Galaxy sign defender Oscar Sorto as homegrown player

The L.A. Galaxy announced Tuesday that they have signed defender Oscar Sorto as the club's latest Home Grown Player.

Sorto, a member of the L.A. Galaxy U-18 team that won the 2011-12 So Cal Division championship, is the first defender to be signed directly from the Galaxy Academy and the fourth player to be signed by the big club overall. The Los Angeles native trained with the Galaxy for most of the season in 2012 and made an appearance in seven MLS reserve games last season, starting three of them. Sorto's contributions helped the Galaxy Reserve League squad win their first West Division title in club history, after posting a 6-3-1 record.

The 18 year old is in his second year as a member of the Galaxy Academy, and has appeared in eight games for the team this season. In those eight games, he scored three goals and helped them to a Division-leading 8-1-1 record.