JAPANESE baseball star Shohei Otani will play for the Angels in 2018.

The emerging superstar of Japanese professional baseball is taking his “sho” on the road and planting it in Anaheim. Shohei Otani, the pitching and hitting phenom of the Nippon Ham Fighters will be joining the Los

SHOHEI OTANI

Angeles Angels for the 2018 season.

The announcement was made on Friday that the 23-year-old would be signing with the Halos. He is considered a potentially great two-way player in American baseball, with a 100-mile-and-hour fastball and tape-measure home runs.

Otani picked the Angels over a fistful of other suitors, and sports writers and fans are already anticipating the possibilities for a team with Otani and superstar Mike Trout in the lineup together.

Panthers move toward state title game

A field goal by Nick Guzman lifted the Orange High Panthers to a 46-43 win over Caruthers Friday night and into the state CIF 6-AA title game next week.

Guzman’s 18-yard boot came in overtime.

The Panthers (13-2) will face Stratmore next Saturday at a site to be determined.

Jason Wilkinson was again the star for OHS, passing for four touchdowns and running for a two-point conversion in the win. He totaled 217 yards through the air.

Ducks lose once again in overtime

Yet another overtime loss Friday night kept the Anaheim Ducks in second gear, and in sixth place in the NHL Pacific Division. The Ducks (12-11-7) fell 3-2 to the Minnesota Wild. They are tied with two other teams for the most overtime losses in the league.

Anaheim went ahead 1-0 in the first period on Kevin Roy’s fourth goal of the season. After falling behind 2-1, the Ducks tied it at 13:35 of the third period with Adam Henrique’s seventh goal. The decider was Matt Bumba’s tally for the Wild at 3:43 of overtime.

The Ducks are next in action on Monday, hosting the Carolina Hurricanes (11-10-6) at Honda Center.