LJ softball 6, Mission Bay 5

Linda Brown shows her solid work on the

glove side in Vikings' 11-1 win over

Montgomery April 27. (Photo by Ed Piper)

Linda Brown clubbed two home runs and Josie Sinkeldam added another as La Jolla got by Mission Bay 6-5 in a Western League game Fri., April 29.

Brown, the junior third baseman, now has six home runs for the season, unofficially. She had nine last year. She also had a triple Friday.

The powerful third-sacker propelled the Viking attack behind the pitching of Kira Ferenczy, who continues to put in stellar work.

LJ g lax 18, Pt. Loma 1

This was the relaxed state of La Jolla players

at halftime. (Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

An observer just arriving at halftime of La Jolla's girls lacrosse match at Point Loma Friday afternoon, April 29, could tell by the relaxed postures and demeanor of Viking team members that they didn't have a worry in the world about how the second half would proceed.

The Vikings, a talented group led by a bevy of able sophomores, made short work of the host Pointers and completed an 18-1 thrashing that could have been a lot worse.

At one point during the second half, things were matched so unevenly that a LJHS player was penalized for showing frustration that she had just missed on an easy up-close shot attempt. It turns out you cannot show up the other team by letting out a gasp or making a motion with your arms that a person can commonly do after such a shot.

The Vikes' Rita Ousterhout (6) goes high for

the ball in the second half against

the Pointers.



The player in question had no intent to mock her opponents--she was honestly unhappy with herself that the shot went awry from such a close range and without any checking on the part of a defender.

La Jolla's coaches, in view of the wide margin at the half, instructed their charges to weave the ball several times before most shot attempts in the second half. Otherwise the tally on the red and black side would have been that much higher.

LJ softball 11, Montgomery 1 - 6 innings

Josie Sinkeldam scores well before the throw

arrives to the plate. (Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

La Jolla was loose and rocking, building a 5-1 lead through the first half of the game on consistent hitting, fine pitching from Kira Ferenczy, and solid defense.

Then the Vikings exploded in the sixth inning on offense to put away an 11-1 game, called during the inning once the hosts plated their 11th run. That put the 10-run rule into effect.

The non-league game was played at La Jolla Wed., April 27, under cloudy skies with sun breaking through much of the time.

"That's good we won. We need to build some momentum for Friday's (league) game against Mission Bay," said assistant/scorekeeper Gary Sinkeldam.

Third baseman Linda "LB" Brown, now a junior, has returned to full play after hurting her ankle earlier this month.

La Jolla defeated Montgomery last year also. That was a year of new beginnings for the Vikings, who enjoyed the most success they'd had in years on the Westbourne St. diamond. This season has seen a building on that foundation.

LJ FB: New Coach Matt Morrison

By Ed Piper

Matt Morrison, newly named head football coach at La Jolla High, said he's the product of the coaches and teachers he has been around.

"My dad was a high school coach for 30 years," said Morrison in an initial phone interview. "Being around that and being able to observe his style, and being around other people and being able to compare their styles" has been his ongoing learning lab as a football coach.

"I had (two) years at La Costa Canyon (where he was offensive coordinator). I don't know that I'm done" growing as a coach, he said when asked about an experience or event that has helped shape him as a coach. "I've been coaching for 10 years."

A teacher at Blessed Sacrament Parish School, he said he also has "been around great teachers. I want to keep improving. I want our coaches to be thinking that way. If our kids are focused on improving," the program will do well.

Regarding his manner and presence, he allowed as how "I'm not an outspoken person. When you're new to a community (like La Jolla's football program), you want to listen to them and hear them out."
But he didn't mean to communicate that he's a shrinking violet. He obviously has ideas on how he will run the program as the new head coach, and said he welcomes the support and collaboration of people like Administrative Coach John McColl and Dr. Steve Hayden, team physician, and Marina Hayden, head of the Boosters Club.

"I've been fortunate to be in three programs that have had a ton of success on the field," Morrison commented. "They're similar to La Jolla in that they have high academic success."

"La Jolla," he said, "is a place we can sustain more than one season," in hopefully what is an understatement.

Asked about the fact six, seven, or eight players played both ways--on offense and defense--last season, he said, "The number of players in the program is more important than the school enrollment. I was at Parker for seven years. You have to have a number of kids going both ways. At La Costa Canyon, you have some two-way guys and some who play one way.

"Everybody has to block and tackle. You win high school football by putting your best guys on the field. Somebody may play safety. Someone may play linebacker, We're going to find ways to put guys in those positions."

LJ g lax 9, Coronado 11

Senior Helen Lee makes a shot attempt in the closing

minute but misses as the Vikings drop an

11-9 decision at Coronado. (Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Senior Helen Lee started and ended with bursts like a demon, but her efforts weren't enough as La Jolla dropped an 11-9 decision at Coronado in lacrosse Tuesday evening, April 19.

In a team effort, with the Vikings' lineup made up predominantly of precocious sophomores this year, Lee's "5-Hour Energy"-like play still stood out in the evenly-matched contest.

Throughout most of the game, the two teams swapped goals, being separated by no more than two goals through the first 40 minutes of play. La Jolla stepped out to a 2-0 advantage at the outset.

But the host Islanders built an 11-7 lead with seven minutes left. Lee's goal helped the Vikings fight back to within two with only minutes remaining.

In the ensuing faceoff, Lee's younger sister, Sadie, took La Jolla's spot. It was almost as if the coaches sensed the importance of the match against La Jolla's rival to the graduating senior, and wanted to give her sibling a chance to help her lead a comeback.

But it was to no avail, as Coronado won the faceoff and held the lead in the closing moments.

LJ baseball 4, Point Loma 3

Zach Sehgal takes the ceremonial Gatorade bath

courtesy of teammate Sebastian Partida after his

walkoff hit in the bottom of the seventh.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Zach Sehgal lined the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the seventh inning into centerfield, with two on and two out, to drive in Ben Wintringer from second base with the winning run in a 4-3 walkoff thriller by La Jolla over Point Loma at Petco Park Tues., April 18.

The winning rally was propelled by an error in centerfield that allowed two runs to score, then a balk to send Johnny Agbulos home from third base to knot the game 3-3.

Wintringer and Garrett Brown then got aboard to put runners on first and second, setting the scene for Seghal's game-winning hit.

The win moves the Vikings to 3-0 in the Western League, 15-4 overall. They face the Pointers two more times in league play.

La Jolla struggled on offense against Point Loma starter Cole van den Helder, being limited to two hits over the first four innings and three over the first six, before the seventh-inning lightning against multiple relievers.

Nick Ferenczy, who opened on the mound for the Vikings, was touched up for two runs in the top of the first inning on some hard-hit balls and some miscues in the field.

The game at Petco Park was a makeup of a rained-out date April 8. The Padres provide the showcase opportunity to several high school baseball teams each year.

The Vikings, though it was just a league win, celebrated Sehgal's walkoff hit like it was a championship game. There had been a lot of anticipation and excitement coming into the game, due to its being played on the major league field.

Odds & ends

By Ed Piper

Imagine, one piece (though enormous and chocolatey) of Great Wall of China cake at P.F. Chang's for $9.75....I can't fathom how, in this day and age, that a pair of grandparents can't take their grandchildren to Circus Vargas so that they can see animals performing. Not even a dog in the show. Was elephants' self-esteem hurt that much by the Ringling Barnum & Bailey show I saw in Long Beach as a kid?....Nick Hammel and Dane Hansen, part of the junior class explosion in sports this year at LJHS, are peas in a pod: both calm, never show tons of emotion, consistent workmen in their many sports of football, basketball (for Nick), and baseball....Jake Grosz in the Vikings' dugout was dressed in a tie and Dockers, instead of the usual baseball uniform and sports shoes, during La Jolla's game against UC April 11. I told the assistant coach he looked like a high school principal...."All we need is a date," said baseball coach Gary Frank of the possibility of the Vikings making up their rained out game scheduled for Petco Park Fri., April 8. Frank is supposed to hear Monday or Tuesday....You can download many classic books for free on iBooks, but you can't get any free music on iTunes. You have to pay for all your songs and albums. (Do young people even think in terms of albums? I think that's a notion from past generations.) It shows you what our society values more....Dane Pieper, star senior middle hitter-blocker for Dave Jones' volleyball team, appeared chipper and was cheering the Vikes along against Parker last week from the sidelines. He is hobbled by an ankle he badly sprained two weeks ago. At the time of the injury, LJHS was ranked among the top 10 in CIF....La Jolla's girls lacrosse team has built much of its strength this season on a big crop of capable sophomores. Besides them, it's good to see sisters Helen and Sadie Lee playing alongside each other. Helen recovered well from her ACL surgery two years ago as a sophomore....

Whew from bytes

By Ed Piper

I've been through megabyte hell.

Since the night I returned from baseball Spring Training in Phoenix March 8 (see earlier entries), my computer has--we think--been going through its own cyber nervous breakdown.

From working the best it has ever worked in the three previous months, my desktop began a decline that seemed the result of the regular junk you accumulate through use on the Internet and with applications over time.

Coming back to the coastal Promised Land from the inland desert, I was filled with hope and joy and the expectation of further sports journaling following a relaxing, baseball-filled six days in the Valley of the Sun.

I attended six major league Spring Training games at six different ballparks in five days, plus this year I added a few morning visits to view team workouts at three of the other four parks in the greater Phoenix/Tempe area. That makes touchdowns in nine of the 10 parks, and spectatorship of almost all the 15 major league clubs (at Tempe Diablo, no players were outside practicing--I heard the familiar rap of bats on balls, I think--possibly pitchers getting their bullpens in--inside an Angels workout facility not open to the public).

With all that hope that springs eternal with the start of the baseball season, instead I was greeted by a grumpy cyber station back home that quickly discouraged my photo processing and blogging about our beloved La Jolla High sports activities.

I kept taking photos at LJHS games--that's what I love to do, with nearly 1,000 events chronicled on my photo website (ljhssportsbyedpiper.shutterfly.com)--but I was struggling to load them and put them on the website, which spans nine school years of Viking action in all sports.

(This is my 12th year overall taking action photos of La Jolla High sports teams, since my granddaughter Alexis matriculated as a freshman in 2004.)

How quickly the well of words dries up when the inspiration is stifled by mechanical difficulties.

I'm amazed I can write these words, in a basic flow.

For four and a half weeks, I have labored to tap keys with words to match the photos.

All this time, until the last couple of days, I have thought the problem with my computer was a bad installation. I'm staying with Windows 7 as my operating system, because it is a good one. I started trying to reinstall it repeatedly in an effort to overcome the frequent freezes and shutdowns and blue screens of death, to no avail.

To the rescue came my good computer-guy friend. We think it's the hard drive, but we are taking our time to work through the different components and isolate the problem so we aren't replacing something that may be working fine after all.

It was almost fitting that La Jolla's baseball game at Petco Park against Point Loma was rained out Fri., April 8. Things were going wrong, and here was another example. I'm not happy the Vikings didn't get to play on the Padres' diamond. I was disappointed. Hopefully, they get it rescheduled. Coach Gary Frank said they're waiting on word from the Padres' groundskeeper.

The lesson I've been reminded of through this frustrating stretch is that difficulties may come, more than one at a time. You can't control circumstances. The computer was crashing, and meanwhile I was madly collecting all the documents I needed to apply to substitute teach in some local districts. That took a bunch of time and energy. I was also adjusting to a new sleep device.

It's a good life, with lots of blessings. You can be grateful, not freak out more than necessary, and just keep going. Hug those around you. Tell them you love them.

The thing I want to do now is process photos I took on my handy little point-and-shoot at some of those nine ballparks during Spring Training, and load them on my new smartphone. (I lost all the images I took on my phone from behind backstops at Camelback Ranch, the Dodgers' facility, and elsewhere when I reset my previous smartphone without having my photos backed up. Oh, well.)

Those photos will be a bright reminder of a season of expectation, of a refreshed outlook, of hope before any team lost any games that counted. That's what Spring Training represents to me.

Now, as we move toward working through the steps and being sure that the hard drive--I've never had one go bad on me--is the root of the problem, I can go back to the dual things I enjoy so much: clicking photos of your kids on the sports fields of La Jolla High, and adding a few words of spice on my blog about the poetry, the art, the synergy of safe, healthy athletic competition among our young people, who are our leaders of the future.

This is their time. This is the time they can enjoy, their only four years of interscholastic sports for the vast majority of them.

Spring. bring it on.

LJ wrestling: Austin and Harvey the men

By Ed Piper

Sophomore Elliot Austin, with 31 wins during the season, received the Most Valuable Wrestler award and senior Jake Harvey was the winner of a special award from coach Walter Fairley, Jr. for embodying good values as a person at La Jolla's annual team dinner Sat., April 2.

Chris Abarca, who was not present, was recognized by head coach Kellen Delaney for "getting it" after an initial period of not really knowing what wrestling required mentally. Delaney called the award the Peter Donchev Award after the former Viking wrestler.

Senior Austin Clerget was recognized by Delaney for being present at all practices, meets, and other events during his career at LJHS.

Elliot Austin, at the dinner, said he is committed to the Vikings' offseason wrestling program and vowed to be "state champion" in his 115-pound weight class next year.

The Brit, who formerly devoted his non-school time to karate, got into a groove this season and helped spark the program's continuing resurgence and progress forward.

Fairley, an inductee into the California Wrestling Hall of Fame as a wrestler, coach, and administrator, said during his comments, "(Jake) is one of my children. I don't have children, but these are my kids."

He said, "During the season, we had a connection. I could tell if things weren't going the way he wanted them to. I could walk up to him, talk with him, and afterward, we were good to go." During his coach's comments, Harvey, who will enter Indiana University in the fall, nodded his head in agreement at Fairley's remarks.

Harvey, who graduates with fellow senior and close friend Jack Hathaway in June, shared, "My freshman year, I was in another sport. I didn't really know what 'the men in tights' did. I took part in the wrestling program for three years. It changed me as a person. I grew from a boy into a man."

LJ wrestling: Wilson

Wrestlers gather for end-of-season dinner.

By Ed Piper

Harry Wilson, a stellar Viking wrestler of the championship years, will return to the program as junior varsity coach next year, according to La Jolla head coach Kellen Delaney.

Another step forward Delaney and coach Ryan Lindenblatt discussed at the team's end-of-the-season team dinner Sat., April 2 was sixth period physical education class, which will enable student-athletes to get a leg up on practice time while earning their P.E. credit.

The same issue, sixth period P.E., was a boon to the LJHS band program, enabling the squad to begin practice while school was still in and enabling students to chalk it off as their P.E. requirement.

The wrestling situation is a little different, since it's not an issue with the wrestlers fulfilling their four semesters of required P.E. credit, which it was for band members.

An urgent need for the wrestling program, according to Delaney and Lindenblatt, is the installation of a ventilation system in the ancient wrestling room. They said upgrades, including new padding, will cost $20,000. Without the ventilation, they said, health issues are a problem. They hope to receive financial commitments from wrestling supporters this spring so that they can map out the financial outlook for a summer offseason program.