Santana (Santee) junior Amanda Grable continues her pursuit of the CIF-SDS single-season record for doubles. She slugged a pair of 2-base hits Friday (May 7) to give her five for the week. Grable now has 16 doubles this season to top her previous career best, which is three shy of the section record set by Holtville’s Alison Peckham in 1991.
Baseball: Hilltop duo rank 1-2 in San Diego Section batting derby
Sophomore Erick Tec and senior Chancellor San Miguel have been teeing off on section pitching. Tec is the section’s batting leader with a .579 average (33-for-57) and San Miguel is second at .545 (36-for-66). The strange thing about this team is the Lancers are only 12-10 despite the heavy hitting and a decent team ERA.
Steele Canyon slugger quite a catch-er
Despite missing a handful of starts, Steele Canyon junior catcher Jesse Jenner has rebounded to raise his season batting average to .525 (32-for-61). His numbers continue to be impressive across the board with a .600 on-base percentage and a slugging percentage of .738. His uncle (by the same name) was a standout quarterback at Mount Miguel in the 1970s.
Football: Oceanside quarterback finds new home
Quentis Clark, who quarterbacked Oceanside (14-0) to the Division II state-championship, will continue his career and education at Southern Oregon, an NAIA school in Ashland, Ore. The 6-foot Clark completed 140 of 235 passes for 2,269 yards and 23 touchdowns. An All-Valley League first-team selection, Clark suffered only five interceptions.
Other top performances
— Bonita Vista sophomore pitcher Jennifer
Hartman continues to excel for the ninth-ranked Barons (15-5-1). She is 14-5 with 167 strikeouts in 130 2/3 innings while posting a nifty 0.80 ERA.
— Senior Bobby Zalud of No. 1-ranked La Costa Canyon went 10-for-14 in a three-game Avocado League sweep of Fallbrook. He hit two homers with seven runs and four RBI.
— Santa Fe Christian (Solana Beach) sophomore Josh Estill was 4-for-5 with three home runs (including a grand slam), seven RBIs, four runs and three strikeouts in a one-inning relief stint in a 21-2 victory over Calvin Christian (Escondido).
— Junior Alli Billmeyer of Torrey Pines (San Diego) established a CIF-SDS record in the 3,200 meters with a time of 10 minutes, 18.7 seconds in a dual-meet against La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad). Billmeyer broke the record of 10:23.75 set by Molly Grabill of Rancho Bernardo (San Diego) last year.
— Vista senior standout Danielle Littleton, sister of professional baseball pitcher Wes Littleton, won the 100-meter hurdles (14.4 seconds), the 300 hurdles (45.6) and the long jump (17 feet, 1/4 inch) in a dual meet win over Rancho Buena Vista (Vista).
— Anna Knowles, a junior lacrosse player at Torrey Pines (San Diego), scored six goals in an 11-5 win over Carlsbad and four goals, including the game-winner, in sudden death against Scripps Ranch (San Diego).
— El Cajon Granite Hills fireballer Jenny Lahitte recorded 20 strikeouts for the second time this season as the Eagles edged Grossmont (El Cajon) 2-1.
— San Diego Morse senior Alberto Robles, who has kept his average above the .500 mark all season, was 3-for-4 with a double, triple, three runs and two RBI in a win over Hoover (Glendale). Robles’ current average is .506 (40-for-79).
— Sophomore softball third baseman Aubrie May of Grossmont collected five hits (two doubles) in as many at-bats while driving in three runs in the Foothillers win over Helix (La Mesa).
— La Costa Canyon senior catcher Will Swanner was 5-for-11 with two home runs and seven RBI in a three-game Avocado League baseball sweep of Fallbrook.
Coming Attractions
The CIF-SDS boys volleyball playoffs are in motion this week with the quarterfinals slated for this weekend (May 15). The finals are scheduled a week later. On the baseball front, Eastern League co-leader Scripps Ranch (San Diego) (20-6, 5-2) meets Mira Mesa (San Diego) (14-7, 4-3) in a two-game series, while co-leader St. Augustine (San Diego) (15-10, 5-2) faces off in a two-game set against Henry Patrick (San Diego) (14-9, 4-3).
Dickens Dealings
No question the privilege of playing high school baseball at Petco Park – home of the San Diego Padres – is a lifetime experience for those involved.
Just the excitement of following in the footsteps of major league greats creates memories that only a few teenagers will enjoy.
That said, one area where the CIF-SDS officials and Padres management could improve the experience is by playing these games earlier in the season. What we are saying here is these should not be league games as they were on Friday (May 7) and Saturday (May 8).
Just the pressure of playing in a game where a league pennant is up for grabs is enough without adding the aura of performing in a 42,445-seat stadium where only 1,300 spectators are in attendance. There’s something off-balance with that, no matter which team it favors.
League titles should be decided on an equal playing field – in other words a home-and-home three-game series on a high school field.
In the case of the Grossmont Valley League, El Capitan (Lakeside) and Santana (Santee) will determine the championship on the final day of the regular season on May 20 at El Capitan in Lakeside. The teams have split the previous two meetings – one at Santana and one at Petco.
The recent five-game weekend series at Petco Park, like the previous two years, was determined on a league rotation basis when this idea was hatched three years ago. No problem there.
The juggling act between the Padres (and their home schedule) and the CIF-SDS staff is delicate to say the least. When you consider all the preseason baseball tournaments on the board, things become even dicier.
Thus, I guess, the high school coaches and their players should be thankful to tread on major league soil whenever the opportunity presents itself.
