NorCal Issue 194, April 2021 by Sport Stars Magazine

APRIL 2021 NORCAL EDITION VOL. 12 ISSUE 194

4.13.17 Four years ago this month, we photographed then-Bear River High junior Abby Weir. The Grass Valley teen had risen to become one of the nation’s top junior barebow archers, which included winning a bronze medal at the World Archery Championships in Ireland six months earlier. Weir now attends UC Davis. Photo by James K. Leash

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But (Way) Different I t’s been nearly a year since we drove into the Berkeley hills one mid-April morning to photograph then-Campolindo High junior Emmanuel Callas shooting hoops in the street outside his home. It was the first in-person contact we’d had with an athlete in more than seven weeks — which (we certainly hope) will forever be a record for our magazine. We were photographing Callas because he’d written a first-person piece for our #NeverStop Series, which invited athletes and coaches in quarantine to reconnect with sports by writing about their experiences in them. Callas had written about his perseverance through injury during his sophomore season. He missed a good portion of the season before working his way back in time to play a significant role in the Cougars’ CIF Div. II State Championship. He also wrote about the frustration of reaching the state title again as a junior, only to have the game cancelled two days before. It’s surreal to think back on my conversation that day with Emmanuel after all that has passed. As I write this on March 31, he and his Campolindo teammates still haven’t returned to the floor. But that should change in April. But what exactly will they be returning to? Attending a competition in this pandemic-influenced spring season of all sports has been weird to say the least. While the atmosphere at football games has been joyous, they really haven’t felt the same. Pittsburg High’s Pirate Stadium just one-quarter full and without its famed Pittsburg Marching Show Band just felt wrong. Campolindo’s home opener didn’t feature it’s normal Red Sea student section. Instead, groups of students resorted to rogue lawn chair seating on the hillside behind the main grandstand. If those scenarios felt odd for spectators, basketball’s lack of atmosphere will be amplified even further. Immediate family members will do their best — assuming the district allows them to attend — but students are 98 percent of the energy present at high school basketball games. If it’s strange for the spectator, how weird is it going to be for players like Callas and the rest of the Cougars? NBA players were quite vocal about the adjustment playing in The Bubble last summer. High school players used to feeding off of a rowdy crowd will certainly have their own adjustment period it would seem. But at least they’ll be playing. It’s not what Callas or many others like him envisioned, but it’s a lot more than anything they could’ve probably hoped for just six weeks ago. We’ll be there to write about it, however weird it feels. ✪

YOUR TICKET TO CALIFORNIA SPORTS ADMIT ONE; RAIN OR SHINE This Vol. #12, April 2021, Whole No. 194 is published by GoSportzStars Media LLC, PO Box 741, Clayton, CA 94517. SportStars™© 2010-2014 by Caliente! Communications, LLC. All rights reserved. Receive FREE Digital Subscription in your inbox. Subscribe at SportStarsMag.com. To receive sample issues, please send $3 per copy, or $8 total for bulk. Back issues are $4 each. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission of Publisher is strictly prohibited. The staff and management, including Board of Directors, of SportStars™© does not advocate or encourage the use of any product or service advertised herein for illegal purposes. Editorial contributions, photos and letters to the editor are welcome and should be addressed to the Editor. All material should be typed, doublespaced on disk or email and will be handled with reasonable care. For materials return, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope. SportStars™© and STARS!™© Clinics are registered trademarks of Caliente! Communications, LLC.

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justine

delacruzcarranza ALHAMBRA-MARTINEZ - SENIOR - SOFTBALL During the week of 3/22-28, the Bulldogs played a stretch of five games in five days with games on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and a doubleheader Saturday. Alhambra went 4-1 over the stretch, thanks to an explosive offense led by DeLaCruz-Carranza. The senior shortstop had nine hits on the week to raise her season average to .625 (20-for-32). She also drove in seven runs and is tied for the team lead with 18 RBI after 10 games. DeLaCruz-Carranza has also scored 17 runs on the year with five doubles, two triples and a home run. The Bulldogs returned to action on March 30 with an overall record of 8-2 and a 4-1 mark in the Diablo Athletic League-Foothill Division.

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Oakmont sophomore Kurt Marton 10

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Tyler Kersey 12

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K “Our kids are not afraid of big games.”

urt Marton saved his best fastball for last on March 30. The right-handed sophomore pitcher on the Oakmont High baseball team heaved a throw to the plate and watched it run away from Granite Bay lefty Ryan Gallagher, a UC Santa Barbara commit. Gallagher waved at the ball’s ghost, leaving a teammate stranded at first in the bottom of the seventh and awarding Marton his second win in two tries. Oakmont erupted from the away dugout after Marton’s game-ending strikeout, and for good reason. Marton carried Oakmont to an unlikely upset over a host Grizzlies squad that entered the contest ranked No. 19 in the SportStars NorCal Top-20 rankings that released the same day. Granite Bay had rattled the initial release of Top-20 rankings by blasting then third-ranked Oak Ridge 10-3 on March 29. A day later, Oakmont added its own name to the mix. “Our kids are not afraid of big games,” Oakmont coach Paul Martinez said. “We have been pretty good ourselves for the last four, five, six years and we have been playing against good competition.” Oakmont was 2-1-1 in a season shortened by COVID-19 last year. In the Vikings’ last full season, 2019, the team went 30-3 and swept the Sac-Joaquin Section Div. II playoff bracket. One of the Roseville school’s three losses was an extra-inning game against Central Section power and Tri-River League champion, Buchanan-Clovis (26-4). Senior Mason Roane is the only leftover

Oakmont coach Paul Martinez

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from that section championship squad. He singled and scored against Granite Bay, but the biggest moment at the plate surely belonged to senior teammate Ethan Gonthier, who until the top of the sixth inning was at most shagging balls from the Oakmont dugout. Gonthier was tasked to pinch-hit with two outs and teammate James Blevin posted at third base. He belted a pitch well over second base to score the goahead run. “When you pinch hit in a game, it’s one of the hardest things to do,” Gonthier said. “No one expects you to deliver, especially with two outs a runner on third. “I just did what I know, put the bat on the ball, and it worked out.” Gontheir, perhaps the tallest player on the field at 6 feet, 3 inches, earned a mixture of cheers and good-hearted ribbings for his performance. “I know how big it is to get the go-ahead run and give some more momentum into the last inning for (Marton) to finish it up,” Gontheir said. “It’s definitely going to be a huge highlight that I will look back on.” Marton ended with one earned run allowed across seven innings, allowing five hits, walking four and striking out three. It was only his fourth appearance on the varsity mound. “It feels amazing, especially the hype after the game,” Marton said, still a little disheveled from all the shoves and hugs. “I just allowed our defense to do their thing.” Marton also pitched a six-inning win over Roseville on March 23, Oakmont’s season opener. Oakmont has lost games to Woodcreek-Roseville (Top-20 No. 20), Cosumnes Oaks-Elk Grove and Folsom (No. 15), but also upset No. 12 Rocklin on March 25, which debuted at No. 5 on March 19. Adam Davies, Axel Castro and Oliver Brekke combined for the win over Rocklin on the hill. Davies, Brayden Murua, Anthony Lira, and Tristan Ogles

Oakmont shortstop Adam Reyes ends the inning by tagging out Granite Bay’s Alex Johnson as second baseman Brayden Murua pumps his fist. Follow Us On Twitter & Instagram, Like Us On Facebook!

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Marton is congratulated by teammates after ending the game with a strikeout.

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belted two hits apiece in that game while Roane doubled and scored. Adam Reyes also doubled and knocked in a run. The Vikings also beat Whitney-Rocklin 6-3 on March 31. Davies pitched five innings with two earned runs and four strikeouts to nab the win. He also batted 2-for-2 with two runs in the victory. Guys like Davies and Marton have their days, but this team isn’t driven by star power. “We don’t have too many standout guys, but we play together well as a team,” Marton said. “Everyone on this team is really close.” Granite Bay nearly rallied to take the lead in the bottom of the fifth after a leadoff single by UNR-bound shortstop J.R. Freethy. He scored on an error and watched Thomas Meyer single to score Joe Plise, but Marton earned back-to-back outs with two runners in scoring position to end the inning. Freethy later crushed a fly ball to the right field fence in the sixth inning, but a running catch prevented an extra base hit. It was about as close as Granite Bay would come to scoring again. “I feel like we beat ourselves,” Freethy said. “I don’t feel like they beat us. “They didn’t do anything overpowering, but we just couldn’t perform on our end.” Marton certainly did enough. The 2020 Bay Area World Series participant throws a fastball in the low 80s and typically mixes it up with a solid splitter. He operated through the Granite Bay lineup nearly exclusively with the fastball, after having sporadic success with his splitter. “He deserved to get out there and finish the game,” Martinez said. “He was just competing great and we were able to help him defensively.” Marton is a former Maidu Little League all-star who spent some time with Coach Brett Hemphill’s Golden Spikes Baseball Academy. He’s picked up some recent games with the California Baseball Academy (Victus North), and pitched well in a Perfect Game Tournament in Arizona in early March. In

early January, he competed with CBA in Texas. It’s the kind of action eagerly supported by Oakmont in the wake of a shortened season. “I think it’s awesome he has found a way to play,” Martinez said. “He came to me on several occasions asking permission to go throw in Texas a couple times, Arizona and even Florida. “I’m like, ‘Go for it, man.’ He has done what he needs to do to get in front of people to showcase his skills.” Marton trains with Oakmont alumnus Alex Creel. His success comes without radar gun prestige, but he’s got a different edge. “He’s just mentally tough, for starters,” Martinez said. “Kurt realizes who he is and he doesn’t try to be something he’s not. “Kids at that age usually just try to throw hard at any cost, but Kurt understands how to operate within the framework of his body.” It’s the kind of growth that Martinez loves to see as his players pick up the feel of varsity games. Marton and Reyes were freshmen on the varsity roster last year and fourteen players on the current squad should be back next season. “The main thing is giving our guys the experiences they missed out on last year,” Martinez said. “We are getting these guys to grow up fast and develop continuity. “Hopefully we will be much further down the road by this time next year.” Marton said the squad is really tight, despite the lack of contests. “We hang out a lot together and have really built connections,” he added. “We have a lot of energy that helps us get wins.” Saving your best pitch for last will do that too. ✪ — Story and Photos By Ike Dodson

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Elijah Klock (78) looks to open a hole for the Campolindo running game on March 26. 18

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Dillan Thoms

evin Macy is no stranger to magical moments on the football field. Through his 24 years of coaching Campolindo High football, the Cougars have won several championships in dramatic

fashion. There was the 2011 North Coast Section championship at the Oakland Coliseum that ended with a game-winning field goal as time expired. The Cougars defeated a Marin Catholic-Kenfield team that night led by a junior quarterback named Jared Goff. Macy was carried off the field by players. That drama paled in comparison to the team’s 2014 CIF Division III State Championship Bowl Game victory over El Capitan-Lakeside. Four days after the school’s longtime coach and athletic director Bob Wilson had lost his battle with cancer, Campolindo came from 21 points down and won on an 85-yard fumble return in the game’s final minute. There have been many other emotional wins for Macy over the years. But the team’s 28-13 defeat of AcalanesLafayette on March 26 will hold special meaning long after he retires. He will remember it for what happened in the week leading up to the game. He will remember it for the season in which it occurred — a weird, short spring season that nearly never happened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And he’ll remember how important it was that the team was able to be together when it was. Elijah Klock will remember it too. The junior lineman and his family had to say goodbye to his dad Jonathan on Sunday, March 21. Jonathan had experienced a heart attack the week before, and while he’d

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survived, too long of a lapse in oxygen to his brain had left him hospitalized and unresponsive. Klock’s house had been a regular hangout for the rest of the linemen on the team. Jonathan Klock had even become a father figure to some. “This week had to be about us, and nothing else.” Macy said after the game. The Cougars circled the wagons. They forbid each other any rivalry talk. The name Acalanes was not allowed to be spoken all week. It was only about them. And Elijah. Midweek, a candlelight vigil was held at the Klock residence. The entire team showed up in uniform along with many of the players’ families. “It’s an actual brotherhood,” Elijah Klock said of his teammates after the game. “Some teams claim they have a brotherhood, but this team has a real one. “This past week my teammates have been at my house supporting me and it’s been more than I could ask for. They’ve been second brothers to me and it’s so wonderful that I have that.” And that’s the other side to this story. He nearly didn’t have that. Had the grassroots movement of the Golden State Coaches Community and Let Them Play California not succeeded in lobbying state officials to open up the youth sports guidelines when they did, this football season may not have happened. “The fact that we had to wait and beg for crumbs to get this season going,” Macy said with a sigh as he looked around at his team basking in the glow of its victory. “Wherever you look around, up and down the state, this is what football is: Magic moments for kids.” Did we mention that some may have considered Campolindo the underdog against Acalanes? That the Cougars Follow Us On Twitter & Instagram, Like Us On Facebook!

never trailed? Or that several elements of the team’s offensive and defensive looks had just been installed during the week? Oh, and the pandemic isn’t all the way over yet. That reminder came 20 minutes before game time when a school administrator stopped the team in its walk up the hill to the football stadium to ask if every player had his mask. Half didn’t. When the full team finally ran into the half-empty stadium, it had lost about a third of its pregame warmup time. There was no time to drill any of the new offensive schemes. So when the Cougars won the toss, they deferred. Both teams had entered unbeaten in their first two games. The Dons had achieved their two wins behind an explosive offense led by senior quarterback Brady Huchingson. Behind Huchingson’s seven TD passes, Acalanes had scored more than 30 points in each of its first two games. Campolindo’s defense made the evening miserable for the star quarterback, though. Huchingson threw for just 168 yards and no TDs. He was intercepted once and lost a pair of fumbles. “Brady is a dynamic player,” Campolindo senior safety Maxwell Weaver said. “I’m sure he’s going to play in college someday. But our guys really rallied to the ball, and our defensive backs did a really good job of not giving their receivers any breathing room.” The offense was pretty good too. As it turned out, one of the stars of the night had moved back to California just for this game. When his older sister Ashley graduated from Campolindo with a scholarship to play basketball at Weber State, Dillan Thoms and his family moved to Utah to be closer to her and watch her games. Then late in 2019, Dillan and his dad Art came back to visit and watched Acalanes defeat Campolindo 17-7. “Dillan told me right after that game that we are movFollow Us On Twitter & Instagram, Like Us On Facebook!

ing back so that they can beat Acalanes next year,” said Art Thoms, who coached girls basketball at Campolindo before moving and now assists on the football staff. “It made him sick to see them lose and not be able to help.” He rushed 30 times for 110 yards and two touchdowns. He also hauled in a pass for nine yards. His two scores helped build a 14-0 lead. “It just feels great working as a unit,” Dillan Thoms said of the effort his team put forth. “We’re all so happy for each other on every single play.” Joey Schmidt caught a 77-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Griessel and TJ Clarke added a 25-yard scoring run. When Jake Leuteneker grabbed his second fumble recovery of the night with less than two minutes to play, the win was sealed. With fans not allowed on the field this season for safety precautions, Macy had the Cougars take a knee at the edge of the track so family members could get near enough to hear him address the team. “There’s just a lot that this team went through this week that not many outside of this team really knows about,” Macy said to all who gathered, but only after he’d performed a quick dance to the delight and laughter of players. “We don’t have any state championships this year, but tonight was our state championship.” The release of tension and outpouring of joy was evident as players took pictures, spoke with family and each other before making the trek downhill to the locker room. As he watched it unfold, Macy couldn’t help but mention the same word Klock had. “The brotherhood,” he said. “Everyone talks about it. You see it. You see in these situations what that brotherhood really is. Outsiders can never fully understand it. It’s why it’s so important that this sport has to continue and survive.” ✪ Support Your Advertisers — Say You Found Them in SportStars!

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Courts: Back In Tournament Play Returns With Busy April

eno, here they come. Finally. More than a year after grinding to a halt with the rest of the sporting world, the Northern California Volleyball Association is finally able to welcome clubs for tournaments again. The Reno Sparks Convention Center — which was going to play host to the 18s USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championships last May — will be hosting a pair of key NCVA national qualifier tournaments over the month of April. First up will be the 18’s Sierra National Girls Qualifier from April 9 to 11. Clubs from across Northern California and Nevada will be attending in hopes of earning bids to the USAV 18 Girls Junior Nationals in Columbus, Ohio, later this month. While the 18s age group has a national championship on the horizon, the rest of the age groups are waiting for USAV to announce dates and times. But that won’t stop NCVA from handing out qualifying bids. In the two weekends following the Sierra National Qualifier, NCVA will be hosting the Girls Far Westerns National Qualifier. The first weekend of the event takes place April 17-19 and will award Open Division national bids for the 13U and 14U age groups. There will also be National Division bids up for grabs in the 11U and 12U groups, USA Division bids in the 13U and

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Session 14U groups, and American Division bids for 12U through 15U. Lastly, there will be a No Dinx Division (11U-15U) that will not award bids. The older kids arrive on the following weekend (April 2325). Clubs will be bringing their 15U, 16U and 17U teams to battle for national championship tickets in both the Open and USA Divisions. There will also be 16U and 17U bids for the American Division. Finally, three divisions will compete without bids on the line: No Dinx (16U, 17U), Prime (17U, 18U) and Select (17U, 18U). The pandemic isn’t over though. Players will be required to compete in masks, and spectators (who must also be masked) will be limited to two per athlete. It’s baby steps, but it’s tournament volleyball and national championship bids. Which all feels long overdue. ✪ Follow Us On Twitter & Instagram, Like Us On Facebook!

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ordan Woolery has never waited long to make an impression. When she was in the sixth grade, word started filtering around Concord’s Clayton Valley High where she is now a junior. “A couple older girls on the team said, “Wait ‘til you see this girl, she is in sixth grade and hopefully she is going to come here,” longtime Clayton Valley softball coach Dave Cooney said. Like any veteran coach, Cooney had heard youth players hyped, often to levels they couldn’t possibly match upon reaching high school varsity. “I didn’t think much about it, then in her eighth grade year I heard, ‘Jordan is coming to Clayton Valley.’” Word also reached future teammates of the girl who had been honing her craft playing in older age groups. “I already had siblings at Clayton Valley, and there were people who talked about a girl from middle school who was awesome,” said Clayton Valley junior Jackie Alday, who met Woolery when they were 4 years old. “So I knew they had to be talking about Jordan.” Then came the big leap. Just a few weeks into eighth grade, she committed to UCLA, arguably the nation’s top collegiate softball program. Once again, she was ahead of the game. “UCLA has always been my dream school,” Woolery said. “In my fifth-grade notebook there was a question: ‘Where will you be in the future?’” she recalled. “I wrote that I want to be playing softball at UCLA. I am so excited. They have the best coaches you could ever want to play for.” Though always ahead of schedule, Woolery is enjoying the present as Clayton Valley’s shortstop. She and her teammates are thrilled to be back playing in an abbreviated season, a year after the previous one was cut short after five games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even for a program that made the last four North Coast Section Division I playoffs, a brief season without playoffs offers great opportunity. “I feel like we are just lucky to have these league games, so the seniors get to play their last games,” Woolery said. “Even if they are not going to play in college, they will have this chance to play with their classmates.” One full year from the start of the pandemic, Clayton Valley enjoyed getting back into game action, though losing 8-2 to Alhambra-Martinez. Woolery went 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs scored and an RBI. “We’re setting a bar of how we can improve for next season, while trying to have fun together as a team,” said Alday, the team’s catcher, who aspires to play at Cal. “We have only two seniors, so we are kind of young.” There’s the cliche about the star athlete who is first to practice and last to leave, but it rings true for Woolery. “Jordan is a coach’s dream; there’s no other way to put it,” Cooney said. “Most of the time practice is long over and I have to kick her out of the cage. She’ll be hitting on the tee, or working on something. So I will say, ‘Hey, it’s time to go, Jordan.’ She already is a top-level player, but she is relentless in her work ethic.” It all fits into the good-natured manner of Woolery. Even the hours spent practicing are a joy. “Working out for me wasn’t a chore, since I was not working,” she said. “For the most part, I enjoy practice. It’s not work for me.”

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Cooney calls Woolery “one of those who only come around once in a lifetime.” He’s spent 15 years with the Ugly Eagles program and is in his ninth season as head coach. He has seen standout players there. Kierra Willis went on to star at Fresno State. And there were the Chambers sisters, Kelsey and Lindsey, who played at Oregon. Woolery is something else. “She is the best to come through Clayton Valley during the time I’ve been part of the program, and in speaking with some who have been around longer than I have, they say the same thing,” he said. Woolery’s long journey with travel softball has brought her down south to the Athletics Mercado/Smith 18-U Gold team based out of Murrieta. Years of playing with older players helped her make friends and to learn. It was in sixth grade when she began to visualize her potential while appreciating the camaraderie. “I like being on a team,” she said. “Sixth grade was when I first realized I was pretty good, and college softball could be something I’d be good at.” SoftballAmerica.com, ExtraInningSoftball.com, FloSoftball.com and MaxPreps.com have ranked her among the very top recruits for the class of 2022. “She does not have a weakness in her game,” Cooney said. “She’s mainly playing shortstop, third base a bit for us. We’re trying to mix it because UCLA probably would play her at a corner position.” Sophomore second baseman Izzy Scolini sees Woolery’s talent close up. “She has a great skill set,” Scolini said. “She’s a really good infielder and really consistent in her play. She is really smooth on the dirt.’ Woolery more than lived up to the buildup in her freshman season, batting .600 with 27 RBIs and 33 runs scored. Woolery was such a force that she was intentionally walked 17 times, including three times in a 2019 NCS Div. I playoff game with Napa. “She was our No. 3 hitter and in her first at-bat hit a two-run home run,” Cooney said. “Then she was walked three times, once with the bases loaded in that game. That’s the respect she gets.” Though Clayton Valley lost that game 23-13 in a slugfest, aspirations were high for the spring 2020 season. Woolery and Alday, who hit .381 as a freshman, were back. With five of its seven seniors in the starting lineup, the table seemed set. The Ugly Eagles went 4-1 before their 2020 season — and everyone else’s in the region — was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We were pretty excited about the season, so it was tough to see the dreams crushed after the girls worked hard,” Cooney said. As a sophomore, Woolery was voted as a team captain by her teammates. “That was quite an honor on such a senior-laden team to be selected as a captain as a sophomore, Cooney said. She is appreciative of the honor, but feels the role doesn’t need to be limited to those with the designation. “To me though, it doesn’t matter if you are a captain or not. You can be a leader without being a captain.” Alday is co-captain this season with Woolery, and notes her level-headed approach. “She is definitely a natural-born leader,” Alday said. “She always leads by example, even without knowing it. She is not super cocky, even though she is the best player out there.” While sports were effectively shut down, Woolery was a galvanizing force behind small workouts. Often she would gather with Alday and Scolini. Then others began to be part of it, bridging the gap before Clayton Valley could resume team practices and then games. “During the whole pandemic, 2-3 times a week, she’d call me and ask, ‘Coach, can you unlock the field for me?’” Cooney said. “At first she’d bring a couple teammates, and as restrictions started lifting, she started grabbing a few more kids.” Scolini appreciated her efforts and demeanor during those workouts. “She has a great attitude and always looks like she’s having fun out there,” she said. “She pushes me to do better. When we would go out to the field together and work out, I noticed how she has a great swing and great mechanics.” Extra effort extends to other facets of her life. As a junior she is taking Advanced Placement classes in U.S. History and Environmental Science. Through her church, she has worked to help the homeless and participated in programs like Habitat for Humanity. “It’s important to have a good impact on people,” she said. “Even though I play softball and I enjoy that, I think it’s more important to do things that help people.” Doing important things includes staying good-natured and upbeat. “I don’t recall the last time I’ve ever heard her complain,” Alday said. “She is one of the most positive kids ... She will pick a kid up when they make an error in the field or strikes out. She’s a great person,” Cooney said. ✪ — Story By Mike Wood, Photos by Chace Bryson Follow Us On Twitter & Instagram, Like Us On Facebook!

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