El Paisano Newspaper Vol.66 Issue 6

Japan World Baseball Classic Champions

Storybook ending for the fifth World Baseball Classic. MLB superstars Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout teammates from the Los Angeles Angels face off in the championship game. Ohtani representing Japan and Trout representing the U.S. finally faced off in the last out of the game. And it was everything fans had hoped for with Ohtani striking out Trout with a fastball and slider sequence to win the game with a final score of 3-2.

“This is the best moment of my life,” Ohtani said through his interpreter. As expected he also took home the tournament's MVP award for his all around contribution to the teams winning.

Though named MVP he had his teammates along with him the whole time with their consistent hitting and shutout pitching. Japan took home their third WBC Championship and is the only country to have multiple wins since the

tournament was started in 2006.

Usa entered the game on a high after beating Cuba 14-2 two days prior. As Japan beat Mexico 6-5 in a nail biting game.

The game started on a high note with the U.S. Homering at the top of the second then Japan answered back with a homer of their own along with a sacrifice fly making the score 2-1 Japan going into the third.

At the end of the 4th inning Japan’s own Kazuma Okamoto homered as well, growing their lead 3-1. At the top of the eighth japan’s pitcher Yu Darvish came into the game and gave up a homerun to Kyle Schwarber putting up another run for the U.S. Ohtani then came in to end the game in the ninth.

First giving up a walk and having to face Mookie Betts, two time silver slugger award winner, who he got to ground out into a double play. And the matchup was about to happen.

Two superstars facing off in front of 4.5 million viewers was about to happen. As the crowd grew louder Ohtani started off the at-bat with 2 straight balls. He then came back with two, hundred mph pitches blowing them past trout. He then threw another ball clocked in at a hundred and two mph. Then the game winning pitch came in and Trout Swung and missed. As Ohtani threw his hat and glove and his teammates charged the field in celebration Japan had now won their third Classic.

Rio Hondo’s Job and Internship Fair

The World Baseball Classic has Changed International Baseball

Matthew Medina @themedinamedia

The Job & internship fair that was held on March 22nd in the Campus Inn was a huge success. A lot of jobs showed up from LAUSD to Whitter police. They gave a lot of great information on what students need to do for their requirements and were happy to help people out. They were giving business cards and their locations out to the people who were really interested. There's a lot of part time jobs out there especially looking for people who would give it their all on the job site no matter what it is. Some jobs were driving distance I was talking to the Foresters financial there building is located in corona. Finally, I spoke to Tony

Gonzalez. He was a part of the Entravision Booth they are a global advertising, media and ad-tech solutions company they work with up and coming spanish radio stations. Gonzalez told me they have unique broadcast media assets that include 49 television stations making them the largest affiliate group of Univision and UniMas television. Job & internship fair turnout was great, a lot of great jobs and much more people turned up despite all of the rain. People showed up and had a good time meeting new people and asking questions. They also had prizes and a pizza hut for the students. All and all a great turn out.

The fifth installment of the World Baseball Classic has become one of the biggest international tournaments in the world, and it’s only been two weeks. After a 6 year hiatus due to the pandemic, the tournament is back and better than ever, filled with stars of the sport from across the globe.

For this year’s tournament, all the stars of baseball showed up to compete for their respective countries.

The popularity of the tournament has grown significantly since the 2017 edition. The talent showcased on the field is a big reason for that. Players like Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani pathed the way for other superstars of Major League Baseball to join the fun in the WBC.

Injuries are a Big Factor

One of the biggest questions for many players and fans of the MLB is the high risk of injury for the upcoming 2023 season. We have already seen freak accidents happen in the tournament such as Edwin Diaz of Puerto Rico breaking his knee at the end of the game against the Dominican Republic.

While injuries are given, even in a 2-week tournament, players showed their praise for the classic and want more MLB players to play in the next iteration of the World Baseball Classic. The sport has grown so much in the past two weeks that TV and social media ratings are breaking records by large margins.

Upcoming stars from across the world are the given opportunity to showcase their talents as well. Major League scouts and fans can see them play at a high level. The event has also given established players to play for their country in a playoff atmosphere in the month of March.

The tournament has the potential to be as big as the World Cup, which is by far the biggest international event in the world. More time in the mainstream w social media will help this event get to that level. As for 2023, the World Baseball Classic has provided some of the best baseball ever played on the diamond.

Robert Jimenez @jimenez__robert

Manuel Smith @mannysmithmedia

Manuel Smith

LAUSD Breaks Their Silence and Works Together Against Superintendent Carvalho

Mia Alvarez @itz_miastarr

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is the second largest school district in the nation. As rain pummeled the sidewalks and wind bent back umbrellas LAUSD held a three-day strike that closed schools throughout Los Angeles from Tuesday, March 21 to Thursday, March 23.

The union, SEIU Local 99, consists of non teaching employees including bus drivers, cafeteria workers,custodial workers,special ed assistants,regular assistants and campus aids. United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), the union representing teachers in the district, participated in the strike to show solidarity.

Romero Romo, Building and Grounds Worker at Heliotrope Elementary School, states “My message is to get better benefits for everybody from the top to the bottom and from the bottom to the top because we need to have respect from the big chief.”

Esteban Flores, Building and Ground Worker at Heliotrope Elementary School, says “I hope to achieve from this strike is to have more positions open so we can actually no be overworked by the district and have a higher pay with all this inflation. People can really afford the higher prices so it is only reasonable for us to have a little increase in our wage.”

LAUSD Superintendent, Alberto Carvalho, stated “1,2,3…Circus = a predictable performance with a known outcome, desiring of nothing more than an applause, a

coin, and a promise of a next show. Let’s do right, for once, without circus, for kids, for community, for decency.”

This is one of the quotes that Carvalho stated that ignited the fire among the SEIU Local 99 workers.

Cheryl Meadows, UTLA Chapter Chair for Heliotrope Elementary School, said “We feel that Local 99 has been mistreated so that is why we are not going to cross the picket lines because we are showing support to them because they deserve to get a raise and better working conditions and health benefits.”

Erica Sanchez, Special Education teacher for Heliotrope Elementary School explains how striking in the rain is beneficial and how it

gave her flashbacks from the SEIU Local 99 strike in 2019. “It actually rained every single day so I got flashbacks from then but I actually think that being in the rain and actually huddling together forces you to make new friends, learn something new about someone that you didn't know about on your campus and you end up being more unified at the end.”

During the three-day strike, workers will strike outside of their own school sites in the morning and in the afternoon they will go to a different location. On the first day of the strike, the location was at LAUSD headquarters in Downtown Los Angeles. The second day was at the Local District East Office. The third day was at LA Historic Park because

the representatives of SEIU didn't expect so many people to come out and support so they needed a big enough space to accommodate all the workers.

SEIU Local 99 demanded a 30% wage increase + $2/hour equity wage wage adjustment for all, more full-time hours, respect, cashing out vacation pay, and eliminating unassigned days. LAUSD wanted to give an increase of 3.7% per year and still have the ability to cut hours at any time, and to continue unpaid furlough days.

On Friday, March 24 LAUSD obtained a history making agreement between SEIU. They agreed on a 30% wage increase, 7 hours of work guaranteed for Special Education Assistants, and a $1000 bonus for all working in 2020-21.

Barragan

Carrera

Mia Alvarez

sports Dodgers Erode the Rockies

Luis Martinez @luimartineznews

The Los Angeles Dodgers won against the Colorado Rockies 13-4 on April 3. Multiple Dodgers hit home runs throughout the night. The majority of runs this night came in the fifth inning as the Dodgers scored seven runs. Coming into the game, the Dodgers were 2-2 on the season. The team split their opening series with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

LAFC

Holds Off FC Dallas to Secure a Late Winner

Christpher Araujo

@chris_jrnlsm

First Half Los Angeles Football Club

defeated Football Club Dallas

2-1 at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, California. LAFC kicked off the first half with an early goal in the second minute of the game from number 11 Timothy Tillman. Fantastic start from the black and gold as they started an early dominance of the ball. The defense started off with errors turning the ball over on their side of the field.

Number 24 Ryan Hollingshead was huge in the first couple minutes of the game as he started plays to attack from his side of the field. In the 17th minute FC Dallas nearly equalized the score but Video Assistant Referee(VAR) ruled it offside, the score stayed 1-0 in favor of LAFC. The black and gold had held the score with good pressure from the defense and great positioning from the goalkeeper number 77 John McCarthy. After a hard foul by number 22 Ema Twumasi leaves FC Dallas down with 10 men in the field after the referee checked VAR and overturned the yellow to a red card for violent conduct. LAFC was looking to take advantage of a 10 man FC Dallas as they began

RHC Fall to Mt.SAC

Christopher Araujo @chris_jrnlsm

Rio Hondo’s women’s tennis team falls to Mt. San Antonio(MT.SAC) 3-6 on Thursday March 23, at Rio Hondo College. The lady roadrunners put up a good fight through their sets. They gave MT.SAC trouble as they made them work for their win.

Doubles

Nicole Lule and Daisy Haro lost to Jahaday

Drewery and Lydia Jong 5-8

Addyson Nunez and Lana Young lost to Lara

Rizkallah and Anh Nguyen5-8

Abigail Madrigal and Andrea Rodriguez defeated Azalia Rodriguez and Ebe Romero 8-5

Singles

Nicole Lule lost to Jahday Drewery 0-6, 0-6

Lana Young lost to Lydia Jong 0-6, 1-6

Daisy Haro lost to Lara Rizkallah 5-7, 3-6

Addyson Nunez defeated Anh Nguyen 6-2, 7-5

Max Verstappen Wins His Second Race of the Season

Luis Martinez @luimartineznews

Max Verstappen of Oracle Red Bull Racing drove into his second race win of the year at the Melbourne Grand Prix(GP) on April 2. Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes AMG Petronas placed second at the GP.

to attack more as the away team was mentally out of it after the red card. LAFC continued their attack in the last minutes of the first half but did not convert any goals. The score for the first half was 1-0 to the black and gold.

Second Half

FC Dallas kicked off the second looking to make a comeback of a 1-0 deficit being down a player. The away team wasted no time and came out looking for a shot at goal but too easy for LAFC’s very own McCarthy. LAFC continued their dominance in the wings as they created danger for FC Dallas giving their defense trouble. LAFC made their set pieces be known with a

dangerous header from the defender number 14 Giorgio Chiellini that went just on top of the goal post. Both teams have continued to battle it out in the midfield for possession but in attack none taking advantage of their chances. Despite being down 1 player, FC Dallas held LAFC’s attack to a minimum. In the 72nd minute of the game, a goal for FC Dallas came off a set piece with number 17 Nkosi Tafari equalizing the score to 1-1. FC Dallas took their opportunity to tie the game as LAFC had not been consistent with their attacks in the second half of the game. The referee ruled a penalty after he checked with VAR with the

Captain number 10 Carlos Vela missing from the spot hitting the crossbar in the 79th minute as the score remained 1-1. Goal from LAFC in the 84th minute by the substitute number 99 Denis Bouanga. From a difficult angle Bouanga was able to put it in the back of the net to put up the black and gold up in the score 2-1. LAFC wins the game 2-1 and remains undefeated with three wins and a draw. Bouanga had a total of 13 hours of travel in a flight. From Franceville to Istanbul to Los Angeles International Airport(LAX). Arrived just an hour away from kickoff. Entered the pitch as a substitute to score LAFC’s winning goal.

Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant placed third to round out the podium. This is Alonso's third podium in a row to start the season. Verstappen's teammate Sergio (Checo) Perez took home the Driver of the Day award after his various overtakes that helped him place in fifth.

The Melbourne GP was an eventful one. This race had three red flags, making it the most red-flagged race in F1 history There were 8 retirements throughout the race. One of the most notable retirements involved George Russel of Mercedes. Most retired drivers on the grid were involved in crashes or driver errors that paused the race. After leading the race for a few laps, Russell pitted during a yellow flag. Unfortunately for Russell, the GP's first red flag happened. This made Russell drop down to seventh. Tragedy struck again as Russell's power unit caught on fire forcing him to leave the race early.

Verstappen widens the gap in the World Drivers Championship (WDC) between him and teammate Checo. Alonso’s third place finish secured his spot as third place in the WDC.

Andrea Rodriguez was losing 0-5 to Azalia Rodriguez but had to retire due to injury

Abigail Madrigal defeated Ebe Romero 6-1, 6-2

In the singles competition

RHC were resilient in their games. Injuries did play a part in the loss but the lady roadrunners gave it their best in the end. “They fought really hard,my number one got injured in the doubles and that really affected her game. Number five is usually tough but

she was injured in the middle of the game, you know that’s tough but the others stepped up,” Coach Karen Unger for RHC womens tennis explained. Injuries were tough to deal with and was definitely a challenge for the lady roadrunners but still managed to fight through.

Lule got an injury in the doubles that caused her to not play well in singles. Andrea Rodriguez had to retire for RHC after feeling sick despite putting up a fight in her singles set.

For singles Addyson Nunez and Abigail Madrigal won their sets in singles. Nunez fought hard in a challenging match with a tough second set but still managed to hold on and pull through to win her set. “Abby, she is my little machine, she just keeps winning,” coach Unger said. Nunez also displayed a lot fight in her single sets. Huge comeback from Nunez to get the win. “She was fighting, fighting, fighting,” coach Unger spoke about Nunez and her comeback.

Mia Alvarez

Los Angeles Football Club’s captain Carlos Vela fighting for the ball in oppositions area while the score was 1-1 at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. on Saturday, March 25.

Christopher Araujo

Addyson Nunez in action for her singles match vs Mt.SAC on March 23 at Rio Hondo College.