April 2, 2007

Sports

Jones’ single beats Leland

Leigh baseball battles in Mount Hamilton Division

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

Leigh junior Nick Jones drove in a first-inning run and it was enough to stop perennial Mount Hamilton Division contender Leland 1-0 on the road March 27.

Junior Jeff Ferguson rips a double in action versus the Chargers.

The win preserved a first-place tie with division newbie Live Oak (10-3, 7-2), while Leland fell to fifth place.

“Our defense carried us,” said Leigh coach Noah Ochoa. “If our defense executes, we win.”

If the Chargers (6-7. 5-4) had prevailed, Leigh (10-4, 7-2) would have become engaged in a four-way tie with Pioneer (8-6, 4-5), Leland and Santa Teresa (6-5, 6-3), overall.

Despite 10 Longhorn hits, Leigh could only muster the early score, a variation from the style that has polished the Longhorns game record this season.

“It was kind of a change of events for us,” said Ochoa. “We had been hitting the ball well and scoring a lot of runs. Our struggles this season have been in the field.”

Ochoa said that he had filled the practices prior to the game with lots of ground ball repetitions and game situations in the outfield.

The work paid off, but crafty pitching made it easy.

Hurler Chris Balcom-Miller ignited Leigh versus the Chargers, throwing a complete game and the shutout for his fourth win of the year.

“Chris is our main guy right now,” said Ochoa.

Balcom-Miller currently possesses a stingy 1.631 earned run average on the mound, which was severely inflated, following a single outing in which the senior surrendered five runs in two innings versus West Catholic Athletic league power Valley Christian on March 9.

Sans Valley, Balcom-Miller has only allowed three earned runs this season. He is also Leigh’s second leading hitter with 20 hits and a .455 batting average.

Jones, meanwhile, who batted in the only run versus Leland, is currently hitting .371.

Ochoa did not realize that his work in the first inning would win the game. With 10 hits, the coach anticipated many runs.
“We struck out four times with runners in scoring position,” said Ochoa. “We had a lot of hits, but they weren’t all that timely.”

Leigh’s next best scoring opportunity came in the fourth inning when junior Jeff Ferguson led off with a double he ripped to center field.

Leigh senior Chris Balcom-Miller heaves in a fastball versus Leland on March 27. Balcom-Miller currently posseses a sub-2.00 earned run average and is 4-1. Photos by Justin Petersen

Ferguson, senior Kyle Jury, junior Mathew Brady, sophomore catcher Tyler Christian and second-year varsity player Michael Pittman make up a team that suffered only five defeats on junior varsity in the past two years.

Ochoa commented that his most difficult task will be to harness his players’ talent.

“I knew we would be talented coming in,” said Ochoa. “My question is that we are young.”

Part of the maturation process is scheduling tough non-league match-ups. Noting that West Catholic staple Saint Francis has ended Leigh playoff runs in consecutive years, Ochoa arranged the meeting with Valley Christian to familiarize his group to post season play early.

Despite falling to Valley 9-1 in the meeting, Ochoa said that his players carried confidence away from the vast Warrior facility in the foothills of South San Jose.

The highlight of the year, however, has been a 12-9 victory at Pioneer on March 2.

As the sun fell, Leigh battled with two outs and overcame a two run deficit.

“We ended up scoring five runs with two outs,” said Ochoa.

Yet, based on league bylaws, the inning would not stand unless Pioneer batted before the game was called on account of darkness. Ochoa orchestrated a quick out and the final outcome was recognized as a Leigh victory.

“It seems like we still have a million games to play,” said Ochoa. “The real highlight is hopefully to come.”

Brady is leading the Longhorns in batting currently, with a .489 batting average. He has scored 15 runs and recorded 22 hits.

Jury, meanwhile leads the team with 14 runs batted in.

This year’s triple-play: Another baseball season, another raffle

By Carol Rosen
Editor

Frank and Elva Acevedo have done it again. For the third time in a year the couple, who own Elva’s Coffee Stop which is becoming a fixture on Lincoln Avenue, have held a raffle. This time the proceeds were divided among the three Little Leagues in this area—Cambrian Park, Willow Glen and Lincoln Glen.

The Cambrian Little League’s opening day was full of excitement, with a blue sky and tropical breezes.

The total of $1,164 was split evenly between the three leagues “because our customers come from many neighborhoods,” Elva said. While her customers contributed more than $500, Cambrian Little League President Mike Cunniff raised another $600 from parents and sports fans on opening day.

Among the generous contributors to this year’s raffle are Angel Reyes of Fireside Realty, Kerry Flynn of The Tutoring Club and Jim Brooks of Disposal Management Services.

Winners were drawn at the at the Cambrian league’s opening-day ceremony. They include Tony Piazza , Karen Sorensen, J. Livermore, Jerry La Conte, and. J. Garduno.

The prizes included courtside tickets to the Golden State Warriors, Sharks tickets, A's tickets and a three-day stay at the Harbourside House in British Colombia.

The two grand prizes, won by Tony Piazza and Karen Sorensen. They got to choose between the courtside Warriors tickets valued at $900 or the three-day stay at the Harbourside House in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Last year, the Acevedos helped the Cambrian Park Little League raise money to replace its stolen lawnmower. At Thanksgiving time, the couple raised $800 from customers to buy turkeys and potatoes, which they donated to Martha’s Kitchen.

It appears the couple is out to get the title of Willow Glen’s “Best Community-Involved Business.”

Last year, the Cambrian league’s opening day was cold and blustery. Many of those attending were covered with jackets and raincoats. This year, however, the sky was blue and the breezes were tropical, the ceremonies were quite enjoyable.

Cunniff started off the 2007 opening-day ceremony with great energy. He spoke of the great improvements to the field including the new scoreboard, the new tractor and new bleachers with shade. The funds this year will go toward the purchase of a new pitching machine.

It was a great day for the start of the season and it also signaled some changes at the Coffee Stop, which is branching out. Offerings now go beyond coffees and pastries to include a variety of sandwiches, soup and new this month: panini sandwiches. The Coffee Stop is open seven days a week from 5:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday; 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. It’s located at 2206 Lincoln Ave.

Willow Glen boys’ volleyball drops close loss in league opener

Rams drops 3-2 loss at home to league foe Westmont; match
features strong play by two perennial league MVP candidates

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Editor

The Willow Glen boys’ volleyball team opened up Mt. Hamilton Division play with a close 3-2 loss at home to Westmont on March 27, which featured a pair of league MVP candidates in Rams’ middle blocker Tobin Chase and Warriors outside hitter Jon Ng-Parish.

Willow Glen's Bob Paine, left, and Tobin Chase go up for a block during a league-opening 3-2 loss to Westmont on March 27. Photos by Dan Miranda

While Rams head coach Jef Wind said he was disappointed to start league play with a loss, he also quickly credited the efforts of both his team and his opponent in Westmont and its’ head coach, Jeff Poppinga.

“I give it up to Poppinga,” Wind said of Westmont’s head coach. “He coached a good game and those guys worked hard, so it’s all on Poppinga’s plate. They did a great job. I can’t say anything bad about my team. They did an amazing job tonight. They played defense like nobody’s business. We just came up short.”

After surging back from a 2-1 deficit to take game four by a lopsided 25-13 score, the Rams couldn’t muster a quick start to game five. Instead, both teams battled closely in the early going, before Westmont climbed back from an early 6-4 deficit with an 8-1 scoring run to take a 12-7 lead, getting a pair of kills from Brandon Beville, as well as a pair of key blocks from Danny Nelson during that span. Both teams then traded points, battling to a 14-10 Westmont lead before Ng-Parish put the finishing touches on the 3-2 with a kill to seal game five.

Poppinga said the best team on the court doesn’t always decide fifth games in a match. Instead, it’s the team that hits its stride at the right time and gets a few lucky bounces along the way.

“We were lucky enough to get hot,” Poppinga said of game five. “We let game four go and I talked to my kids during the timeout and said, ‘hey, this is game five and it’ll be over in 10 minutes, leave it out on the floor. Let it all go and when you walk out of this gym, win or lose, you know you left it out there.’”

Wind agreed with Poppinga’s sentiments.

“They got a couple of quick breaks and quick blocks on us that they weren’t getting earlier on in the match,” Wind said of game five. “That put us down right away. I would say game five is always dangerous to go into, but having said that, these are both quality teams.”

The Rams went down 2-1 earlier in the match letting game three slip through their collective fingers after holding a late 21-14 lead. Westmont battled back however, going on a 10-3 scoring stretch to tie the game at 24-24, before eventually taking the game three win by a 27-25 score. Winning game three, Wind said, could’ve been the difference maker for the Rams.

“Game three was the one where we were up and we had them,” Wind said. “We should’ve killed it and put it down. …The boys learned a lesson, but they should leave with their heads up.”

The game also featured league MVP candidates in Westmont’s Ng-Parish and Willow Glen’s Chase. Chase finished the night leading the Rams with 16 kills and also recorded five blocks, while Ng-Parish led all scorers with 18 kills. Ng-Parish also had five blocks. Wind said that both players are similar in many aspects, having seen both play for him during the off-season for Central Coast Volleyball Club.

Willow Glen's Billy Hahn passes the ball during a league-opening 3-2 loss to Westmont on March 27.

“I would say that the heart of each team lies in both of those guys,” Wind said of Chase and Ng-Parish. “I honestly thought both guys cancelled each other out. It was the other five guys who played ball.”

The similarities, Wind said, lie not only on the court, but by the way each player holds a leadership position on their respective teams.

“He’s a good leader and the boys believe in him,” Wind said of Chase. “But so is Jon (Ng-Parish). Jon’s a great leader and a great kid. Knowing him from my club team, he doesn’t give up. Either one of them made the plays when they needed to.”

Poppinga concurred, adding that while he hopes to see his own player get the MVP award, both Ng-Parish and Chase are equally deserving of the coveted title.

“I definitely want Jon to win it,” Poppinga said of Ng-Parish’s league MVP hopes. “…Jon can also produce. He passes, he sets, he blocks, he can do it all. He’s just an all-around great player. Tobin is a front-row player who’s a great hitter, blocker and server. Maybe this year it would be nice to have a co-MVP. It would be deserving for both guys.”

As for the rest of the league competition this season, Wind said 2007 should see quite a few close battles in league play, citing strong teams in Westmont, Leland and Leigh.

“I would say this year will be the hardest year,” Wind said of the competition his team will face in league play this season. “I guarantee you’ll see battles to five (games) for everybody. …I think the West Catholic (league) and the BVAL are the two strongest leagues this year. You can’t get away from it. There are some amazing teams. It’s going to be a battle of wills.”