Teachers in the Capistrano Valley Unified School District have threatened to strike over a permanent 10 percent pay cut to help balance a $34 million deficit. Six schools, five of them in the South Coast League and one in the Pacific Coast League, would lose all their athletic events, too.
“If there's a strike, there will be no games, no practices, nothing,” Tom Faris, athletic director at Dana Hills, told the Orange County Register.
Other South Coast schools affected are Aliso Niguel (Aliso Viejo, Calif.), Capistrano Valley (Mission Viejo), San Clemente and Tesoro (Rancho Santa Margarita). That leaves one school in the league unaffected, Mission Viejo, which will be in limbo until the strike works itself out. Games will be considered postponed until they can be made up at a later date, but that could create some interesting problems if the strike lasts for any prolonged period.
The lone PCL school affected is San Juan Hills (San Juan Capistrano), and that league will have to determine whether to try to make up any missed games or to call them forfeits.
Garey athletic director, wife, killed in auto accident
George Perry, athletic director at Garey (Pomona) and a former head coach of football teams at Pomona and Garey, was killed along with his wife, Clara, on March 28 when their 2001 Ford Explorer rolled several times coming down the Cajon Pass and landed in a dirt ravine. The couple reportedly were returning to their Rancho Cucamonga home from Las Vegas, where they had been visiting family.
George Perry was 58, his wife 59.
Sandwiched between head coaching jobs at Pomona and Garey, the latter in 2001, Perry coached Cheyenne (North Las Vegas, Nev.) to a state runner-up in the school's fifth season, 1995. He became Garey's athletic director in 2003.
“It was reassuring to me that he always had my back,” Leonard Hudson, Garey's current football coach, told the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. “He was that type of man. If he gave you his word, it stuck.”
Western League opener creates a buzz
The West Valley League baseball opener Tuesday at Chatsworth was postponed because bees swarmed the baseball field and eventually took root on an outfield fence in the top of the first inning with two out and Birmingham (Lake Balboa, Calif.) batting. An umpire and Chatsworth player, both allergic to bee stings, made a beeline to safety.
“I've heard of all kinds of cancellations, but never a bee-out,” Birmingham Coach Matt Mowry told the Los Angeles Times. “We saw the swarm, (and thought) 'Holy cow.' We were at the mercy of the bees.” The game was delayed about an hour for pest control from the school district, which never came, and postponed until April 7.
Chatsworth was playing without one of its best hitters, first baseman Derek Neely, who will miss another three weeks with a broken hand.
Between a rock and a hard place
La Habra softball knows how to make enemies. The Highlanders softball team reached the semifinals of the Woodbridge Classic softball tournament at Barber Park in Irvine, but the semifinals conflict with the final rounds of the Michelle Carew Classic hosted by Anaheim Canyon. Coach Frank McCarroll was apparently going to split his squad send a JV team to one of the tournaments – you'd assume the Carew Classic – but tournament organizers got wind of that plan.
Tournament director Lance Eddy wouldn't allow a JV team – or even a split squad in some fashion – water down the tournament. Woodbridge also wouldn't allow a JV team to represent the school in the semifinals. Additionally, it is illegal for a team to compete in two varsity tournaments the same day. The situation resolved itself: Canyon dropped La Habra from its 32-team field. Eddy couldn't find a replacement in 36 hours, so he is having a three-team pool of Canyon (Anaheim), Yucaipa and Colton play into the third round of their respective brackets, the pool winner obviously advancing into the championship quarterfinals. However, two teams will get only four tournament games instead of five.
The Carew Classic begins April 7 and continues through April 10 at Peralta Park in Anaheim Hills. And, word on the street is that La Habra might not be welcomed back to Woodbridge in the future.
Ayala lays waste to national field
The Carew Classic is the second-best tournament in the Southland, but the best tournament is run by the same folks at Canyon, the Faster to First tournament. Ayala (Chino Hills) was the winner of that behind MVP Jessica Hall, a UCLA-bound pitcher, as the Bulldogs defeated the host school in the title game, 1-0. Hall allowed two hits in that game, and also two hits in the semifinals, a 3-0 victory over El Modena (Orange).
Cypress loses a coach, Webb gains one
A coach who made a big impact in a short time, Ray Fenton, has left Cypress to coach football at Webb (Claremont, Calif.). Fenton, a Cypress alumnus, inherited a program that had been 1-9 before his arrival in 2005; he followed with seasons of 2-8, 10-3, 10-3, 7-4 and 11-2. His 2007 team won the Southern Division title, and his his team reached at least the section semifinals three times in five seasons. Last season it was defeated by champion La Habra in the semifinals, 35-21.
Webb was 4-6 overall and 1-4 in the Prep League last season. He told the Orange County Register he made the move because he received a reduction-in-force (RIF) notice from the district, meaning he could have lost his teaching job. His wife, also an instructor at Cypress, received the same notice. Rather than wait, Fenton acted. “We saw writing on the wall,” Fenton said. “We felt that if I could find a good place for us, a great fit for our family, I'd take it.”
The Webb football program was the recipient of the CIF Southern Section Academic Award for having the highest cumulative grade-point average among its students for schools with fewer than 1,500 students. The GPA was 3.505.
The definition of student athletes
Winners of the Southern Section Academic Awards were named and Webb was the big winner for schools with enrollment less than 1,500 students. Webb was recognized as the outstanding program in seven of the 22 sports.
For the 2009-10 school year, Webb had the highest cumulative grade-point average in football (3.505), boys soccer (3.713), tennis (3.781) and track (3.660); and girls tennis (3.824), water polo (3.672) and swimming (3.811).
Among schools with 1,500 or more students, two schools led the way in four sports, San Marcos and Dos Pueblos (Goleta). Unlike Webb, both are public schools. San Marcos had the highest GPAs in wrestling (3.493), boys cross country (3.843) and volleyball (3.787), and girls swimming (3.755); Dos Pueblos was best in softball (3.617), girls cross country (3.905), soccer (3.817) and track and field (3.864).
The highest-scoring team was the Atascadero boys tennis team, which had a cumulative GPA of 3.931.
Comings and goings
Kurt Westling has been named football coach at Aliso Niguel (Aliso Viejo). He has been at the school since it opened in 1993 and worked on the lower level or as a varsity assistant. He replaced Jeff Veeder, who resigned after last season.
Ollie Lynch, a co-head coach at La Mirada who was surprsingly let go after his program won a section title, has joined Buena Park as an offensive coordinator.
Scott Meyer, who resigned as head coach at Jordan (Long Beach), has joined Wilson (Long Beach) as a defensive coordinator. His son, Nick, will be a freshman next season at Wilson.
Blake Robbins, a longtime assistant at Sultana (Hesperia), has been hired as the new football coach to replace Zane Sweeney. Sultana has a 21-game losing streak.
Brian Snow resigned after one season as boys basketball coach at Rim of the World (Lake Arrowhead), which went 8-18.
Rico Thompson has resigned as boys basketball coach at Temecula Valley for health-related reasons.
Softball pitcher still recovering
Apart from the upsets and Ayala's eventual championship, the major news to emerge from the Faster to First softball tournament was the injury sustained by El Toro (Lake Forest) pitcher Kristi Denny, who was hit in the forehead while pitching to Norco's Taylor Koenig.
Denny, 15, underwent six hours of surgery, and doctors constructed a new forehead made of titanium. Because she had been hit in the head previously on at least two occasions, she was wearing a facemask that may have saved her life. She has already indicated that she might not be comfortable pitching again. Can't blame her.
National Classic lays the wood to aluminum
The Diamond Sports National Classic concludes on April 8 at Cal State Fullerton with the championship game at 7 p.m. It is the outstanding tournament in the Southland, and with the inclusion of Marin Catholic (Kentfield), it was a wood-bat event. Marin Catholic pitcher Gunnar Sandberg, 16, was seriously injured when he was struck in the head by a batted ball from an aluminum bat; he was placed in a medically induced coma the next day. Now out of the coma, he has been moved to a rehabilitation hospital.
In its 21st year, the tournament – with the approval of the other 15 teams – changed formats to accommodate Marin Catholic. All the bats were donated by Diamond Sports. Since Sandberg's skull injury, two North Coast Section leagues have switched to wood bats, including the 10-team Marin County Athletic League. It was a great example of other schools putting aside what might be in their own best interests to accommodate another school that was obviously hurting emotionally.
The National Classic began informally last Saturday with a home run hitting contest. It was won by Christian Lopes, a junior shortstop at Edison (Huntington Beach) who transferred with his brother from Valencia. Semifinals are scheduled for April 7, with Edison playing El Dorado (Placentia) in one semifinal at Cal State Fullerton, 7 p.m., and Orange Lutheran playing Esperanza (Anaheim) at El Dorado, 1 p.m. The final round is Thursday with the title game at 7 p.m. At Cal State Fullerton.
Notably, Edison defeated Bishop Amat (La Puente), 10-8, on the strength of a 10-run fifth inning in the quarterfinals. Even though some of the best baseball teams in the country came are included in the field, five teams from the Southern Section went undefeated in the first round against their opponents from outside the region. 
Bryce Jones, Taft
File photo by Todd Shurtleff
Crabbe, others honored by Wooden committee
Allen Crabbe of state Division IV champion Price (Los Angeles) was among the seven local boys named recipients of the John R. Wooden High School Player of the Year Award.
Crabbe was the only of the six – representing the five divisions from the Southern Section and one from the City Section – who led his team to a state title, but there is no doubt these players are solid: Bryce Jones, Taft (Woodland Hills) (City); Tyler Lamb, Mater Dei (Santa Ana) (Division I); Alex Varner, Eisenhower (Rialto) (Division II), Deonte Burton, Centennial (Compton) (Division III); Wes Saunders, Windward (Los Angeles) (Division V), and Jon Conley, Ribet Academy (Los Angeles) (Division VI).
More baseball
With six victories this season, Compton (6-6-1) has won four more games than it did all of last season. The Tarbabes have scored 80 runs, compared to 24 last season.
Birmingham pitcher Martina Sementelli – a female – is 2-1 for the Patriots (9-4).
Wide receiver DeSean Jackson of the Philadelphia Eagles – a former star at Poly (Long Beach) – threw out the first pitch at the Cabrillo (Long Beach) Easter tournament. Erick Bryant coached Jackson in baseball at Poly. Lakewood baseball raised nearly $2,000 for the St. Baldrick's Foundation to fight childhood cancer. That's one reason the players have shaved heads.
Wrestling pins some checks on charity
Downey, which won the Southern Section Division V title, defeated the faculty 67-3 in a fundraiser that not only covered costs for championship rings, but also $4,000 to give to Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Relay for Life.
Watch the records fall
The Arcadia Invitational, one of the best track and field meets this side of the state finals, will be held Saturday at Arcadia High. The invitational portion of the meet begins at 3:30 p.m., with the field events; running events begin at 5:25. However, there's plenty of non-invitational action Friday and early Saturday.
Martin Henderson began covering Southland preps in 1993 for the Los Angeles Times. He contributes to the Orange County Register, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and San Bernardino Sun, and offers up motorsports opinions at Racescribe.com. You can reach him at southlandpreps@yahoo.com.
