Dons’ baseball game is a home run for Vs. Cancer, Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation

By ANNIKA BAHNSEN NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT

The Santa Barbara High School baseball players recently held a fundraising game to raise money for Vs. Cancer and the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation, two nonprofits helping kids diagnosed with cancer and their families. Head Coach Steve Schuck initiated this collaboration for multiple reasons, but most importantly, he wanted to have his players be influential in the community off the field.

“I am teaching my players to be givers. We live in a transactional world but we want to be transformational,” Coach Schuck told the News-Press. The Vs. Cancer foundation is one of the two foundations the team is helping. This specific foundation focuses on kids with pediatric brain tumors who love baseball. The money raised sponsors a kid and their family to play the sport of baseball. Additionally, money that is raised will go toward brain tumor research and help hospitals with resources they may need. They pride themselves on being a foundation “by athletes, for athletes” because the founder, Chase Jones, experienced childhood cancer. He was an athlete playing for the University of North Carolina baseball team, and when he was a freshman, he was diagnosed with a stage four brain tumor.

Additionally, some of the money that the Dons athletes have raised will also go toward the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation, a Santa Barbarabased nonprofit serving Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties. This foundation focuses on the effects of cancer on not only the child but the family as well by providing resources and basic needs in whatever form.

This is also a personal mission for Coach Schuck. He shared that his mother passed away due to cancer a few years ago, which makes this even more special for him.

After explaining all of this to his team, Coach Schuck said that “All of the players jumped in 100%.”

According to Coach Schuck, “the boys raised the money themselves” by “posting it on their social media and sharing it with

Fyi

If you would like to learn more about what the Santa Barbara High School baseball team is doing and to give your support, visit www.sbdonsbaseball.com. And to learn more about the foundations that the team is helping, go to teddybearcancerfoundation.org and www.vs-cancer.org.

friends and family.” email: abahnsen@newspress.com

The Dons held a game on April 14 that was specifically intended to fundraise for the causes.

At the game was Elijah Vargas, a 11-year-old boy who was adopted by the Santa Barbara baseball team through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation. Elijah has been with the program for four years and currently is experiencing a brain tumor.

Before the game, there was a moment of silence to honor those who have lost their lives to cancer. “All of the players held up placards with people in their lives who have died because of cancer. Cancer touches everyone,” Coach Schuck said.

In addition to playing an amazing game — beating Buena Park 4-3 — the Dons were able to raise money for the cause. In total, the boys have raised $4,300 and hope to do more.

“I am very proud of my boys. They never complain and always want to do more,” remarked Coach Schuck.

Other than these foundations, the Dons baseball team also helps out with other local causes. Recently, they participated in the Breast Cancer Awareness walk and currently, their biggest project is redoing Eddie Matthews baseball field in order to create a better space for young baseball players.

UCSB men’s volleyball tops UC San Diego

By KRISTEN KELLER UCSB SPORTS

The fourth-seeded UCSB men’s volleyball team (8-16, 3-7 Big West) competed in the quarterfinal round of The Big West Championships against the fifth-seeded UC San Diego Tritons with the winners looking to earn a spot in the semifinals. It took five sets to decide who would move on to the next round, but it was UCSB who came out victorious (25-18, 25-23, 25-21, 25-20, 15-12).

How It Happened

From the start of the first set, the Gauchos had control. UCSB went 4-1 before UC San Diego fought back. The bad guys tied the score up at 11’s, with the two teams exchanging points five times. That was until the Gauchos pushed ahead thanks to a six-point service run from Nick Amoruso. With that, UCSB closed out the first set 25-18. UC San Diego was not going to let the Gauchos get too comfortable. These two teams went point-forpoint, tying up the set 14 times along the way. It took the remainder of the second to decide the victor, but it was the Tritons who prevailed. The Gauchos dropped the second set 25-23 as the match was tied up at 1-1. The third set went similarly to the first, except this time, the Gauchos were even more dominant. UCSB only let the Tritons get close once before they ran away with the set, finishing this out at 25-21 to go up 2-1 in the match.

Just like the second set, the Tritons wanted vengeance. They came out swinging, going point-for-point with the Gauchos. However, multiple Tritons went on service runs in the back half of the fourth to go up on UCSB. This resulted in UC San Diego tying up the match with a 25-20 win. Ryan Wilcox and his teammates did not want their season to end just yet. The Gauchos took the lead from the very first point without giving the Tritons any room to come back. UCSB took the fifth and final set in commanding fashion, hitting .652 on the way to a 15-12 win.

Looking At The Numbers

• Amoruso recorded the most kills for the Gauchos as he put up 20 while hitting .415, only making three errors. Along with that, he contributed an ace and two blocks.

• Wilcox ended the quarterfinals with 17 kills, hitting .406 on the night with only four errors on 32 swings. He also had the most digs on the team with nine while also putting up three blocks and an ace.

• Ben Coordt had a great night at the pin, securing 16 kills while putting up a .361 hitting percentage. He also added an ace and two blocks.

• Jack Walmer led the offensive efforts again this evening, tallying 50 assists. He also controlled the team’s defense with a career-high six blocks and six digs.

UP NEXT

The Gauchos will be back on the court tomorrow, April 21, as they take on the first-seeded Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors in the semifinal round at 5 p.m. in the Bren Events Center in Irvine. The match will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available through bigwest.org.

Kristen Keller is the associate athletic director for communications and digital strategy at UCSB. email: sports@newspress.com

Laguna Blanca boys volleyball wins

The Laguna Blanca Owls boys’ volleyball team defeated Bishop Diego in its final regular season game on Thursday.

The final score of the game was 3-1, with the match scores being 21-25, 25-18, 25-20 and 25-21.

“It was a battle with the fun, cross-town, and high energy environment you would expect,” said Owls assistant coach Kat Niksto.

Tyson Deveze led the Owls in offense with 17 kills and three aces. Kincade Avery, not the usual setter for the Owls, stepped into the role and did an impressive job, totaling 33 assists. Libero Caden Weaver kept the pace of the game, recording 13 digs on the night.

The CIF playoff draw comes out on April 22.

San Marcos boys golf defeats Brea Olinda

The San Marcos Royals had a successful match against Brea Olinda, defeating the Wildcats 368-437.

The match was played at La Cumbre Country Club, which had a par of 71. Leo Metzger came away with a medal finish for his team, with a final score of 70. Jeffrey Forster and Shams JahangirArshad finished even, and Holdt Gore finished with a 75.

Head coach Jeff Ashton remarked, “We played really solid as a team for the second straight match, and we are hopeful that we hit our stride going into the end of the season.”

San Marcos will play Dos Pueblos on Tuesday at the Sandpiper Course.

Bishop Diego loses in softball against Foothill Tech

The Cardinals softball team played Foothill Tech Thursday in an away match. Bishop Diego lost, with a final score of 8-18.

First base’s Johansen had the most runs and hits for the Cardinals, totaling three in both categories. Pitcher Ferries played for a little over two innings, with two strikeouts recorded.

The Cardinals had a total of 10 hits during the game in comparison to Foothill Tech’s 15.

Bishop Diego will play Village Christian Academy on Monday.

Dos Pueblos beats

Thacher in girls’ lacrosse

The Chargers merely escaped Thacher in girls’ lacrosse, with a final score of 18-17.

Dos Pueblos’ Avery Ball had 10 goals in the game, tying the Santa Barbara County record of most goals in a single game. Reagan Arnold scored five goals, Alice Sperling scored two, and Lauren Elliot had one goal as well as five assists. Elliot also broke a school record with 16 draw controls.

Dos Pueblos will play Santa Barbara on Monday.

Carpinteria boys tennis falls to Malibu

With a final score of 16-2, the Warriors lost to Malibu on April 20. Carpinteria is now 8-7 overall and 6-4 in the league.

The couple of Warriors’ points came from the doubles team, Servando Campuzano and Connor Gralewski. This was the first time they played with each other, and they went 2-1 against their Malibu opponents.

“It is a good eye opener for us. We will have to be sharper and will have to be our best from here on out,” said Carpinteria head coach Charles Bryant.

The Warriors will play in their league tournament on Sunday and Monday at Channel Islands High School in Oxnard.

Royals girls’ swim defeats Santa Barbara

The San Marcos girl’s swim team had a meet against cross-town rival, Santa Barbara.

The Royals came out on top, with a final score of 74-65.

There were several first place finishers for the Royals. In the 200 medley relay, Lucy Haaland-Ford, Madison Haaland-Ford, Makenna Stretz, and Sophia Panossian won. Stretz also finished first in the 200 individual medley, and was a part of the winning 200 freestyle relay.

San Marcos will compete at the Channel League prelims on Monday.

Bishop Diego boy’s tennis loses in season finale

The Cardinals lost their tennis match against Dunn with the final score being 4-14.

Two of Bishop Diego’s seniors and captains, Max Schwarz and Brennan Kaufman, left it all on the court, defeating their opponents 6-2 in the final game of their high school career. Joe Simolon and Alfredo Contreras had success in their sets. They won 7-6 (5), and 6-3.

“The Cardinals came a long way this year and even though we didn’t win, we still accomplished our main goals: the win the game is great, to play the game is greater, to love the game is the greatest,” said head coach Pete Kirkwood.

Dos Pueblos beats

Thacher in boys’ lacrosse

The Chargers boys lacrosse team defeated Thacher Thursday 12-10. This improves the Chargers’ overall record to 9-3 and league record to 5-2.

Sophomores Gus Miller and Roman Christou both had four goals and one assist during the game. Christou had the final goals of the game, sealing the win for the Chargers.

Dos Pueblos will wrap up its regular season on Sunday against Santa Barbara.

San Marcos girls’ dive team competes in finals

The Royals showed success at the Channel League final competition on Thursday.

San Marcos’ Kate Edgar finished first in the one meter dive competition, with a score of 328.5. Right behind Edgar, Bridget Cunnison scored a 322.3 to finish in second place.

“Both divers have shown tremendous improvement and have dedicated many afternoons to their new found sport,” said the girls’ aquatics coach, Brian Roth.

Dos Pueblos competes against Rio Mesa

Both of the Chargers girls and boys’ swim and dive teams had a successful meet Thursday against Rio Mesa.

The Dos Pueblos girls had a final score of 67-14, and the boys’ final score was 90-77.

Some major contributors to the Chargers on the boys’ side were Leon Guo, Aricin Marshall, Eli Carnaghe, Bennet Sullivan and Tarkan Ezal, who all added points during the match.

On the girls’ side, Natalie Murray came in first in the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke.

Ruby Gomez-Witcher also had success at the meet, winning the 200 individual medley and 100 freestyle. Brooke Findlay took second in the 200 and first in the 50 freestyle. Sofia Huebner came in first in theo 100 breaststroke and took third place in the 50 freestyle.

The Chargers will compete at the Channel League prelims on Monday.

— Compiled by Annike Bahnsen