May 19, 2006

Evergreen Sports

Cougars lose season finale, forcing two-way tie for first in division

Evergreen Valley shares Santa Teresa Division Crown
with Piedmont Hills; garner ninth seed in CCS

By Diego Abeloos
Editor

The Evergreen Valley softball team settled for a share of the Santa Teresa Division Crown on May 11 following a 2-1 loss to second place Piedmont Hills to end the regular season.

Jennifer Ames throws a strike against Piedmont Hills in a 2-1 loss that forced Evergreen into share of the league's championship crown with the Pirates. Photos by Jeff Frazee

The Cougars, who came into the contest one game ahead of the Pirates in the league standings, didn’t have time to sit and think about the loss, however. Instead, the Cougars had the CCS Playoffs eyed, with Evergreen Valley garnering a No. 9 seed in the Division I playoff bracket.

“Of course I’m disappointed, but things just didn’t go our way,” said Cougars head coach Lisa Baker of the loss to the Pirates. “The close plays didn’t go our way. It’s tough. When you play a tough team, they’ve got to go your way. I’m definitely disappointed.”

With both teams scoreless through the first two innings, the things that didn’t go Evergreen’s way went to the Pirates instead as a trio of errors led to two unearned runs crossing the plate for Piedmont Hills.

After Pirates second baseman Melody Chen reached on an infield error to start the inning, teammate Allanah Marquis did the same, hitting a grounder to shortstop, with the throw to second base sailing into right field for the second error of the inning, allowing Chen to score all the way from first base for a 1-0 lead.

With Marquis at third, Pirates first baseman Julia Ortega hit a grounder to shortstop, with Marquis breaking for home plate. The throw home was then dropped, allowing Marquis to slide in with the second run of the game for Piedmont Hills.

“If they win it, I’d feel better,” said Baker, referring to the fact that the Pirates scored the winning run on an error. “If you lose a game that the other team really won, it sits a little better in your stomach. But the girls played hard. I told them that no matter what, we were already first.”

Meanwhile, the Cougars’ bats weren’t quiet for much of the game, but hard-hit balls were finding the gloves of Piedmont Hills defenders.

Case in point: a bases loaded, no outs situation in the bottom of the first inning eventually ended with Holly Dauenhauer lining out hard to second base, doubling up teammate Melissa Gonzalez at first base for a double play.

In the bottom of the fourth, the tough luck hitting trials continued for the Cougars, as a two-out situation with runners on first and second ended with Amber Bradbury grounding out to second base after a prolonged battle at the plate against Pirates starting pitcher Mary Ortega.

In addition, Gonzalez, the team’s top slugger, was intentionally walked three times, essentially taking the Cougars’ most fearsome offensive threat out of the game.

“It was frustrating,” Baker said. “It’s frustrating having them not pitch to my best batter. But it’s part of the game. If I were in their shoes, I might do the same thing. That’s when you hope the players behind her (Gonzalez) are hitting.”

Evergreen's Melissa Gonzalez was intentionally walked every time she came up to bat in the loss.

The Cougars finally broke through with a run in the bottom of the sixth, as shortstop Debra Grijalva laced a long double off the left-center field fence, scoring Dauenhauer from first base, cutting the lead to 2-1.

The Cougars threatened again in the bottom of the seventh, as April Carrera lined a two-out double that glanced off the outstretched glove of Pirates center fielder Christina Gonsalves to get the offense going. Later in the inning, after a wild pitch and a walk placed runners on the corners, the Pirates put the finishing touches on the win, getting Jessica Nieto to ground out to end the game.

The loss overshadowed an otherwise stellar performance from Cougars starting pitcher Jennifer Ames, who went the entire seven innings for the tough luck loss. Ames, combined with Dauenhauer, has given the Cougars two viable options on the mound all season long, Baker said. The luxury of two quality pitchers, Baker added, will likely come in handy during the CCS Playoffs.

“Having Holly last year was awesome, and now we have two,” Baker said. “So, when one’s on, the other’s hitting. They both are also at the top of our lineup. So not only are they pitching for us, they’re the beef of our batting order. …I’ve never had two pitchers, so it’s just wonderful.”

EVERGREEN SPORTS SCHEDULES
May 20 to June 2

*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

Evergreen Valley High sports schedule
5/20 – Track CCS semifinals at San Jose City College, 9:30 a.m.
5/20 – Softball CCS quarterfinals at Salinas Sports Complex, 10:45 a.m. (if necessary)

5/23 through 5/25 -Softball CCS semifinals at PAL Stadium, time TBA (if necessary)

5/26 – Track CCS finals at San Jose City College, 4 p.m.

5/27 – Softball CCS finals at PAL Stadium, time TBA (if necessary)


Mt. Pleasant High sports schedule
5/20 – Track CCS semifinals at San Jose City College, 9:30 a.m.
5/20 – Baseball CCS quarterfinals at PAL Stadium, 1 p.m. (if necessary)
5/20 – Softball CCS quarterfinals at Salinas Sports Complex, 10:30 a.m. (if necessary)

5/23 through 5/25 -Softball CCS semifinals at PAL Stadium, time TBA (if necessary)

5/24 – Baseball CCS semifinals at San Jose Municipal Stadium, time TBA (if necessary)

5/26 – Track CCS finals at San Jose City College, 4 p.m.

5/27 – Softball CCS finals at PAL Stadium, time TBA (if necessary)
5/27 – Baseball CCS finals at San Jose Municipal Stadium, time TBA (if necessary)


Silver Creek High sports schedule
5/20 – Track CCS semifinals at San Jose City College, 9:30 a.m.

5/26 – Track CCS finals at San Jose City College, 4 p.m.

For more information on local games, log on to the BVAL Web site at http://www.bval.org/

For more information about CCS playoff contests, go to http://www.cifccs.org

Sports Briefs

Almaden United U12 Girls Soccer Team Looking for Players
The Almaden United, a Girls Under 12, strong Class 3 team, applying for Class 1 in the fall season, is looking for players for the spring and fall '06 seasons. Date of birth should be between August 1, 1994 and July 31, 1996. Please contact Jeff Pine at pine@apple.com or (408) 391-7542 for more information.

Citywide Youth Track Meet set for May 21
Track athletes ages 9-14 have an opportunity to participate in a citywide Track and Field Meet that may qualify them to compete in the largest youth sports program of its kind in North America, the Hershey Youth Program.

The City of San José, Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services and the San Jose Police Amateur Athletic Association sponsor this free event annually. The event is a qualifier meet for the upcoming Nor Cal Hershey State Track and Field Meet and a stop on the road to the National Meet in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Track events include the 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 Meter, and 4x100 Meter relay. Field events include the standing long jump and softball throw.

The meet will take place on Sunday, May 21, from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. at Evergreen Valley High School, located at 3300 Quimby Road, San Jose.

Pre-registration is encouraged but not required. For more information and registration forms, please contact Joe Albayalde at joe.abayalde@sanjoseca.gov or Lily Ponce at lily.ponce@sanjoseca.gov. Both can also be reached at (408) 369-3900. Registration will also be accepted on the day of the event between 8 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.

Cheer coaches needed for South Valley Pop Warner
Cheer coaches are needed for South Valley Pop Warner. If you're interested in joining a team of outstanding coaches, please call Tiana Zarate at (408) 464-3285 or Teresa Smith at (408) 603-8280, or go to http://www.stpopwarner.org

Officials needed for high school sports
FERMAR Corporation, which contracts with high schools in Santa Clara County, is recruiting officials for high school athletics. Officials are needed for fall season sports such as football, volleyball and field hockey.

Men and women are encouraged to apply. No experience is necessary, as FERMAR will provide training through classes, clinics and tests. All training materials are provided.

Officials are paid $32-$61 per game, depending on the sport and level of competition. Additional opportunities to officiate youth and adult sports are also available.

Interested parties are encouraged to call FERMAR at (408) 567-1700

Cougar Wrestling Camps Summer 2006
What: Learn to wrestle and enhance basic skills.

When: June 26-30, 2006

Where: Quimby Oak Middle School, room 1. The school is located at 3190 Quimby Rd., San Jose, CA 95148

Camps: five-day camp for grades k-5 from 8 a.m.-10 a.m.

In addition, there is a five-day camp for grades 6-8 from 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Cost: $110 camp fee includes instruction and t-shirt. Camps are limited to the first 30 wrestlers.

For more information contact Sam Spengler at (408) 348-2169 or samspengler@ hotmail.com, or contact Ricardo Garcia (408) 910-5835 or ricogarcia@earthlink.net. To register by mail: send registration to CWC Summer 2006, 2980 E. Capitol Expwy. #50-203, San Jose, CA 95148

37th Annual Evergreen Invitational Golf Tournament at the Villages Golf and Country Club set for July 21 and 22
The 37th Annual Evergreen Invitational Golf Tournament will be held at the Villages Golf and Country Club on July 21 and 22, 2006. This major annual event offers a unique opportunity to present your business to the entire Villages Community and to many other communities in the Bay Area through exposure to many invited guests.

The Villages is a Bay Area award-winning, active adult community, with over 4,200 residents and professional adults. Each year at this time, The Villages invites members of the local business community to assist in the sponsorship of this Villages event.

All sponsors will be prominently posted at the clubhouse and in our printed brochure. Individual sponsors are also displayed at various tee areas throughout the golf course. The Villages would like to invite you to become a sponsor of this event. The sponsor participation categories are:

Platinum Sponsor ($2500) - display located at practice and all 18 holes as well as a large listing in the sponsor's brochure

Gold Sponsor ($1000) - display located at practice Putting Green /Driving Range/Clubhouse area and a medium listing in the sponsor's brochure

Silver Sponsor ($500) - display located at practice Putting Green /Driving Range/Clubhouse area and a small listing in the sponsor's brochure

Bronze Sponsor ($200) - display located at a dedicated hole and a business card size listing in the sponsor's brochure
For more information, contact Ken Peters, Evergreen Tournament Chairman, at (408) 270-4002

Three teams snag championships in Valley Flag Football

Colts, Steelers, Raiders capture inaugural crowns

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

Raphael Flores snatched an immaculate one-handed touchdown catch May 14, en route to the end zone and his Steelers’ Valley Flag NFL Youth Football Championship at LeyVa Middle School.

Head Coach Levinski Jones' Steelers out ran the Raiders in the middle divison, featuring players ages 10-12.

In the league’s inaugural season, three teams left champions Sunday, including Flores’ Steelers (ages 9-11), the Colts (ages 6-8), and the Raiders (ages 12-14).

Yet, Flores’ catch and subsequent 45-yard scoring scamper proved to be the game-winner, and perhaps the most exciting play of Championship Day.

The middle division Steelers sunk the Raiders 31-18 for the crown in a bitter rematch of a contest which the Raiders took earlier in the year.

“We tried to get them as excited as they were from the beginning of the season,” said Steelers’ coach Levinski Jones. “This team kind of reminded me of the Lakers when they had Shaq and Kobe. They thought they could just turn it on when they needed it.”

Jones said his club opened up 4-0, but the Raiders knocked them off-balance when success set in.

“The first loss was an eye-opener,” said Jones. “The Raiders had all girls and one boy. We were like 4-0, and we had beaten the other toughest team pretty handily and we thought that we could beat anybody.”

The Steelers regrouped and refocused following the loss. Jones reneged on an offer to entrust players with play-calling duties, and the Steelers cruised through the regular season.

The Colts

“A majority of the kids had played with each other in other flag football leagues around town, so I allowed them to do all of the play calling in the beginning,” said Jones. “But in the middle of season they got a little lax, and they kind of stopped playing as hard and that’s why I had to step in.”

Jones said Raymond Diaz, Keanu Phillips, Mathew Jaworowski, Jerren Jones, Danny Diaz, Edreese Aryanpour and Jared Washington were central components in the Steelers success.

“One of the football players I thought was very outstanding was Barry Sanders and he grew up playing flag football, not tackle,” said Jones of the famed NFL running back. “He was quoted as saying that he knew if defenders couldn’t pull his flag, they couldn’t tackle him.”

Jones said that flag is more skill than game. He cited the fact that there is no blocking and that once the ball passes the line of scrimmage, offensive players freeze and it becomes ball carrier versus five defenders—a recipe for action.

In the upper age division, which pitted a separate Raider club versus the Patriots, Coach Ranveer Rajasansi guided his team to the title and personally took home inspiration from the experience.

“Nobody picked us to win,” said Rajasansi. “My team was a surprise team. We had very unique individuals. It was a very neat experience for me in working with all of the kids; very rewarding.”

Rajasansi said the Raiders’ 29-28 victory came thanks to designed misdirection in the offense.

The Raiders

“We made sure that everybody got involved,” he said. “Every player had something to do, it didn’t matter what. All of the plays were designed to go to kids who the other team would never expect to receive the ball.”

Core Raider contributors included Taylor Tanton, Robert Clarke, Raymond DeJesus, Artie Meyers, Ilanina Duran, and Danraj Rajasansi, according to Rajasansi.

The Valley Flag Football League was founded this season by Tom Morgan, Ray Diaz and Martinsa Morgan. More than 150 Evergreen kids participated in the inaugural year, sponsored, as always, by the NFL. Morgan said he expects many more families will join in the future and that an additional schedule will be developed for summer months to support the interest.

“The idea was started by the NFL in 1986,” said Morgan. “Now anybody can start one. I had been taking my kids way across town to play football. I knew we had enough kids in Evergreen Valley, so we did it here.”

Each of 16 teams played 10-game schedules this past spring.

“It’s really an introductory for kids who want to get involved with tackle football,” said Morgan. “Some may play to keep in shape while tackle is not going on. I don’t think one is better than the other. It just depends on what the kid is looking for.”

Morgan said that flag football is typically a passing game, with limited running plays.

“Most of all, it’s really all about speed,” he said. “If you have the speed, then you have the upper hand in the flag environment.”

Teams consist of eight to 10 players with five on the field at any one time.

Banquet kicks off 32nd Annual Charlie Wedemeyer All-Star Football classic

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Editor

While is spring was in the air, high school football was certainly on the mind on May 15.

Lucy Wedemeyer, left, speaks to the crowd of young football players during the Silicon Valley Youth Classic banquet on May 15. Charlie Wedemeyer, right, whose name has been connected to the All-Star game for three decades, was diagnosed with ALS in 1977. Wedemeyer still serves as a Coach Emeritus for the Los Gatos frosh/soph football team.

A crowd of sponsors, players and coaches gathered at the Three Flames Restaurant for an annual banquet in honor of the 32nd Annual Silicon Valley Youth Classic—also known commonly as the Charlie Wedemeyer All-Star Football Game—set for July 19 at 7:30 p.m. at San Jose City College.

The Almaden Valley Rotary Club produces the game, an annual showcase for senior football players from the South Bay. All of the players on the rosters are nominated by their respective coaches.

“The coaches do take into consideration the character of each of their players,” said Roger Hassler of Allstate Insurance, a sponsor of the event. Hassler is serving as a media relations representative for the 2006 game. “I know these people are the peers of their group. They speak well, they’re educated, and they’re going to go onto college, most of them. We’re really excited to help give them one last chance to play a high school prep game.”

This year, Leland Head Coach Jason Tenner, coming off his first season at the helm of the Leland football program, will patrol the sidelines as the South team’s head coach, while Prospect Head Coach Carlos Boles will head up the North team.

Tenner quickly put the festivities to rest for the players of the South team, telling the crowd of high school seniors, “Congratulations fellas, I hope you guys are ready to work.”

As always, Charlie Wedemeyer was there, with his wife Lucy by his side, lending inspiration to those in attendance. Wedemeyer, a native of Hawaii, was diagnosed in 1977 with ALS—commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease—after a prestigious football career at Michigan State University before becoming a teacher and football coach at Los Gatos High School. Wedemeyer still holds the title of coach emeritus for the Los Gatos frosh/soph football team.

Left: Evergreen Valley’s Joe Duran. Right: Mt. Pleasant’s Javier Mejia.

“The young men that are here tonight, if they take into consideration what Charlie has gone through the last 30 years, and they dedicate their lives to moving forward when there is adversity in thinking about Charlie, they’ll do very, very well in their careers,” said Hassler.

For Tenner, who had three of his own players at the banquet as South team members in Melis Barota, Michael Dally and Travis Delamore, the opportunity to coach in the showcase was an honor he could not refuse.

“I played in this game 10 years ago, so it’s a tremendous honor to be involved in it as a coach,” said Tenner, who played football at Homestead High. “To be here tonight with the Wedemeyers, the rotary club and everybody who’s sponsoring this game, it’s an amazing feeling. There are a lot of good people in this room who care about high school football and keeping this game alive.”

In addition to the three Leland football players, four senior members of the Pioneer football team —Shaun Souza, Nick D’Antonio, J.J. Goulden and C.J. Miller—were also there as members of the South team.

“It’s great to know that you’re one of the best in the area and you’re going to be playing alongside the best,” said Souza. “It’s just great.”

Coyote Creek NJB Wins National Title

Ten 7th and 8th grade boys from San Jose’s Coyote Creek, who began their National Junior Basketball (NJB) season in November as opponents, ended their season as All-Star teammates and National Champions in Santa Ana in April.

The All-Star lineup of Eric “Skinny” Heredia, Connor Cassidy, Russell Jones, Hayden Koch (Bernal Middle School), Kyle Rodrigues (Holy Family), Mike Adams (Chaboya Middle School), Matt Thompson (Thompson School), Brian and Tim Kirkendall and Cory Ventura (John Muir Middle School) comprised the Coyote Creek NJB Division 1 Boys All Star team from Silicon Valley.

Their quest for the title began two weeks after their regular season ended. They first had to qualify for the National Tournament by winning their local tournament and they did so by defeating All-Stars from Evergreen, Almaden and Los Gatos. The Coyote Creek All-Stars had to beat a fast and skilled Los Gatos team twice to advance to the National Tournament in Southern California.

Following a very entertaining opening ceremony at Santa Ana Junior College, the Coyote Creek All-Stars began their pool play at Chapman College with a victory over local favorite Walnut of Santa Ana and returned later in the day to trounce Elk Grove of Sacramento, qualifying the All-Stars for championship bracket play.

In championship bracket play, Coyote Creek needed to win three games to be crowned champions and did with victories over El Toro of San Diego and Bakersfield. The two victories sent the All-Stars to the championship game, where they took on the very athletic All-Stars from Vacaville in a very action-packed and exciting game. The end result: the Coyote Creek All-Stars were victorious 56-44.

Coaches Greg Kirkendall, Greg Rodrigues, Glenn Ventura and Allen Ventura said the MVP’s of the tournament were the parents, relatives and supporters of the Coyote Creek All Star for their constant cheering and support of the boys.