SPORTS

Mustangs drops 3-0 road loss to Westmont

Pioneer drops to 2-4 in league play with loss;
Ryan Williams out two weeks with injury

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Editor

Facing a Mt. Hamilton Division rival with a depleted roster, the Pioneer boys’ volleyball team never managed to get on track, dropping 3-0 loss at Westmont on March 23.

Pioneer’s Lenny LaRussa (1) spikes the ball over Westmont’s defense during a 3-0 loss on March 23. Photos by Jeff Frazee

For Pioneer Head Coach Howard Gibson, the loss, which dropped the Mustangs’ record to 2-4 in league play, proved to be an unsettling development, considering the fact that Westmont is his old alma mater.

“I went to Westmont, and you don’t want to come to your old school and not do well, even if it was 36 years ago,” said Gibson. “I expected us to play a lot better, even with the team that I have.”

To make matters worse, Gibson dealt with the loss of one of his most consistent players in junior Ryan Williams. Williams pulled a hamstring a few days prior to the team’s matchup against Westmont, and is expected to miss a couple of weeks. All told, Gibson had just two reserve players for the game.

“That hurts,” Gibson said of losing Williams, the team captain, “anytime you lose one player that’s the glue to keep everything together. We also lost another back row player to grades, and another one to a job. So, we went from 11 players to now eight, which doesn’t help. We’re going to be in that position for a couple of weeks.”

For Westmont, the win bumped the Warriors’ record over the .500 mark at 4-3 in league play, and 8-10 overall. Warriors team captain Navid Zohoury led the squad with 10 kills, while Jon Ng-Parish chipped in nine kills in the win. The win was Westmont’s four straight victory in league.

“We started off the season 0-3, and we’ve won our last four games in row, which is nice,” Westmont Head Coach Jeff Poppinga said. “With me, it always kind of starts off slow and then we slowly start to get things going and progressing, with my kids playing better and better. Hopefully, it continues.”

Pioneer played Westmont close in game one, battling back from an early 12-6 deficit to get within two points of the lead at 15-13. From that point on however, Westmont took over and made quick work of the Mustangs, finishing off game one with a 10-2 run, getting an ace on service from Keith Nyberg, as well as kills from Landen Jones and Ng-Parish to take a 25-15 win.

Westmont’s Keith Nyberg (1) blocks a spike with help from teammate Martin Szezepaniak (18) during a 3-0 win for the Warriors over Pioneer on March 23.

“His passing skills are just nails,” Poppinga said of Ng-Parish, who previously spent time as a setter in both high school and club volleyball. “His defensive skills are excellent. All over the court, he can dig hard-driven balls, he can read the dinks and come in to pass the dinks … This year, I couldn’t afford to lose him as a setter, because he’s such a great passer and hitter.”

Pioneer hung close for early portion of game two as well, battling to a 12-8 deficit before a 6-1 run from Westmont set Pioneer back nine points at 18-9. Despite a 6-3 scoring run by the Mustangs, Westmont went on to take game two by a 25-16 score, including a 4-1 run at the end to seal the win.

Game three proved to turn out like the previous two, with Pioneer hanging close, down only 2 in the early going at 9-7. But Westmont managed to put the finishing touches on the win soon after with a 10-1 scoring run to take a 20-8 lead, getting a pair of ace serves from Jones, as well as a pair of kills from Martin Szczepaniak. After a modest 3-1 run by Pioneer cut the lead to 10 at 21-11, Westmont finished game three on a 4-0 scoring run for a final score of 25-11.

Gibson said the loss was a bitter pill to swallow, citing inconsistent play from his team in a game he deemed winnable.

“There was no continuity tonight,” Gibson said of his team’s play. “We work on the same drills in practice all the time, where this should be second nature to them. They know that they’re supposed to crash whenever there’s a tip, or whenever there’s a powder-puff serve, that they’re supposed to move up … I was surprised, I really was.”

Sports Briefs

Almaden X-treme soccer players needed
Almaden X-treme soccer team, a Girls U15 Class 1 team, is looking for players. The team took second place in league last year and is looking for players in all positions. Birth dates need to be Aug. 1, 1991 through July 31, 1992. If interested, contact Bob Spaletta 371-8687 or taxhound@aol.com.

Boys’ U13 competitive soccer team seeks players
A boys’ U13 competitive soccer team is looking for player to come and try out for the 2006 spring and fall soccer team. All practices and home games are in Blossom Valley.

Contact Laura Ino at (408) 224-2298 for more information.

Central Valley Outlaws Class I U13 Premier boys team tryouts
The Central Valley Outlaws Class I U13 Premier boys’ team invites boys born between 8/1/92 through 7/31/93 to tryouts for the upcoming season. For more information, contact Richard Johnson at 439-9645.

BVAL Golf Tournament set for May 8
The Blossom Valley Athletic League will host the BVAL Golf Tournament on May 8 at the Almaden Golf and Country Club. All proceeds from the event will go to BVAL member schools’ athletic programs. Players’ fees are $200 per person, and sponsorship packages are also available for interested parties.

Check-in time and lunch for the event begins at 11 a.m., with players set to tee off at 12:30 p.m. Dinner and a silent auction follows the tournament.

For more information about the BVAL Golf Tournament, please call (408) 265-5409.

Warriors’ Team Thunder at Calvary for March Madness
The Warriors Specialty Dunk Team, Team Thunder, will be hoopin’ it up at Calvary Church in Los Gatos on Sunday, March 26. They are part of an end-of-season event for the 810 basketball families that participated in the 2005-2006 season. “We have something for all ages in the family,” said Dale Gustafson, pastor to students. Everyone is welcome and the event is free. Calvary Church is located at 16330 Los Gatos Blvd., Los Gatos. For more information contact kcorcoran@calvarylg.com.

High School Sports Schedule

*Note: for baseball and softball, only varsity games are listed because of space constraints. All JV games are played at the opposite site of varsity at the same time, unless otherwise noted

Leland High School
Friday – Varsity baseball at Westmont, 3:30 p.m.
Friday – Boys’ tennis Mt. Hamilton singles and doubles tournament at Leland, 1 p.m.
Friday – Boys’ volleyball vs. Willow Glen, JV 6 p.m./varsity 7 p.m.
Friday – Girls’ lacrosse vs. Castilleja, JV 5 p.m./varsity 4 p.m.

Monday – Boys’ lacrosse vs. Menlo-Atherton, JV 4:30 p.m./Varsity 3 p.m.
Monday – Boys’ tennis Mt. Hamilton singles and doubles tournament at Leland, 1 p.m.

Tuesday – Varsity Golf vs. Santa Teresa, 2:30 p.m.
Tuesday – Swimming vs. Santa Teresa, 3 p.m.
Tuesday – Boys’ volleyball vs. Prospect, JV 6 p.m./varsity 7 p.m.
Tuesday – Varsity girls’ lacrosse at Pioneer, 4 p.m.
Tuesday – Varsity softball at Oak Grove, 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday – Badminton vs. Independence, 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday – Boys’ tennis at Piedmont Hills, 3:15 p.m.

Wednesday – Varsity baseball at Branham, 3:30 p.m.
Wednesday – Boys’ lacrosse vs. Bellarmine, JV 4:30 p.m./varsity 3 p.m.

Thursday – Varsity golf vs. Santa Teresa at Almaden Golf and Country Club, 3 p.m.
Thursday – Varsity softball vs. Leigh, 3:30 p.m.
Thursday – Boys’ tennis at Independence, 3:15 p.m.
Thursday – Track vs. Del Mar/Yerba Buena, 3:30 p.m.
Thursday – Boys’ volleyball at Branham, JV 6 p.m./Varsity 7 p.m.
Thursday – Badminton at Silver Creek, 3:30 p.m.

Pioneer High School
Friday – Varsity baseball at Leigh, 3:30 p.m.
Friday – Boys’ volleyball at Prospect, JV 6 p.m./Varsity 7 p.m.

Monday – JV Golf vs. Santa Teresa, 3:30 p.m.
Monday – Badminton at Branham, 3:30 p.m.

Tuesday – Girls’ lacrosse vs. Leland, 4 p.m.
Tuesday – Badminton at Prospect, 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday – Boys’ tennis vs. Evergreen, 3:15 p.m.
Tuesday – Varsity softball at Branham, 3:30 p.m.

Wednesday – Varsity golf vs. Oak Grove at the Villages, 3 p.m.
Wednesday – Varsity baseball at Oak Grove, 3:30 p.m.
Wednesday – Girls’ lacrosse vs. Woodside, 4 p.m.

Thursday – Varsity softball vs. Santa Teresa, 3:30 p.m.
Thursday – Boys’ volleyball at Gunderson, JV 6 p.m./Varsity 7 p.m.
Thursday – Boys’ tennis vs. Branham, 3:15 p.m.
Thursday – Varsity golf vs. Oak Grove at Silver Creek Golf and Country Club, 3 p.m.


For more information about Leland and Pioneer sporting events, go to:

Pioneer Athletics:
www.phsathletics.com

Leland Athletics:
www.lelandathletics.com

Blossom Valley Athletic League:
www.bval.org

For more complete and up to date schedules on CCS playoffs, go to:
www.cifccs.org

High School Scoreboard

March 21
Leland girls’ lacrosse 13-9 loss vs. Menlo-Atherton
Leland golf 203-205 win vs. Leigh

Pioneer boys’ tennis 5-2 loss at Mt. Pleasant
Pioneer girls’ lacrosse 11-4 win at Woodside
Pioneer badminton 14-1 win at Sobrato

March 22
Leland baseball 5-3 win vs. Oak Grove

Pioneer baseball 12-3 win at Willow Glen
Pioneer golf 208-225 win vs. Branham

March 23
Leland boys’ tennis 6-1 win at Yerba Buena
Leland boys’ volleyball 25-16, 25-19, 20-25, 25-16 win vs. Oak Grove
Leland badminton 9-6 win at Piedmont Hills

Pioneer softball 1-0 loss at Leigh
Pioneer girls’ track 93-27 win vs. Yerba Buena
Pioneer boys’ track 71-58 win vs. Yerba Buena

March 24
Leland baseball 4-1 win at Oak Grove
Leland girls’ track 67-60 win vs. Willow Glen
Leland boys’ track 64-62 win vs. Willow Glen

Pioneer girls’ lacrosse 10-4 win vs. Gunn
Pioneer baseball 8-6 win vs. Willow Glen
Pioneer softball 7-3 win vs. Palo Alto at Charlie Miguel Tournament
Pioneer boys’ swimming 126-46 win at Independence
Pioneer girls’ swimming 117-59 win at Independence

Leland lacrosse poised for first-ever playoff berth

At 4-2, Charger boys challenge perennial PAL powers

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

Captains Gentry Jones and Paul Thomas are leading what Coach Heath Clark calls the top lacrosse team ever to attend Leland.

Leland senior Gentry Jones zeroes in on a target. Coach Clark describes Jones as the Leland outfit's best athlete. Photo courtesy of Hans Coufal

In his first year leading the Chargers’ fledgling lacrosse program—established in 2000—Clark’s boys are in good company with perennial powers Bellarmine and Menlo Atherton and poised to make the playoffs for the very first time, if they can maintain the intensity that has secured four wins already—one more than all of last season—with more than half of the schedule remaining.

“Our goal is to make the playoffs for first time in Leland history,” said Clark, who pulls double duty on Leland’s football team as the offensive coordinator. “We just try to be fundamentally sound and play hard; try to be in great shape. It’s a pretty simple game in terms of strategy—usually the team with the best fundamentals does the best.”

The Chargers notched their fourth win on March 22, when they downed Scotts Valley on the road, in mud.

“We played really physical,” said Clark. “It allowed us to get out ahead early, and when you’re playing in mud, whether football or lacrosse, getting a lead means that you can control possession.”

Clark said Senior Thomas, who plays defensive midfielder, is making a name for himself as the team’s most fearsome defender. Thomas reportedly lays the loudest hits on opponents who drift into Leland terrain.

“Paul crushes guys,” said Clark. “In lacrosse, it’s legal to hit anybody from the side or front within five yards of the ball, so the biggest collisions happen right when somebody is shooting or passing, or when the ball is on the ground and you are bending to pick it up.”

Clark recalled a play, which occurred during Menlo Atherton’s preseason jamboree, as evidence of Thomas’ power.

“We played in the jamboree and from the face-off, a kid weaved his way down field and right as he was shooting, and Paul Thomas ran through him,” said Clark. “The ball went shooting up 80 feet in the air. It’s a fun game that way. It’s different than football, where things are scripted, and not all that free flowing.”

Thomas’ skills landed him on the second team All-Peninsula Athletic League roster a year ago.

“I personally like the physical aspect, but the great thing about lacrosse is that there is a spot for everyone,” said Thomas. “You can hit, but you don’t always need to. There is so much that goes on. I look to see if actually hitting the opponent is going to help our team. For example, if there is a ground ball and everybody is crowded around it, I will run in and hit the pile so my team can come behind me and get the ball.”

Thomas’ co-captain Jones is likely the most talented athlete on the team, according to Clark.

“Gentry can do anything he wants,” said Clark. “He has established himself as a physical presence, but also as a scorer. He can defend everybody and he is relentless on the field. He is also, without a doubt, one of the biggest characters you’ll meet in high school sports.”

While the Chargers strive to qualify for a playoff slot, Leland undoubtedly will host the PAL playoffs on May 13.

“The biggest difference this year is the level of commitment,” said Thomas. “People are coming to every practice. We have a couple of really physical guys, but lots of smaller, quick guys that score. There are big, loud guys and speech and debate guys on the team. The good thing about lacrosse is that there is a place for everyone to play, no matter what skills you have.”

Longhorns slip softball by Mustangs 1-0

Leigh prevails, despite two-hit outing by Pioneer’s Walker

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

Leigh catcher Whitney Terry drove in the game’s lone run with a looping sacrifice fly to left field during the Longhorns’ 1-0 victory over Mount Hamilton Division rival Pioneer on March 23.

The teams mustered just three hits between them in a classic pitching duel featuring Longhorn senior Jackie Jones, who is touted by coaches as one of the finest pitchers in the section, and Mustang sophomore Alyssa Clark, an up-and-coming hurler in the MHAL.

Pioneer sophomore Alyssa Walker hucks a pitch past a Leigh batter on March 23. Walker allowed just two hits; however, the Mustangs fell 1-0 to the Longhorns.

Leigh (9-1, 1-0) and Pioneer (3-3, 0-1) are expected to challenge Leland, Branham and Westmont as top MHAL contenders this season.

“My major concern was Jackie Hill on the mound,” said Pioneer Coach Ernie Garcia, in his second year with the Mustangs. “The game plan was to prepare for her. But we have some freshman and inexperience this year, also. I could see them intimidated at the plate.”

Hill recently signed a letter of intent to play softball at Penn state University in the fall and also starred on the 2003 CCS Division II Champion Longhorns as a sophomore.

Garcia prepped his kids for Hill’s formidable combination of power and off-speed pitches with three machines and mental reps last week at practice.

“Hill has a rise ball that fools a lot of players, so we set up one of the machines to throw a rise ball,” he said. “We funneled them through that machine, one that throws outside, one inside, and finished with coach toss for quick hands. Everybody went around twice. We didn‘t really work on defense at all.”

Senior Amber Medlock provided the sole Mustang hit during Hill’s gem, while only two other Pioneer players reached base—one hit by a pitch and the other via a walk.

Meanwhile, Leigh’s slight luck came bundled in the first inning, when Jessica Friedman led off the game with a double. After a sacrifice bunt moved Friedman to third, Garcia elected to walk Hill intentionally before Terry popped up the sacrifice fly to score Friedman.

Walker did not rest under the shadow of Hill. The sophomore struck out eight, allowing just six runners to reach base in the game for the Mustangs.

“That was definitely one of my better performances,” said Walker. “We just tried to hold them from scoring. I try to keep the ball off the plate and switch them up with different pitches.”

“The girls played great,” said Garcia. “The game came down to the last three outs, and nobody struck out [in that stretch]. We had a very good game plan to prepare for Hill. We didn’t work on defense much. I told them, you have to get some hits off of Jackie Hill. It could be different next time around.”

Garcia expects Pioneer to experience more success as the season progresses. In addition to Walker, he said freshmen Jessica and Britney Pentacost, and junior catcher Niki Redhan are pacing the team, following a strong leader in Katie Town.

“Jessica is leading our team in batting, coming off of a serious knee injury and Britney is like a little Katie Town,” said Garcia. “Niki controls a lot of my defense—everything revolves around her. She has even called some games. I rarely do that, but I let her call a couple of games.”

As for Town, Garcia says she has really improved mentally.

“Katie is our captain and senior shortstop,” said Garcia. “The girls know now that we do have the team to go to CCS, and the talent. I have a system that is really structured and sometimes they don’t understand why, but they are figuring it out.”

Top contenders clash in Mt. Hamilton boys’ volleyball showdown

Leland takes sole possession of first place after beating Longhorns 3-0

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Editor

A match-up pitting two first-place boys’ volleyball teams in the Mt. Hamilton Division saw Leland come out on top with a narrow 3-0 win at home over Leigh on March 28.

Leigh's Jacob McGowan (6) goes up for a kill against Leland in a hard-fought three game loss for Longhorns on March 28. Photos by Jeff Frazee

Both teams came into the contest undefeated and atop the league standing tied for first place. Although Leland got the best of the Longhorns to take sole possession of the league’s top spot, the win was not comfortable or easy, by any stretch of the imagination.

“They’re a good team, and they have some talented guys,” Leland Head Coach Jason Hilbert said of Leigh. “We had to shuffle our lineup to adjust to them, which we’re not used to doing. Our guys just executed and were clutch when they needed to be.”

Kevin Kashanian led Leland on offense, recording a team-high eight kills on 13 attempts. Scott Lucas and Andrew Atmeh also chipped in mightily on offense with seven kills each. Hilbert moved Lucas from his usual outside hitter position to the middle, in order to tighten up the defense against Leigh.

For Leigh, the loss was a tough one to swallow. Longhorns Head Coach Rob Karr said his team played inconsistent ball in the loss. Karr said he’s eyeing a second match-up between the two teams, slated for April 27 at Leigh, and is hoping for a better outcome.

“We could’ve played way, way better,” Karr said. “I’m surprised it was so close, as a matter of fact. We just didn’t play well at all. I hope we play better when they come to our place, because we’re certainly capable of much more.”

After winning the first two games by close scores of 25-19 and 25-20, Leland looked to put the match away in game three.

Still, that task proved difficult at best, as Leigh jumped out to an early 10-5 lead. Leland managed to slowly chip away at the 5-point deficit, eventually tying the game at 14-14 following a modest 4-0 scoring run.

Shortly thereafter, with Leigh up 17-15, the Chargers put together a solid 6-1 scoring stretch, getting a kill from Atmeh during that stretch, to take their first lead in game three at 21-18.

Leigh countered quickly, however, with a 4-1 scoring run down the stretch to tie the game once more at 22-22. From that point on, the teams traded points, tying the game at 23, 24 and 25 points each, with Kashanian providing all of the scoring during that nail-biting stretch with three kills. Leland finally broke through in the end, scoring the team’s 26th point on a kill from Charles Lim, before Leigh was called for a net violation, giving Leland its’ 27th point for a 27-25 win.

“The guys know that they control their destiny with their passing,” Hilbert said of the game three performance by his team. “We were making some mistakes early, but they fixed it. They (Leigh) were really worried about Scotty (Lucas) and Kashanian’s a clutch player. If you watch out for Scotty, Kevin is going to get you.”

While Leland was able to correct early flaws in game three, Karr said his team was unable to make the necessary adjustments.

“Our passing was just horrible, it was just awful,” Karr said of his team’s struggles, particularly in games one and two. “In volleyball, it all starts with a good pass. You need a good pass, to get a good set, to get a good hit. The defense wasn’t in very good shape either. A lot of errors, way too many errors.”

Chargers down Eagles

Home run and 12 strikeouts make it a busy day for Battipede

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

Danny Dyer’s 3-run first-inning home run proved to be the game winner in a 4-1 win at Oak Grove on March 24.

The Chargers (8-1-1, 6-0) downed the Eagles (7-4, 4-3) twice last week, solidifying their position alone atop the Mount Hamilton Division, behind what Coach Scott Gillis claims is as strong a pitching staff as any he’s had since taking the program over in 1996 and winning a CCS Division I championship that same year.

Leland also won 5-3 at home on Wednesday.

“We have five senior pitchers, three of which are legitimate college prospects,” said Gillis. “It’s been a challenge defensively; due in a large part because of the weather—we haven’t been out on the field much—but pitching is keeping us in games.”

Leland senior Kevin Battipede takes a hefty cut versus Oak grove. Battipede, who was the winning pitcher in the 4-1 decision on March 24, helped his own cause launching a homerun earlier in the game.

Hurlers Kevin Battipede, Danny Dyer and Matt Slaton have combined for eight victories between them with an ERA hovering below 2 runs per seven innings, despite 30 errors committed by the team.

Battipede started Friday and responded by striking out 14 batters and completing the game for his second victory of the season.

“His previous outing he threw a complete game against Leigh,” said Gillis. “Kevin is probably one of our top two pitchers.”

Battipede and Oak Grove’s Kevin Harlow combined for 23 strikeouts and three walks in the defensive struggle, marred only by Dyer’s first-inning smash, a fourth-inning home run from Battipede and two hits logged by Eagle junior Nick Laredo.

“Kevin Battipede had his A-game,” said second-year Oak Grove Coach Tom Galante. “Harlow only gave up three hits, but unfortunately two were homeruns.”

Galante formerly coached under Gillis at Leland; however, he left in 2005 when the head coaching post at Oak Grove opened.

“The one thing that I can say is that we are going to be in every game,” said Galante. “We have a loose group who all seem to get along and they work really hard in practice. It’s made the season rewarding so far. Our big goal is trying to improve the hitters’ confidence at the plate.”

Galante’s brother, John Galante, who is the Eagles’ hitting instructor, and fielding coach David Ordonez also left Leland for Oak Grove, where they teamed with pitching coach Rob Parsett.

“Each guy is responsible for something,” said Head Coach Galante. “It’s easy being a manager when you have three coaches that are on top of their responsibilities every day.”

Galante said he set the Eagles’ eyes on a top-four MHAL finish and CCS playoff berth.

“If we stay focused, we can definitely make CCS this year,” said Oak Grove senior Rob Darminski. “If we would have had our coaches four years ago, we would be even better. Coach Parsett played in the minor leagues and the Galantes and Ordonez played college ball—they know everything you need to know.”

Gillis also applauded the Galantes and Ordonez, who have spent several years playing for Gillis or studying as coaching protégés.

“I think they are doing a really good job,” said Gillis. “The Oak Grove kids played with a lot of emotion and fire. They give their coaches a lot of effort.”

Chargers hang on for 6-5 win at Branham

Late push by Branham offense squashed
in bottom of the seventh inning

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Editor

The Leland softball team made an early 6-0 lead stand up, but not without its share of troubles, in an eventual 6-5 win at Branham on March 23.

Leland catcher Jessica Talaugon looks toward the Chargers’ dugout to receive pitching signs during a 6-5 win over Branham on March 23.

The win, the team’s first league game of the year, improved the Chargers’ record to 4-2 overall. Leland third baseman Ashleigh Adams led the offense with a single and double, and RBI and three stolen bases in the win. Sister Sara Adams also contributed on offense with two hits, while A.J. Huffman knocked in a run in the third inning with a single.

“We pretty much dominated the whole game, until the last couple of innings,” said Leland Head Coach Joe Gron. “Quirky little plays, calls that were questionable, that got them (Branham) back into the game. But, we came out aggressive on the bases, we hit the ball well and we were adjusting. We played good defense all the way through, but we made some no-so-smart plays at the end there. But for the most part, it was a good (league) opening game.”

Leading 6-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Leland saw the Bruins open the inning with two singles, sandwiched between a fly ball out, putting runners at first and third. After a fly ball out to left field recorded the second out of the inning, Branham’s Hayley Dickerson hit a bloop single that fell behind the mound, over the head of Leland ace Vanessa Truan, scoring Angela Hays and cutting the lead to 6-5.

Truan finally managed to escape the jam however, getting Bruins pitcher Holly Griggs to foul out to Ashleigh Adams near third base, with Dickerson left on third, to win the game.

Gron praised Truan, and the rest of the team, for battling back and holding on for the win, despite a late momentum shift toward Branham.

“I think it was a great game for everybody, not only her (Truan), to stay tough out there on the mound and to have everyone stay centered and focused,” Gron said. “When a situation comes up where the tying run on third base, it’s tough and it’s pressure. She (Truan) made the key pitches at the end to get the girls out.”

Leading comfortably by a 6-0 margin following a 2-run top of the first and a 4-run top of the third—in part because of some shaky defense by the Bruins—the Chargers sought to preserve their lead with Truan on the mound.

Branham initially started chipping away at the 6-0 Leland lead in the bottom of the fourth, getting a leadoff double from Michelle Haughey to get things started. With two outs, and Haughey on third, a blistering grounder from Griggs was misplayed, allowing Haughey to score and cut the lead to 6-1. Truan managed to escape the inning without any further damage, inducing Brianna Rotondo into a routine fly ball out to center field.

Trouble soon found the Chargers again in the bottom of the sixth, when a pair of infield singles and a walk by the Bruins loaded the bases with one out.

Branham’s Letricia Soto then stepped up and hit a solid grounder back to Truan, who threw home for one out. But on the same play, a throw to first base for a potential double play, following the putout at home, sailed over first baseman Saryn Rorie, allowing two runners to score, cutting the lead to 6-3 and allowing Soto to reach third.

Soto ended up scoring soon after on a throwing error to first base following a routine grounder off the bat of Melissa Maves, cutting the lead to 6-4.

Despite the too-close-for-comfort win, Gron said his team is playing with confidence heading into the league portion of the 2006 softball schedule, especially with Truan on the hill. Still, Gron said there’s always room for improvement as well.

“This team is playing pretty well right now, but we can get better, and they know it,” Gron said. “We’ve played some tough games in the preseason to get ready for league. … The confidence behind Vanessa is boiling over. They’re ready.”

Spring 2005-06 BVAL all-league honorees

BOYS BASKETBALL
Pioneer
Senior of the Year - Nolan Maggipinto

First Team - Andrew Lerma

Second Team - Kyle Fager

Leland
First Team - David Farsai
First Team - Nav Deep Rai

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Leland
Mt. Hamilton MVP - Kristen Yoshioka

First Team – Meggie Yoshioka
First Team - Mika Yanai

Second Team - Ana Farrington

Pioneer
Junior of the Year - Michele Rebozzi

Freshman of the Year - Mercedes Pardo

Coach of the Year - Kim Yanda

Second Team - Mercedes Pardo

BOYS SOCCER
Leland
Mt. Hamilton MVP - Peter Rodriguez

First Team - Alex Todd
First Team - Stevie Munoz

Second Team - Adonis Levine
Second Team - Adel Arabi

Pioneer
First Team - Brian Velez
First Team - Flavio Huato

Second Team - Marcus Gomez

GIRLS SOCCER
Leland
Sophomore of the Year - Sarah Chehrehsa

First Team - Katelyn Tyson
First Team - A.J. Huffman

Second Team - Karina Cavanna
Second Team - Evelyn Powery

Pioneer
Junior of the Year - Stephanie Righetti
Co-coach of the Year - Randy Worthington

First Team - Lauren West
First Team - Kalia Demarquez
First Team - Shannon Righetti

Second Team - Sammy Vega
Second Team - Bianca Springer
Second Team - Michelle Shanonie

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