SPORTS

Pioneer baseball keeps rolling with 11-4 win at Evergreen

Mustangs 8-3 overall, 5-0 in league to begin season

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Writer

THE LEFTY – Pioneer starting pitcher Andy Wright had his A-game working in an 11-4 win over Evergreen Valley on March 16, throwing five solid innings and allowing just one run on three hits while striking out eight. Photo by Dan Miranda.

The Pioneer baseball team remained perfect in Santa Teresa Division play, picking up an 11-4 win over Evergreen Valley on March 16.

Mustang catcher Eddie Hsieh went 3-for-5 with a run scored, two RBIs and a stolen base, coupled with two-RBI performances from Andrew Schulz, Brent Osborn and Michael Schulz to lead the offense. The Mustangs scored early and often, putting together a five-run second inning and two-run innings in the fifth and sixth, while also plating single runs in the third and fourth innings.

On the hill, left-hander Andy Wright picked up the win with a five-inning stint in which the junior allowed one run on three hits while striking out eight and walking one.

“We put the ball in play, and once again, we forced them (Evergreen) to make the plays,” said Pioneer Head Coach Jake Hernandez. “They made some errors and we took advantage of it.”

The Mustang offense began the second inning with a one-out double from Mike Kaufmann, followed by an RBI single to left field by Zane Bailey for a 1-0 lead. After a hit batter and a wild pitched moved runners to second and third, a Michael Schulz grounder skipped under the glove of Evergreen shortstop Marcus Juarez, scoring Bailey and Jon Silva for a 3-0 edge. A wild pitch moved Schulz to third before shortstop Andrew Schulz drove in the fourth run on a groundout to third base.

The Mustangs took advantage of some defensive lapses by Evergreen to score their fifth run of the inning, beginning with consecutive third strikes that went past Evergreen catcher A.J. Lang, allowing both runners to reach base. Those plays led to a sharp RBI single to left field by Hsieh, scoring Danny Ventura from second for a 5-0 lead.

“I’ve been breaking through my slump lately, so it was good to go 3-for-5 today,” Hsieh said. “My pitcher Andy was also throwing great today, locating pretty much everything.”

The Cougars struck back with a single run in the bottom of the second, getting an RBI single from starting pitcher Jeff Brass, scoring Juarez from third. Juarez reached base on a single to open the inning, but reached third after Bailey let the ball get past him in center field. Wright was solid after the second inning, allowing only a single and a walk while striking out three the rest of the way in his three remaining innings of work.

“He did an outstanding job,” Hernandez said of Wright. “He’s stepped up for us. It’s his first year on varsity and that’s his second win of the year. He came in and threw strikes, kept the ball down and gave us a chance to score some runs.”

The Mustangs scored once in the third, getting a double from Kaufmann to get things going before Michael Schulz drove him in with two outs on a groundball to shortstop. Juarez’s throw to first went high and into foul territory, resulting in a 6-1 lead for Pioneer.

In the fourth, Pioneer tacked on one more run on a Hsieh single to right field, scoring Ventura, who tripled to open up the inning.

“Eddie struggled at the beginning of the year a little bit and he’s coming around right now,” Hernandez said. “We put him in the four spot (batting fourth) … and he came through with three solid hits.”

The Mustangs scored four more times in the later innings, getting an RBI double from Osborn in the fifth to score Bailey and a groundout later in the same inning from Andrew Schulz, scoring Osborn. In the sixth, Hsieh scored on a grounder from Bailey for a 10-1 lead. Hsieh opened the inning with a single and advanced to second on a Ryan Gall pinch-hit single. Both runners then moved up to third and second, respectively, on a groundout by Kaufmann.

“Right now, we’ve got good competition up here and every chance we get, we have to take advantage or else the score might not go our way at the end,” Hsieh said.

High School Sports Schedule March 25 - March 31

Leland High School
Friday – Softball tournament at Twin Creeks, time TBA

Saturday – Softball tournament at Twin Creeks, time TBA
Saturday – Boys’ lacrosse vs. Acalanes at Walnut Creek, 7 p.m.
Saturday – Track and field Saints Classic at Santa Teresa, 9 a.m.

Tuesday – JV golf vs. Pioneer, 3 p.m.

Wednesday – Boys’ tennis at Los Gatos, 3 p.m.

Thursday – Varsity golf vs. Santa Teresa, 3 p.m.

Pioneer High School
Saturday – Baseball at Valley Christian Crown Classic, Time TBA

Monday – Baseball at Valley Christian Crown Classic, Time TBA
Monday – JV golf vs. Leigh, 3 p.m.

Tuesday – JV golf vs. Leland, 3 p.m.
Tuesday – Baseball at Valley Christian Crown Classic, Time TBA

Wednesday – JV golf vs. Westmont at Coyote Creek, 2 p.m.
Wednesday – Baseball at Valley Christian Crown Classic, Time TBA

Thursday – Baseball at Valley Christian Crown Classic, Time TBA

Pioneer Athletics: http://www.phsathletics.com/
Leland Athletics: http://www.lelandathletics.com/
Blossom Valley Athletic League: http://www.bval.org/

High School Scoreboard

March 15
Leland badminton 11-4 loss at Evergreen
Leland softball 1-0 win at Presentation

Pioneer badminton 8-7 win vs. Lincoln
Pioneer softball 10-0 win vs. Gunn
Pioneer golf 199-245 win vs. Willow Glen
Pioneer volleyball 25-11, 25-13, 25-14 loss at Westmont
Pioneer boys’ swimming 109-71 win vs. Westmont
Pioneer girls’ swimming 121-62 win vs. Westmont
Pioneer boys’ tennis 6-1 loss at Evergreen

March 16
Leland baseball 5-5 tie vs. Santa Teresa

Pioneer softball 2-0 vs. Scotts Valley
Pioneer golf 197-249 win vs. Willow Glen

March 17
Leland boys’ track 103-32 loss at Piedmont Hills
Leland girls’ track 79-55 loss at Piedmont Hills
Leland golf 209-232 win vs. Westmont

Pioneer badminton 12-3 win vs. Branham
Pioneer boys’ track 70-56 win at Willow Glen
Pioneer girls’ track 64-63 win at Willow Glen
Pioneer boys’ tennis 4-3 loss vs. Branham

March 18
Leland badminton 14-1 win vs. Archbishop Mitty
Leland boys’ swimming 102-61 win vs. Mt. Pleasant
Leland girls’ swimming 124-26 win vs. Mt. Pleasant

March 19
Pioneer softball 8-6 win vs. Evergreen

Sports Briefs

Almaden Ladybugs hosts soccer tryouts
Almaden Ladybugs Premier/Class 1, U17 Girls, tryouts for state cup and spring/fall season, every Tuesday and Thursday.  Date of birth after 7/31/88. Contact Roger Haupt (408) 779-7697, Linda Urzi (408) 723-0928.   

2005 Pop Warner Football announces sign-up dates
The Almaden Pop Warner Football organization will hold tryouts at the Almaden Country School Little League Field on Trinidad Drive on the following dates: Sunday March 20 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.; Saturday April 2 from 1 p.m.-3 p.m.; Saturday, April 9 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; and Saturday April 16 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Almaden Valley Girls Softball League hit-a-thon set for April 10
The Almaden Valley Girls Softball League will hold its second annual hit-a-thon on April 10 at Bret Harte Middle School. Individual and team prizes for fund-raising will be awarded by the AVGSL. The AVGSL also seeks sponsors that would like to make a cash donation in exchange having their name and company logo on hit-a-thon t-shirts.
Prizes can be picked up by the AVGSL, but those fitting in a standard business size envelope can be sent to P.O. box 20642, San Jose, CA 95160.

For more information visit www.avgsl.org or call 408-808-1405.

Bay-Area TPX Top 96 High School Invitational Baseball Showcase June 3 and 4
Applications are now being accepted for the Bay Area- TPX Top 96 High School Invitational Baseball Showcase.  The top 96 position players and top 48 pitchers will be selected from those who apply.  The application deadline is April 30.  The showcase is June 3 and 4 at PAL Stadium in San Jose.  Apply online at www.top96.com or call Doug Henson at 508-481-5939.

USYVL youth volleyball sign-ups for spring 2005
The United States Youth Volleyball League is accepting registrations for the spring 2005 season, slated to begin in early April, for programs in Los Gatos, San Jose and Morgan Hill. Boys and girls ages 8 to 14 are welcome to sign up and learn the basic techniques of volleyball. The program meets two days a week with one day for practices and one day for games.

For more information on registering, visit www.usyvl.org or call 1-888-988-7985.

3-0 win sees Chargers’ record jump to 4-0 in league play

Pioneer’s record drops to 0-3 in Mt. Hamilton

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Writer

The Leland boys’ volleyball team continued its assault on the Mt. Hamilton Division, picking up a 3-0 win over Pioneer on March 17.

The win, which saw the Chargers outscore the Mustangs 25-11, 25-17 and 25-20, gave Leland a 5-3 overall record and a perfect 4-0 record in league play.

“Starting 4-0 is great,” said Leland Head Coach Jason Hilbert. “We’re looking out for Westmont and Willow Glen. We have our (Charger Classic) Tournament this weekend, so that will gauge where we stand.”

The tournament, which took place on March 19, saw the Chargers take a third place finish with a 4-2 record, including a win against Willow Glen.

As for the 3-0 win at Pioneer (0-3 Mt. Hamilton), the Chargers started out in top form, taking an early 10-7 lead in game one and stretching that lead to 17-11. The Chargers then reeled off eight straight points to take the first game, getting two kills during that stretch from Tommy Phan and another kill from Scott Lucas.

Game two saw the Mustangs bounce back with an early 7-2 lead before the Chargers evened things up with a 6-1 scoring stretch. During that span, the Chargers received an ace from Bryan Holmdahl and several key blocks at the net on defense.

The Chargers followed up with yet another scoring run, putting together an 8-1 stretch to take a 19-6 lead. After trading points for the remainder of the second game, the Chargers finished off the 25-17 win in game two by getting a kill from Kenny Tran.

“It was a tough loss but we played some of our best ball,” said Pioneer Head Coach Tim Koring. “It was definitely good to see.”

Game three proved to be perhaps the most challenging for the Chargers. After establishing a 19-8 lead, the Mustangs bounced back with a 9-1 scoring stretch to make it a one-point game at 19-18. During that time, the Mustangs received several blocks up front and inspired play from the likes of Nolan Rak. In addition, Leland had trouble getting the ball over the net or within the boundaries of the court, as a handful of kill attempts fell short or out of bounds to help the Mustangs.

“To see them have fun and keep their intensity was good,” said Koring of his squad’s performance in game three. “We just need to be more consistent.”

Holding a one-point edge, the Chargers finished off the third game by going on a 6-2 run, getting kills from Boris Sanchez and Andrew Atmeh to secure the win for Leland.

“Andrew (Atmeh) stepped up big,” said Hilbert. “He understands the game, swings real high and has good hops. He can dish it out.”

Mustangs look to grow this year

Pioneer boys’ volleyball team settles in for a new season

By Carl Ponzio
Times Intern

Returning from a season that ended below the .500 mark, the Pioneer boys’ volleyball team is looking to improve their 5-14 record last season while keeping the fun-loving vibe that brings them to the court.

“The boys are playing much better,” said Head Coach Tim Koring. “They are playing together, they move better, they cover better and they play better defense. We have better team work.”

Stumbling into the new season with a 0-3 record, Koring believes that despite their slow start, the Mustangs have improved since the end of last season. Pioneer does not have to worry about filling voids this season; the Mustangs were not noticeably affected by player losses due to graduation or grade point averages this season. Now the Mustangs need a little elbow grease on the court.

Koring has high expectations for his players this season. Koring is not concerned about having a winning season; he is concerned about his players putting all of their effort in the game. It is easy for a team to get discouraged when they are on the losing side of any game, a means to Koring’s expectations. He doesn’t want his boys caring what is on the scoreboard or their record. He wants the Mustangs to play for the fun of the game.

In his fourth year on the team, Brent Nishijima feels as strongly about putting heart and effort into the game as Koring.

“Play your heart out,” said Nishijima. “We don’t need to win, just play the game.”

Nishijima is no diamond in the rough. All of the players on the Mustangs are what Koring feels makes his team different from any other in the Mt. Hamilton Division. Koring explained that a number of his players didn’t have any idea that they would play volleyball in high school. Starting with little game knowledge and skill, Coach Koring feels that his team is beginning to develop into a competitive team.

Backing the team’s strong will is starting setter Nam Nguyen. Recognized for his leadership skills as well as his skill on the court, Nguyen is notorious for reflecting his experience on the court to the rest of his teammates. Also making their presence felt with their ability to crush the volleyball are Nolan Rak and Nick Ferguson.

“I just try to work as hard as I can and give 110 percent,” said Rak. “I encourage my players, and after a big point I like to talk to my guys and tell them good job and keep it up.”

Coach Koring believes that there has been some “shuffling” in the division and some teams have been hurt where the Mustangs haven’t — on the bench. If the Mustangs can exploit the other teams in their division they may grow even further and fully develop into the competitive team that Koring knows they are.

The Mustangs had the opportunity to scout 31 other teams at Leland High School’s Charger Classic on March 19, an all day tournament that has teams from all over the BVAL play under one roof. The Mustangs had a 0-4 day at the tournament; however, they had an excellent chance to see all of the other teams in action.

“Everybody has improved, and that’s good,” added Koring. “…we will be the upsetters of some of the other teams this year.”

Bret Harte girls’ basketball team hits target as league champs for 10 consecutive years

A tribute to the late Coach Dennis Pavlina

By Coach Sylvia Ward
Special to the Times

Ten years ago, the late Coach Dennis Pavlina began a legacy at Bret Harte Middle School—the legacy of producing a championship team and taking first place in the San Jose Unified School District eighth grade girls basketball league.

Pavlina began his coaching career at Bret Harte during the 1994/1995 season, and with a league record of 11 wins and three losses, the eighth grade girls’ basketball team took second place in the SJUSD basketball league, which currently includes teams from Burnett, Castillero, Hoover, John Muir, Steinbeck and Willow Glen Middle Schools. That was the last time the Bret Harte Lady Broncos have taken second place in the league.

Players on the 94/95 Bret Hart team—like Tracy Ugai and Mayumi Okamoto—are now in their early 20s. When I first walked into the gym during the 98/99 season, Pavlina had three league championships under his belt, each having an undefeated league record of 14 wins and 0 losses. Some players from those seasons were: (95/96) Meryl Uono, Nicole Sato and Erica Sturgeon; (96/97) Marisa Tsukiji and Andrea Palencia; and (97/98) Andrea Rios, Rachelle Palencia, Kristy Young, Amy Pope and Stacy Sturgeon.

For the next two years while I was coaching for the local YMCA and Almaden NJB league, I watched Pavlina lead two more teams to the league championship. Some of the players from those two seasons were (98/99) Julie Hiura, Stephanie Dreyer, Nicole Hurley, Tiffany Wang, Mickie Maestri and Kristen Fluery; and (99/00) Kaleen Ugai, Kellie Gleed, Jenna Ramona, Liz Widgren and Monica Plasencia.

Waiting in the wings
Those who knew Coach Pavlina remember that he did not allow anyone in the gym during practices, so I had to watch and learn from the stands during games. I remember noticing that the skill level of his players did not necessarily exceed the skill level of the opponents. What stood out about each of Pavlina’s teams was that all five players on the court played as a team, with each of them contributing equally and giving 100 percent of themselves. I was fascinated and knew that this was a coach I wanted to learn from.

I began coaching the sixth/seventh grade team under the guarded eye of Pavlina during the 2000/2001 season. Although we started off on contentious terms, our relationship eventually evolved into a sincere friendship and my respect and admiration for this gruff but loving man grew. He took me into his confidence and eventually began giving me advice after each game.

What I learned from him was that if you are passionate about the game and truly passionate about your players, the players will respond and do everything in their power to impress you and meet your expectations. Set the expectations high, but within their reach. And don’t accept anything short of 100 percent commitment to the team. Hard work and sweat, along with heart and passion, create championship teams. And finally, focus on defense first. His motto every year was, “Offense wins games, defense wins championships.”

Coach Pavlina confided to me that he was struggling with reoccurring cancer. He would endure the grueling radiation and chemotherapy treatments yet still manage to drag himself to practices and games. He told me that looking forward to practices and games with the girls were the only motivation he had to get out of bed on some of his tougher days. Coaching was this dear man’s life… literally.

Coach Pavlina’s final season
Sadly, this turned out to be Coach Dennis Pavlina’s final season. The 2000/01 team won the sixth consecutive SJUSD league championship with a 14-0 undefeated league record. The final players, who are currently seniors in high school, were the last to have had the privilege of being coached by this special man; Jackie George, Christine Chang, Tiffany Young, Krista Palumbo, Debra Pope, Valerie Huffman, Vivian Chu, Jennifer Holmdahl, Carissa Turner, Chrissie Maestri and Ashley Mathus.

That summer, on May 9, 2001, Coach Pavlina faced his death with the same courage and dignity that he expected from the many players he coached over the years. At the funeral, many players returned, wearing their distinctive light blue and gold team jackets, to pay their last respects to their champion coach.

Just last month, at the final home game of the Leland High School girls’ varsity basketball team, Christine Chang honored Coach Pavlina in her farewell message on senior night, noting that she and Jackie George were the last two Pavlina players to complete their promise to honor him by continuing to play basketball.

New coach attempts to fill Pavlina’s shoes
In honor of the legacy and pride Pavlina built around the girl’s basketball program at Bret Harte Middle School, I attempted to fill the huge presence he left behind and agreed to coach the eighth grade team for the 2001/02 season, using the same game plan, plays, press and work ethic that Coach Pavlina taught me. I remember the school administration telling me not to worry if I lost games or if we did not win the league championship. They knew that winning the league for six consecutive years was a huge accomplishment and that all the other teams had Bret Harte in their targets and were hungry to take the title.

I had a slight advantage because I would be coaching the same set of girls that I had already coached as sixth and seventh graders and knew that my team would do well in league if I could maintain the same level of expectation, dedication and hard work. My coaching confidence was not high as I will always remember my first season as a coach and my 0 win and 10 loss record. I scrapped my old ways and just copied Pavlina’s winning formula when I took over the eighth grade team.

I set my sights on the league championship and I still remember, four years ago, thinking that I really felt sorry for the team that would be playing for the 10th consecutive championship title because that was really going to be a lot of pressure for all of us to play under. These young girls were only fifth graders in elementary school at the time and already I was worrying about how they would handle the pressure of winning a championship. It never occurred to me to do anything but continue Pavlina’s winning legacy. At that time, I set the expectation to finish Dennis’ dream of taking the title for 10 years in a row.

The first team that was successful with continuing to win the league in 2001/02 was Hilary Barnes, Barbara and Jackie Espino, Christina Saenz, Stephanie Majerowicz, Kristina Erickson, Gloria Hsu, Chelsea Fallon, Julie Wo, Lindsay Dreyer, Katie Campbell, Shodie Mohammadian, Katie Alesch and Luci Adeniran. With only one loss, we were able to repeat the winning season and carry the winning streak at Bret Harte.

The following season in 2002/03, we finished the season with two early losses but managed to take first place and keep the championship title for Bret Harte for the eighth consecutive year. Players from this team were Kristin and Meggie Yoshioka, Amanda Do, Courtney Hollar, Christy Stibbe, Nancy Neal, Jackie Young, Lindsay Rodriguez, Amy Qian, Kristina Wiedemann, Jennifer Tkach and manager Hannah Duckworth-Lanza. We still continued with Coach Pavlina’s winning strategy, while I began to slowly add some plays and drills of my own as I had to adjust to the particular players and skills and adjusted to the increased competition each season.

Last year during the 2003/04 season, we suffered two losses again during regular season games, but kept our confidence and maintained our game plan. The league was definitely becoming increasingly competitive and we fully felt the pressure of maintaining the championship title. Even though we lost the first game of the post-season tournament and ultimately took third place, we still completed the regular league season with the best record and maintained our status as league champions. The players who brought home the title for the ninth consecutive season were Katie Reed, Trisha Yamaichi, Jennifer Ricco, Elisa Vye, Alexa Overstreet, Bree Gwinner, Kathryn Champlin, Kikita Fkatias, Melissa Wolfe, Rachel Cho and Tiffany Wang.

New baby forces Ward to step aside
That season happened to coincide with my pregnancy and I relied heavily on Assistant Coach Yvette Champlin.

Together we supported each other and finished the season. Having a 5-month-old daughter and four teenage kids in my newly blended family, I did not think I could commit the amount of time necessary to coach another winning team and Yvette Champlin was a natural fit to lead the team.

In November 2004, Coach Champlin held tryouts for the team that would play the 2004/05 season, which would ultimately become the team that I dreamed about four years ago when I first took the helm as the eighth grade girl’s basketball coach. It was a very painful decision for me to step aside, yet I could not stay out of the gym and ended up hanging out at Leland High School and watching some of my former players on the JV and varsity girls basketball teams whenever my 5-month old allowed. I was still drawn to the Bret Harte gym and could not resist catching one of the early pre-season games of the new eighth grade girls’ team. I did not know most of the players and felt a huge tugging on my heart when the realization of not coaching this season hit home. I went to another game and Champlin welcomed me on the bench, but it was still a very sentimental experience that was almost too painful for me during my post-partum months.

As fate would have it, during pre-season, Champlin secured a full-time position and knew that it would be a challenge to maintain the commitment of time to the team that would be required to prepare the team for the SJUSD league games. She asked me to help and between the two of us we thought we would be able to co-coach and share the time commitment and responsibility of this team. I was so excited to be back on the court doing what I love doing! I had not been prepared for how hard it was for me not to coach this team, so everything worked out well for both Coach Champlin and me. At my very first practice as co-coach, I gathered the 14 players who I was only partially familiar with, told them about Dennis Pavlina and explained the history of Bret Harte’s league championships. At that time, I put the pressure on and set their sites on the goal of winning the league for the 10th consecutive year. We were not the favored team of the league and we did not fair well at the Annual Mayor’s Tournament in December, but the young athletes committed themselves to the team and worked very hard to prepare for the SJUSD league games.

The pressure was on to live up to Pavlina’s dream
Just like I had witnessed with Dennis Pavlina’s teams, our team did not necessarily have the most skilled players in the league. What set us apart from the other teams was how well the players worked together on the court, how unselfish they played, how committed they were and how all 15 players supported each other and together we all focused on our goal. Every practice and game was taken serious and even the players who did not get much court time during games rarely missed a practice. It was truly an awesome experience to see these girls work so hard, come together so well and under the pressure I had put on them throughout the season, and they, once again brought home the SJUSD league championship title.

Congratulations to the 2004/05 Bret Harte Girls eighth grade basketball team! Julie Kogura, Kelly Nakamura, Haley Schorr, Megan Unger, Sydney Frangieh, Tessa Domenici, Grace Tang, Pallavi Johary, Suhitha Uppalatati, Elizabeth Yee, Christina Cheng, Cindy Kim, Sara Walchli and La Reeya Smith.

And to my very dear friend Dennis Pavlina—we did it! Together, we reached your dream of winning the title for 10 consecutive years!


Notable players for the Bret Harte 2004/05 SJUSD season were:
1st place most valuable player – Sydney Frangieh
2nd place most valuable player – Kelly Nakamura
Best defensive player – Megan Unger
Best offensive player – Julie Kogura
Best all-around player – Haley Schorr
Most improved player – Tessa Domenici

Keeping it in the family

Leland names former 49er Jason Tenner head football coach

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

Leland selected former San Francisco 49er Jason Tenner to replace Kelly Edwards as head football coach on March 3.

Tenner served as the Chargers’ defensive coordinator under Edwards the past four seasons, while Leland mounted a reputation as stingy opponents, yet failed to pull out the close games.

Frustration set in when the Chargers lost to North Salinas in the opening round of the playoffs in 2003, and grew as Leland stumbled through the 2004 campaign. Last season Leland went 3-7, losing five games by an average of 8 points.

Under Edwards, the Chargers grew from 0-10 cellar dwellers to 2003 BVAL Santa Teresa Division champions.

Edwards relinquished his whistle following the disappointing 2004 campaign amid rumored dissension, and familiar Tenner became the favored candidate among Leland administrators, boosters and students alike.

“Jason has history here,” said Athletic Director Chris Hanson. “He has already done a lot of positive things with the kids and they respect him.”

Tenner was also given first consideration in accordance with district policy. The San Jose Unified School District requires that its schools consider local ranks before courting outside candidates.

Two other coaches applied from within the district; however, Tenner’s presence on campus was the deciding factor in a debate that never really aired, according to Hanson.

Tenner teaches social studies, in addition to coaching duties.

“We definitely need somebody that is going to be here all the time,” Hanson continued. “Yet, all else equal, Jason still would have gotten the job. He has a wealth of knowledge about football.”

Tenner’s passion for the game carried over from his playing days, which ended just five years ago. The 6-foot-5-inch, 275-pound Homestead graduate played two years in the professional ranks, donning San Francisco 49er red and gold.

Tenner signed with the Niners as a free agent in 2000; however, following an impressive four-year career playing defensive tackle at Villanova University, he was moved to offensive tackle. An ardent work ethic and giant potential landed Tenner on the Niners’ practice squad in 2000.

Following that season, the 49ers allocated Tenner to NFL Europe where he was picked up by the Scottish Clay-mores.

“I retired after that,” said Tenner. “I had to put on about 45 more pounds when I switched to offense, and by that time my body had had enough.”

Professional expertise in mind, Tenner returned to his Sunny-vale alma mater, before old friend Edwards came knocking in 2001.

“Leland sort of fell into my lap,” he said. “Four years ago I was at Homestead and Kelly came by and said he got the job, and asked if I would like to help. When he left I thought I would be a good candidate, and I got it.”

Despite Edwards’ departure, the Leland staff remained intact. Offensive coordinator Heath Clark will assume play-calling duties next season, with John Galante assisting. Bob Gustavson will return as line sage, while Tim Foley and newcomer Brendan Cassidy will assist Tenner on the defensive side.

“Everybody’s back,” said Tenner. “We are all close friends and I think that will allow us to go for more of a team approach this year. We’re getting back to basic football—fundamentals, running the ball, playing good solid defense and getting after people.”

The Chargers will do so having graduated several quality seniors to the college ranks. The void left by receiver Art King Jr., linebacker Alex Bynum and running back Kyle Jones is particularly large.

King signed with Division I Nevada Reno, while Bynum will attend Cal-Poly and Jones heads over the hill for Cabrillo College.

“Coach Tenner is a good coach,” said King. “He cares about kids and works hard to get the best out of them. I wouldn’t be where I am today without him. He taught me about mental focus.”

“It’s a great opportunity,” finished Tenner. “I love the school; the kids are great. I intend to put the kids in the best position to go out and compete week in and week out.”

For now, the Chargers are relegated to weight room workouts, but spring promises seven on seven work and passing leagues, heading into the summer.

For more information about Leland football visit www.lelandathletics.com.

COMEBACK KIDS

Leland’s Sara Adams covers first base during a play in a 5-4 comeback win for the Chargers against Live Oak on March 17.

Trailing Live Oak 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Leland softball team scored three times in the inning to take a narrow 5-4 win on March 17, improving their record to 5-0 this season.

The Chargers got things going on back-to-back triples from Ashleigh Adams and Christina Saenz to plate the first run of the seventh. After a bunt single and a stolen base from Sara Adams put runners on second and third, senior Lauren Jones hit a two-run single to center field, sending the Chargers home with a come-from-behind win.

“They showed right now that they have heart,” said Leland Head Coach Joe Gron of his team. “They never gave up and came back.” Photo courtesy www.mikejanes.com

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