Beach volleyball stars Jake Gibb, Nicole Branagh, Stein Metzger and former Association of Volleyball Professionals announcer Sam Lagana will be inducted as the class of 2023 at the Hermosa Beach Museum, 710 Pier Ave. The event will include a social hour at 5 p.m., followed by a question-and-answer session at 6 p.m. and the induction ceremony at 7 p.m.

Hall-of-famer Misty May-Treanor, who won more than 100 tournaments, as well as three Olympic gold medals and World Championships, will also be honored during the ceremony.

Kevin Cleary, an inductee in 2010 and CBVA Committee member, said in an email that May-Treanor will be a “special honoree” because she “was inducted into the Hall of Fame years ago but was not able to make the event, so she was never honored.”

Cleary said he predicts a “great event.”

“We’re honoring four Olympians with nine appearances between them,” Cleary said in an email.

Gibb, who retired in 2021 following 21 seasons, won three Manhattan Beach Opens — known as the “granddaddy” of beach volleyball tournaments — was in the Olympics four times and won more than 40 tournaments with his partners, according to a biography from the CBVA.

Branagh, who was the AVP’s MVP in 2009, finished fifth at the 2008 Summer Olympics with partner Elaine Youngs, with whom she also won 15 tournaments from 2007 to 2009.

Metzger teamed with Dax Holdren to finish fifth in the 2004 Olympics in Athens and earned a silver medal at the World Championships the previous year. Metzger went on to team with Gibb and Jeff Nygaard, with whom he had nine AVP wins.

Lagana, who was the the voice of the AVP from 1985 to 2005, is known as the “MC of the party that was beach volleyball in the 1980s and 1990s,” according to his CBVA biography. He has been the stadium announcer for the Los Angeles Rams since 2016.

The first CBVA Hall of Fame induction took place in 1992 and since then, nearly 100 beach volleyball legends and those who have influenced the sport have been inducted.

The Q&A session will feature Ron Lang, Jim Menges, Butch May and May-Treanor in the adjacent Hermosa Beach Community Theatre.

Tickets for the event are $10. For more information, visit cbva.com.

The procession begins in Manhattan Beach, with a church service following in Cypress.

The procession starts at 8:30 a.m. when the Swanson family, along with Manhattan Beach Department personnel and city staff, will join at the Manhattan Beach Police Department to “show unity and respect,” according to a police release.

Community members are invited to dress in red, white and blue as they stand along the procession route, according to the press release.

The procession route begins on Manhattan Beach Boulevard between Ardmore Avenue and Aviation Boulevard before making its way to SeaCoast Grace Church in Cypress.

The service will take place at 11 a.m. at the church, located at 5100 Cerritos Ave.

Swanson, 35, was killed in the early morning hours of Oct. 4, when a car collided with his police motorcycle on the northbound 405 Freeway around Carson.

He risked his life to save others during a mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in 2017 in Las Vegas, where he was injured by a bullet fragment, while he moved people to safety.

The Manhattan Beach Police Department thanked the community for its continued support in the period since the tragedy said Police Chief Rachel Johnson, in a statement. The city hosted a vigil two days after Swanson’s death where hundreds gathered at the Manhattan Beach Pier.

“Your presence will provide solace and comfort to Officer Swanson’s family and fellow officers,” Johnson said, of the community gathering for the funeral procession. “Together we can turn the pain of loss into a beacon of resilience, showing the world that even in our darkest moments, our unity shines brighter than ever before.”

Swanson is survived by his wife and three young sons. There is a fund set up by Fund a Hero, through the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) to support the family.

For those who can’t attend the procession or service and wish to offer financial support, visit porac.org/fundraiser/swanson-family/.

When he was a child growing up in the South Bay, Tod Perry visited the home of Orky and Corky, a pair of killer whales that were the park’s main attraction.

While the popular tourist attraction in Rancho Palos Verdes closed when he was around 10 years old, he still has vivid memories of the place.

“It almost felt like the animals were part of the community, like Orky and Corky were your personal pet whales and you could go see them,” said Perry, who now resides in Long Beach.

Perry brought together former employees to share some of the memories of the park that was open for more than three decades, from 1954 to 1987, in his new podcast “LA’s Own Marineland.”

The 12-part podcast, 10 hours in length, traces Marineland’s history, from its development to its closure.

At first, said Perry, the podcast was going to focus solely on the closure.

“When I started talking to people who worked there, that people had such a love for the park, there was such a passion, (they were) heartbroken about the closure,” Perry said. “I thought, okay, we’re going to tell the whole story.”

Perry used social media to gather interviews for the podcast including the “I worked at Marineland of the Pacific” Facebook page.

He received many responses to a Facebook post — from trainers to those who wore character costumes — to talk about their time at Marineland. In total, he interviewed about 20 people associated with the park.

One of those interviews was with head marine mammal trainer Larry Clark, who died in August at 85 years old.

Clark was one of the first trainers at Marineland, said Perry, so it meant a lot to get the interview with him.

Perry does not shy away from some of the controversial aspects of Marineland such as the issue of marine mammals in captivity, or the safety of those that care for the animals including trainer Jill Stratton, who nearly drowned while working with Orky in 1978.

There was also the controversial sale of Marineland to SeaWorld while the park suffered declining attendance and financial hardships.

The luxury resort Terrenea was completed in 2009 and now makes it home at the Marineland site.

During the opening minute of the podcast’s first segment, Perry said “rightfully so” there has been a “sea change in public opinion,” on the topic of marine mammals in captivity since Marineland closed.

“Throughout the course of this podcast, I hope to deal with these issues with honesty and sensitivity, while also acknowledging the tremendous awe, joy, and respect these animals have inspired in millions,” said Perry in the podcast.

That awe was first inspired in Perry, a Torrance native, during his first visit to Marineland when he was around 4 years old.

He remembered clearly the murky ocean water that filled the killer whale tanks.

“You sit there and as a kid you don’t really know what to expect and then suddenly, Orky comes up, who’s 14,000 pounds, and it’s thrilling and frightening,” Perry said. “I think it was probably such an intense experience that it really left a huge impact on me.”

Perry said because of that Marineland had more of an impact on him as a child than did Disneyland.

So, when the park closed, it affected him deeply, said Perry.

Years later, Perry began his career in media at 97.1 KLSX, as a “lackey” from 2002 to 2007, according to his website marinelandpodcast.com.

From there he co-created and hosted “Low Budget FM,” a comedy show on iTunes, and began his podcast career in 2011 with radio’s Brian Whitman. That was followed by “What’s This Tao All About?,” a podcast on Eastern philosophy. Perry is currently the host of the “Upworthy Weekly” podcast with Alison Rosen.

Along with the spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean from the park, Orky and Corky were a main attraction for Marineland visitors along with dolphin shows and Bubbles, a star pilot whale.

In recent years there has been an effort by residents, Marineland fans, as well as the city of Rancho Palos Verdes to restore and find a new home for one of the last remnants of Marineland, Bubbles, a 26-foot fiberglass statue of the famed pilot whale that had marked the entrance of Marineland.

Jon Sansom launched the “Preserve Bubbles the Whale!” GoFundMe page, there was an anonymous $40,000 donation from a RPV resident in January, and the city voted to include $75,000 in its 2023-24 budget for a new request for proposals for an updated estimate, if needed, to design a monument on which the Bubbles statue would sit.

City staff plans to meet with the fundraising group and Bubbles supporters to determine next steps, said city spokesperson Megan Barnes in an email on Oct. 2.

Perry said the podcast is available on all major podcast platforms.

For more information, see marinelandpodcast.com.

For the seasoned musicians, it was end of a 14,000-mile journey they dubbed “See It All American Tour” — and an attempt to break a world record.

In front of an enthusiastic crowd on the festival’s main stage and joined by friends and family, the duo unofficially broke a long-standing Guinness World Record by performing 50 concerts in 50 states in only 49 days at BeachLife Ranch.

BeachLife Ranch — the countryfied cousin of May’s BeachLife event in Redondo Beach, billing itself as a “celebration of the cowboy surfer way of life”  — continued Saturday. Fans packed the seaside stages to see headliners Wynonna Judd, Cody Jinks, Shooter Jennings’ Revival performing The Highwaymen and The Doobie Brothers.

“It just feels surreal that we’re here,” said Frankenreiter, a professional surfer turned musician, following his record-setting show on Friday.

“I don’t think there could have been a better place to get to ride off into the sunset here,” said Allman, son of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Gregg Allman of Allman Brothers Band fame, who like Frankenreiter is a veteran of BeachLife festivals.

The record was set just hours before superstar singer/songwriter Jack Johnson took to the same stage to an adoring crowd who sang along to his hit songs. Just like Frankenreiter, Johnson was a professional surfer in his earlier days.

Frankenreiter and Devon Allman began their concert adventure in early August.

“Can we do this? Will somebody gets sick? Will there be a delay? Will the bus break down?,” said Frankenreiter along the way.

“No one got sick. No one got hurt. No one lost their voice. And the bus didn’t break down,” Allman added.

But the biggest challenges to breaking the record came on its last leg, with less than a week to go, including a long flight to Anchorage, a “rough and tumble city,” Allman said.

“Then you literally land, go to sound check, grab a bite, play the show, go right back to the airport,” Allman said. “And we did the same in Hawaii. So we were in Anchorage for nine hours. We were in Honolulu for nine hours.”

The pair and their band landed at LAX at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, then took a power nap before taking the stage at 4 p.m., said Allman.

It was a 24-hour period fraught with worry as their goal looked to be in reach.

“I was thinking to myself last night: If the pilot comes on board and goes, we have a little bit of a problem,” Frankenreiter said. “I mean, I don’t know what I would have done if we would have crumbled on day 48.”

While on the road, the two musicians saw a large part of the country, which they captured on camera for an upcoming documentary.

Allman said they did barrel rolls in World War II biplanes in Vermont, took a plunge in Lake Superior in 40 degree weather, and visited the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

“We got the white-glove, VIP (treatment) because my dad’s in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” Allman said.

Allman said about 10 years ago, he wondered if anyone had visited every state consecutively without a night off, but he shelved the idea as “insane.”

When his now wife Ashley threw him a surprise 50th birthday party last summer, the idea returned.

But, Allman said, he knew he could never do the tour alone. So, he called Frankenreiter, who signed on before he even finished the pitch.

“I’m like, that’s a great idea,” Frankenreiter said. “Like let’s do it in 49 and so that got me excited.”

Without the dedication of their band mates — Matt Grundy (bass), John Lum (drums), David Gomez (percussion, sax) and Jackson Stokes (guitar) — the frontmen said they could not have completed the journey.

Everyone was on board to meet the 50-in-50 goal Frankenreiter said, who is accustomed to performing dozens of shows in back-to-back days.

“I’ve been on tours before it was like, ‘I’m just not feeling it tonight,’” Frankenreiter said. “And the whole band kind of goes along with that sentiment.”

The Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest time to play a concert in each of the 50 states was set in 2003 by folk singer Adam Brodsky. The singer did it in 50 days. And, that record has since been tied by other acts.

Frankenreiter and Allman did it in 49 days by starting off with two shows in one day (Maryland and Pennsylvania) at the start of the tour.

But, the record isn’t going to be certified by Guinness as the pair said the organization’s criteria was too strict.

“They would have had to have a guy on our tour bus, checking that we’re on stage every night, just like some really ridiculous stuff,” Frankenreiter said.

Instead, they decided to Frankenreiter added, “We were in talks with them. But it was so much that it was like come on guys. Like you’re gonna break the tour. They wanted so much money and they wanted just things that we couldn’t or wouldn’t agree to. So we backed out of that.”

At Friday’s show, they held up a copy of their “Rollers” EP framed, which read World Record below. Released in June, “Rollers” helped launched the world breaking tour.

The musicians said they are going to take a break, but expect the documentary about their journey to be released next year. And, they’re planning a live record that was recorded halfway through their tour in Texas.

What’s next?

“Maybe a sequel in Europe?,” Allman said. “Do all the European countries?”

For now, they were able to end a historic tour with friends and family and an enthusiastic crowd at BeachLife Ranch.

“That adrenaline put us over the edge, gave us the power to kind of get through because I mean, obviously like 24 hours ago, we were on stage in Honolulu,” Allman said.

“It’s so cool to be on the beach, to be so close to L.A. and to end this crazy tour, this feat, at this spot,” Frankenreiter said.

BeachLife Ranch concludes Sunday with headliners Chris Isaak, Midland and Brad Paisley.

For more information, visit beachliferanch.com.

Why?

Headliner Jack Johnson.

Between the couples, they have been to more than 90 Johnson performances since he burst on the scene back in 2000. The Guths have been to more than 60 of those.

The couples originally met at a show in Santa Barbara in 2017.

The Guths, who live in Sutter, California, nestled between Sacramento and Chico, have even become volunteers because of Johnson’s environmental activism, where he and his organization Johnson Ohana Foundation. The foundation pairs with local community groups at each of singer/songwriter’s shows to promote sustainable food systems and plastic free initiatives, according to Johnson’s website. It also matches donations up to $10,000.

“It’s kind of become our, I wouldn’t say passion, but it just makes the whole experience even richer,” said John Guth.

The Joneses live in Irvine and recently saw Johnson in Italy and England.

“I never been to Europe, so it was perfect time to travel and see things and get some good vibes and see Jack Johnson,” Penelope Jones said.

A professional surfer turned soft rock star, Jack Johnson was scheduled as the headline performance, on Friday, Day One of the festival.

The event continues Saturday and Sunday, featruing Cody Jinks, The Doobie Brothers, Wynonna Judd, the Avett Brothers, Brad Paisley, and many more bringing country and Americana to the South Bay.

Country artist Daniel Bonte opened the BeachLife Ranch music festival, hitting the Tito’s Barn stage on a slightly overcast Friday afternoon in the Redondo Beach Harbor.

“Since I was knee high to a duck, I’ve been listening to country music and loving it and loving the stories that come along with it,” said the Indiana native a few days before the festival. “When everybody else was in high school listening to Green Day, I was listening to Alan Jackson.”

His performance Friday was not the first at BeachLife Ranch for Bonte. He also performed an acoustic set in 2022 when The Lumineers, Hall & Oates, Dierks Bentley, Brandi Carlile and Wilco headlined the first ever BeachLife Ranch.

Organizers expect about 10,000 attendfees a day for the festival, which is a sister event of the BeachLife Festival which first took place in 2019.

BeachLife Rancho features line dancing, art installations, local boutique shopping and plenty of food and drink. Chef Ben Ford will be roasting hogs for the VIPS and renowned chefs Max and Lijo of Camphor will be serving up their delicacies during the weekend.

On Friday, Devon Allman and Donavon Frankenreiter were expected to break the world record of 50 shows in 50 states in 50 days, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. They accomplished the feat by performing 50 shows in 49 days during their See It All American Tour.

The record, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, was set in 2003, by folk singer Adam Brodsky, and since tied by other acts.

Also, the Jack Daniel’s Karaoke Bar will host the finals of a karaoke competition on Saturday, Sept. 23, beginning at 1 p.m.

Redondo Beach Mayor Bill Brand said at BeachLife on Friday that the “community is fully engaged” in the event.

Brand said when BeachLife founder Allen Sanford described what he wanted to bring to the city, he said “I remember all I said was, ‘tell me how to stay out of the way.” This was after development that would have drastically changed the Redondo Beach Harbor died six years ago.

Bonte said he has nothing but good things to say about working with BeachLife organizers.

“This team that puts this festival together and just the hospitality alone is just unmatched,” Bonte said.

The BeachLife team, he said, takes care of musicians the minute they show up at the venue until they leave.

“And they treat you like your family,” Bonte said. “And that goes a long way.”

“I was floating around the bases,” Lappe said in an interview right before his team headed over to El Segundo’s Main Street on Sunday, Sept. 10 just before the city’s residents rolled out to applaud them one more time.

For the players, their families, the coaches, the local league — and the entire town — it was the culmination of a long journey.

From the baseball fields of El Segundo to the hallowed Little League fields in South Williamsport, Penn and back home, the El Segundo Little League All-Stars and the town that supported them throughout the journey, celebrated their world championship with Sunday’s official civic parade.

The team and coaches traveled from Imperial Highway to El Segundo Boulevard, a similar route when their homecoming was celebrated with a Main Street procession on Aug. 28.

This time they were led by cheerleaders, the El Segundo High marching band and throngs of powder-blue-clad fans, a tribute to the uniforms they donned as “West” and tore through the prestigious tournament.

Everyone wanted in on the action: From the high school girls who festooned themselves in bright blue and yellow wigs to the toddler egged on by his mom to shout, “Go Gundo!” as he waved a gold pom-pom.

A Player Recognition Ceremony following the parade included speeches from Manager Danny Boehle; Jamin Griffiths, El Segundo Little League president; and El Segundo and other dignitaries including LA County Supervisor Holly Mitchell and Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi.

And now, about 15 more people have the symbolic Key to the City of El Segundo, at least a dozen of them still in middle school.

The players and coaches were all presented with the honorary keys on a stage on Stevenson field.

Boehle said the most important thing the team did this year was “we became a family.”

“You play as a family and you play together,” Boehle said at the ceremony. “Even if you lose, you still win and you still have these guys behind your back.”

Boehle, riding in the parade earlier in the day, was seen removing his sunglasses and wiping away tears.

What the youth accomplished in capturing the World Series, with a dramatic sixth-inning homer by star player Lappe on Aug 27, was nothing short of miraculous.

According to the Little League website, there are 6,500 leagues in the United States alone and leagues in more than 80 countries.

There are more than 2 million players from 4 to 16 years old who play Little League ball around the globe.

In the United States bracket of the World Series, which first took place in 1947, there were 53 teams that competed. That included two from California and Texas, one from the District of Columbia and one team from the rest of the 48 states.

El Segundo, which formed its Little League in 1954, made its way past more than 440 teams to represent California’s southern region in the United States bracket. They fought back after losing to a team from Texas on Aug. 21.

On Aug. 27, they took home the World Championship after defeating Curaco, representing the Caribbean, 6-5 that to the dramatic homer off of Lappe’s bat which followed a grand slam which had tied the game.

“Every time Lappe comes up, he’s gonna hit the ball hard no matter what, even if he gets out, said Brody Brooks, another star on the El Segundo team.

Brooks said, going into this year, he never expected the team to do this well. Just making it out of California, he said, is an accomplishment in itself.

“I knew we were going to play hard and play strong and that’s what happened,” Brooks said.

El Segundo Mayor Drew Boyles said before the festivities the “buzz is phenomenal.”

“The level of support for these kids is unbelievable, great parents, great coaching, and the whole community rallies behind them,” Boyles said.

“What this has done is it pulled back the curtain to the rest of the world how wonderful the community of El Segundo really is,” said Councilmemember Carol Pirsztuk.

El Segundo Councilmember Lance Giroux was president of El Segundo Little League for three years and on its board of directors for five years.

Giroux said the team has been playing together since they were about 9 years old and “you could see this group of boys was going to be a little bit more special than the ones who have come before them.”

Terry McRoberts, player Declan McRoberts’ grandfather, was on the parade route. He and wife Ellen have been at every tournament game, he said, from San Bernardino to Williamsport.

The elder McRoberts agreed that there was something special about these boys.

“We knew were were good,” McRoberts said. “We’ve been having conversations about this since they were 9 years old.”

And it was the fact that boys attend the same school and live in the small, tight-knit community that made this so sweet, agreed Councilmember Ryan Baldino.

“So they’re real local boys, it’s not just like cherry-picked players to make the best team,” Baldino said. “It’s kids from the community that came together.”

The adoration of the community wasn’t lost on Grandfather McRoberts who had traveled from Cota de Casa in Orange County.

“We love El Segundo, ” McRoberts said. “We love coming up here all the time.”

The journey to the LLWS has taken the local boys from a hometown baseball diamond to a homecoming fit for champions at LAX and in El Segundo when they returned home from their victory on Aug. 28. It’s put them on national television. It’s gotten them honored by the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Despite the national and international spotlight, the team seemed happy to be back home amongst 2,500 of their neighbors on Sunday. That’s the estimate El Segundo Police Chief Jaime Bermudez gave for attendance on Sunday.

The thrill of regular little leaguers making it all the way to the world’s stage was something parents could relate to, Bermudez said.

“So many parents have kids who have played baseball,” Bermudez said as he waited for the parade. “So, we can all relate to how momentous this is.”

City Manager Daryl George said his staff “pulled out all the stops” for the Sunday celebration.

As far as a law enforcement goes, Chief Bermudez said he wanted to be overprepared as the earlier homecoming event had people rushing vehicles to get close to the players. He credited other South Bay agencies for pitching in.

“It’s part of our small-city charm,” Bermudez said.

The hard work and people’s willingness to plan, said Bermudez, is what makes living and working near the coast great.

Most people at the parade understood the magnitude of what they were witnessing.

“This could be a once-in-a-lifetime event,” George said, with the emphasis on the “could.” He didn’t want to put any pressure on the team, he said, but maybe the boys could do it again next year?

Indeed, it was a monumental undertaking and the boys made the city proud.

Little Leaguer Ollie Parks summed it up at the ceremony.

“I can’t believe we’re here,” Parks said. “Our town just helps us so much for this great accomplishment and we couldn’t have done it without you guys. So thank you.”

— Lisa Jacobs contributed to this story.

Hundreds lined up along Main Street on Monday afternoon to show their love for the world championship El Segundo Little League All-Star team, which brought back the lauded title after a nail-biter final game Sunday in Williamsport, Pennsylvania — which ended with a walk-off home run.

The team traveled from Los Angeles International Airport and made its way to Imperial Avenue.

Then, a short parade of SUV’s, a bus and the El Segundo Fire Department took them along Main Street before a cheering crowd. White, yellow and blue balloons, representing the team’s color, lined the street and supporters waved signs reading “Go Gundo” as the team members passed.

“I think it’s awesome,” said El Segundo’s Sandi Black after the homecoming. “These boys worked hard to get where they are now that they’re world champions.

“It was a big turnout,” she added, “bigger than I thought it was going to be.”

El Segundo Councilmember Lance Giroux was president of El Segundo Little League, which was first formed in 1954, for three years and on its board of directors for five years.

Giroux said he has known many of the current players since they were playing tee-ball and a lot of their older brothers were playing when he was president.

With the Little League success and community support — including raucous watch parties since the journey began — Giroux said it has been “pretty electric during this time.”

Many people don’t realize how challenging it is for teams in Southern California to get that far, Giroux said. In California’s southern region, he said, there are 440 Little League teams.

“Just to get out of California is more than any of those other teams have to deal with,” Giroux said. “So what they accomplished was truly amazing for many reasons.”

On Sunday, the champs defeated Curaçao on a dramatic home run off the hot bat of Louis Lappe in the bottom of the sixth inning. The 6-5 win culminated in a hard fought championship and the first in the city’s history.

The community celebrated the team’s run with impromptu watch parties popping up around town in restaurants such as Rock & Brews and at the El Segundo Teen Center. On Sunday, at a city-sponsored watch party at George Brett Field, hundreds cheered on their hometown team and jumped for joy when El Segundo won it all.

Patricia Palumbo has lived in El Segundo for nearly four decades and watched the Little League team triumph from her home. Her children played Little League and now she has grandchildren, 3 and 4 years old, who play tee-ball.

“One day, I’m hoping that they will get to be here, too” said Palumbo about her grandchildren playing ball. “It was just very emotional, very exciting to see these young kids win the championship.”

While El Segundo residents came out in force to cheer on the team during the parade, they weren’t alone. People from neighboring cities also came out to celebrate.

Manhattan Beach’s Julie Valentine said her son, now a college student, played Little League.

“Being a mother of a Little Leaguer myself,” Valentine said, “it’s always a thrill to see a home team prevail.”

Marina del Rey’s Luis Luna said he just wanted to support the team.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime event,” Luna said. “I mean, when’s the next time they’re gonna win?”

The next community victory party for the El Segundo team is an All-Stars Celebration Parade at noon Sunday, Sept. 10, also on Main Street.

The 6-5 victory sent the hundreds of well-wishers at George Brett Field into a frenzy as they rooted for their team more than 2,600 miles away.

Related: El Segundo wins Little League World Series on dramatic homer

“It gave me chills,” said resident Lisa Dornblaser, following the victory.

“They won the right way, with their heads up,” said another resident, Trevor Koppel. “They represented the town and the country very well.”

There were plenty of nail-biting moments throughout the six-inning game on Sunday, none more tense than when Curacao tied the game 5-5 with a grand slam home run in the top of the fifth inning. But Lappe — the team’s 6-foot-1 post-season star known as “The Natural” —  has risen to the occasion throughout the World Series.

Of course, he wasn’t the only hero on this amazing team, which racked up one stirring win after another, moving from local to regional to national titles..

El Segundo City Councilmember Ryan Baldino said “you could not have scripted a better ending to that game.”

“I knew that (batting) order is strong,” Baldino said. “Our kids have played so well and I’m just happy right now. I don’t think I slept in a week. So happy for these boys.”

Chris Pimentel, also an El Segundo councilmember, said the players and coaches have all worked “really hard to have success.”

“Also, part of baseball is being able to bounce back and be resilient, they have all those things,” Pimentel said. The El Segundo team did precisely that, going on an undefeated streak after losing early in the double-elimination tournament.

El Segundo defeated a team from Needville, Texas, 6-1, on Saturday to win the U.S. crown. The same team of Texans handed El Segundo its only loss in the World Series.

The win advanced the El Segundans to Sunday’s championship against Curacao, the Caribbean champions, who had won the International division on Saturday.

El Segundo won Saturday on the strength of Lappe’s five RBIs — and he also gave up just three hits while pitching. Another El Segundo standout, Brody Brooks, hit a homer in Saturday’s game.

The field where Sunday’s watch party took place was named after George Brett, a Hall of Fame third baseman who played at El Segundo High School. He graduated in 1971 and was drafted by the Kansas City Royals, where he spent his entire record-setting career.

Jon and Jamie Morra were in attendance at Brett Field on Sunday with their children, 9-year-old Anna, 7-year-old Will and 2-year old Andrew.

Jon was playing toss with Will, who played Little League this season. So did Anna.

“This is so exciting, I’ve never lived in a town where the kids have done this well in any sport,” Jon said.

Chau Berman said her son, Travis, grew up playing ball with most of the boys on the now championship team.

“I can’t even imagine representing the country in the World Series, it’s pretty unbelievable,” Berman said.

Before the game began, Baldino said the “whole town has been alive this entire week.”

“We’re so proud of everything these boys have done,” Baldino said. “This team has been together for a long time. They grew up here. I watched these kids grow up on this baseball field here.”

What’s next? The big homecoming.

“I can’t wait for them to come home and see all the support that they’ve gotten in town and just around the Southern California,” Berman said, “and just to see how much of an impact they made on our little town.”

The three-day AVP Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open, which first took place in 1960, began on Friday, Aug. 18, with larges crowds converging at multiple courts across the city’s coastline.

The day before four of the top beach volleyball players in the country were immortalized for their championship run in last year’s Manhattan Beach Open. And now, dozens of competitors, including past champions, are on a quest to have their names immortalized on the Manhattan Beach Pier’s Walk of Fame next year — and to share $300,000 in purse prize.

The finals are set for Sunday.

While players were battling on the sand Friday, beach volleyball players were cheering on their favorite stars in what has become known as the “granddaddy” of beach volleyball tournaments.

Association of Volleyball Professionals, meanwhile, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year with tournaments across the country, including next at the Chicago Open from Sept. 1 to 3

Fred Lefevre, a former Hermosa Beach resident, drove up from San Diego to catch the AVP this weekend. The first AVP he attended was in Manhattan Beach in 2005.

He noted a particular interest in the talented crop of young women’s players.

“The players are coming in better and better,” Lefevre said, “coming right out of college and taking on the champions.”

Brian Kern, a Redondo Beach resident, is also impressed with the young talent after attending AVP events for more than 20 years.

Kern’s favorite day, though, is not actually the tournament proper — but Thursday’s Open Qualifier.

“That’s usually the most fun day because from anywhere anybody can try to get in,” Kern said. “People from all over the world come and just try to get to the the main dance and it’s one of the best days of the whole tournament.”

Redondo Beach’s Peter King said he’s been playing beach volleyball since he was 12 years old. He’s been coming to the Manhattan Beach AVP for about 20 years.

“It just keeps getting bigger and bigger,” King said. “The players are getting younger and the money is getting bigger.”

Diane Yoshida, from San Diego, has been playing volleyball for 30 years and has been following the AVP since the 1990s. She said she has developed friendships with some of the players, like Jeff Samuels and Paul Lachmann, and attends the MB Open every year.

“I follow them and support them,” Yoshida said of the players.

It’s not only fans that are rooting on the players, though.

Rebecca Vaught was in Manhattan Beach to root for her son, Ben Vaught, a Newport Beach native who made his AVP debut in 2017.

“It’s very stressful,” she said about watching her son compete on Friday.

Bowen Ierna, from Florida, is a volleyball coach and father of player Ryan Ierna, who failed to make it out of the qualifying round on Thursday with partner Thomas Hurst.

But the elder Ierna said he was impressed with his first trip to Manhattan Beach.

“There’s a fantastic level of volleyball,” Ierna said. “I’ve been to some of the other AVP events around the country and this by far is the best one.”

While Sara Hughes, Kelley Kolinske, Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb earned their plaques on the Manhattan Beach Pier on Thursday for winning last year’s tournament, eight men’s and women’s teams advanced in Thursday’s Open Qualifier to be part of the proper team women’s and men’s field.

The men’s and women’s bracket consists of 32 teams, of which 16 teams each automatically entered based on the AVP ranking points, along with eight wild card teams and eight teams who earned entry through Thursday’s qualifiers, according to an AVP press release.

General admission for the Manhattan Beach Open is free. Premium seating tickets are also available for purchase.

All matches on Stadium Court will stream live on ESPN+, and all matches played on Courts 1 and 2 will be available on the Bally Live app. Live coverage of the championship matches is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 20, on ESPN2, according to an AVP press release.

For more information, visit avp.com.

While numerous residents spoke against the Housing Element and the council lamented about strict requirements that have to be met by all California cities, Mayor Raymond Jackson said the eventual approval is a “good day for our city.”

“We can create affordable housing for people that care about this community, that want to remain in this community,” Jackson said at this week’s packed council meeting. “And they’re going to be part of our economic development and vitality moving forward.”

The state has said Hermosa Beach must build 558 units by 2029, distributed among various income categories, and across the nearly 1.5-square-mile city. These units, Jackson said, could potentially be used for people who work in the city, including firefighters or teachers, who can’t afford the city’s expensive housing.

But with a potential housing development at St. Cross Episcopal Church, approximately 40 speakers addressed their concerns about over-development and a change in zoning to allow construction to exceed the city’s prevalent height limit, which is between 30 to 35 feet.

“I bought my house in 1981,” resident Greg Tucker said on Tuesday, Aug. 8. “A college graduate making nothing bought an old house that was built in 1940. When I added on to my house, I made (expletive) sure that I didn’t block my neighbor’s view. I built up to their windowsill. I could have built another 10 feet up, but it didn’t do that. Because that’s not right.”

But some speakers said buying property in Hermosa Beach, or even renting, is virtually impossible and will continue to be without more affordable housing.

“How can Hermosa be the best little beach city,” resident Greg Woodburn said, “if it becomes only accessible to those with the highest incomes and the largest inheritances?

The council’s Tuesday approval culminated a nearly three-year journey.

Housing Element planning is currently in its sixth cycle, 2021-29. The fifth planning cycle ran from 2013 to 2021.

The city needed to determine how it would meet the state-mandated Regional Housing Needs Assessment, which is determined by the Southern California Association of Governments.

As part of its requirements, Hermosa developed an inventory of land parcels around the city that could be developed for housing based on density and other issues to meet the RHNA allocation of 558 units during the 2021-2029 cycle.

The 558 housing units included those for very low (232), low (127), moderate (106) and above moderate (93) incomes. But, according to Hermosa Beach Community Development Director Carrie Tai, the city had surpassed that, with more than 600 units in the Housing Element

But when some residents heard about potential development at St. Cross Episcopal Church, which owns 15 lots, it raised a red flag.

Currently, those 15 lots include the church, 18 residential units and parking lots, according to a staff report.

The church requested to be on the inventory list, Tai said in an earlier interview.

Rev. Stephen Smith said at Tuesday’s meeting that although church officials have been exploring the possibility of redeveloping the residential properties next to St. Cross, they have not made any plans for development — and won’t “without community input.”

“It’s true that some of the residential properties that church owns are old and need replacement and refurbishment,” Smith said. “Being included in the city’s Housing Element helps Hermosa Beach meet the demand put on it by the state of California and may provide St. Cross with flexibility in terms of what we may be able to do to develop on parcels that are already residential and need redevelopment.”

The church has been a good neighbor and community partner, since before Hermosa Beach was incorporated in 1907, Councilmember Justin Massey said.

“St. Cross is 10% of our RHNA allocation,” Massey said. “The bulk of it is on our commercial corridors and otherwise distributed throughout the city.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, the council voted to rezone the St. Cross site.

“They can still improve their property; they can still provide low-income housing to the neighborhood,” said Councilmember Rob Saemann, adding that the church will need to stay under the rezoned height limits. “It spreads out the low-income housing a bit.”

Spreading out the housing and meeting RHNA requirements was aided when the council also approved adding the Mitsubishi property to its sites inventory.

The Hermosa Beach side of the Mitsubishi property is 0.7 acres and is located on Pacific Coast Highway. It qualifies for lower-income RHNA, according to a city staff report.

“The property owner submitted a letter of interest,” the report said, “indicating that this site was not encumbered by the remainder of the dealership with the Redondo Beach city limits.”

While the council voted to finalize its Housing Element, it still needs to be certified by the California Department of Housing & Community Development.

“We will work with our consultant and provide whatever we can to ensure that HCD has what it has what it needs from us,” City Manager Suja Lowenthal, “but it’s still out of our hands.”