Before Bishop Diego baseball has already clinched the Frontier League title and coach Nick Katzenstein said his team is looking ahead to the CIF playoffs.
The Cardinals stopped by the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon on Monday before beating Santa Clara to improve to 9-0 the next day. The team will get the chance to close its league season undefeated on Thursday in a rematch against the Saints.
With a dangerous pitching lineup that includes Will Goodwin and Gabe Arteaga, the team won a rainout makeup game last week.
“We did everything we could to lose that game, committing five errors,” Katzenstein said. But the pitching performance of Will Goodwin carried the team through.
Katzenstein brought Goodwin, headed to Chapman next year, to Monday’s luncheon. He also noted the play of San Jose State-bound David Gladish and junior Gabe Arteaga. The undefeated coach didn’t bring along stats for the trio, since the three have become luncheon-regulars due to their consistent production on the field.
“Each of these young men bring a special level of leadership to the program,” Katzenstein said. “They set the tone for what it takes to compete every day.”
BASEBALL
Dos Pueblos
The Chargers were able to beat Buena twice last week in 6-2 and 3-0 wins.
Ryan Fish has picked up a number of positions, from shortstop to first base to the outfield. Fish made some clutch plays earlier this season against St. Bonaventure. He will be heading to the University of Washington with a GPA “way above” 4.0, Hendricks noted.
Junior Nico Martinez has an “electric arm,” Hendricks added. He currently leads the team in saves and took the plate in a number of games this year.
Last year, Martinez was hit in the face by a pitch, a blow that resonated this season when Hendricks noticed he was struggling with his vision. After getting a glasses prescription, his hitting has swiftly returned, Hendricks said.
Dos Pueblos tied for the Channel League title with Santa Barbara after topping San Marcos on Tuesday.
Santa Barbara High
The Dons won five straight last week, including a big win against Newbury Park and a three-game sweep of Ventura across three consecutive days. In their regular season closer, the team grabbed a 3-2 win against Santa Ynez.
With a 10-2 league posting, Santa Barbara qualified for the playoffs for the 20th straight season.
Seven of the team’s nine starters are underclassmen. Down at the freshman level, the junior squad won the league.
“The future looks bright,” coach Donny Warrecker said.
Junior Jackson Hamilton had a rough go in winter ball, but he rebounded strong by “working on his mental game,” Warrecker said. Hamilton threw out eight in six innings last week against Ventura, shutting out all batters from the mound.
Derek True, another junior, hardly pitched at all last year on the junior varsity team. During fall and winter ball, he came on as a closer for the varsity squad.
This spring, True was the team’s number one starter.
“We always knew he had a really good arm,” Warrecker said.
Against Ventura on Friday, True threw a complete game shutout of the Cougars and finished the regular season with a 1.05 ERA.
Santa Barbara, which tied with Dos Pueblos for the Channel League title, has a bye week ahead of CIF playoffs. Pairings will be announced Monday.
UCSB
It was a 2-2 week for the Gauchos, who beat Cal State Bakersfield before going 1-2 in a weekend series against Northridge.
Stevie Ledesma threw a complete game shutout with no walks in a 12-0 win against CSUN on Saturday. It was the first such performance by a Gaucho in a couple of years.
UCSB heads to Long Beach this weekend for a three-game series.
SOFTBALL
San Marcos
San Marcos (16-8, 7-3) rested up last week with a bye.
“Perfect week this week for us, numbers-wise, because we didn’t play,” assistant coach Emily Dietz said.
Dietz brought two of what she called her most competitive players.
Morgan Cunnison and Morgan Jensen are “super sweet and well-mannered” off the field, but on the field they are “insane,” Dietz said.
Cunnison, a junior, filled in at leadoff hitter following Claire Early’s injury and has competed hard, Dietz said.
Sophomore Jensen has hit .460 and has a near perfect fielding percentage. Her softball IQ is very high, Dietz noted.
San Marcos is guaranteed a playoff spot and clinched second-place in league with a win over Dos Pueblos on Monday.
Dos Pueblos
The Chargers lost to San Marcos on Monday after struggling throughout last week against Buena.
San Diego State-bound Lauren Gerkin picks up everyone on the team, coach Jon Uyesaka said.
“If everyone on the team was like that, we’d have a one-loss, undefeated season,” Uyesaka added.
Sophomore Allison Gasper starts at leftfield and leads off the Charger batting order. Currently, she is top three in on-base percentage, batting average and runs.
TENNIS
Dos Pueblos
“Down but not out — or should I say, ‘last, but not out,’” said Liz French, head coach of the Chargers tennis team.
While Dos Pueblos logged only one win in Channel League play this season, the Chargers’ top doubles team, identical twin brothers Ryan and Christian Hodosy, had a monster season that concluded with a run to the Channel League final.
“We looked for the silver linings wherever they were,” French added. “Our players did not let down, even through numerous losses. As underdogs, we had nothing to lose — our captains kept the fire going.”
In the league semifinal, Hodosys took down the no. 1 seed, San Marcos’ Dominik Stefanov/Daniel Newton, in a thrilling three-set comeback win. Their run ended against Ventura’s top duo in the title match, but the two made Dos Pueblos’ season “memorable and historical,” French said.
“They are our Cinderella pair,” she continued. “They stayed under the radar, undistracted and basically unknown.” The Hodosys are normally immersed in basketball but that all changed when they gained a berth in prestigious annual Ojai Tournament. It was their first ever individual tournament appearance.
The twins are not done with their season. They will compete in the CIF Sectional tournament on May 24 at Carpinteria. In the fall, they will head to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
TRACK AND FIELD
Santa Barbara
Dons coach Moki Nicario brought two players to the luncheon: Natani Drati and Cassandra Gordon.
Nicario praised both of them for being mentors to the younger athletes on the team.
Drati will compete in the 200 and Gordon in the 4×100 at the CIF preliminaries this weekend.
San Marcos
The Royals posted a number of Channel League finals victories and qualified a handful of athletes for CIF competition.
Jason Peterson is the team’s fastest 800 runner in about 26 years. He is also part of the team’s 4×400 relay team. In the fall, he will compete in track and field for Westmont.
Kayla Cleary qualified for CIF in the mile, 800 and 4×400. Cleary will run for Brigham Young next year.
Stanford-bound Allie Jones is “arguably the best athlete we’ve had,” said coach Marilyn Hantgin. She has multiple records in the 100 hurdles and long jump. She will compete Saturday in four events.
Jenny Nnoli, this week’s press-awarded athlete of the week, hasn’t lost a race in her four years at San Marcos. She anchors both relays and will compete in four events this weekend.
CIF competition kicks off Saturday.
UCSB
The university’s new facility, the Pauley Track, accentuated a refreshing season for the Gauchos, said coach Gray Horn. The team received new equipment and hurdles, thanks to donations from alumni and the local community.
UCSB finished fifth place in the USA Championships. Multi-event athlete Hope Bender earned second-team All-American honors. Distance runner Jenna Hinkle broke multiple school records to add to the team’s efforts.
“It’s been a while since something like that happened,” Horn said.
The squad will compete this week in an all-Big West Conference meet.
“The women [Gauchos] are definitely favored to win, but I don’t think the rest of the Big West schools care what’s on paper,” Horn said. “So we’re expecting to go up there and deliver.”
On the men’s side, the Gauchos finished top three in the Big West with a couple of athletes qualifying for regional competition.
Carpinteria
Carpinteria will host the CIF prelims this weekend.
Coach Weldon Nomura praised athletes Breanna DeLira and Kendra Meza. Both are junior cross-country runners which adds a strong base experience to track and field, Nomura said.
DeLira is a short-hurdler this year and Meza is mid-distance. The two are in an elite training group, “go girls,” which pushes a bit harder than the regular training roster in a number of events.
It’s paid off, Nomura said, as both juniors have improved their times immensely and qualified for CIF. Unfortunately, prom is the same night for the high-performing athletes.
“We’ll have to figure that out,” Nomura said. “I might need to learn how to do hair and makeup.”
On the boys’ side, Nomura brought Roderick Hutchinson, who has put in four years of speed for the Warriors. He also brought Wyatt Stevenson, who in addition to track and field competes in basketball and holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Stevenson has a lot of energy but has needed some containment due to some over-training at times, Nomura said.
Stevenson is a three-time league champion in the 100, 200 and the 4×100 relay. Last week, he broke the school record in the 100 with 10.94 seconds.
Nomura said the team is looking forward to bringing home a medal from CIF finals.
Finally, Nomura remembered his late friend, Phillip Pipersburg, who set county records when the two were prep track and field teammates.
“All of you young athletes out here,” Nomura told the luncheon attendees, “I hope you guys form that bond and friendship that will probably last a lifetime. We had that bond but Pipes’ life was cut a little short a couple of weeks ago. I hope you gusy will understand the privileges and the bonds you guys can make for the rest of your lifetime.”
— Noozhawk sports reporter Shomik Mukherjee can be reached at smukherjee@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @noozhawksports, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.