LJ baseball: Roberts ties complete game record

"Robbie" Roberts displays the fungo bat

he uses, after hitting flies to Viking outfielders

before LJ's game at Coronado April 19.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Cole "Robbie" Roberts, the crafty lefthander who pitched a Viking playoff game at the end of his freshman year, tied the LJHS complete game career record with his 2-0 shutout of Coronado on April 17.

The confident, relaxed senior, who was a skinny beanpole in that freshman start on the road three years ago, is reportedly powered by some tasty no-sugar-added lemon hard candies--one of which he stored in his uniform pocket for later use in a recent outing--from an unnamed sportswriter who has covered the Viking baseball team.

Cole's total for this season is four complete games, with nine last year as a junior. That combined 13-complete-game total ties him with the existing school record.

He can break the record Wed., May 1, with his next scheduled start versus fellow league powerhouse Scripps Ranch at home at 4 p.m.

"Robbie" carries a superlative 7-1 won-lost record this season, with a microscopic 1.42 ERA. He is 3-0 in Eastern League play.

The Islander outing April 17 marked his third shutout of the season in nine starts and 12 total appearances--including two shutouts in league play.

The Vikings presently (April 28) sit in a tie for first place in the Eastern League standings with Scripps Ranch at 5-1. Coach Gary Frank's team is 16-6 overall.

LJ baseball: Frank 30th coach with 300 wins

Gary Frank (far left), who reached 300 wins

at La Jolla High April 17, leans in as coaches

and umpires go over the ground rules

before the Vikings' game at Coronado

April 19. (Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

On Wed., April 17, La Jolla shut out Coronado at home for a 2-0 victory.

The win marked head coach Gary Frank's 300th career win. The former Viking star player, now in his 21st season as head coach at his alma mater, became the 30th coach in the San Diego Section to achieve that level of wins.

Over the past two decades, the former pro second baseman--who learned how to throw right-handed as a youth so that he could play an infield position other than first base--has had six squads with 20 or more wins.

Entering the 2024 season, Gary was already the winningest coach in Viking baseball history, with 287 wins, forging ahead of luminaries like Bob Allen (1990-2003), his immediate predecessor and present assistant coach, and Allan Lamotte, who was at the helm on the old campus field from 1968-1981.

LJ track @ Dick Wilkins Frosh-Soph event 4/27

Leilani Hill (left) takes the baton from

Viking teammate Zoey Hagan, both

sophomores, to run the anchor leg

in the girls 4x100-meter relay

Sat., April 21. La Jolla's time

was 54.72.

 (Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

The Viking all-sophomore relay team of Presley Loyd, Haleh Maheronnaghsh, Zoey Hagan, and Leilani Hill ran the 4x100-meter relay in 54.72 at the annual Dick Wilkins Frosh-Soph event at Del Norte High Sat., April 27.

LJ track: Smoole to focus on sprints

Leed Smoole warms up

at the LJ-Canyon Hills-\

SDHS track meet

April 18 as a plane

flies over the campus.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

"This is what I'm going to focus on (the sprints)--no more rugby, no more football," Leed Smoole, a sophomore at La Jolla, announced to a sportswriter at the La Jolla-Canyon Hills-San Diego High School tri-meet at SDHS Thurs., April 18.

"This is what I do. You can't make a lot of money from it. Well, maybe you can. But this is what I'm going to focus on," elaborated Smoole, as he warmed up for an imminent race.

The statement carried a little zing to it, because the flowing-hair Smoole (a brotherly trait he shares with his since-graduated brother Wyn) played a critical role on the Viking varsity football team's defensive platoon in Fall 2023. This was kind of the flowering of the younger Smoole's athletic career, as he got--and continues to get--much bigger, lifted weights, matured, and began to come into his own.

 

LJ football: Torrey Pines at home week 2

Viking QB Hudson "Huddy"

Smith, a sophomore, warms up

before a 20-6 loss at home against

Rancho Bernardo Sept. 8, 2023.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

A little birdie told me yesterday (April 25) that the La Jolla football team will host Torrey Pines in week two of the 2024 season.

This is quite a step up from seven years ago--and especially 11 years ago, when the Vikings' program was in desperate need of boys to go out for the program, as the school's fortunes in that area dwindled.

The little birdie is Mike Livingston, a science teacher on campus at Torrey Pines High, who is also the head JV coach for the Falcons. Livingston let me know in a surprise visit. Livingston, a likeable and popular teacher with an outgoing personality, sits in the booth above the field during varsity games, and is well-versed in the in's-and-out's of the North County school's program.

I said, "You know you'll be facing the new quarterback (Huddy Smith), who can really sling it." He seemed aware, and I'm sure Torrey Pines' football staff as a whole will be totally caught up on Hudson's, as well as other members' of the Viking offense proclivities, habits, and patterns by Aug. 30, the scheduled date of the contest at Edwards Stadium on the LJHS campus.

For the past seven years, Coach Tyler Roach has pushed his Viking athletes to (1) play both ways, when that is appropriate; and (2) be prepared to play tougher opponents.

La Jolla has a continuing rivalry with Scripps Ranch, whom it has met in the playoffs, as well as in league play. LJHS also has a rivalry with Mira Mesa, another tough, grinding opponent.

In the old days, since the bloom of Viking football 1991-1995, when the team won league titles each season (long before my time covering the team), La Jolla maybe shied away from some of the tougher teams. There was heart, but not enough energy to face these good teams and play them on an equal basis.

Torrey Pines will be a good test. On the Falcons' campus, not only football but also basketball, volleyball, and other sports, both male and female, receive the support and funding from the administration and staff. It is not uncommon to find yet another staff hire, teaching in a classroom, who is a coach in a particular sport that Torrey Pines has sought for leadership and acumen.

These are my private opinions. They have nothing to do with public policy or statements. But over the last couple, even several, years, one can perceive a pattern that points to a campus-wide emphasis at Torrey Pines on promoting athletics. One of the impetuses is the rivalry with North County power La Costa Canyon, which has a similar ethos and emphasis.

Both schools recruit, or draw, athletes who are looking to compete for teams that play at a high level in Open Division or Division 1. There aren't too many pushover teams.

Meanwhile, La Jolla has a proud tradition of athletics alongside academics. LJHS graduates are no slouches in the preparation they receive toward college and future careers.

LJ g beach VB 1, Torrey Pines 4 - CIF Open Division playoffs - 1st Round (of 4) - 4/25

Photos by Ed Piper

Emma Garrett dives for the ball in front of

teammate Daniela Vinolo during the 5's match.

Lindsay Laumann, a senior lefty,

does an acrobatic hit during the

1's contest.

Junior Katie Murray goes to her knees for a bump

behind Kira Shepanski for the 3's.

Emma Garrett (5's) skies for a hit.

LJ 5's: Junior Daniela Vinolo (left)

and sophomore Emma Garrett

LJ coach Carol

Welcher with

baby Welcher

at her first

playoffs. Will

daughter be 6'2"

also?

Senior Lana Ferrell (17) goes away from the action

to try to save a pass against TP's ones.

Roll for first choice in the 1's match.

Viking lacrosse: 'A different sport'

Viking goalie Pixie DeLeon (left) holds the ball

in anticipation of starting the offense

at Cathedral Catholic Mon., April 15.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

A few weeks into the spring sports season, I had the opportunity to attend a Viking girls lacrosse game, then a few days later a Viking boys lacrosse game.

Wow.

While the girls' game emphasizes athleticism and finesse--you can't put your stick near an opponent's face--the boys' game was a smasher/crasher that collided with my kinesthetic sensibilities.

I was struck (though not literally, though I've been hit multiple times by a ball in play or a player as I cover high school games right next to the sideline) by the pure joy of the guys wanting to generate contact.

Many of us males, testosterone-driven, love to experience the thud of hard, sharp contact. I loved it back in my day in high school sports, though my brother and I were banned from football by our mother's edicts when we were young because of her brother's injuries in ice hockey.

The sharp contrast between the boys and girls games really came home as I watched. I've covered both sports for multiple years, I've taken a lot of photos, I've written a few stories on my blog. But it really delivered this time: fine movements, sprinting action, calling out plays as the "striker" has the ball or passes to a teammate before receiving it back. I'm talking about the girls' game.

Senior Logan MacLean (29) of La Jolla tries

to score against Skyline (WA) April 12.

Way on the other side of the chasm, I viewed Seigo Lavinsky and gang in the boys' game a few nights later, the hard pounding as a defender shadows an opponent with his stick, the rough-and-tumble contact when offense/defense vie for the same position--even taking out the opponent if the referee interprets it as "going for the ball".

The approach of coaches outline the difference in the two games. The women call out encouragement, plays, formation patterns. They're not wimpy, but it doesn't lead to physicality.

Meanwhile, Coach Adam Morawski (hired a short time before last season's opening game) in the guys' game (both teams play super-late in the evening!) presided over huddles that reinforced a need to hold the line, use their bodies as much as necessary to apply pressure on defense and try to alter play patterns to stop or delay scoring.

One parent, on the sidelines to take photos of his son when an out-of-state team came to Edwards Stadium, reacted when I mentioned this difference: "It's a different game."

I totally agree.