Cal Wins WCWS Opener/Ziegenhirt's Blog

The Cal Bears, the nation's top-ranked softball team,  defeated LSU, 5-3, Thursday afternoon to open the Women's College World Series. Jolene Henderson (Sheldon H.S.) got the win on the mound and sister Danielle had a double and a great defensive play in the 7th inning.


Like she did last year, here's Bears' catcher Lindsey Ziegenhirt with her blog from the WCWS:

Lindsey Ziegenhirt

Tuesday 5/29:
The Bears are headed to the airport! With the team on four different flights, it was definitely an odd travel day to Oklahoma City. Three of the four flights made it with no delay, however the flight with the most Cal Bears got delayed almost 6 hours for various reasons and half of the team arrived at 2:30am Wednesday morning! Not a good beginning for the Women's College World Series.

At 6pm Tuesday evening, all eight participating teams gathered at the Oklahoma National Cowboy museum for a banquet. It was so nice to socialize with teammates from past ASA teams, eat great food and enjoy some southern hospitality. Even though there were only 13 out of 20 Bears present, California was well represented. GO BEARS!

Wednesday 5/30:

The Bears entered the Hall of Fame stadium at noon for two hours of practice on the main field, then showered and put on our uniforms for an ESPN photo and video shoot! After the shoot, we had a delicious team dinner at Toby Keith's Bar and Grill restaurant in the trendy Bricktown area. Game day tomorrow vs LSU! GO BEARS!

Thursday 5/31:

First game of the WCWS for the bears went well! After arriving at the field, we warmed up then took the field against the pesky LSU Tigers. The Tigers scored first, but we came back fighting and won, 5-3. Our coach gave us a quote to think about during this championship week: "Brick walls are built to keep out the weak teams. Only the tough teams break through them."


 Needless to say, LSU was our first brick wall and we broke through. The Bears will face Oklahoma and Keilani Ricketts (Archbishop Mitty H.S.) tomorrow. With the Sooners basically at home (Norman is only 30 minutes from the stadium), we've got a big wall to break through. But we can do it! Roll on...GO BEARS!

Dynamites Finish 10U Softball Season Undefeated

With a playoff win last Friday night, the Dynamites won the 10U league championship with a perfect 13-0 regular season and going unscathed in the playoffs. Congrats to Todd Immoos and the rest of the girls.

The Dynamites, 10U champions

State Track and Field Meet Begins Friday

The 2012 California Track and Field Meet starts Friday at Buchanan High School in Clovis. Our local area is well-represented, but as you can see from the list of the contestants qualified for the two-day meet, our area athletes will have their work cut out for them.


Questionable will be Monterey Trail sprinter Esther Higgwe who has a badly strained hamstring. She won the 100 meters, anchored the winning 4x100 meter relay during last Friday's SJS Masters' Meet, but injured the muscle during the finals of the 200 meters.


Teammate A'Jah Love won that event along with the 400 meters at the Masters.


Stay tuned right here for results from Friday's preliminaries.

More Amazing Water Skiing By Detrick

Congrats to the Elk Grove High School grad. Here's a recent news release: 

During Memorial Day weekend, Elk Grove's Brian Detrick competed in the Atlanta ProAm Waterski Event in Atlanta, Georgia. Thirteen of the top men slalom skiers in the world were competing for the "Winner Take All" purse. Detrick ran five buoys at 38 off on an 11.25 meter rope in the prelims and squeaked into the finals with the 8th and final spot. He set the bar with 2 1/2 @ 39 off on a 10.75 meter rope in the finals.

Italy's Thomas Degasperi, 2011 World Champion, took home the title with 3 @ 41 off on a 10.25 meter rope. He edged out 2012 Master's Champion and currently ranked #1 skier in the world, Nate Smith (2 1/2 @ 41 off). Detrick finished in 5th place. 

This is his first top-5 finish at a world class event in his young career. He will be in California training and skiing in local tournaments for the next two months before he heads to Milwaukee, Calgary, Orlando and Brentwood for more professional events on the world stage. 


In January 2012, Brian was on the six-member United States University Team that competed and won the gold at the FISU University World Water Ski Championships in Santiago, Chile. In March, he went "down under" and placed 3rd at the Australian Open. 


You can follow Brian through his Road Journal at www.BrianDetrick.com, on Twitter - @Brian_Detrick and through his Facebook Fan Page - Brian Detrick Brian Detrick is sponsored by HO Sports, Centurion Boats, WarriorZ Health & Fitness, Designed to Thrive Chiropractic, Alves & Martinez Physical Therapy, NewCity, Skizz Promotions and Jan Detrick - Real Estate Agent.

Davis Leads Fullerton Into NCAA Regionals

J.D. Davis, a 2011 grad from Elk Grove High School, stroked a three-run homer in Fullerton State's 4-1 win Sunday over Long Beach State to win the Big West Conference title and earn a seed in the NCAA Regionals that gets underway this weekend.

They'll face Indiana State Friday to open the Eugene Regional.

Watch the highlights of Sunday's game:

Monterey Trail Girls Do Well In Section Masters Track

The Monterey Trail H.S. Girls' Track and Field team

The Monterey Trail girls' track and field team won three events at Friday's Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Meet held at Elk Grove High School. The 4x100 meter relay team placed first along with sprinter Esther Higgwe in the 100 meters and A'Jah Love in the 200 meters. The Mustangs' William Reyes also grabbed a first place medal in the 3200 meter run.

Cosumnes Oaks' 4x100 meter relay team earned a second along with high jumper Londeen McCovey. They will all advance to the State Track and Field Meet which gets underway this weekend at Buchanan High School in Clovis.

At question, though, is the health of Higgwe, who suffered a hamstring injury during the running of the 200 meter final. Bill Patterson has a great story about that and the Mustangs' track team.

Here's the full results of the Section Masters Track and Field Meet. The top three finishers in each event has qualified for State.

Franklin Takes SJS North Title

Nick Frei's RBI single in the 6th inning proved to be the difference as Franklin defeated Davis, 3-2, in the championship game of the Sac-Joaquin Section's North Division I baseball playoffs. 


Earlier Friday Davis avoided elimination by coming from behind to defeat the Wildcats, 5-3, to force a deciding second game at Sacramento City College. 


In game two Brandon Keup made his first mound appearance of the playoffs and pitched five 1/3 strong innings to earn the win. Kyle Von Ruden came on in relief and gutted out the save. The North title is the first in Franklin baseball history. Now, the Wildcats take on St. Mary's for the SJS D-I title Friday, June 1 and Saturday, June 2 in a best-of-three series to be played at UOP's Klein Family Field in Stockton.


Watch highlights of both games.

Sheldon Clinches 5th Section Softball Banner

The Sheldon Huskies continued its domination of this year's Sac-Joaquin Section's Division I softball playoffs Wednesday by defeating Ponderosa, 8-1, and clinch its fourth SJS banner over the past six seasons. They've won two in a row to go with back-to-back titles in 2007 and 2008. The Huskies also won the championship in 2002.

Meme Moore was the hitting star with three singles, a home run and three RBI's. Nikki Miles had a key two-run single in the first inning to get the Huskies' offense started. Alex Cooper threw a four-hitter for the Huskies.

Over the six games of the playoffs, Sheldon scored an amazing 75 runs. Sheldon was the third-seed out of the Delta River League this year, in fact, had to hope Ponderosa would beat St. Francis in the regular season finale in order to get into the playoffs.

Watch the video which has the championship game highlights, plus my post-game interviews with Moore and Cooper.

Franklin Reaches North Section Title Game

Josh Pigg stroked a two-out, full-count fastball to centerfield in the seventh inning to score Taylor Waters from third to tie the Sac-Joaquin Section playoff game with Davis at six runs each. He then pitched the final three innings in relief of Kyle Von Ruden and sewed up a berth in the North Division I championship game Friday with a 8-6, 8-inning win over the Blue Devils Tuesday night at Sacramento City College.

Vacaville Eliminates EG, 7-3

After a season that featured lethal bats throughout the lineup, it was as though Elk Grove couldn't put two solid hits together at all during the Sac-Joaquin Section's Division I North tournament.

Monday in a consolation contest, the Herd faced a solid pitcher in Vacaville's Anthony Gonsolin and with the exception of Rowdy Tellez' booming 425-foot home run in the first inning, just couldn't muster an offensive attack and was eliminated by the Bulldogs, 7-3.

With Tellez pretty much sidelined except for designated hitter duties, Dom Nunez with a bit of a shoulder issue, Coach Jeff Carlson was pretty much left with having to pitch junior Mikey Wright against Vacaville. The Bulldogs got two sharp hits from Gonsolin and Elway Stanistevan to lead off the game and Wright walked a couple batters then fanned a pair to get out of a fix with just one run surrendered.

Elk Grove - Home of Champions

What a great job our Elk Grove-area spring sports competitors have done, especially the past four days or so!


Start off with Dave Smith throwing a no-hitter on Thursday for Elk Grove baseball. That same day Cosumnes Oaks' girls track and field won the Division IV Section championship. The next day Monterey Trail girls took the Division I Section championship in track and Bradshaw's soccer team won its fourth straight Division VI title.


Saturday, Franklin's girls were runner-ups for Division I soccer, Cosumnes Oaks's squad were runner-ups in Division IV, the Wildcat baseball team dominated Elk Grove's baseball team AND both Elk Grove and Sheldon's softball teams won their first two playoff games.


Then to conclude the weekend Cosumnes River College's baseball team, with a lineup loaded with local high school grads, won the state baseball championship.


Good job, everyone.

CRC Wins Community College Title

Josh Silver (Franklin H.S.) singled in Colby Brenner (Elk Grove H.S.) with the go-ahead run then Phillip Roa (Elk Grove) doubled in Silver in the top of the 12th inning to give Cosumnes River College an 8-6 win over Rio Hondo College Sunday and give the Hawks their first-ever State Community College baseball championship.

Blake Harrison (Galt H.S.) earned the win in relief pitching four innings of shutout ball. Austin Ales (Oak Ridge H.S.) earned the save, pitching the 12th inning. Bryce Shandro (Franklin) was the starting pitcher for the Hawks.

This is quite an accomplishment for Coach Tony Bloomfield and the Hawks. They never played a home game. The college is building a new sports complex on the CRC campus so CRC's "home games" were played at City College, American River College and even a couple were played at Sacramento State.

Here's the game's box score:

CRC has defeated Rio Hondo, 8-6 in 12 innings to win the State CommCollege championship.

Cosumnes Oaks Girls Win Track Title

From Cosumnes Oaks Track coach Jeff Adams:

Cosumnes Oaks Girls' Track Team - 2011 and 2012 D-IV Champs

The Cosumnes Oaks High School Girls Track and Field team won the D4 SJC Section championships for a second consecutive year.  COHS entered the final event tied in points with SVC rival Vista Del Lago.

The tie was set up by a deep COHS team both on the track and in field events. The team of Ciarra Jones, Ericka Banford, Fiyin Olusola and Natsumi Mcgee started the day by winning the 4x100 in a new meet record time of  49.16.  The team then added a victory and fifth place in the 200m, Jones in 25.63 and Banford in 26.85.  The freshman Natsumi Mcgee then added a second in the 100m in 12.40. 

The real difference in this year's team was the additional depth at hurdles and the jumps.  Olusola scored 3rd place finishes in both the 100m hurdles 16.21 and the 300m HH in 46,54 both season record for Olusola.  Tais Marinho-Gomez add a 2nd place in the triple jump at 36'9.5" and a 6th place in the long jump at 16'6".  A newcomer to the team freshman Mishaye Venerable added to the scoring with a 4th place finish in the long jump and the team scoring was rounded out by a 6th place finish by Martina Chase-Rios in the 1600 in 5:39.19

The tie score set up a must win in the final event, the 4x400, for COHS Girls to repeat.  The relay team of Banford, Olusola, Mcgee and Jones won the final event in 4:05.44 setting a second meet record on the day and securing Cosumnes' second consecutive Section Championship

Coach Adams "All in all a real nail biter but that is what track is all about.  Down to the last event winner take all, It doesn't get much better than that.  This team is a special group of women who have turned hard work into consecutive championships."

Franklin's Blake Pitches Wildcats Into D-1 Winners' Bracket

Franklin left-handed pitcher Tyler Blake scattered seven hits and threw a complete game win as the Wildcats defeated Elk Grove, 9-1, Saturday in a second round contest in the Sac-Joaquin Section's Division I North baseball playoffs.

Tyler Blake #24

Blake backed up his pitching performance with a key RBI single in a six-run third inning. Just prior to his hit, Josh Pigg drove in a pair of runs with a single to right. Later in the inning, Kyle VonRuden stroked a  bases-loaded triple off Elk Grove starter and losing pitcher Craig Dowell.

Pigg added another RBI in the sixth inning, scoring Ryan Sarginson who had previously doubled down the right field line.

The Wildcats had ten hits in the game and have set up a winners' bracket game against Davis, another Delta Valley Conference foe, on Tuesday night at Sacramento City College. The Blue Devils defeated Vacaville, 4-3 in eight innings, in an earlier game Saturday.

Franklin head coach Bryan Kilby said he will send VonRuden to the mound to face Davis.

Elk Grove will now take on Vacaville in an elimination game Monday night.

CRC Plays For State Title Today

Cosumnes River College's baseball team needs to win one, just one game today against Rio Hondo College to grab its first-ever state community college championship. Saturday the Hawks defeated Sierra College, 12-8, as Colby Brenner had four RBI's and Josh Silver had a pair of big hits.

Later in the day, Sierra was eliminated from the double-elimination championships by Rio, 4-1.

Rio has lost only four games all season, one of them was to CRC on Friday to open the state championships, being played in Bakersfield.

Watch my Twitters today for updates on this game.

D-1 softball playoffs - Elk Grove 8, Pondo 4. Sheldon 18, Tokay 1

D6 soccer championship final: Bradshaw Christian 4, Forest Lake Christian 0.

It's a final here at Lincoln! St Mary's beats Franklin-EG 2-1 in the SJS D1 girls soccer championship.

Division I Track and Field Results

The Sac-Joaquin Section's Division I Track and Field Championships were Friday night at Elk Grove High School. It was a big night for Monterey Trail girls as Esther Higgwe took both the 100- and 200-meter dashes and she anchored the winning 4x100 and the fourth-place 4x400 meter relay teams.


The Mustang Girls have also won the team championship, the school's first-ever Section championship.






Here is how our locals did: (the grade of each student is next to their name)

Big League Dreams, Elk Grove?

Please read the story online today on Elk Grove News.net.

Will a sign like this soon adorn an Elk Grove sports facility?

They are reporting that the City is closer to contracting with Big League Dreams to manage a city facility that will contain a baseball/softball complex.

Smith Hurls No-Hitter, EG Wins Playoff Opener

Rowdy Tellez got the start on the mound for the Elk Grove Thundering Herd in its Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoff opener against Napa. He walked the first Indian batter and on the first pitch to the next batter, he stumbled off the mound, holding his throwing elbow in pain. He over-extended it.

David Smith

Head Coach Jeff Carlson pointed to David Smith to come off the bench and begin warm-ups.  From that point on, the game was all Smith's. The junior right hander threw the school's second-ever playoff no-hitter as he went the rest of the way, striking out nine and leading Elk Grove to a 1-0 win over Napa. 


Smith walked two batters, one of them was the first man he faced in the first inning. The closest Napa got to a hit came in the third inning, but center fielder Derek Hill laid out horizontal on a line drive hit in the gap and grabbed the ball off the grass tops.


The only other no-hitter thrown by a Herd pitcher was in 2005 when Eric Otterson defeated Yuba City in the Division I playoffs. Last season when a part of the junior varsity squad, Smith's pitching coach was Otterson. 


Elk Grove's only run came in the first inning when Nick Madrigal drew a walk to lead off the game, went all the way to third when the Napa catcher couldn't find the ball along the backstop after a wild pitch and then scored on Dom Nunez' ground ball out.


The Herd now plays Delta Valley Conference rival Franklin on Saturday at 3 p.m. In the other  game in the double-elimination tournament Vacaville will take on Davis, a 5-2 winner Thursday over Oak Ridge.


Listen to the post-game interviews with Carlson and Smith :

More Honors For The Hendersons

Micke Henderson better find more shelf space for softball awards won by her girls Danielle and Jolene.

Jolene Henderson

Danielle Henderson

Today it was announced Jolene was named the Pitcher of the Year in the Pac-12 for the second time while Danielle was name to the All-Freshman team.

Their Cal teammate Valerie Arioto was selected as the player of the year. Read about this honor for the Pac-12 champions. Cal, 50-4 on the season and ranked #1 in the nation, opens the NCAA Tournament at home against Ione Friday.

Both girls played high school ball at Sheldon.

Day Of Upsets - PG and Jesuit Both Lose

The opening day of the Sac-Joaquin Section's North Division Playoffs can be described with one word - shocking.

The two top teams in the Delta River League, and perhaps the two best teams this season, Pleasant Grove and Jesuit, were both defeated in the single-elimination opening round Wednesday.

In the first game, Eagle ace pitcher Zack Stilwell was tossed around by Franklin in the early innings and the Wildcats upset the DRL champions, 11-5. Stilwell hit three batters, walked three and gave up three hits as Franklin scored five times in the first inning.

In the second contest of the day at Sacramento City College, Jesuit's Logan James was out dueled by Vacaville's Elway Stantistevan, who gave up six hits to squeak out a 3-2 win.

CRC Wins Super Regional, Heads To State

CRC Coach Tony Bloomfield

Cosumnes River College’s baseball team has reached the California Community College Baseball Championships. Sunday in the Northern California Bracket B Super Regionals the Hawks defeated the host San Mateo squad, the top seed in all of Northern California, 13-3, for the chance to play this weekend in Bakersfield. 


San Mateo forced a second game Sunday in the Super Regional finals by defeating the Hawks, 7-6 in 11 innings. Down 6-4 heading into the final inning, CRC’s Jake Schu drove in two runs on a single in the top of the ninth inning to put the game into extras. In the deciding game two, San Mateo scored three runs in the first inning and was shut out the rest of the way. Colby Brenner drove in four runs while Josh Silver, Luke McDonald and Schu each had two RBI’s. Nick Smart pitched the first six innings for the win. 


Last Friday the Hawks opened Super Regional play with a 10-4 win over Ohlone College. Silver and Garrett Heisinger each drove in two runs. On Saturday the Hawks defeated San Mateo College, 8-1. Silver, a graduate of Franklin High School, was again the hitting star with three doubles. Austin Ales pitched eight innings of four-hit baseball. 


The State Community College championships begin May 18 at Bakersfield College. The event will be a four-team, double-elimination tournament to determine a state baseball champion.


CRC will open Friday against Orange Coast Community College with a 36-5-1 record. The other Nor Cal team to qualify, Sierra College, will face Rio Hondo College (38-3).

Busy Week Ahead For Local Prepsters

Besides the start of playoffs for local baseball and softball (see Saturday's post), other local spring athletes are winding down the school year with their post-seasons:

Golf:

The Sac-Joaquin Section's Masters' Tournament will be Monday at the Reserve in Stockton. None of our local teams qualified, but Pleasant Grove's Michael Grenz and Elk Grove's Connor Scott will compete individually for a spot in the State Tournament next weekend.

Girls' Soccer:

Tuesday in the Section quarterfinals, Franklin will host Vintage.

Boys' Volleyball:

All local teams have been knocked out of the playoffs.

Track and Field:

Quite a number of locals made the Division I meet which begins Tuesday at Elk Grove High School. As a team, Monterey Trail looks to be the strongest, especially on the girls' side. But, Davis has a very strong boys' and girls' squad, especially in the longer runs and in the field events. Finals in all events will be Thursday.

Softball/Baseball Playoff Brackets Set

The Sac-Joaquin Section's Division I softball playoffs open Monday. Here's the Division I brackets. In "Play-in" games Tuesday, Sheldon travels to Tracy and Franklin will host Atwater. Those winners advance to what is typically called "Suicide Saturday" where all D-I clubs play in a "must-win" contest. The victors then advance into a double-elimination bracket.


All games will be played May 19 at the Sacramento Softball Complex at Watt Ave. and I-80. 


The other local teams participating are Elk Grove, the #2 seed from the Delta Valley Conference and Pleasant Grove, the #2 seed from the Delta River League. 


In Division IV, Cosumnes Oaks, the #2 seed from the Sierra Valley Conference, will play Ceres Thursday at the Arnaiz Softball Complex in Stockton.


In baseball, everything begins for the North Division I playoffs Monday when Franklin, #3 seed out of the DVC, takes on the Monticello Empire League third-place team, Vintage, in Yountville. The winner then advances to face the Delta River League champion Pleasant Grove Eagles on either May 16 at 1 p.m. or May 17 at 4 p.m. (Graduation ceremonies are messing with the scheduling of the games, set to be at Sacramento City College)


Elk Grove will take on Napa, the MEL champion, on Thursday at 7 p.m. 


The opening round winners will advance into the double-elimination portion of the bracket on Saturday.

Higgwe Dominates In DVC Track Meet

Elk Grove schools gave a spectacular performance at the Delta Valley Conference Championships on Wednesday, May 9th. Esther Higgwe of Monterey Trail placed first at 12.50 seconds in the Varsity Women’s 100 Meter Dash, and Chinyere Dike of Franklin took third at 12.90. Elk Grove High’s Armando Martinez came in first in the Boys 400 meters with a time of 50.56. View meet results here:

2012 DVC Championships

Minnatee's Slam Lifts PG Into Softball Playoffs

Freshman Kaylen Minnatee hit a two-out grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Pleasant Grove a come-from-behind 4-2 win over Sheldon in the Delta River League regular season finale. The win combined with Ponderosa's 1-0 victory over St. Francis gave the Eagles (17-9, 7-3 DRL) the number two seed in the DRL heading into next week's playoff. The Bruins, with their win, took the league championship.

The loss put Sheldon (16-9, 6-4 DRL) into a third place tie with the Troubadours, but because the Huskies defeated them twice this season, Sheldon will take the DRL third seed.

Listen to my post-game interview with Eagle head coach Chris Murray and with Minnatee.

Pleasant Grove Takes DRL Title

Pleasant Grove won its first league title in baseball Tuesday by defeating five-time defending champion Jesuit, 5-3. Ian Chandler drove in three runs, including two in the sixth inning to give the Eagles the lead. Tyler Rathjen pick up the win on the mound for Pleasant Grove (13-1 DRL, 21-4 overall).

Watch the game highlights and listen to head coach Rob Rinaldi's post-game interview.

Monday's Scores: PG Beats Jesuit In Gm.1

Baseball:


The first game in the three-game set to determine the Delta River League championship went to Pleasant Grove Monday,  6-5. Jesuit had just scored five runs in the top of the seventh inning to grab a 5-3 advantage before the Eagles scored three in their half of the inning to win.  Matt Stafford stroked a single up the middle to score the deciding run.


Logan James of Jesuit and Zack Stilwell of Pleasant Grove battled on the mound through six innings. Stafford picked up the win by pitching the seventh inning in relief.


The two clubs play today at Jesuit H.S. at 4 p.m.


In the DVC, Davis won at least a tie for the conference championship by beating Franklin, 5-2. Ben Eckels pitched a nifty game and had three RBI's to support his cause for the Blue Devils. Those two teams play again Wednesday. 


Other scores:


Laguna Creek 19, Monterey Trail 0 (5)
Lodi 11, Bradshaw Christian 10
[Note: we did not get the final score between Elk Grove and Grant, just that the Herd won]


Sac-Joaquin Section North Division I Golf Tournament:

18 holes at Cameron Park, par 72

Team results: Jesuit 394, Oak Ridge 397, Vacaville 422 (Vacaville advances on tiebreaker), Davis 422, Elk Grove 441, Napa 441.

Individual results: Pereira, Ponderosa, 70; Tavelaro, OR, 75; Corfee, J, 76; Peil, Ponderosa 77; Beverly, Armijo, 77; Sandoval, J, 78.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/05/08/4473112/mondays-high-school-sports-results.html#storylink=cpy

Cal Softball Sweeps, Again

Lindsey Ziegenhirt, after stroking
a two-run homer Sunday

Cal’s softball team will likely win 50 games this season. The Bears swept Oregon State this past weekend in a three-game set to go 48-3 on the season, 19-2 in the Pac 12. There’s one more conference series this next weekend, against Arizona State, and the NCAA regionals begin the following weekend. 

Sheldon’s Jolene Henderson has shared the pitching duties with Valerie Arioto, who stands to be the NCAA player of the year with the kind of season she is having.  A senior from Pleasanton, Arioto is batting .396 with 21 home runs and 55 RBI’s, plus an amazing slugging percentage of 1.006. She leads Cal in all those categories. On the mound she is 19-2 with a 1.29 ERA.

Henderson, who was a first-team All-American a year ago, will likely repeat this season with the kind of numbers she has on the mound. She’s 29-1 with a 1.10 ERA. She has struck out 226 batters in 190.2 innings pitched.

Her Sheldon teammate, Lindsey Ziegenhirt, homered in Sunday’s 4-1 win over Oregon State. She has been catching most of the games this season for Cal. She has not committed an error this season in 226 chances.

Freshman Danielle Henderson, Jolene’s younger sister, has started 49 of Cal’s 50 games, mostly at third base and is batting .300 with 14 home runs. 

DVC/DRL Baseball Set For Interesting Conclusions

This coming week has the word "interesting" written all over it when it comes to local high school baseball.

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Jesuit and Pleasant Grove face off for the Delta River League championship in a three game set. Oak Ridge has landed the #3 seed for the post-season out of the the DRL.

In the Delta Valley Conference Davis plays Franklin on Monday and Wednesday. The Wildcats (10-3) could win a share of the conference title  if Franklin sweeps the Blue Devils this week, assuming Elk Grove (also 10-3) wins both of its games against Grant, too.

Davis (11-2) will win the DVC outright and the #1 seed in the Sac-Joaquin Section's Division I North tournament if they sweep Franklin. A split would mean Davis and Elk Grove would share the DVC championship, again, assuming the Herd beats Grant twice this week. If this happens, Davis would still have the #1 seed and Elk Grove #2 because the Blue Devils took two of the three contests against the Herd.

Friday's 15-10 win over Elk Grove not only was ugly but revealed some pitching weaknesses on this year's Herd team. Rowdy Tellez pitched six pretty strong innings and Elk Grove had a 10-8 lead going into the top of the seventh inning. Jordan Koch, Mikey Wright and Mason Crump then gave up seven runs on only one hit to Davis. Walks, hit batsmen and misplayed balls abounded for the Herd in a dreadful half-inning.

For the game, the Blue Devils got just five hits and the Herd committed seven errors.

New CIF Transfer Rule Passes

Citing growing number of school transfer requests and mounting litigation costs, the California Interscholastic Federation Friday passed a new regulation that addressed eligibility of student/athletes who switch schools.

The CIF, which governs high school athletics in California, voted 114-21 to allow an athlete to transfer schools but the student would be ineligible for the first 30 days of their season. According the language of the new rule,  fall sport athletes would become eligible Oct. 1, winter sport athletes on Dec. 31 and the athlete participating in a spring sport could participate in games beginning April 1.

The new rule is to overcome the subjectivity of hardship cases, according to Elk Grove Unified School District athletic director Jim Smrekar. Plus, he added, there would no longer be a "one free pass" transfer after the student/athlete's freshman year.

In the past, CIF rules stated a student/athlete would be ineligible in their sport for one full year if they transferred schools without changing residences.

Smrekar also said the participant would be fully eligible for play in the sport if there is a legitimate change-of-residence.

According to CIF officials, the number of transfers has increased by 38% in the past four years.

DRL Softball Race Yet To Be Determined

It will all come down to Wednesday. Four Delta River League softball teams vying for three spots in the Sac-Joaquin Section's Division I playoffs.

On Friday, Ponderosa pitcher Paris Hallums tossed a 3-0 shutout at Sheldon. That combined with wins by St. Francis and Pleasant Grove means everything rides on Wednesday's outcome. Ponderosa, at 7-2, is in first place and can win the title outright when it takes on 6-3 St. Francis at the Troubadour's field.

Sheldon (6-3) will face Pleasant Grove (6-3) Wednesday with the winner in the playoffs and the loser possibly out.

There are lots of interesting scenarios but, let's look at who would be in and who would be out:

Ponderosa: Win - DRL champions, #1 seed
                   Lose - still in because the Sheldon/Pleasant Grove loser will be 6-4
Sheldon: Win-in the playoffs, possibly the #1 seed if Ponderosa loses to St. Francis
                Lose - out if St. Francis beat Ponderosa, in if Ponderosa beats St. Francis
St. Francis: Win - in the playoffs, possibly a #1 seed if Pleasant Grove beats Sheldon
                   Lose - out if Pleasant Grove beats Sheldon, if Sheldon beats the Eagles, it may be a coin flip between the Troubadours and Pleasant Grove to decide the DRL #3 seed because they split in the two head-to-head games.
Pleasant Grove: Win - in the playoffs, but split with St. Francis and Pondo so likely a #2 seed.
                           Lose - out if St. Francis beats Ponderosa, if the Bruins win, they'd have to win the coin flip with the Troubadours.

** I hope the DRL allows Pleasant Grove to play St. Francis in a one-game elimination contest. Coin flips stink, especially for the loser.

Thursday Scoreboard

Before I get to the scores, read Bill Patterson's story in the Bee about the possibility the CIF will look at a different rule, much more liberal, in dealing with athletes who transfer from one school to another.

With open enrollment in Elk Grove, we're finding a "bunching" of the top baseball players in about three EGUSD schools, softball players are pretty much in about three schools. All the wrestlers seem to attend Elk Grove. Basketball players are moving into the city to attend Sheldon.

Bill's story talks about how CIF is now saying short of a legitimate change of residence, there will be a 30-day ineligibility for any athlete who does transfer. This means no more "free passes" for the athlete who goes in-between their freshman and sophomore years to a new school.

Now to yesterday's scores:

Wednesday's Scoreboard

This was a big day for both baseball and softball around Elk Grove. Here's the scores I've had reported as of 9:30 p.m.:

Baseball:

Laguna Creek 5, Grant 4 (8 inns.) - sophomore Anthony Poindexter doubled off Grant ace Cameron Avila-Leeper to lead off the 8th and scored on Zachary Smart's double.

Franklin 12, Monterey Trail 1 - (6 inns.)

Elk Grove 16, Davis 2 - Rowdy Tellez had a grand slam and Derek Hill stroked two homers, and almost a third, off Blue Devils' ace Ben Eckels. Read about it in the Davis Enterprise. The Herd is now tied with Davis for first place.

Softball:

Delta River League had a three way tie for first between St. Francis, Sheldon and Ponderosa going into today's games.

Ponderosa 10, Folsom 1

Sorry, no report yet from St. Francis vs. Sheldon

EG Win DVC Golf Title

Delta Valley Conference

18 holes at The Reserve, par 72

Team results: Elk Grove 419, Davis 426, Franklin 447, Monterey Trail 484, Grant forfeit, Laguna Creek forfeit.

Individual results:  Patrick Levin, EG, 77; Tam, F, 79; Klein, D, 80; Scott, EG, 80; Chen, D, 82; Cain, EG, 82

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/05/02/4458590/tuesdays-high-school-scoreboard.html#storylink=cpy

Stilwell - "I've pitched better"

His coach, Rob Rinaldi, told him in his 29 years of coaching, he’s never witnessed nor heard of a 21-up, 21-down pitching gem in this area. Zack Stilwell, Pleasant Grove’s left-handed ace, needed only 77 pitches to strike out 14 batters and mow down the Ponderosa lineup for a 4-0 win on Monday. Believe it or not, he said he’s pitched better in other games. 

“I try to hold myself to a higher standard and I’m pretty hard on myself, especially when it comes to pitching because I know what I can do,” he said. “Yes, I have pitched better before.”

He went to a three-ball count to batters twice in the game. The closest Ponderosa came to getting a hit came in the second inning.

“I threw a change-up to a guy that rolled over on him and he hit a slow chopper between the five- and six-hole, JQ (Folena) came out of nowhere, back-handed it and threw the guy out,” Stilwell said.

As the game was nearing the final couple innings, Stilwell said none of his teammates talked about what was happening on the mound.

“I was hoping no one would be talking about it,” Stilwell said. “They didn’t. I was up on the (dugout) fence with them, just like normal. As I went out (to the mound) I just didn’t think about it. I just went about my game and threw a perfect game.”

Elk Grove’s Eric Otterson threw a no-hitter during the 2005 playoffs against Yuba City, but no one seems to remember a perfect game ever thrown by a local prepster.

Mon. Scoreboard/Stilwell Tosses Perfect Game

Baseball:

Pleasant Grove 4, Ponderosa 0 - Zack Stilwell threw a perfect game, the season's first no-hitter by a local pitcher. He fanned 14 batters. JQ Folena and Michael Yanez each homered in the DRL win.

Zack Stilwell, Pleasant Grove pitcher

No one around seems to know who last threw a full seven-inning perfect game in a high school contest locally.

Jesuit 5, Sheldon 3 - The Marauders scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning off Sheldon pitcher Jake Lorigan. Louis Mejia homered for Jesuit.

Franklin 7, Grant 2 - Brandon Keup picked up the win as Kyle Zanzi homered for the Wildcats.

Davis 10, Monterey Trail 0 (5 inns.) - The Blue Devils remain atop the DVC standings at 10-1.

Softball:

Sheldon 3, Elk Grove 2 - Alexis Cooper threw a three-hitter and went four-for-four at the plate.

Golf:

Delta River League Tournament
18 holes at Ancil Hoffman, par 72

Team results: Jesuit 390, Pleasant Grove 403, Oak Ridge 406; Folsom 416, Ponderosa 427, Sheldon 483.

Individual results: Pereira, P, 70; Grenz, PG, 71; Vander Dussen, PG, 74; Burke, J, 76.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/05/01/4454985/mondays-college-and-high-school.html#storylink=cpy