Dustin Allen Leads On and Off the Field

This article was originally published in the Arcadia Weekly.

Senior outfielder Dustin Allen is a leader on and off the field for the Arcadia Apaches varsity baseball team. Allen leads by example with his play where he led the team with a .410 batting average last year.

“Last season went really well for me, although it started out rough. I struggled at the plate. I had trouble finding myself for the first few games of the season,” Allen said. “Coming out of that was a great learning experience, having to work my way out of that rough patch.”

Allen rebounded in a big way, collecting 34 hits, scoring 28 runs, drawing 13 walks and stealing 13 bases, all team highs. These numbers led to a .495 OBP, second on the team, and a 1.122 OPS, highest on the team.

Allen spends most of his time in the outfield, although he is a strong left-handed reliever as well. Although he struggled his sophomore year on the mound, he found his stride and tossed 33.2 innings without allowing an earned run last year. Allen allowed 14 hits and 10 walks, which combined are less than the 32 batters he struck out.

Allen said the best moment of the season came when the team won league.

“I was on the team the past couple years and it was heartbreaking to lose league in such dramatic fashions,” Allen said. “To win league finally and share the joy with my teammates was pretty awesome.”

In his mind, there was one factor that led to Arcadia grabbing their first league title in more than five years.

“The whole team was really close last year. We had a really good bond with each other that showed on and off the field,” Allen said. “We had each other’s backs and picked each other up.”

Although Arcadia captured league and had a nearly perfect 25-2 record, they fell in the second round of the CIF-SS Division II postseason tournament.

“The ball just didn’t bounce our way that day,” Allen said. “That’s definitely a goal for this season, to correct that, play harder and win the CIF final.”

As far as personal goals go, Allen is mainly focused on getting stronger, bulking up.

“I’m about 175 [pounds] now, but I want to get up to 190,” Allen said.

The added muscle mass would help Allen increase his power behind the plate where he notched six doubles, three triples and two home runs last year.

Allen plans on playing baseball in college, but is not closed to the possibility of going pro out of high school.

“It depends on the spot I’m in draft-wise,” Allen said. “I’m definitely aiming on going to college, but we’ll never know until the time comes.”

Allen plans on studying criminal justice or sports management in college, both careers he could see himself going into and both careers his family has gone into. His grandfather was involved in criminal justice and his father played minor league baseball in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

Allen aims to play professional baseball like his father, although he would rather play for his favorite team, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“That would be a dream come true,” he said.

Player Profile: Mikey Easter

This article was originally published in the Arcadia Weekly.

Mikey Easter wants to play professional baseball one day for his favorite club, the New York Yankees. For now, he’s content tearing it up at the high school level for Arcadia. 

Easter started playing when he was five years old. His whole family, from his grandparents to his parents, are all huge baseball fans. Easter recalls getting baseball toys when he was little.

“I would practice swinging in the living room with my dad when I was two,” Easter said.

Easter started out playing tee ball, then little league and travel ball. He still plays club baseball for CBA Marucci. Easter plays first base and catcher.

“I like both, but I prefer catcher,” Easter said. “I feel like I’m in every play and I have my pitcher’s back at all times. I feel like I’m more of a leader behind the plate than I am at first.”

Easter said he has a decent arm, but his best strengths as a catcher are framing and calming his pitcher down in tough situations.

This year Easter was one of Arcadia’s top hitters, as a sophomore. His batting average of .389 was the third highest on the team and he had the highest on base percentage at .516. Easter had 32 RBIs, 8 doubles, 3 triples and scored 18 runs. 

Although Arcadia fell short in the playoffs, Easter said the season as a whole still went really well. 

“We got one of our goals done, winning the Pacific League. We hadn’t won that since 2011. Bringing the Pacific League title back to Arcadia was a big deal for us,” Easter said. “I’ll always remember dogpiling on the field after clinching the league title.”

Easter is already in contact with a couple NCAA Division I schools, but he has not committed to one yet. He plans to stay on the West Coast for college, but isn’t tied to Southern California. Easter said he wants to major in business or sports management in college, although his ultimate goal is to go pro.

“It’s pretty far away, but I want to play pro ball. That’s been my goal ever since I was little,” Easter said. “Hopefully for the Yankees. My grandpa is a huge Yankees fan and I used to watch a lot of games with him when I was little and my parents were at work. That’s why they’re my team.”

When he’s not playing baseball, Easter enjoys hanging out with his friends or squeezing in a round of golf.

Although the season is still several months away, Easter is already preparing for it.

“This summer I’ve been going to the gym a lot, hitting the weights, hopefully hit more doubles and home runs next season,” Easter said. “I want to help the team win any way we can.”

Preston Howey is Arcadia's Newest Ace

This article originally appeared in the Arcadia Weekly.

Preston Howey has video game numbers. The staff ace of Arcadia High School’s baseball team won 13 games last year and lost just one.

Howey began playing baseball when he was just 4 years old. After 13 years, he has developed elite pitching skills that culminated last season in a 0.75 ERA, a 0.91 WHIP and a 4.78/1 K/BB ratio. Howey ended the season with 65 innings pitched, 86 strikeouts, and allowed just seven earned runs.

“This year, I kind of just took off. It was crazy how it happened,” Howey said. “I put in a lot more work because I knew I had to step up my game. There were a lot of good returning pitchers coming back. I knew I had to step up to try to be the best I could. I put in the work and I guess it worked out this year.”

Howey started off the season with a bang, tossing a complete game shutout with 12 strikeouts.

“That was probably one of my favorite games I’ve ever pitched,” Howey said.

Howey would go on to toss one more complete game during the season, leading the Apaches to an overall 25-2 record.

During the offseason, Howey is working on improving his strength. He currently hits around 85-87 MPH with his fastball, but he topped out at 89 MPH.

“I want to consistently hit 88-89, maybe higher,” Howey said.

While his fastball isn’t quite where he wants it to be, Howey relies more on the off-speed pitches to get hitters. He said his favorite strikeout pitch is his slider.

When asked about a pro comparison, Howey named Houston Astros’ ace Justin Verlander.

“We have a pretty similar windup,” he said.

Although Howey wants to pitch in the MLB someday, ideally for his favorite team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, he is currently focused on college. He has been in contact with different universities, but has not committed to a school yet.

When he is not playing baseball, Howey enjoys relaxing by going to the beach, hanging out with friends or listening to country music.

Arcadia Spring Sports Recap

This article originally appeared on Arcadia Weekly.

Arcadia High School had lots of strong action through their springs sports teams. Baseball, boys’ tennis, boys’ volleyball, softball and badminton each notched more than 20 wins during the season.

On the diamond, both the baseball and softball teams saw huge numbers from their players.

Baseball went 25-2 on the year, falling in the second round of the California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) Division 2 Baseball Championships to El Segundo High School. The squad was nearly perfect at home, going 16-1. Arcadia also notched a +150 run differential throughout the season.

The softball team didn’t have as strong of a regular season, going 19-6. However, they made it one round further in the CIF-SS D4 championships, dropping their quarterfinals matchup against Culver City High School. The team had two eight-game win streaks and posted a +191 run differential on the year.

Even more impressive were the campaigns by the coed badminton and boys’ tennis teams.

The badminton squad was perfect during the season, dropping their only match during the CIF-SS Open Division Championships final against Diamond Bar high school. Prior to the final, the team dominated all season with 21 victories by a margin of 10 or more points.

Boys’ tennis was nearly flawless during the regular season, going 21-1, before dropping the CIF-SS Open Division Championships quarterfinal match against Mira Costa High School. The team notched an incredible 13 shutouts during the season.

Boys’ volleyball also posted a strong season, going 26-5. The squad dropped their CIF-SS D2 Championships match against Alemany High School. Although they didn’t make it as far in the postseason, the squad won six more contests during the regular season, helped by a dominant 11-1 home record.

Finally, in the pool, the boys’ and girls’ swimming and diving teams ended the season on a strong note with 13th and 12th place finishes in the CIF-SS D3 Championships, respectively.

Check back soon for more Arcadia sports news.