NorCal Issue 208, May 2022 by Sport Stars Magazine

MAY 2022 VOL. 13 ISSUE 208 NORCAL EDITION

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very once in a while I’ll find myself thinking about the future of SportStars — and how it might just be easier to lean into our popular football coverage and simply become a leader in football-only content. Our annual NorCal Football Preview is always one of our most popular issues each year. Our social media channels always grow during the fall. And our new 7 Friday Night Podcast gained a decent audience in its first season. So I think about what we could do if we just went full-blown football all the time. And the thought can be appealing. But then I help put together an issue like this one. For two of this issue’s three features, we made a concerted effort to get out to sports that we haven’t been at much this spring. We hit up a North Coast Section boys volleyball championship as well as the NCS Boys Golf Championships. Both experiences were a reminder of why we’ve enjoyed covering so many different sports over what will be 12 years this June. They may not get the every-week coverage that football and basketball get, but these athletes soak up every minute of their opportunity to talk about their season, teammates and sport. Also, it’s worth noting that the NCS Division I Boys Volleyball Championship between Amador Valley-Pleasanton and host College Park-Pleasant Hill nearly filled up both sides of the College Park gym. The home team’s rabid student section was on par with the several we see routinely at basketball games over the course of the winter. The games matter. And it’s easy to forget that many of these spring athletes lost out on two postseason opportunities due to the pandemic. The fall and winter sports only lost one. So while we still occasionally wander off into football season planning here at SportStars HQ — yes, it’s just 13 weeks away — we want to thank the College Park boys volleyball team and the number of top NCS boys golfers who reminded us how much fun it is to share their stories too. We’re not stopping there either. Next week SportStarsMag.com will be running a feature from the NCS Track & Field Meet Of Champions in addition to baseball and softball championship coverage. Follow along as we wrap up another terrific academic year of high school sports. It feels like it’s gone by in a flash. ✪

YOUR TICKET TO CALIFORNIA SPORTS ADMIT ONE; RAIN OR SHINE This Vol. #13, May 2022, Whole No. 208 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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4.26.17 Vacaville High’s Jurnee Woodward clears a hurdle during a photo shoot with SportStars Magazine. The 2016 state champion in the 300 meter hurdles went on to a decorated career at LSU. In 2019 she was an SEC Champion and All-American in the 400 meter hurdles. She was also a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll. James K. Leash photo

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BAY VIEW NCVA Hands Out Nearly 50 National Bids At Far Westerns, And Now Prepares To Host Season-Ending Bay View Classic

Competing in the USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championships in Indianapolis this summer is a much closer reality for 48 youth volleyball teams who earned bids at the NCVA Far Western Regionals in Reno last month. The NCVA hosted several hundred teams from the West Coast over the final two weekends of April. They offered national championship bids across several divisions in the 11U-17U age groups. Several NorCal clubs had good showings, including Vision Volleyball Club out of Los Gatos. Vision picked up a total of four bids across the 11U-13U age groups. Vision 13 Blue had the best weekend of the bunch, going 9-0 in the 13 American Division and dropping just one set. Vision 13 Gold took third in the 13 Open; Vision 12 Gold went 8-1 to take second in the 12 National field, and Vision Gold 11 took second at 11 National. Vision 16 Gold went 10-0 (dropping only one set) to win the 16 Open Division. However, they had previously earned a bid. The SF Tremors Club of San Francisco picked up a pair of national bids, which included its 13 Wolverines team going 7-1 to win the 13 Liberty Division. Meanwhile, the club’s 14 Wolverines team clawed its way to a third place finish in the 14 Open Division. Absolute 17 Black out of San Rafael was able to gain a 17 Open Division bid after finishing fifth overall in Reno. Next up on the list of NCVA events will be the Bay View Classic tournament at the Reobbelen Center of @The Grounds in Roseville. The end-of-season event will feature girls divisions from 11U-18U and boys divisions from 15U-18U. The tournament is May 28-30 with a May 27 recruiting combine attached. The Bay View Recruiting Combine will take place from 8-9:30 p.m. at the Capital Sports Center in McClellan Park. It is open to all rising 8th grade or current high school girls player, regardless of whether their team is entered in the weekend’s tournament. Like the combines at previous NCVA events, this will be a “Video Combine.” However, college coaches have also been invited to attend this one. For those coaches who are not able to attend, video is taken of every participant with a highlight tape sent to NCAA Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA and Junior College programs in California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Idaho. For information on how to register for the combine, be sure to visit: https://ncva.com/bayview/ ✪ 6

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ve BODY A College Park Boys Volleyball Team Led By 10 Seniors Played Through Aches, Pain And Relentless Opponents To Claim The Program’s First Title In 14 Years Follow Us On Twitter & Instagram, Like Us On Facebook!

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Trevor Lau 10

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t took a while for the reverberations to calm down on the gym floor at College Park High in Pleasant Hill. The wild celebration the Falcons broke into after capturing the North Coast Section Division I boys volleyball championship on May 12 against Amador Valley-Pleasanton rocked their gym loudly for several minutes. Before a raucous crowd, the No. 1 seed Falcons (28-6) won their first NCS title since 2008 with a 28-26, 25-20, 21-25, 25-21 victory over the No. 2 Dons, who were the most recent NCS Division I champions (2019). This 1 vs. 2 matchup was full-throttle intensity, high-impact volleyball from start to finish. “We play with a lot of heart, and everyone will put their body after the ball,” Falcons star outside hitter/setter Trevor Lau said after the win. Count Lau among those daredevils. He dislocated his pinky finger on a block at one point, got it popped back into place and went back into action as if nothing happened. “It’s his desire and his passion,” College Park coach Steve Hieta said of Lau. “There was no way he was going to step off the court and let his team down, by any means. He’s dynamic, a really dynamic kind of player.” Both teams advanced to the CIF Northern California regional playoffs with College Park getting the fuzzier end of the lollipop. With the CIF basing its brackets purely on competitive equity, and not enrollment, the Falcons were considered among NorCal’s Top 8 teams — but No. 8 among them. That meant a first-round road trip to 35-2 Central Coast Section champion St. Francis-Mountain View on May 17. The results went as you might expect. The Lancers defeated the Falcons in four sets, 26-24, 23-25, 25-18 and 25-18. As for Amador Valley, they dropped into the Div. II bracket and picked up a No. 3 seed and home opener with Vista del Lago-Folsom. The Dons advanced with a four-set win over Vista del LagoFolsom. After the Falcons won the NCS final’s first two furiously paced sets, the Dons (27-7) surged and held a comfortable margin most of the way to take the third set. Still it wasn’t easy for the Dons to seal that set, as three late kills by Lau demonstrated the Falcons were en route to recapturing the magic of the first two sets. “It’s hard to keep the momentum when your team is down by five and you have to keep playing,” senior middle hitter Peter Berardini said. “Game four, we knew we weren’t losing it.” College Park’s resilience showed the maturity of the team that boasts 10 seniors, coach Steve Hieta said. “The players are mature in a volleyball sense, and you could see that in the third game in not getting down and taking that momentum,” Hieta said. “For them, I think they realized what our ultimate goal is … we wanted an NCS title. A league title along the way is nice to have, but the NCS title is what we really really wanted for these boys.” Still, the Dons kept the pressure on College Park in game 4. In what looked like a match-altering moment, Amador Valley built a 15-13 lead on a kill by Bryce Nohava, and the home crowd grew hushed when Lau crashed to the floor and appeared to be shaken up. Appearances can be deceiving. Lau stayed in the fray and kept delivering the high-caliber, highimpact style that led to a volleyball scholarship to Cal State Northridge. “He cares about winning more than his body,” junior middle hit-

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TOP: At 6-foot-5, junior middle hitter Caden Mays was an imposing presence for the Falcons this season

and will be a big focal point of the team’s offense in 2023. ABOVE: Senior outside hitter Peter Berardini, right, awaits a serve next to fellow senior Jordan Segall.

It was Berardini’s back-to-back aces that helped College Park pull away late in the fourth set.

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ter Caden Mays said of Lau. Momentum swung back and forth from the Dons to the Falcons and back and forth again. The teams drew ties at 15-15, 16-16, 17-17, 18-18. Finally Lau elevated for a furious spike kill that brought the crowd to its feet. After a timeout, College Park righted the ship on what had been an up and down serving game. The 6-foot-5 Berardini blasted back-to-back aces to put the Falcons up 21-18 for a lead that was theirs for good. “I knew Peter was going to come back,” Mays said. “He’s been a monster server back there the entire year. And so it was just a matter of time.” A block by Mays ended a dynamic rally and put College Park up 23-20. Junior Nathan Clinton delivered an impressive kill that showed the Dons’ determination. But another impressive Lau kill set up an opportunity for match point. That came on a tip-over from Logan Gomez, one of College Park’s core-four with Sami Hieta, Berardini and Lau, who all played varsity together four years and learned to stay focused when things don’t go right. “What they do really well is they support each other on the court, from a team perspective, and they have short memories and they are on to the next play,” Steve Hieta said. “So they are always pushing. Sure, we have got Trevor, but it’s a team effort.” Getting to a championship game was a long wait for both teams. As the 2019 defending NCS Division I champion, Amador Valley watched two straight school years go by without any playoffs. The Dons had delivered the Falcons their only loss in the abbreviated spring 2021 season that had no postseason. For Hieta, himself a 1988 College Park graduate, he was pleased to see his players get to complete a full season, not to mention win an NCS championship. “I’ve known some of these kids since they were 9 years old,” he said. ”For them to have a regular season as their senior year was … it’s a relief, it’s exciting, it’s good for the boys. They need this.” Amador Valley entered the playoffs off an impressive East Bay Athletic League championship run, winning that competitive league with a 16-2 record, two games ahead of both De La Salle and Granada-Livermore. This spring, College Park didn’t even win its league title, dropping both Diablo Athletic LeagueFoothill matchups to Campolindo-Moraga. Considering Campolindo went on to sweep De La Salle-Concord to take the NCS Division II championship, the league’s cachet has surely shot up a notch. “Once everyone’s up and everyone’s playing well, nothing can stop us,” Berardini said. ✪ — Story By Mike Wood | Photos By Chace Bryson Follow Us On Twitter & Instagram, Like Us On Facebook!

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HOPE GRACE

and Grace Jenkins shows off the team’s jar of “rally beans” with the help of Hailey Strange, left, and Olivia McFarland. Follow Us On Twitter & Instagram, Like Us On Facebook!

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Grace Jenkins

Powered By A Set Of Twins With Motivational Philosophies And Winning Attitudes, Saint Francis Softball Seeks Program’s First Sac-Joaquin Section Title Since 1986

ope & Grace. It sounds like a motivational memoir that fits nicely into your staged background for virtual meetings, somewhere between How to Win Friends and Influence People and The Art of War. Hope and Grace Jenkins are a bit of both. The twin sisters on St. Francis-Sacramento’s softball team are a sensational mix of inspirational philosophy, athletic prowess, swagger and zeal. Oh, and dingers. Lots and lots of dingers. Grace hit two of them beyond the outfield wall May 17 in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Div. II playoffs. She had a game-high three base knocks during the 8-1 drubbing of Cordova, while Hope tossed a seveninning gem with 15 strikeouts. Both seniors are bound for UConn on softball scholarships, and are two of the best players in Northern California. Through their playoff opener, they had combined for 80 hits, 15 doubles, 17 home runs and 52 runs scored in 154 at-bats. Hope also leads the SJS with 22 wins from the circle, and is sixth in strikeouts (274). Grace also catches. “They both bring different things to the team, and they are both very athletic, very hungry to be successful — not just on the softball field, but in the classroom,” St. Francis coach Kevin Warren said. “When you can bring those types of things onto the field, it’s a huge thing for our program.” What Hope and Grace bring onto the field is actually more unpredictable than Coach Warren is letting on. In their Div. II opener, Hope brought her white cowboy hat, and spent time away from the mound underneath that buckaroo bowler, glaring at the opposing infield from the gap in the St. Francis dugout. It was an imposing scene to behold, when she wasn’t batting or mowing down hitters. “That striking personality and that dominant presence is something needed in a pitcher,” Hope said. “So yeah, I’m going to stand in that doorway and put on my cowboy hat and cheer on my teammates as hard as I can.” When she fanned the last batter to end the game, Hope let out some of that aggression with a sort of angry

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Hope Jenkins “whoop!” It punctuated an impressive effort by the SJS No. 2 seed. “I’m a very competitive person, and I’m not doing it out of disrespect to the other team, but because I am proud of my team and what we’ve accomplished during the game,” Hope said. “So when I let out that loud scream at the end of a game, it’s a ‘Yes. We won this and we got it done.’” The runaway Troubadour train has more conductors than just the Jenkins twins. St. Francis has also picked up big contributions this season from senior Amy Abueg (22 hits, 24 runs and 12 RBI) and sophomore Alexandra Garcia (19 hits, 15 RBI and seven doubles). Hope does command the circle, though. She is one of the top aces in a bracket that also includes No. 3 seed Elk Grove and junior sensation Aissa Silva (who St. Francis beat twice) and No. 1 seed Del Oro and senior ace Caroline Grimes (1-0 vs. St. Francis). Del Oro and the Div. I top seed, Sheldon, are the only teams to beat St. Francis (24-3) this year. “It’s really cool to be amongst all these great softball players,” Hope said. “Northern California has become really competitive, and I love being able to play Elk Grove, Sheldon, Del Oro — all these big schools.” Big games loom well beyond the SJS postseason for Hope and Grace. This year, UConn finished as Big East regular season champions for the first time since 1997. The team was runner-up in the Big East postseason tourney, and just missed selection to the Women’s College World Series. Follow Us On Twitter & Instagram, Like Us On Facebook!

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“I’m super excited to play under coach Laura Valentino, and could not be more excited and eager to get there and work with pitching coach Kyle Brady every single day,” Hope said. “I am very blessed to be on the East Coast, especially with my sister, and we are going to dorm together.” Valentino was the inspiration for the other oddity brought to the Troubadours softball field May 17 — a jar of “rally beans” that Grace and other grinning teammates were seen shaking for good fortune inside the St. Francis dugout. The rudimentary momentum booster illustrates the positive philosophies that Grace brings to the program. “My future coach, Laura Valentino recommended this book called The Coffee Bean by Jon Gordon, and it’s basically about transforming your own environment,” Grace said. “You don’t want to be an egg, which becomes hard boiled when you put it in hot water, or a carrot, which gets soft. “When you put a coffee bean in water it transforms its environment, which becomes coffee.” It’s a viewpoint that brews well on the dusty diamond. “The whole entire message this year was about transforming our environment, playing our game on our field, or our game on a visitor’s field or neutral field,” Grace said. “Wherever it is, we have the ability to trans18

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form our environment, because we can control that.” Grace said sharing these learned practices and experiences are important ways she can help her teammates get better, through sort-of equal-ground mentoring with her peers that is always angled toward improving their collective outcome — the game score. She always has her eyes on the prize or, specifically, the available space in the Troubadour gymnasium. “St. Francis hasn’t won a section title since 1986, though we had runner-up appearances in 1995 and 1996,” Grace said. “I want to get that blue banner. “This is for all the players who played before us, and the players who played for St. Francis during Covid.” Grace is all about impact on those around her. It’s why she shares values important to her, and why she pushes her sister so hard to be great. It’s a mutual habit that has made them both shine, and parents Kathleen and Charles Jenkins are proud UConn fans already. And the life lessons won’t end at UConn. “I love to read (motivational books) and write,” Grace said. “I would also love to go to law school one day and get involved in government.” The next memoir you read may be a Jenkins classic, fueled by coffee beans and cowboy hats, with lots of Hope & Grace. ✪ — Story and Photos by Ike Dodson Follow Us On Twitter & Instagram, Like Us On Facebook!

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GREEN MACHINE

With Four Of Its Six Golfers Under Par, De La Salle Delivered Perhaps One Of The Most Dominant North Coast Section Championship Performances Ever

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L to R: Joey Hayden, Jack Jerge and Jaden Dumdumaya with NCS championship plaque and banner.

oey Hayden was the one. As the only member of the De La Salle High golf team to have teed it up at the last North Coast Section Championships in 2019, Hayden was the one golfer who could truly show up at Lone Tree Golf Course on May 16 with a goal of defending a title. And did he ever. Hayden birdied his opening hole — the 422-yard, par-4 No. 7 — to jumpstart a dazzling round of 65 on the Antioch course. It was a round that would earn him top medalist honors and help lead the Spartans to back-to-back NCS titles. “I asked him when he finished today, ‘How’d it feel?,’” De La Salle coach Jim Collins said of Hayden. “And he said, ‘I just wanted more.’ That’s what I try to tell these kids. If you get to 1-under, try to get to 2 and 3. Don’t put on the brakes; just keep going. Trust your swing. Trust your putting stroke, and think positive.” It’s clear the Spartans golfers are listening. Of De La Salle’s six golfers in the NCS field, four of them finished in red numbers. Hayden, junior Jack Jerge, sophomores Jaden Dumdumaya and Colin Keith, and freshman Joshua Kim combined for a five-golfer score of 346. That’s a collective 14-under par. “This is a number that has won NCAA Championships,” tournament director Steve Sloper told the crowd that gathered for the awards ceremony. “It’s really remarkable.” The 346 is the lowest team score for an NCS champion since the section began counting five golfers instead of four in 2003. Meanwhile, Hayden’s 65 was the lowest individual round in an NCS Championship tournament since 2013 when Montgomery-Santa Rosa’s Nick Rogers shot the same number at Rooster Run Golf Club in Petaluma. “I just got off to a good start (on Hole 7),” Hayden said. “I put a wedge within three feet to set up a birdie. I’ve really been working hard on my wedge game, and it paid off today. Mainly it was pretty steady golf. No bogeys and took advantage of the par 5s.” Dumdumaya experienced quite a different type of round. The sophomore began his day on Hole 2 and opened with 14 straight pars. “It wasn’t something I was having a good time with,” the sophomore said. “I missed a lot of birdie putts on those holes. But I finished pretty good.”

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CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Jack Jerge rolls in a putt on the 17th green;

A picture of De La Salle’s posted scores with four in red, signifying rounds below par; De La Salle coach Jim Collins, left, chats with Jaden Dumdumaya following the sophomores birdie on Hole No. 18. Dumdumaya went 3-under over his last four holes, which included a birdie on the 303-yard, par-4 No. 18 after landing his drive on the green. “Mentally, I was pretty strong,” Dumdumaya said. “I didn’t really give up during that stretch when there was nothing going on. … Perseverance is one of my biggest things. I think mental strength today was probably my strong point.” The sophomore has no shortage of strong points, as evidenced by a sparkling spring for the already massively decorated junior golfer. He won a national Drive, Chip & Putt title in the Boys 14-15 division — at Augusta National during Masters Week. He also passed the first round of U.S. Open Qualifying by finishing second at Ruby Hill Golf Club in Pleasanton the week before the NCS Championship. “I’ve been coaching golf for a long time,” Collins said. “I’m a 30 year life member for the PGA of America. I’ve seen a lot of kids hit good golf shots. The way (Jaden) strikes a ball is possibly the best I’ve ever seen.” Hayden had no problem heaping similar praise toward the Spartans’ No. 1 golfer. “He’s been putting up good numbers for years now,” the senior said. “He’s just a sophomore and it’s going to be really exciting to watch him as he progresses even more. … He’s got Follow Us On Twitter & Instagram, Like Us On Facebook!

no weak spots.” As the scores slowly posted at Lone Tree Golf Course, there were a number of competitors left saying the same thing about the Spartans as a whole. Hayden’s 65 was joined by under-par rounds of 69 from Dumdumaya, 68 by Jerge and 71 by Kim. Colin Keith was the fifth golfer to score with a 1-over 73 and senior Cameron Keith had his 75 scratched. “The other two guys got to walk home,” Collins said with a laugh. “That’s kind of our team rule. If you don’t shoot under par, you’ve got to catch the bus.” This is Collins’ first year running the program after former coach Terry Eidson retired after last spring. “When Coach Eidson said ‘I think you’ve got to take it over,’ I said ‘OK.’ There wasn’t much hesitation,” the coach said. “I knew the cupboard was full. … Our team is just very deep. Any of the other four golfers on the roster could’ve played here today, and they are probably not happy with me for the fact that they aren’t here.” That depth was certainly evident during the EBAL season which saw the Spartans rack up a 15-2 record in dual matches. Collins will now face the unenviable task of picking a new six for the CIF/NCGA NorCal Championships tournament

set for May 23 at Berkeley Country Club. With a top three finish there, the Spartans will punch a ticket to the CIF State Championship Tournament at San Gabriel Country Club on June 2. Hayden feels confident the team is set up for a strong postseason run. “It’s just a super motivated team right now,” Hayden said. “We’re going to keep working hard during this upcoming week and come out (for NorCals) with the same mindset we did today.” For Dumdumaya, who has been experiencing individual success at such a high clip over the last year, the team element has been extremely refreshing and rewarding during these last few months. “It’s not just you, you have to count on others,” the sophomore phenom said. “You’re not thinking about yourself, but the team. It’s something that I’m passionate about. All of us are impacting each other in a positive way.” There’s no more positive way than leading one another to NorCal and state titles. Besides, nobody will want to find their own way home from San Gabriel next month. ✪ — Story and Photos by Chace Bryson

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