SPORTS

Chargers shut out Mustangs in rematch

Leland takes neighborhood rivals for the second time this season

By Carl Ponzio
Times Intern

Leland senior smasher Derrick Truong (#6) had 35 kills to lead the Chargers to three wins this week, including a 3-0 win over Pioneer. Leland leads the Mount Hamilton division with an 11-0 league record.

The Leland boys’ volleyball team added another victory to its undefeated league record as they dominated the Pioneer Mustangs 3-0 on April 21.

Coming into Leland with their hopes high, the Mustangs were anxious to get onto the court and show the Chargers the improvements they had made in the five weeks since the two team’s last meeting.

“We’d love to be the blemish on Leland’s record,” said Pioneer Head Coach Tim Koring as he watched his school’s JV team.

However, after Pioneer’s JV team walked off the court with their win over Leland, the varsity players began warm-ups for what was soon to be a long, frustrating, evening of volleyball.

Starting the first match on the right foot, the Mustangs took a quick 1-0 lead over the Chargers; however, after scoring their first point, the Mustangs turned the ball over and let Leland walk all over them. Senior Tommy Phan served up an impressive 7-point run after Leland had gotten on the board to give the Chargers an 8-1 lead.

The Mustangs chipped away at Leland’s lead; however, before Pioneer had scored their sixth point the Chargers had earned a commanding 22-5 lead. A surge of energy saw the Mustangs battle into the double digits with a 5-point run, answering back to Leland’s 6- point streak with kills by junior Alex Moon and Leland kill leader Scott Lucas.

With the score at 22-10 in Leland’s favor, both teams nickel and dimed each other until junior Kevin Kashanian killed the ball sending Leland to a 25-13 win in the first match.

“We planned for this in the last practice we ran,” said Leland Head Coach Jason Hilberg. “We planned who would be playing where and getting guys that don’t normally get time in there to having a large roll tonight.”

Again, the Mustangs got on the board first as the second match began. The Chargers answered back quickly.

However, with the score at 2-3 in favor of Leland, the Mustangs went on a 4-point run that giving them a 6-3 lead.

Battling back and forth the Chargers were able to close the gap after a 4-point move making it an 11-11 game.

The tension ran high as both teams tried to put runs together. After Moon had killed the ball to put the Chargers up 18-14, the Mustangs went on a short 2-point run to set the score at 18-16; however, it was too little too late.

Shortly after the Pioneer side-out, the Chargers went on a 5-point run setting the score at 23-16. The Mustangs were able to grab a point before junior Eric Hwang and senior Bryan Holmdahl put up a wall blocking the ball and scoring Leland’s twenty-fourth point. With the score at 24-17 the Chargers put the finishing touch on the second match on the next serve and won the game 25-17.

“It died out after the second game,” said senior Brent Nishijima of Pioneer’s energy. “After the first game we started to build some momentum, but we lost it.”

The third game started with Leland taking a 1-0 lead, only to get it stolen away by Pioneer 4-1. Leland went on a 6-point run in which senior Jonathan Luu was able to score a serving ace on the Mustangs. With a 9-6 lead, the Chargers never looked back. They let the Mustangs shave away a little pieces of their lead at times, but wrapped the game up quickly with a 3-point run that gave them the 25-16 victory over Pioneer.

“This is good competition. They (Pioneer) stepped it up from last time,” said Lucas, who finished the night with seven kills. “This is what I expected from them.”

Pioneer (1-14, 1-10) finished the night with a couple of long faces; however, it wasn’t a very disappointing loss coming from the Mt. Hamilton division leading Chargers (18-7, 10-0).

“I’m mad that we didn’t win a game against them this year, but they are a bunch of great guys,” said senior Nolan Rak. “…they’re undefeated, so I’m not really that disappointed.”

Tough inning sees Oak Grove overtake Leland in softball

Eagles score three times in sixth, win 4-1 over Chargers

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Writer

The Leland softball team couldn’t overcome a three-run sixth inning by the Oak Grove Eagles in a 4-1 home loss on April 19.

Leland starting pitcher Vanessa Truan pitched well despite taking the loss, throwing seven innings in which the right-hander surrendered four runs on two hits while striking out 10.

“It was a tough game,” said Leland Head Coach Joe Gron. “We played good softball. We had one bad inning, so to speak.”

With Leland (14-3, 2-3) holding a 1-0 lead, the Eagles came to bat in the top of the sixth hitless, having only one runner reach base in the first inning via a walk. Oak Grove sent up pinch hitter Jamika Gulley to lead off the inning and during the at-bat, a Truan pitch came up and in and appeared to glance off Gulley’s bat. But the first-base umpire signaled that the pitch struck Gulley, awarded the batter first base, much to Gron’s dismay.

“It wasn’t a hit batter. It was a foul ball,” Gron said. “I can’t control that … I argued a little bit, but I can’t control it. They made the call and we just have to move on.”

Gulley then quickly stole second base and later moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Katrine Gabriel, who ended up safe on first after the throw glanced off Sara Adams’ glove. After Gabriel stole second base to put runners on second and third, Truan appeared to be getting out of the jam, striking out the next two batters. After a walk loaded the bases, Truan quickly got two strikes on Kendra Powers before the right-handed hitting Eagles’ catcher struck a single to right field, scoring all three runners and giving Oak Grove a 3-1 lead.

“During the game, when I call certain pitches, and batters on the opposing team looked like they couldn’t handle it,” Gron said of the run-scoring at-bat from Oak Grove. “I stuck with that pitch, the batter adjusted and got a good hit. That was the best hit of the whole game and it just happened to be with the bases loaded.”

The Chargers came out of the gate quickly in the game, scoring their only run in the bottom of the first inning to take an early lead. After Jessica Talaugon reached base on an error, a Christina Saenz single gave Leland a runner in scoring position with one out. A bunt single from Adams then loaded the bases before Sara Boring drew a walk off Eagles’ starter Debbie Duran to bring in the run. After a shaky first inning, Duran went on to retire 17 of the next 18 batters.

Truan proved to be equally impressive, surrendering only a one-out walk in the first inning before retiring 14 of the next 15 batters before trouble struck in the sixth.

“She’s been great all season,” Gron said of Truan. “She pitched another good game today … she dominated that game, like she’s been doing all season long.”

In the seventh, the Eagles tacked on one more run as Desarae Benavides reached base after getting hit by a pitch to get things going. After consecutive groundouts moved pinch runner Stephanie Starr to third, a passed ball to the backstop scored the runner, giving Oak Grove a 4-1 edge.

High School Sports Schedule April 29 - May 5

Leland High School
Friday – Baseball at Leigh, 3:30 p.m.
Friday – Softball vs. Leigh, 3:30 p.m.
Friday – Girls’ lacrosse vs. Castilleja, 4 p.m.
Friday – Swimming vs. Santa Teresa, 3 p.m.
Friday – Boys’ tennis league team finals, 3:15 p.m.

Monday – Baseball vs. Santa Teresa, 3:30 p.m.
Monday – Golf BVAL individual tournament at CordeValle, time TBA

Tuesday – Boys’ volleyball at Leigh, 6 p.m.
Tuesday – Girls’ lacrosse vs. Pioneer, 4 p.m.
Tuesday – Golf BVAL Team Play at San Jose Municipal, time TBA
Tuesday – Track BVAL division finals at Mt. Pleasant, 3:30 p.m.

Wednesday – Boys’ tennis CCS team play, time TBA
Wednesday – Softball at Westmont, 3:30 p.m.
Wednesday – Baseball at Westmont, 3:30 p.m.
Wednesday – Boys’ lacrosse at Sacred Heart, 4 p.m.

Thursday – Badminton at Westmont, 3:30 p.m.
Thursday – Boys’ volleyball at Branham, 7 p.m.
Thursday – Track BVAL division finals at Mt. Pleasant, 3:30 p.m.

Pioneer High School
Friday – Softball vs. Oak Grove, 3:30 p.m.
Friday – Baseball at Lincoln, 3:30 p.m.
Friday – Swimming at Mt. Pleasant, 3 p.m.
Friday – Girls’ lacrosse vs. Sacred Heart, 4 p.m.
Friday – Boys’ tennis league team finals, 3:15 p.m.

Monday – Track BVAL Division finals week, times and dates TBA
Monday – Golf BVAL individual tournament at CordeValle, time TBA
Monday – Baseball vs. Piedmont Hills, 3:30 p.m.

Tuesday – Boys’ volleyball at Branham, 6 p.m.
Tuesday – Badminton vs. Leigh, 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday – Golf BVAL team play at San Jose Municipal, time TBA
Tuesday – Girls’ lacrosse at Leland, 4 p.m.

Wednesday – Softball at Branham, 3:30 p.m.
Wednesday – Boys’ tennis CCS team play, time TBA

Thursday – Badminton vs. Live Oak, 3:30 p.m.
Thursday – Baseball at Evergreen, 3:30 p.m.
Thursday – Boys’ volleyball at Gunderson, 7 p.m.

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

High School Scoreboard

April 18
Pioneer golf 196-232 win vs. Westmont

Leland softball 10-1 win at Santa Teresa

April 19
Pioneer boys’ tennis 7-0 loss vs. Leigh
Pioneer boys’ volleyball 25-16, 25-18, 25-13 loss vs. Westmont
Pioneer girls’ lacrosse 13-1 loss at Woodside
Pioneer badminton 8-7 win vs. James Lick

Leland badminton 8-7 win at Willow Glen
Leland boys’ tennis 7-0 win vs. Silver Creek
Leland golf 199-224 win vs. Lincoln
Leland boys’ volleyball 32-30, 20-25, 25-12, 25-16 win at Oak Grove

April 20
Pioneer softball 7-5 loss vs. Westmont
Pioneer golf 206-234 win vs. Westmont

Leland boys’ lacrosse 13-1 loss vs. Menlo School
Leland baseball 7-0 win vs. Mt. Pleasant
Leland boys’ swimming 112-55 win vs. Branham
Leland girls’ swimming 146-34 win vs. Branham

April 21
Pioneer baseball 9-3 win at Prospect
Pioneer boys’ tennis 6-1 loss at Santa Teresa
Pioneer boys’ swimming 123-63 loss vs. Leigh
Pioneer girls’ swimming 117-64 loss vs. Leigh
Pioneer girls’ lacrosse 14-3 loss vs. Gunn
Pioneer badminton 9-6 win at Lincoln

Leland badminton 9-6 win vs. Evergreen

April 22
Pioneer softball 8-3 loss at Mt. Pleasant
Pioneer boys’ volleyball 25-18, 25-14, 25-19 loss vs. Willow Glen

Leland baseball 8-5 win at Mt. Pleasant
Leland softball 5-4 loss vs Branham
Leland girls’ lacrosse 7-6 win at Menlo
Leland boys’ volleyball 20-25, 25-21, 25-16, 22-25, 15-12 win vs. Westmont

Sports Briefs

Almaden Ladybugs 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     

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 3-4 at PAL Stadium in San Jose.  Apply online at www.top96.com or call Doug Henson at 508-481-5939.

San Jose to host Citywide Youth Track Meet
The City of San Jose, Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services and the San Jose Police Amateur Athletic Association are sponsoring a free track and field meet for boys and girls, 9-14 years of age. The meet is Sunday, May 22, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Evergreen Valley High School track, located on 3300 Quimby Road in San Jose.

Track events include the 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 meter, and 4 x 100 meter relay. Field events include the standing long jump and softball throw. Group one is for athletes born between 1995-1996; group two is for athletes born between 1993-1994; and group three is for athletes born between 1991-1992.

The event is a qualifier meet for the Nor Cal Hershey State Track and Field Meet held on Saturday, June 18, at San Jose City College, and is a stop on the road to the National Meet in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Pre-registration is encouraged but not required. To obtain more information and registration forms, call the Citywide Sports Office at (408) 369-3900.

Registration will also be accepted on the day of the event between 8 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.

Almaden Quicksilver holds soccer tryouts
Almaden Quicksilver Class 3, U12 girls, is holding tryouts for spring/fall season every Tuesday and Thursday. Date of birth must be after 7/31/93. Contact John (408) 323-8768 or john@politoski.com.

A local Giant

Sponsored by the Leland Booster Club, Saturday afternoon many Leland staff and families came out to see the San Jose Giants beat the Modesto Nuts 2-1. The Giants’ new second baseman is Kevin Frandsen (#9), former San Jose State star and son of Leland basketball coach Dave Frandsen.

The team that plays together stays together

Leland girls’ lacrosse team stresses teamwork this season

By Carl Ponzio
Times Intern

When time expired on the first half of play on Apr. 15, the Chargers had a 4-1 advantage over the Woodside Wildcats.

However, the lady Chargers’ lead was quickly opened further in the second half with a unique display of teamwork, resulting in a convincing 13-4 win over Woodside.

The season is half over for the Leland girls’ lacrosse team. Defeating the Wildcats on Apr. 15 after a 9-8 overtime loss to their rivals at Pioneer, the Chargers are currently standing with a 5-4 overall and a 5-3 league record. With a finely tuned group running toward their goals, the girls are striving to keep their ego dials tuned to “team.”

“They are really good at working as a team,” said Leland Head Coach Becky Crozier about her team. “We do a really good job at supporting each other and assisting each other. It’s not every man out for themselves running down and trying to score on their own.”

Returning from third in league and a first-round playoff loss, the Chargers were ready to play lacrosse the moment they hit the field at this season’s tryouts. The loss of seniors to graduation did not affect the Chargers bench this season. More than 60 girls tried out for the team this season, resulting in the birth of Leland’s JV lacrosse team.

With the varsity team assembled, the girls made a pact that their team would not be like the ones they saw on the other side of the field. Crozier explained that Leland didn’t want to have any “bickering or fighting,” on their team. The Chargers believe that there are too many teams with players who play for themselves instead of the teams.

“We’re a strong team because we’re really close outside of practice. We have team-bonding events and we all get along,” said senior captain Elaine Li.

Currently in the top four in league, the Chargers have their eyes set on the playoffs. Their goal is to return to the first round and take it all the way to the championships. Playing in the Peninsula Athletic League that stretches all the way to Menlo, the Chargers and Pioneer Mustangs are the only two teams in San Jose that share the dream of capturing the championship, as they are the only two girls’ lacrosse teams in the area.

There is no one person who stands out on the Chargers; rather, they are strongest as a group. The Charger seniors are leading the way for the girls this season with Captains Li and Lauren Yee encouraging the teamwork that makes the Chargers so strong this season.

“I think we are a really strong team because our coaches have pushed us really hard to be the best and never to be cocky,” added Yee.

Dashing up and down the field, the Chargers began to show their dominance to the Wildcats in the second half of play. The Chargers selfless style of play allowed them to score nine goals in the half, icing the Wildcats 13-4.

Pioneer boys lose first meet in two years

Track title shot remains

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

Pioneer boys tracksters lost for the first time in two seasons while the girls dropped their second meet this year, at the feat of Santa Teresa on April 14.

The results dried hope of league titles. Both Mustangs’ squads arrived unblemished with four dual meet wins in league; however the losses moved the boys’ overall record to 5-1 and the girls’ to 4-2, leaving a crack for powerhouse Evergreen Valley Cougars or the Saints.

“You have your good days and then your bad,” said Pioneer Coach Mark Krail, following the boys’ 71-56 fall and the girls’ 77-50. “Some of the boys are taking it pretty hard. I don’t know that we’ll win the championship as a team, but that’s what’s good about track. Even though we lost in the dual meet, our kids will face Santa Teresa again individually, in league finals.”

Pioneer still controls their destiny. Two meets remain and one includes the Cougars. Barring a Mustang defeat, versus Leigh April 21, Pioneer will vie for a portion of the championship when Evergreen visits April 28.
“If we can hold it together here versus Leigh, and keep working hard, we have a shot,” said Krail.

At Santa Teresa, Pioneer battled to no avail.

Senior Rolando Gomez continued his assault on virtually any challenger in CCS, dominating discuss and shot-put events. His 46-feet-6-inch heave in the shot pit, and 168-feet-4.5-inch discuss flight, tightened his grip on the CCS field.

Gomez shattered Pioneer’s discuss record earlier this season, sailing it 171-feet-7 ½-inches on March 10 versus Yerba Buena, and has owned top CCS marks for the duration of the year.

“Rolando is certainly a college level thrower,” said Krail who also referenced Gomez as the ‘dominant kid in the section.’

Sophomore Drew McRey-nolds also tasted success, winning both the 110 meter high and 300 meter low hurdles events with times of 16.39 and 42.34 seconds respectively. McReynolds is known for a keen sense of humor at practice, but morphs into a competitive killer once the starting gun sounds.

“Drew expects to win,” commented Krail.

Jeff Higashi, who has struggled with foot problems until recently, also placed, finishing first in the 800 meter event. His time of 2:07 minutes announced his return and intentions with league championships around the corner.

“Unfortunately Jeff is just rounding into competitive shape, but he’s a great kid and a really hard worker,” said Krail. “We’re hoping to stretch him out and get ready to go for league’s.”

In girls’ action, Captain Camille Brown paced the race. Brown took two firsts individually, in the 400 and 200 meters with times of 1:02.15 minutes and 26.65 seconds.

According to Krail, the senior will run track at the collegiate level next year when she attends Southwest Missouri State.

“Camille’s the captain for both the boys’ and girls’ teams,” said Krail. “Every kid looks to her on how to be successful and accomplish things. There’s not a kid at Pioneer that worked harder to have a great senior year.”

Other winners included sophomore sensations Eliz-abeth Bolender, Marissa Silver and Carrie Herbert.

Bolender took the mile race posting a time of 6:10 minutes, while Silver stole the low hurdle show, covering 110 meters in 16.91 seconds. Herbert won the 300 meter low hurdle event in just 53.60 seconds.

“Bolender gives it everything she’s got every time she runs,” said Krail.

As for the two hurdlers: “We haven’t seen a hurdler all year that can compete with Marissa and Carrie,” said Krail.

The Mustangs face Leigh at home on April 21, with the league title on the line. The first gun will sound at 3:30p.m.

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