Sports

No. 1-ranked St. John Bosco began Trinity League baseball play on Tuesday the same way it has done early in the season — with more good pitching.

Julian Garcia struck out seven, walked one and gave up three hits in five innings of a 6-0 win over JSerra. It was the fourth shutout in five games this season for the Braves (5-0). Jhett Ohira had three hits and Jaden Jackson and Noah Everly added two hits apiece.

Bishop Alemany 6, Harvard-Westlake 5: The Warriors handed Harvard-Westlake its first Mission League loss. Alex Noble had two hits for Alemany (8-2, 3-0).

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 13, Chaminade 2: Unbeaten Notre Dame (7-0) was led by Benett Pace, who hit two home runs and finished with four RBIs. Jacob Madrid added two hits and two RBIs. Beckett Berg struck out six and gave up one hit in five innings.

St. Francis 6, Loyola 2: Lucas Becerra contributed three hits in the Mission League win. Donovan Udell threw two scoreless innings of relief.

Sierra Canyon 3, Crespi 1: Armando Solorio threw a complete game with six strikeouts and no walks.

Florida Stoneman Douglas 7, Santa Margarita 6: The Eagles couldn’t hold on after opening a 6-1 lead. Warren Gravely III had a home run.

Servite 6, Aliso Niguel 2: The Friars received scoreless innings of relief from Wyatt Karges, Eli Rubel and Isaiah Camacho.

Los Alamitos 5, Edison 3: Will McCullough had three hits for Los Alamitos.

Arcadia 18, Hoover 2: Matt Manzo had four RBIs and Jordan Vogel had three hits.

La Mirada 4, Etiwanda 2: Ian Nunez had a three-run home run for La Mirada.

Huntington Beach 6, Marina 1: Jared Grindlinger struck out four with no walks in four innings. Ely Mason had a double and single.

Cypress 5, Villa Park 3: Tate Belfanti struck out eight in 3 2/3 innings for Cypress.

Newport Harbor 5, Corona del Mar 1: Ryan Williams homered and Gavin Guy picked up the win.

Softball

Murrieta Mesa 12, Temecula Valley 0: Macy Clark hit two home runs in the five-inning win for No. 1-ranked Murrieta Mesa.

JSerra 8, Aliso Niguel 2: Zena Edwards hit a two-run home run and Margenta De Arte had a two-run double for JSerra.

Garden Grove Pacifica 6, Eastvale Roosevelt 5: The Mariners got a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh from Jenna Valladares.

Harvard-Westlake 11, Louisville 7: Izzy Whelan drove in three runs in the loss.

Downey 21, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 6: The Vikings (10-2) routed Notre Dame behind Hazel Renteria. Delilah Navarro and Kayla Gutierrez each had four hits.

Times columnist Mirjam Swanson is right. Bam Adebayo is an impostor. If ever there was justification for an asterisk next to a record, his illegitimate assault on a scoring record is it. It was contrived and shameful.

Ron Yukelson
San Luis Obispo

Agree with Times columnist Mirjam Swanson, Bam Adebayo’s a fraud! It was a total setup once he got close to Kobe’s record-setting 81 points. Both teams … the Heat and the Wizards … conspired with their flopping and intentional fouling to get him to 83. Is this what the NBA has sunk to? Shame, shame.

Marty Zweben
Palos Verdes Estates

Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game, while impressive, appeared to be a sloppy affair comparable to an All-Star game full of dunks and threes. His field-goal percentage was under 50%. He shot 43 free throws. which was somewhat of an NBA disgrace. Kobe’s 81 took place in a game that was close most of the way, meant getting into a playoff spot, and demonstrated Kobe’s artistry in a majestic display of the entire offensive arsenal he worked so hard to perfect. He was a maestro and savant. I feel like he has been soiled.

Dell Franklin
Cayucos

There has already been much complaining about Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game, complaining that his teammates fed him the ball hoping that he would surpass Kobe’s single-game total of 81. Those of us of a certain age know that the exact same thing happened when Wilt scored 100 in 1962. Perhaps the thing to do is not to look to diminish this effort, but to appreciate it for the accomplishment it is. Congratulations to Bam.

Ronald O. Richards
Los Angeles

What a start to the high school baseball season for pitcher Landon Hovermale of Norco. On Wednesday in his latest stellar outing, he threw six shutout innings in Norco’s 3-0 win over Gahr.

In 18 2/3 innings this season, Hovermale has allowed zero runs while striking out 27 and walking one. That’s called great pitching for the 5-1 Cougars. He’s committed to Grand Canyon.

Mira Costa 6, Torrance 4: Joaquin Scholer had two doubles in Mira Costa’s Bay League win.

Rancho Christian 13, Hillcrest 0: Jake Brande retired all 15 batters and had seven strikeouts while Sean Downs hit a grand slam in the five-inning win.

Bell 4, San Pedro 0: The Eagles (9-1) received six scoreless innings from Jayden Rojas, who gave up one hit and struck out seven.

San Fernando 9, Cleveland 5: Armando Villegas had a three-run double to lead the Tigers.

Carson 7, Granada Hills 5: Kris Sinclair went three for four with two RBIs for Carson.

Chatsworth 1, Sylmar 0: Isaiah Sanchez threw the shutout and Vicente Martinez had two hits.

Monroe 3, Eagle Rock 1: The Vikings (8-0) received 10 strikeouts from Miguel Gonzalez, who gave up two hits.

Hart 15, Canyon Country Canyon 2: Joaquin Durazo hit a three-run home run and Matix Frithsmith finished with four RBIs in Hart’s Foothill League opener. Hayden Rhodes and Anthony Cavarretta also hit home runs.

West Ranch 15, Golden Valley 1: Ty Diaz hit two home runs and had a double to lead West Ranch. Connor Clayton and Caydin Wilson also hit home runs.

Los Alamitos 9, Fountain Valley 5: Cruz D’Errico had four hits to lead a Los Alamitos comebacik.

St. John Bosco 11, Damien 0: Twins James and Miles Clark had a big day for the No. 1-ranked Braves. James contributed four hits, including two doubles, and Miles had a home run and three RBIs. Jack Champlin showed he’s not only a closer, throwing four scoreless innings with five strikeouts and no walks as a starting pitcher.

Servite 9, San Juan Hills 6: Mikey Cabral led the way with three hits and two RBIs and John Sullivan had two doubles for Servite.

Newport Harbor 11, Marina 2: Henry Mann had two hits, Gavin Guy had a two-run double and Ryan Williams homered to help Newport Harbor improve to 7-0.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 6, St. Francis 2: Dru Wilson, Malakye Matsumoto, Jake Noroian and Troy Trejo each had two hits for Notre Dame (6-0, 2-0).

Bishop Alemany 6, Crespi 0: DC Ravago threw five scoreless innings and Chase Stevenson hit a two-run home run.

Loyola 8, Chaminade 0: Sheriff Hall threw five scoreless innings and Magnus Mayer had a two-run double for Loyola.

Harvard-Westlake 6, Sierra Canyon 0: Evan Alexander struck out nine and gave up one hit in six innings and freshman Louis Lappe of El Segundo Little League fame hit his first high school home run for Harvard-Westlake. Ethan Price also homered.

Huntington Beach 13, Edison 3: Owen Bone finished with three hits, including a home run, and Jared Grindlinger had two hits and two RBIs for the Oilers.

Etiwanda 4, Rancho Cucamonga 1: Adam Ornelas had three hits and Luke Severns had a two-run single. Michael Aleman threw a complete game.

Softball

Simi Valley 4, Carson 2: Parker Ong struck out eight for Simi Valley. Ruby Grajeda homered for Carson.

Santa Monica 2, Carson 1: Ruby Grajeda had three hits for Carson.

Near the top of the Grimsel Pass in Switzerland’s Bernese Oberland, a small crowd had gathered to take photographs. We were surrounded by bulky mountains and rippling glaciers, but all eyes were focused on a silvery granite chalet with apple-red shutters, its foundations deep in snow.

It was early February and, one after another, we posed in front of it as if standing beside a celebrity. Which in a way we were, because the proud building was the Grimsel Hospiz, the country’s oldest recorded mountain inn and a place that predates Westminster Abbey.

First documented in 1142 and originally built as a simple hostel – either by the Order of Saint Lazarus or the Augustinian monastery of Interlaken, no one is quite sure – today’s much-modernised Grimsel Hospiz is marooned on a spur of sheer rock and snow at 2,000 metres (6,562 ft). Over the centuries it has been inhabited by monks, used by shepherds, needy travellers and soldiers, ravaged by fire and buried by an avalanche. The mountains reach up, but it is surrounded on three sides by plunging ravines and the frozen Grimselsee, which thaws to turquoise ice floes in spring. The scenery is stupendous.

My visit began on a PostBus, the yellow stagecoaches that reach the parts of Switzerland that the railways can’t. I was south-east of the village of Meiringen, having taken a train to Innertkirchen Kraftwerk, a station built 100 years ago to service the hydroelectric power plants hidden deep in the mountains. The towering stone pines, the tumbling cliffs, the dripping snow, the sky only peeking through – it might have been the landscape of JRR Tolkien’s Middle-earth.

As the bus worked its way higher up the Aare Gorge, we saw that the road ahead was closed for winter. Instead, we were dropped at a high-security shutter leading to an underground hydropower station operated by Kraftwerke Oberhasli AG. The renewable energy plant opens for public tours and, moments later, a minibus appeared from behind the steel door to take us deeper into the mountains. We hopped on board.

A road blasted into the granite, dark and narrow, then crept through a maze of tunnels, ending four miles (6.4km) later at a tiny cable car station that opened to daylight. We looked up at the Grimselsee reservoir and Spitallamm Dam, a 113 metre-tall arch of stone above which we were soon to soar. For a century, the high-altitude lake has stored glacier meltwater to generate green electricity. Now, for visitors like me, it forms part of Grimselwelt, a Swiss Alpine tourist region, serving as a backdrop to a great tract of lonely winter wilderness.

The picture of the Grimsel Hospiz developed as we rose on the cable car, like a photo going from faded to sharp. The uninhabited valleys beyond led to the Unteraargletscher, an eight-mile leviathan of ice and the Alps’ fifth-largest glacier. From the cable car, I made out a group of horned ibex as they clambered with ease over the col.

It was the Celts, then Romans, who first used the Grimsel Pass, but it has been an important locus in Alpine culture for centuries: a trade route between Berne and Upper Valais in the middle ages, a strategic camp for raids and war campaigns between Swiss, French, German and Austrian armies, a setting for pioneering glacier research. All these aspects combine in a single story at the Grimsel Hospiz.

What lends the mountain inn so much credibility today is its environmental outlook. Located within the Unesco World Heritage Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch region, the 28-room hotel is in the midst of a critical wildlife habitat, meaning all winter sports are banned. Ski gear is prohibited by the hotel’s management and it cannot be transported on the cable car. The Alps have always been the preserve of travellers keen on activities that take serious effort, but here is an antidote to every other winter destination, a rare meditative place where doing nothing is the only thing to do.

The only activity on offer is snowshoeing and even that is restricted to a 500-metre loop around the inn’s tower-like granite porches and wooden and copper-roofed chapel. It might be “the shortest winter trail in Switzerland”, as manager Markus Meier put it, but it still took me an hour as I kept stopping to take photos.

Inside is a fantasy mountain inn, the result of sensitive restorations: a huge wooden door creaks open and you step into corridors leading to cosy double rooms, intimate lounges, fireplaces and a restaurant where dinner is accompanied by one of 250 bottles from one of Europe’s highest-altitude wine cellars. Back in 1932, the guesthouse caused a sensation as the continent’s first electrically heated hotel. Now, the building is sustainably powered by clean energy and waste heat from the hydroelectric plant below.

As evening fell, it was time for the inn’s only other activity: staring at the flaring sunset and night sky from its outdoor wooden barrel sauna and hot tub. The air was bracingly cold, the constellations appeared and it was just me, the burbling water and the mountains stretching away into darkness. Forget any thoughts of Alpine heroes such as George Mallory or Edward Whymper. That night, down to my cossie in -10C (14F), tiptoeing across the snow in a pair of felt slippers and dwarfed by mountains, I was the bravest man in the Alps.

At nearly 2,000 metres, dinner is another event. The four-course menu produced by Slovakian chef Roman Crkon is hardly the stuff of traditional refuges. I’ve had my share of mountain meals, but I’ve never had veal sweetbreads, scallops, chicken with truffle cream and a cheese board at high altitude. In 1544, a local chronicler wrote that the Grimsel Hospiz was all about “good wine, brought by pack animals across the mountains”. Looking at the card games and excessive drinking around me, little had changed.

Later, just before bed, I slipped outside to gaze again at the stars. It was pine needle-drop quiet. Though I was separated from some of Switzerland’s most popular resort towns by only a few miles as the eagle flies, I felt engulfed by the Alps in their entirety. Tomorrow, another day with nothing to do beyond the confines of the inn awaited. But in a landscape like this, I was thrilled to have fallen off the map, out of time, into winter’s grasp.

The trip was provided by Jungfrau Region and Historic Alpine Hotel Grimsel Hospiz (Wednesday to Sunday only; grimselwelt.ch). Rooms from £165pp a night, including breakfast, afternoon tea, hot tub and wooden barrel sauna. A four-course dinner costs £85. Return bus, tunnel and cable car transfers cost £70

On Monday, Flav offered “a real celebration” for the women’s team.

“If the USA Women’s Hockey team wants a real celebration and invite ,,, I’ll host them in Las Vegas,” Flav wrote on social media. “Do some nice dinners and shows and good times. I’m sure I can get a hotel and airline to help me out here and celebrate these women for real for real.”

He added: “But I gots to invite my Bobsled + Skeleton team too.”

The idea has only grown bigger.

“Letz go even bigger and better,” Flav wrote Tuesday. “ALL Female US Olympians and Paralympian medalists are invited out to celebrate in Viva Las Vegas for the SHE GOT GAME Weekend ,,, Hit a guy up and LETZ GOOO.”

On Thursday, Flav announced the event would be held July 16 to 19 in partnership with MGM Resorts and the Gist sports media brand.

“I wanna give a special shout out to MGM Resorts,” Flav wrote. “many people offered to help the hockey team,,, but when I said I wanted to include ALL women who earned medals from the winter games + USABS,,, they didn’t hesitate and stepped up to be REAL partners with 100+ rooms.”

He added: “They also offered food and hospitality, spa, ground, event space, after parties, and to host the parade and party for the PUBLIC to celebrate our women for FREE.”

MGM Resorts confirmed Friday that it is hosting the event.

“Planning is underway and details will be shared soon as we get ready to celebrate our incredible USA athletes in a way only MGM Resorts knows how: world-class hospitality, high-energy fun, and memorable experiences,” the company said in a statement emailed to The Times.

JSerra High has an athlete, Godschoice Eboigbodin, whose size and athleticism are earning rave reviews in two sports. People are calling him a “beast.”

The 6-foot-5, 260-pound junior played football for the first time last fall and was so impressive that college recruiters immediately became enamored with his potential.

Now in basketball, which he has much more experience playing, he continues to rise. He had 19 points and 15 rebounds Friday night when JSerra defeated Inglewood 103-91 to advance to the Southern Section Division 1 championship game.

There’s also his outgoing personality.

Early in the season, he was so aggressive he got into foul trouble. Now he’s in “basketball shape,” coach Keith Wilkinson said, and the Lions are surging with him and 6-9 Ryan Doane combining their talents inside.

Eboigbodin also can make free throws, so when opponents foul him, he can take advantage.

Football still looks like his future sport in college, but he’s sure having fun playing basketball.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

We grew up with that line from “ABC’s Wide World of Sports” show.

But really, it’s the spaces in between, that can resonate and bring a sense of mortality to these world-class athletes.

As I witnessed these memorable events in this year’s Winter Olympics, I tried to keep in mind the frail dynamics of our collective psyche while performing against a spectacular backdrop of the Dolemites, or walking the historic, ancient streets of Milan.

There are dozens of photographers working at each event. They, like the athletes on the field of play, are in a competition.

Competing with each other to make the best image. Competing with the elements at outdoor venues, like bitter cold, rain, wind and snow. And most of all, competing with themselves to rise above their personal standard of what constitutes an outstanding photograph.

Witnessing what is probably an athletes greatest moment is both a thrill and an honor.

Here are some of the visual surprises.

Mikhail Shaidorov shows his metal as he takes a bite of the gold medal he won in the Men’s Single Skating Final.

French skier Laura Gauche sails against the backdrop of the Dolomites on her way to the finish line in the Women’s Team Combined Slalom.

Figure skater Ilia Malinin feels the pain of a bad performance during the finals for Men’s Single Skating at Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Megan Keller is mobbed by teammates after scoring the winning goal to beat Canada 2-1 in overtime in the Women’s ice hockey final.

Team USA are reflected in the ice during the Women’s Team Pursuit at Milano Speed Skate Stadium.

Swiss skier Melanie Meillard weeps in the arms of her teammate Janine Schmitt after missing a turn on her slalom run Women’s Team Combined Slalom.

Lindsay Vonn is airlifted off the mountain after crashing during the Women’s downhill Alpine skiing event.

USA skier AJ Hurt wags her tongue after a successful slalom run at the Women’s Team Combined Slalom.

Gloves were flying when Tom Wilson, left, of Team Canada engaged with Pierre Crinon, of Team France, at Milano Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena.

Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates practice before competing in the ice dancing free skate competition.

USA skater Amber Glenn weeps after completing an imperfect routine in the single skating short program.

USA skaters Eunice Lee and Corinne Stonnard crash in the Women’s 3,000m short track speed skating.

French skater Adam Siao Him Fa performs a flip during the finals for Men’s Single Skating.

Medals and a selfie for Italy, Korea and Canada at the Women’s Team Short Track Speed Skating finals.

The Swiss Women’s ice hockey team leaves their equipment on the ice while celebrating an overtime win over Sweden in the bronze medal match.

Caracas, February 17, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuela’s Navegantes del Magallanes claimed the 2026 Serie de las Américas baseball tournament after defeating Colombia’s Caimanes de Barranquilla 10–9 on Friday, February 13, at the Estadio Monumental Simón Bolívar in Caracas.

The Colombian squad stunned fans with a commanding 5–0 lead in the opening inning and maintained a five-run advantage for much of the game. However, Magallanes engineered a dramatic comeback that will become one of Venezuela’s most celebrated baseball victories, scoring seven unanswered runs in the eighth inning to overturn the deficit.

The Venezuelan team, representing the host nation for the tournament held from February 5 to 13 in Caracas and La Guaira, stumbled in its opening match against Panama before rallying and stringing together consecutive wins. This included a decisive 9–1 semifinal victory over Cuba to book a place in the final.

The 2026 Serie de las Américas—the second edition of this regional international baseball competition organized by continental baseball league associations—brought together national teams from Cuba and Curaçao, and the winter league champions from Venezuela, Panama, Nicaragua, Colombia, and Argentina. The tournament featured a round-robin phase followed by semifinals and a championship game.

Navegantes del Magallanes secured its place in the tournament after winning the Venezuelan league in early February. 

Venezuela’s participation in the Serie de las Américas became possible after the country opted out of the February 1–7 Serie del Caribe, following decisions by that event’s organizers to relocate the tournament amid claims of “political conflicts” linked to the January 3 US military strikes and kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro.

The Venezuelan professional league initially suspended its Round Robin phase following the attacks, though play resumed on January 7 and continued through the Serie de las Américas.

On Saturday, the champion Magallanes were welcomed at Miraflores Palace by acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who praised the team’s achievement. 

“When they achieved victory, I felt the joy of seeing a country rise up and demonstrate its winning spirit. The most important jersey we Venezuelans wear is that of Venezuela; you wore it and showed that there is no adversity we cannot overcome,” Rodríguez said.

The Venezuelan leader also formally expressed Venezuela’s desire to once again host the regional tournament in 2027.