Tim Peterson
By Tim Peterson
Right out of the gate that’s a great hire for Duarte. James Heggins is a proven winner and has experience. He’s also the type of guy than can attract the local athlete that might be on the fence between Monrovia and Duarte to join the Falcons
Heggins definitely has his work cut out for him. Duarte has gone 3-17 over the last two seasons under Travis Brown. The Falcons looked to be turning a corner in 2013 under Jason Martin when they advanced to the second round of the playoffs but Martin left to pursue college opportunities and it’s been a struggle ever since.
The Heggins hire made sense. Former Northview/ Los Altos HC Jim Arellanes also worked with Heggins as an assistant coach a few years ago at Baldwin Park and is now part of the administration at Duarte. He knew what he was getting in Heggins and played a part in landing him.
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Does Duarte have anybody back? Well, yes. The Falcons do return quarterback Devon Hemsley, only a sophomore in 2015, from a squad that was laden with underclassmen.
Although Heggins to Duarte is great for the Falcon faithful it does make you wonder about the state of the Baldwin Park program. The Braves are now seeking their third different head coach in as many years. Still no word as to who is taking the job and no word on anybody that wants it.
Bonita had their guy, then didn’t have their guy when the administration didn’t particularly like his choice of staff. So anybody that was in the running before is now apparently back in. Ibis Aguilar?
So there was a certain Valle Vista League coach who left for a state up north and is now back and applying for head coaching positions. He didn’t get Bonita and now is out of the mix at Monrovia according to sources. He would be a great hire for somebody.
Speaking of Monrovia, and aren’t we always? one has to wonder which way it will turn now. Do the Wildcats stay in house and hire a former assistant or continue to search outside and land a big name? Interviews were concluded last week and we’re hearing several “big names” thrown around, but nothing concrete as of yet. My guess is that it will be an outside assistant that may have some head coaching experience. We should find out soon.
The Gladstone Gladiators have their guy. Interesting hire. It should be announced Monday or Tuesday. Keep clicking on.
El Monte is still open as well since Joel Sanchez stepped down earlier this year. The only thing certain is it won’t be Aguilar. It could be former Keppel HC Aaron Sepulveda, he’s in the hunt, but then again it might not be.
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Nice article by Bill Plaschke of the LA Times about the Ball brothers at Chino Hills on Sunday but isn’t he a little late to the party? We’ve known about two of them since last year and all three have been on everybody’s radar locally since October. It isn’t exactly breaking news.
That’s my principle.
Tim can be reached at tim@midvalleysports.com or on Twitter @tspeterson40.
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