Westchester's Chris Jacobs approaches home plate after his second home run at Dodger Stadium.
Photo by Jordan Anast
Though he stands just 5-foot-9 and weighs 170 pounds, Chris Jacobs looked like a giant recently when he belted two home runs and a double at Dodger Stadium to lead Westchester (Calif.) to an 11-1 rout of North Hills Monroe in the Los Angeles City Section Division II championship baseball game.
The senior shortstop opened with a double off the right field wall. In his next at-bat, he slammed a three-run homer into the left field bullpen. Then he ended the game in the fifth inning with another three-run shot, this one into the left field box seats.
Jacobs, who batted a lofty .500 with nine homers during the regular season, is only the second City Section player ever to homer twice at Dodger Stadium.
Coach Seka Edwards told Eric Sondheimer of the Los Angeles Times, that it was “an unbelievable performance. He’s exceptional.”
Rich get richer
Bloomington South, which returns three starters from Indiana’s Class 4A state championship team – ranked No. 7 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 - is going to get a super replacement for graduating Mr. Basketball Jordan Hulls.
Matt Carlino, one of Arizona’s premier players, is moving to Bloomington from Gilbert Highland, where his father, Mark, has resigned as head basketball coach. Carlino, a 6-3 guard, averaged 19.7 points as a sophomore. He also averaged 6.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.7 steals while shooting 42 percent from three-point range and 82 percent from the free throw line.
Carlino had made a commitment to Indiana University a year ago and now he is going to play his final two seasons at a nearby high school. He will join returning center Erik Fromm, point guard Dee Davis and wing shooter Spencer Turner. Davis and Turner also will be juniors.
Highland also may lose its other standout rising junior guard, Nick Johnson, who transferred there last year so he could team with Carlino. They led their team to a 29-4 record and Class 5A Division I state runner-up honors.
Towson Catholic hires Williams
Reggie Williams, who led Dunbar (Baltimore, Md.) to the USA Today national championship and was named National Player of the Year as a senior (1982-83), has been hired as head basketball coach at nearby Towson Catholic.
The 45-year-old Williams recently was head coach at Jericho Christian Academy (Landover, Md.), but it is closing. His team posted a 24-6 record and lost by just nine points to nationally-ranked Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.).
Williams also starred at Georgetown University where he teamed with Patrick Ewing to bring the Hoyas the 1984 NCAA championship. He later played 11 seasons in the NBA. High school teammates Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues and Reggie Lewis also made the NBA.
Graduation over state title
DeSoto (Texas) senior Skylar White will pass up this Saturday’s Class 5A state track meet so she can graduate with her class. It is a major sacrifice because she has won the state discus and shot put each of the past two years and is headed for Baylor University on a full scholarship.
Graduation normally has been held on Thursday, not Saturday.
White holds the 5A state discus record and her school record is 163 feet, 11 inches.
DeSoto coach June Villers told MaxPreps, “She struggled with this, but it was entirely her decision. She has been here since kindergarten and didn’t want to miss out on her graduation with her friends. She’s an “A” student and in the top 10 percent of her class.”
Another DeSoto senior, Roshunda Pierson, also is passing up the state meet. She has one of the state’s top two times in the 300-meter hurdles.
Villers, however, will miss graduation because she has a freshman, Tia Gamble, who will be competing in the 800-meter run.
