Photos by Ed Piper
La Jolla's storybook season second half and surge into the playoffs--like a Viking surfer walking down two blocks from campus to ride a cresting wave at Marine Avenue--temporarily sustained itself in a four-run top of the first inning in the CIF Finals at UCSD Thursday, May 29.
But the whole wave, foam and all, came crashing into shore on a rocky seven-run response by the Lincoln Hornets in the bottom of that inning. It ended with a shortened game, called in the fifth inning with no outs, on the 10-run rule, 17-7, as Coach Olivia Hanke's Hornets pounded yet three more hits sandwiched around two Viking errors.
The surprising 2025 season was history, but what a run it had been: a 6-3 Central League record, followed by three wins in the Division 5 playoffs leading into Thursday's game.
Jacey Taylor, Nat Vasquez, and the Vikes stood at 3-10 before league play back on March 25, after a 11-0 blowout loss at Escondido. They finished with a 12-14 season record, not .500 but remarkable in the team's transformation the next two months. The squad jelled, to use a term.
By Ed Piper
La Jolla head coach Anthony Sarain showed his calm nature and long years of seasoning from coaching his daughter, Katja, who starred for the Vikings as a pitcher in the 20-teens, and other La Jolla players in two particular instances Tuesday, May 27.
In the Vikings' 15-10 win over Crawford to clinch a spot in the Division 5 CIF Final Thursday, May 29, Sarain, who plays the saxophone professionally, remained cool as a cucumber when opposing coach John Martinez called time out in the top of the fourth and questioned the Vikings' batting order.
Martinez, thoroughly friendly and informative in a pregame chat about his team, was working off his scorebook. He stated to the home plate umpire that he thought that Viking second baseman Imelda Lopez, outfield sub Emily Hernandez, and outfielder Maddie Ehlert were batting out of order.
The Colt coach wasn't inappropriate, but the stakes were high in the CIF semifinal contest, and he wanted to get it right.
The conversation went back-and-forth near the La Jolla backstop, involving Viking player Jacey Taylor's mother, who was keeping the Vikings' order of play on the Gamechanger app on her phone, Sarain, and the umpire.
Nearby was Stephanie Alvarez, former Viking and co-coach with Sarain in 2023 and 2024. She, likewise, was a calm presence.
All the while, Anthony remained poised, not in a hurry, listening as Martinez questioned who was supposed to be batting after three hitters in the inning.
At the time, La Jolla was leading 13-4. But Crawford, with several good hitters, is no slouch and was capable of coming back from the deficit to make it a close ballgame.
Lopez, the second baseman, had lined out on soft contact to third baseman Katerin Ponce for the first out of the inning. Hernandez, subbing in the outfield for Maddie McConnell, then lined out to Crawford shortstop Kimberly Gomez.
Finally, Ehlert singled to right, and after Martinez's discussion, the inning ended on leadoff hitter Savannah Putnam's groundout to third. The matter got resolved, and no protest was lodged.
Then, of more consequence, with only one out in the top of the seventh, the game on the line, La Jolla in the lead 15-9, the Colts had fourth-slot hitter Ponce coming up. The opening batter, in the eighth slot, walked and scored. Itzel Carrillo, batting in the ninth spot, struck out.
Leadoff hitter Dariana Neria, who Coach Martinez said "sets the table for us", singled and advanced to third. Gomez, the shortstop who caught Hernandez's liner in the fourth, stepped in and walked.
Vike hurler Nat Alvarez hit Melissa Pineda, in the third slot, with a pitch to load up the bases.
This was the situation when Sarain, again, calculating and cool--considering possible outcomes--looked at prior innings and realized that Ponce, swinging a big bat, had driven in a run in the top of the first in her first at-bat. In her next at-bat, in the third, she drove in two more with a shot to right-centerfield.
Lastly, in the top of the fifth, the reliable Katerin had again lined a shot to right, but there was nobody on in front of her to drive in. Instead, she took second on a wild pitch, and scored on Wendy Vasquez's booming shot to right-center.
Sarain calmly decided to put the clean-up batter on base, and informed the home plate umpire for an intentional walk. That caused Neria to score from third, and move the score to 15-10.
The gamble worked out perfectly, as second baseman Analia Felix struck out, and Michelle Aduba grounded out to second. Game over. Win secured.
Photos by Ed Piper
Sophomore Nat Alvarez hit a grand slam in the third inning, her ninth home run of the season, and pitched La Jolla to a 15-10 win over visiting Crawford Tues., May 27, to reach the CIF Division 5 championship game.
Overwhelming the Colts in bottom of the first, the Vikings--surprise second-place finishers in the Central League this season--piled up eight runs, the big blow a booming double by Jacey Taylor to right-centerfield, driving in two runs. The deluge overcame a somewhat shaky start in which Crawford initially scored a run off Alvarez in the opening half-inning.
Natalie's power shot built the hosts' lead from 9-4 to 13-4 in one swing.
But the Colts didn't lie down and die. In the fifth and sixth, Coach John Martinez's scrappy bunch rallied for four runs, trailing now 15-8, setting up a tension-packed final inning for the Vikes to try to nail down the win.
With one out in the top of the seventh, and Crawford having plated one run on a hit-by-pitch of Melissa Pineda--the starting catcher who had to fill in as pitcher after a season-ending injury--and threatening for more, veteran La Jolla coach Anthony Sarain made a big gamble by ordering an intentional walk of Colt power-hitter Katerin Ponce.
The walk drove in a run, with the bases loaded against Alvarez, the score now 15-10. Nat struck out the next batter, and induced a groundout to second baseman Imelda Lopez for the final out, and the Vikings rushed to the home sideline to celebrate.
They will play Lincoln Thursday evening, May 29, at 7 p.m. at UCSD for the Division 5 title. The game will be played on the Triton Softball Field on campus.
By Ed Piper
Covering high school sports in my capacity as a sports reporter in the greater San Diego area, I became enamored with UC's Kai Anderson, a pole vaulter, when I did a story on him a year ago.
Well, Kai, at 16 feet-plus, went on to win the state title at the Fresno meet last May.
In somewhat of an upset this year, Anderson, who is built big and strong, not light and lithe like a long-distance runner, placed second in the CIF San Diego Section finals Sat., May 24, at Mt. Carmel High.
The finish had to do with the number of attempts made, and Dylan Yarbrough of San Dieguito Academy won out on that count.
It's all good and legitimate, and that's the way first and second place can be decided.
But at the state meeting this coming weekend, Kai can still repeat as state champ if he makes the grade. The lower finish at the local meet doesn't lock him in to a runner-up spot to Yarbrough at the succeeding meet.
In any case, both athletes are having great seasons.
What's fascinating to me is that Kai Anderson is a former gymnast, who spent eight years of training in that sport. His vault coach at UCHS, Mike Hogan, says that is a key to his success: As he put it, "being upside down" in the air comfortably is a big part of vaulting. And Kai has had that experience and worked well with it.
As Hogan tells it, speed, strength, and the upside-down comfort element combine to make a top vaulter.
After the Vikings went 9-3 in the City League to finish a respectable second place, shortstop Hank Hansen was named Player of the Year for the league, while rightfielder Harper Lane received First Team honors along with Hansen in postseason accolades.
In 30 games, Hansen, a senior, hit .333, with 19 RBI's (tops on the Vikings) and 15 doubles (almost doubling the next closest teammate).
A running threat, the senior stole 11 bases to lead Coach Gary Frank's squad. He was a perfect 11-for-11 in that category.
Hank, who also starred in football for the Viking squad the last two falls, moved over from third base this season and played a sparkling shortstop, recording a .947 fielding average with a respectable seven errors.
In other stats, he led the team in slugging percentage at .624 (the next closest, Lane, was over a hundred points lower). Likewise, his OPS was 1.050, tops on the team with Lane second at .963.
"HH", as he once told this sportswriter he liked to be nicknamed, also served as a closer for La Jolla's baseball team. He saved two games, first on the team, in seven appearances.
His teammate Harper, who still has another year on the Ronnie Spelman diamond, hit .373, highest for Coach Gary Frank's squad, with 12 RBI's. His familiar lefthanded swing followed Hansen in the order, Hank hitting second, Harper third.
As Frank said late in the season, "We got just enough offense" along with excellent pitching to deliver a strong City League campaign.
Named to the All-League Second Team were Adam Lafever, Abel Delgadillo, Ryan Kestler, and Charlie Smith.
I took a look at Jacey Taylor's stats this morning (May 26). They are a major reason that La Jolla's offense has led the way this season: a ridiculous .662 individual batting average (.300 is very good in baseball and softball), with 11 home runs and 53 RBI's. Throw in 17 doubles.
The junior first baseman's average leads the team by over 200 points. (Centerfielder Savannah Putnam, a fellow junior, is hitting .451, which is outstanding.)
Her RBI count stands far above another teammate's total, Nat Alvarez, who's at 35 RBI; senior captain Roxie Metcalf, the third baseman, ranks third with 27.
Meanwhile, Taylor's home run rate is out of sight, other than Alvarez's again, at 11 home runs.
The statistics I am citing represent a very healthy team attack--Taylor is having a great season, but she's not alone in pounding the ball.
Maddie Ehlert, a third junior, is enjoying a tremendous season at the plate, batting .448. Don't let me forget catcher Aviv Laska, a sophomore, at .417. Ella Pearl, the freshman shortstop, is hitting a solid .395.
Circle back to Jacey Taylor. In 2024, as a sophomore, the left-handed power hitter had not yet hit her peak. Team statistics show Jerri, as she is rarely called, led the Vikings in average with a .405 mark.
But she only drove in 11 RBI's, which is a reflection of the anemic team and attack back then (the team was 1-23, if you can believe it).
Jacey also only hit two home runs. She didn't even lead the team in that category, being eclipsed by the since-graduated Kaitlin Murphy, who played third base, and had three home runs.
She only hit one home run her freshman year.
Jacey is only one homer away from tying Emmy Cardenas' single-season mark of 12.
Which is all to say that La Jolla under Coach Anthony Sarain head into tomorrow's (May 27) CIF fourth round playoff game at home against Crawford with a formidable attack.
Photos by Ed Piper
Photos by Ed Piper
One of the real strengths of the 2025 Viking softball team is how they have improved as the season has gone on. In particular, sophomore Natalie "Nat" Alvarez has toned her velocity down from the pitching circle, and consequently seen her command increase. Also, the La Jolla defense, with some young players and others who have never played softball before, has honed its skills to cut down on errors in the field.
Said head coach Anthony Sarain before the Vikings' opening CIF playoff game Wed., May 21, "Hitting has been solid all season.
"Defense has improved tremendously. We have had a few games with no errors.
"Pitching keeps improving. We are peaking at the right time."
Alvarez, last year, struggled with walks. Opposing teams went around in circles, from base to base, as bases-on-balls piled up and games not infrequently were called after five innings on the eight-run rule.
This season, a more seasoned, more mature "Nat" has calmed her presence on the mound, gained further confidence, and hit the strike zone in catcher Aviv Laska's glove much more often.
Sarain said that the Vikings' surge toward the end of the regular season, qualifying for the playoffs, has been largely due to Alvarez's development as a hurler.
Poor Hoover, who also had its struggles, was decimated by La Jolla in both league games the two teams played this year.
The offense, as Sarain, the long-time coach, said, has always been strong this season. Jacey Taylor has evolved to be a powerful force in the fourth slot in the batting order, slugging numerous home runs. Savannah Putnam, batting leadoff, has had a good season. Senior captain Roxie Metcalf has continued her solid, consistent performance from her earlier seasons as she switched to third base and freshman Ella Pearl has moved into her former spot at shortstop.
I did a piece earlier in the year on Viking athletes who play more than one sport. A recent article I wrote had to do with a profile on Nico Bardaro, a La Jolla High sophomore who spans the range from football tight end to soccer goalie to volleyball front-line player.
I want to echo those words with a shout-out to Maddie Quach, a junior, who lettered in wrestling again the past winter, a golfer in the fall who also took part in the Viking softball team's 13-1 win over High Tech SD at home in the CIF Division 5 playoffs yesterday (May 21). She plays left field.
In addition, senior Nate Takata continues to amaze. He showed up at the CIF golf tourney Mon., May 19 (read my earlier entry on getting up at 5 a.m. to cover him and teammates Gabe Vargas and Justin Woods) to play on the first day of the two-day competition.
Takata, who I first heard of three years ago, when he was playing quarterback for the freshman football team, came to an interview on campus I conducted at the beginning of soccer season for an article I was doing for the La Jolla Village News. Coach Pilar Flores had chosen him as a rep for the team--he is a senior, and so versatile. He and captain Mateo Peniche, a soccer "lifer" (only sport he plays) did a great job in the interview, though it got pretty hilarious, as they reacted off the video screen in the Athletic Conference Room to each rotating image projected there of classmates playing football, baseball, volleyball, you name it. Quite a few off-the-cuff anecdotes about friends they know in class and on campus.
While he was golfing, Nate was starring concurrently for the Viking lacrosse team, which also qualified for the CIF playoffs. How do you do that, with one body, one set of arms, one set of legs? Is this guy human?!?
A recent addition to the multi-multi-sport group is junior Carson Diehl, who added sprinting (Sat., May 17, in the CIF Division 3 Finals at distant Valley Center High) to his bag of tricks, which already included football (safety/receiver) and basketball.
I'm sure there are others I could include in my recognition of "multi-sporters"--some I don't recognize by sight as I take photos, though if I checked closely by name on the rosters, I would be able to identify them.
One other mention: At the girls' lacrosse playoff last week, I saw field hockey coach Amanda Combs Warford, and called out, "Your stars are all out here": Pixie DeLeon in goal, Allison Hawthorne, Lily Mebust, Stella Perez, and others at positions on the field. The two sports share a lot in common.
One of my fond recent memories is that, through the toil of the long school year (I'm a retired public school teacher--I still substitute-teach), I could look forward to covering the Viking baseball team in the playoffs near the end of the school year. (Softball didn't qualify for the playoffs in those years.)
I realize that the memory is fairly recent: In 2023, Coach Gary Frank's squad took a nose-dive, moved up to the Eastern League, getting buried in tough league competition. (I tried to check in late in the season back then--there was no word from Gary, who was the first coach to extend full hospitality to me as a photographer and writer covering his team, back to the first away regular-season game I traveled to at Canyon Crest Academy--must have been 2008 or so.)
Actually, the memory extends further than that. Before COVID. One year, the Vikings played an away game in the playoffs up the coast. The "other" school in Oceanside, El Camino, maybe. I drove all the way up there, gigantic camera equipment (which I used to use) in tow, and took photos of playoff action.
All the other spring sports teams would be done by then (I didn't cover postseason track back then). Lacrosse had put its equipment away. Boys' golf had dwindled down. Badminton wasn't on my radar. Boys' volleyball, though very successful, would be done earlier in the month of May. Girls' beach volleyball finished the earliest in May--playoffs scheduled for the first week of the month, usually.
So, "It's so good to have you back where you belong," Viking baseball. Hanging on by their toenails, but hanging on. It has been a good week for baseball, with La Jolla's play-in win Tues., May 20, over Westview, then the first game in double-elimination at Clairemont Wed., May 21, though a loss. But that can be overcome.
More to come Fri., May 23, with the Vikes playing at Bishop's to keep their season alive.
One of the challenges of the spring season is the sheer number of teams. Whereas the fall and winter seasons field "exes" number of teams, La Jolla's athletic program--as do other schools'--has 17 or more teams competing at any one time in the months leading up to the end of the school. (Seventeen is a number I recall from some past year.) That many teams is a lot to cover.
Photos by Ed Piper
Photos by Ed Piper
