Santa Ynez High recognized five new members of the its Wall of Honor at Friday’s home football game against Morro Bay.
Santa Ynez rolled to a 59-19 win, amassing 543 yards in total offense.
The Wall of Honor Class of 2022 honorees are:
Zach DeMarcus: Santa Ynez 2008-2012, Azusa Pacific University 2012-2013, Westmont College 2013-2016: A four-year starter on the varsity baseball team, playing up the middle at second base and shortstop as well as pitching in relief, he was the first freshman in Santa Ynez High School’s history to receive all-league honors when he was named as a second-team All-Los Padres League recipient as a second baseman. As a junior he was an honorable mention selection and as a senior he was first-team All-Los Padres League and second-team All-CIF as a shortstop. During his time as a Pirate, DeMarcus broke then-school records in career games played, RBI, hits, and at-bats.
Zach attended Azusa Pacific University for his freshman and then transferred to Westmont College to play his remaining three seasons. He was the team’s recipient of the NAIA Character Award as a senior. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business and Economics. After spending a few years with a missions organization, Youth With A Mission, where he served in Germany, Greece, Mongolia and South Korea, he has come home to work at Trinity Financial Services with his mom, Julie DeMarcus, as her loan processor.
Ryan Welker: Santa Ynez 2008-2012, Allan Hancock College 2012-2014, California State University Los Angeles 2014-2018—He played four years of baseball, including three seasons on varsity, where he played catcher and third base. He was a team captain during his junior and senior year. Ryan attended Allan HancockCollege and was a two-time All-Conference gold glove winner. He hit .357 in his sophomore year. He was selected as a team captain and earned Academic All-American honors and made the Dean’s list.
Ryan accepted a scholarship to play at Cal State L.A,. where he was one of the top hitters of the team his junior year. He started every game for the Golden Eagles his senior year as a catcher and right fielder. He was recognized as being the second hardest hitter to strike out in all of Division 2 baseball. He obtained his BS in Kinesiology. Currently, Ryan is living in Temecula with his wife Amanda and their golden retriever, Murphy. He is completing his Masters of Education in Elementary Education and hopes to start teaching in the spring semester.
Kyle Bidgood: Santa Ynez High 1990-1994, Moorpark College 1994-1996, Oregon State University 1996-1999—In his senior year of football, Kyle earned All-Los Padres League Defensive Lineman of the Year, All-Area defensive Line, All-Santa Barbara County Offensive Line, and was the Santa Barbara County champion in the discus.
After starting on the offensive line at Moorpark College for two years, Kyle received a scholarship to Oregon State. In 1999, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Sociology. He returned to OSU and earned a second degree in Exercise and Sports Science with a pre-physical therapy option. He received his doctorate in Physical Therapy from Chapman University
Kyle currently resides in Salem, Ore., where he is a clinic Director for PT Northwest. He lives with his wife Valerie, mother-in-law Georganne, and three dogs Remus, Sirius, and Luna.
Sara Dominguez: Santa Ynez High 2010-2014, Seattle University 2014-2018— Sara earned honor roll with highest honors in each of her four high school years. She earned Los Padres League softball honors each year, including MVP in her junior and senior year. She was the All-Area Defensive Player of the Year. Sara went on to play four years at the Division 1 level at Seattle University. She was a team captain for her junior and senior years. In addition to athletic accolades, Sara earned NFCA Scholar Athlete recognition in the 2017-2018 year and earned the Mission Award from Seattle University which recognizes students who have made outstanding contributions to the university community in areas central to the values in the Seattle University Mission Statement.
After earning her BS in Psychology, Sara went on to earn her teaching certificate and Masters of Special Education.
She resides in Seattle with husband, Eric, and works as a Special Education teacher, serving high school students with emotional and behavioral disabilities. Sara is the only SYHS alum to have competed in softball at the Division I level.
Coach Ronald Chip Fenenga: Santa Ynez High teacher/coach 1989-2019—He coached for 30 years (1989-2019) and taught Science and EAST for 37 years. He won more varsity league titles than any coach at Santa Ynez with 30. His record as boys volleyball coach was 476-160 and 199-86 as girls volleyball coach. He led the Pirates to seven CIF-Southern Section boys titles and three CIF Southern Section runner up awards. Chip coached 3 U.S. Olympic athletes and 20 Division 1 athletes.
He was the 1998 California Coach of the Year and he was inducted in the CIF Southern Section Hall of Fame in 2020.