Glendale Team Plays World Series Opener

The California Bears, a Glendale-based team of 15- and 16-year-olds, will meet a team from Tennessee at 7:30 tonight in the first round of the Mickey Mantle World Series in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The series will be played in Scottsdale Stadium, the spring-training facility of the San Francisco Giants and home of the triple-A Phoenix Firebirds. The eight-team, double-elimination series will conclude Sunday or Monday.

The Bears advanced to the World Series by beating the Norwalk Cardinals, four-time defending national champions, in a best-of-three series at Loyola Marymount.

Coached by Gary Spielbuehler, the Bears include many of the area’s top high school underclassmen last year. Pitcher Gerald De La Pena and third baseman Ron Pirayoff, both of Hoover High, were first-team All-Pacific League selections in the spring.

Hoover first baseman Amador Solis and Glendale pitcher David Gantt, who beat Millikan in the first round of the Southern Section Division I playoffs, were second-team picks. Pitcher Jason Robitaille was an All-Alpha League selection for Village Christian.