE

TheSportsPages

Let’s let St. Louis back into the NFL stadiums It’s unlikely that many Rams fans shed a tear when Stan Kroenke brought the team back from Missouri, leaving St. Louis without pro football. After all, didn’t they steal the Rams from us in the first place?

If you’re a long-time Rams follower, the return to LA – well, Inglewood – was poetic justice.

And, in those dark days without the NFL, we tended to cover our ears and avert our eyes to all the news from the Gateway City regarding the so-called “Greatest Show on Turf” in Jim Tortolano which the Rams won one Super Bowl (against the Tennessee Titans) and lost one (against the New England Patriots).

Stan Kroenke’s gold-plated efforts brought the Rams back to sunny SoCal, along with two Super Bowl appearances and one NFL title. We are happy as clams.

But back in St. Louis there’s a whole metropolitan area without pro football. Or, to be more precise, the most prestigious variety. The revival of the onceawful XFL this spring has given fans on the Mississippi river a team to root for.

Transferring their love to the St. Louis Battlehawks has made turnstiles spin at Edward Jones Dome. Saturday’s game against the Vegas Vipers drew more than 35,000 fans, and a Week Four game put 38,310 paying fans in the seats.

Those are not NFL numbers, but neither are they NFL games.

The success of the team – 6-2, so far – has revived a love of football in the area. If the Battlehawks can draw those kinds of

Shohei Puts on A Show

Ohtani gives up just one hit over 7 innings

By Pete Zarustica Orange County Tribune

Shohei Ohtani continues to make the remarkable look routine as he pitched a gem of a game and the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Washington Nationals 1-0 on Tuesday night in Anaheim.

Ohtani yielded just one hit in seven innings and went on to improve his record to 2-0 and drop his earned run average to an almost invisible 0.47. He struck out six batters and walked five.

Sports Retorts

Continued on page 9

Continued on page 10

SHOHEI OHTANI pitched one-hit ball for seven innings on Tuesday night as the Angels defeated the Nationals 1-0 in Anaheim. Now 2-0, his ERA is 0.47 (Angels photo).

Late rally and Lakers are in It took a powerful lateseason surge for the Los Angeles Lakers to rise from under .500 and qualify for the play-in game on Tuesday night.

The Lake Show put on another late show against the Minnesota Timberwolves at home, rallying from a double-digit deficit to beat the Wolves, 108-102.

With the improbable win, the team now advances to the “real” playoffs and will face the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round on Monday.

Continued on page 10

Dodgers lost offense in San Francisco, 5-0

By David Arthur Orange County Tribune

The San Francisco Giants started fast and finished strong in defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-0 Tuesday night in the Bay City. The loss dropped the Blue Crew (6-6) into third place in the National League West.

A two-run rally in the first inning gave the Giants all they would need to get their second consecutive win over the Dodgers, who could muster only three hits on the night.

After being knocked around in the first inning, Dodger starter Dustin May (1-1) settled in and

lasted 5.1 innings.

He gave up just two hits and two runs. He struck out three batters while walking four.

Not so lucky was reliever Evan Phillips, who was touched for back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning.

Clayton Kershaw (1-1) will make the start for LAD on

ORANGE COUNTY TRIBUNE/WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2023 9

How are new baseball rules working out?

By Ronald Blum AP Baseball Writer

NEW YORK (AP) – Major League Baseball’s new rules designed to speed pace of play and encourage more action seem to be working through the first 1 1/2 weeks of the season.

Batting average is up 16 points, stolen bases have spiked 30% and the average game time is

down 31 minutes, on track to be the sport’s lowest since 1984.

Limits on infield shifts, a pitch clock and larger bases were all implemented on opening day after testing in the minors and a dress rehearsal of sorts during this year’s big league spring training.

“I think they’re good for the game,” Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona said.

“The goal was to not have them get in the way of how we play.

That doesn’t guarantee you’re going to win or lose or play well or bad, but just not get in the way.

‘’And for the most part, we still have I think a couple pitchers that we’re trying to get a little more comfortable, but I think we’re doing OK.” The league-wide batting average is .249, a rise from .233 during a comparable period at the start of last season, when cold and wet weather likely contributed to a pallid offensive start.

Last year’s average rose to .243 by year’s end, the lowest since 1968.

Right-handed batters have a .253 average, up from .236 at the start of last year, and lefty batting average is .245, up from .228.

Toronto’s Matt Chapman, a right-handed batter, leads the major leagues with a . 475 average and Miami’s Luis Arraez, a lefty who won the AL batting crown with Minnesota last year, is second at .471. Paul Goldschmidt and the St. Louis Cardinals lead all teams with a .294 mark.

Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani is tied with 15 others for the major league lead with two pitch clock violations - both in the same game, one as a hitter and one as a pitcher. The New York Mets have the most of any team with 10.

Two-thirds of pitch clock penalties have been imposed on pitchers. Clock violations were up slightly last week compared to opening weekend but averaged less than one per game.

Average time of nine-inning games dropped to 2 hours, 38 minutes from 3:09 in the first 11 days of last year, when the final average was 3:04. The average was unchanged from the

first four days and is on track to the lowest since it was 2: 35 in 1984.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this,’’ Colorado Rockies first baseman C.J. Cron said. ’So I guess we’re still learning but yeah, it seems like there’s not much downtime, especially on defense. It feels like there’s always action going on.”

There have been 125 pitch clock violations in 141 games, an average of 0.89 per game.

The average over the first four days had been 0.82.

Eighty-five violations have been on pitchers (68%), 32 on batters (25.6%) and four on catchers (3.2%). In addition, there were two violations for batter timeouts and two for pitcher disengagements.

There have not been any shift restriction penalties.

Stolen bases have averaged 1.3 per game, up from 1.0, and the success rate increased to 79.6% from 74%.

“No. 1, I think throughout the game, we’re creating more action, which is something that was highlighted when we put it in,” Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “Then, the second part of it, and the most important part of it in my mind, is just the pace of play.”

MLB, over objections from players, adopted a pitch clock of 15 seconds with no runners on base and 20 seconds with runners. It also required two infielders to be on either side of second base and all infielders to be within the outer boundary of the infield when the pitcher is on the rubber.

Battlehawks follow Rams Comtinued from page 8

attendance stats – best-ever for the league – they could probably double that with a winning team in the top pro league.

There is tremendous demand for more expansion in the NFL, and lots of money for anyone who pulls it off. Just as soccer (they call it “football”) is gaining popularity in America, “our” football is getting a growing following in Europe. TV

money rules.

Sr. Louis has a bigger media market than 12 NFL cities.

Since the league likes to expand two teams at a time, pairing a new San Antonio (for instance) team with a transplanted Battlehawks operation makes a lot of sense.

Especially if you have a tiny, little sliver of guilt over the Rams thing.

10 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2023/ORANGE COUNTY TRIBUNE

Oilers chase another tourney title; Grove back in the playoff chase In GGL softball, Karen Dam leads La Quinta Aztecs to a 7-1 win Prep Sport Scores Tuesday, April 11 (baseball) Hunt. Beach 6, La Mirada 0 Edison 5, Marina 1 Loara 8, Santiago 1 Garden Grove 3, Segerstrom 0 Tuesday, April 11 (softball) Cypress 8, Pacifica 3 Capistrano Valley Christian 10, Orangewood Academy 7 Anaheim 19, Magnolia 0 Monday, April 10 (baseball) Orange 8, Hillcrest 7 (9 inn.)

Monday, April 10 (softball) Anaheim 13, Western 0 Pacifica 4, Valencia 0 La Quinta 7, Los Amigos 1 Loara 7, Bolsa Grande 1 Santiago 15, Rancho Alamitos 0 Coaches, parents, etc. Report scores and game details to us at orangecountytribune@ gmail.com

The Huntington Beach High baseball team, fresh off winning the National High School Invitational, opened play Tuesday in the Boras Classic South with a 6-0 win over La Mirada.

It was the Oilers’ 13th win in a row and improved their overall record to 15-6. The Matadores are 12-5.

Garden Grove High kept playoff hopes alive with a 3-0 Golden West League win over Segerstrom. The Argonauts (137 overall) are in a three-way tie for third in the GWL with Westminster and Segerstrom, all 2-3 in league.

Starring for Grove was Khoi Anderson, who pitched a complete game shutout, and reached base four times with a single and three walks. He scored once and stole a base.

In the Sunset Wave League, Edison remained unbeaten with a 5-1 win over Marina.

The Chargers are 3-0 and lead Newport Harbor (2-0) by a halfgame. The first showdown with the Sailors will come next Tuesday at the NHHS diamond.

In the Garden Grove League,

Oh, my! Ohtani near-perfect Continued from page 8

The only offense the Halos would need came from catcher Logan O’Hoppe’s home run and Anthony Rendon’s sacrifice fly.

O’Hoppe leads the team with four homers and 10 RBIs, despite batting a modest .258.

Leadoff man and left-fielder Taylor Ward had a good night too, going 2 for 3 to raise his batting average to .311. He scored one run on Rendon’s sacrifice.

With the win, the Halos are 6-5 and in second place in the AmerREACH THOUSANDS FOR JUST PENNIES In the Orange County TRIBUNE

ican League West, one game back of the Texas Rangers.

Griffin Canning is expected to make the start for the Angels on Wednesday.

Lakers win in OT Continued from page 8

The Lakers closed a sevenpoint fourth-quarter Minnesota lead and sent the game into overtime at 98-98.

In that extra period, they outscored the visitors 10-4 and went on to win.

LeBron James scored 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Anthony Davis had 24 points and 15 boards.

Loara remained in first with an 8-2 win over Santiago. The Saxons, 6-2 in GGL play, lead Bolsa Grande (5-3) by a game.

Loara and Bolsa will – probably– decide the title when they meet on April 25 and 27.

In softball action, Pacifica fell 8-3 to Cypress at home. The Mariners held a 3-2 lead after four innings, but the Centurions scored three times each in the fifth and sixth innings to pull away.

The loss dropped the M’s (3-2

in league and 14-7 overall) into third place in the Empire League.

Karen Dam doubled, homered and drove in four runs to help keep La Quinta High unbeaten in Garden Grove League play, defeating Los Amigos 7-1 on Monday. She also scored two runs.The Aztecs are 3-0 in GGL action and Santiago – which hammered Rancho Alamitos 15-0 – is 4-0.

Those two will meet with games on Friday and Monday.