Crescenta Valley starts almost as many sophomores...

Crescenta Valley starts almost as many sophomores as there are positions, but the Falcons might have finally grown up last week, defeating first-place Arcadia, 5-1, and drubbing Hoover, 8-0, in Pacific League play.

The Falcons, who usually start six sophomores, have experienced growing pains, including an eight-error disaster in a 5-1 loss to Glendale on March 23 and a six-error outing in a 6-3 loss to Arcadia on April 24.

But with two league games left, the Falcons (17-6, 10-3) trail Arcadia (18-5, 11-2) by only one game.

“Now we’re at the point where they’re really not sophomores anymore,” Crescenta Valley Coach Phil Torres said. “Last week we played two of our better games, where we hit the ball well, threw the ball well and simply played catch.”

Kris Krise (6-1), a 6-6 junior right-hander, pitched a three-hitter with seven strikeouts and no walks against Arcadia, a far cry from his performance when the teams first met March 30, a 7-2 victory for the Apaches.

“Sometimes you’ve got to roll up your sleeves and say, ‘Here I am, I’m coming after you with all I’ve got,’ ” Torres said. “He really went after them. It was nice to see a little growth there.”

Mike Miller and Jeff Dunn each had two-run home runs in a five-run third inning, and Arcadia junior Gary Kim (8-1) took the loss.

Arcadia plays Muir today and Hoover on Thursday. Crescenta Valley plays Glendale today and Muir on Thursday, which is fan appreciation night at Stengel Field in Glendale.

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The battle for first place is over in the Foothill League--Hart, take a bow--but Canyon and Valencia are fighting for second.

Canyon (14-8, 8-5) is the only team to defeat Hart (23-1, 12-1), but the Cowboys lost to Valencia, 10-4, on March 30. Joey Morelli had a three-run double for the Vikings (15-9, 8-5) in the game, which was called after six innings because of darkness.

Valencia plays at Canyon today and hosts the Cowboys on Friday.