By Ed Piper
Junior Nick Ferenczy drove in Cole Dimich with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth for the go-ahead run, and senior Johnny Agbulos slammed a two-out triple the following inning to add two insurance runs as La Jolla won a do-or-die play-in game over Rancho Buena Vista, 5-1, Tues., May 24, at home.
Senior Stone Scoppettuolo limited the visiting Longhorns (5-24) to four hits in six innings of one-run ball, giving up only a single unearned run as he struck out six and walked three. Agbulos came in as the closer in seventh inning relief and closed the game out.
Coach Gary Frank's squad, which faced elimination in the play-in game, now gains some breathing room as it enters the double-elimination playoffs with a first-round game at Vista Wed., May 25, at 3:30 p.m.
Scoppettuolo actually made things harder on himself during his sparkling six innings on the mound by sailing a throw into centerfield on a comebacker when RBV scored its sole run in the top of the fifth. The Longhorns brought the runner around to score, tying La Jolla at 1-1.
Agbulos was absolutely outstanding at the plate, on the mound, and replacing Scoppettuolo at his usual center field position by going four for four and knocking in the two runs on the triple, which went through the gap in left center field.
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Sunday, May 22, 2016
LJ b lax 11, Del Norte 5
Viking defender Nate Ryan (39) closely guards
Tyler Reinecke (20) of Del Norte in closing
minutes. (Photos by Ed Piper)
By Ed Piper
From the opening minutes, when La Jolla's offense showed patience and controlled the ball leading up to its first score eight minutes into the match, the Vikings dominated Del Norte to take home an 11-5 win and the CIF Division 2 boys lacrosse title Sat., May 22, at Granite Hills High School.
La Jolla built a 5-1 lead midway through the second quarter, behind a pair of goals by Alex Berry and senior Tanner Watson. After seeing their lead dwindle to only two, at 5-3, early in the third quarter, Coach Tom Duerr's squad went up 8-3 late in the period and never led by less than four goals down the stretch. Senior Mike Elliot's second score and Berry's third were keys in the third.
The Nighthawks' Luke Welch was a virtual one-man show for the opposition with four goals.
In the first half, play between the two teams became increasingly physical, as the officials let play go. But late in the half, after two opponents went flying over each other near the east sideline, officials stepped in to call a foul and play was cleaner after that.
The nail in the coffin was Oee Wintringer's goal on an assist by Elliot with 8:06 left in the match. That put La Jolla up 9-4 and basically broke the back in Del Norte's fight. The Vikings sailed home from there, adding goals by seniors Connor Usselman, his second, and Kyle Jetter.
At the closing horn, Viking players streamed out to where freshman goalie Morgan "Mogie" Watson was, jumping onto a dog pile to celebrate their CIF championship. A father yelled "Get out the clippers" from the stands as La Jolla players doffed their helmets to reveal uneven haircuts on several players that, apparently, were to be altered after the title game.
Viking players, including senior Connor
Usselman (44), pile on after the 11-5 win
for the title.
LJ softball 6, Mission Bay 0
Kyra Ferenczy hit a solo home run in the third. This
swing is during a later at-bat.
swing is during a later at-bat.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
By Ed Piper
La Jolla's softball team got hitting from throughout the lineup and played a spectacular game defensively, for the most part, as the Vikings put away visiting Mission Bay, 6-0, Sat., May 21 to go into the CIF Division 4 semifinals.
Coach Anthony Sarain's squad will play Christian High at noon Thurs., May 26, at the Santee SportsPlex. If the Vikings win, they will move into the finals two days later. If they lose, they have to win a 2 p.m. game Thursday afternoon to make the finals, or be eliminated from the playoffs.
Freshman Kyra Ferenczy hit a solo home run in the bottom of the third, her fourth of the season, pitched a complete-game shutout, and cleanly caught a line smash back to the pitcher's circle to end the game in one of the Vikings' defensive gems.
First baseman Emily Alvarez, with her big sister Stephanie watching from behind the backstop, continues to play the best baseball of her career in the playoffs. Alvarez drove in two runs in the third, when La Jolla broke the game open, and leaped to catch a liner to the right side in another good play with the glove.
The Vikings continued their offensive power, with nine hits coming from all parts of the order. Sophomore Ava Verbrugghen drove in a run in the crucial third with a single. Catcher Hailey Ramos drove a single to right soon after to plate Alvarez with La Jolla's sixth run, all but one coming in the same inning.
In the Vikings' first-round playoff win two days earlier, also at home, they had pulverized Mission Vista with 16 base hits in an 8-1 victory.
Power hitter Linda Brown, with her robust .500 average, isn't seeing too many offerings she can drive, as opposing pitchers avoid giving her anything within range of her potent bat. Brown had to settle for driving in La Jolla's first run in the bottom of the first on a dribbler back to the pitcher, which allowed Josie Sinkeldam to come in from third. Linda was thrown out at first on the play.
The junior third baseman also played a part in the Vikings' five-run barrage in the third, singling to load the bases for Alvarez's two-run hit.
Sinkeldam made a fine catch of a liner to her left in the top of the seventh, as LJHS played confident defense and limited its miscues to one error.
Ferenczy's homer went in a high arc to left field, where the ball bounced on the dirt and weeds just beyond the low brick wall in left-center. She led off the bottom of the third with the blast.
Saturday, May 21, 2016
LJ FB: Jaw-dropping streak of games at home
By Ed Piper
After an initial 2016 opening football game away at Montgomery High, new Coach Matt Morrison's Vikings will play an astounding six games in a row at Edwards Stadium--out of a total of 10 regular-season games.
If you've had enough of travel games during La Jolla's year of construction, you'll be able to overdose on football games on the Vikings' new playing surface on Fay Avenue.
Morrison's first edition, through the first four Friday nights in September, will play Hilltop, Country Day, Mater Dei, and Coronado in weeks two through five of the CIF schedule.
Then, in October, La Jolla will play host to Patrick Henry in the Eastern League opener and Serra in weeks seven and eight.
An observer said that La Jolla High, while undergoing construction of new buildings housing the coaches' offices and the boys locker room, plus a new press box and concession stand, didn't apply to get new stadium lights due to possible restrictions.
Mission Bay High now has lights for night games, which it didn't have before. But as part of the agreement to have the lights, the school has had to agree with limits on their usage to mitigate disruption to surrounding neighborhoods. During one football game La Jolla played in the new stadium last year, the lights shut off during the game with time remaining in the contest.
Apparently there are Coastal Commission restrictions, among other factors, that could have similarly limited La Jolla High's use of new lights for night games. So, according to this source, the administration decided not to make a change in the stadium lights, even with the potential upgrade. Photographers have noted the inadequacy of the lights for chronicling night games at Edwards Stadium.
After an initial 2016 opening football game away at Montgomery High, new Coach Matt Morrison's Vikings will play an astounding six games in a row at Edwards Stadium--out of a total of 10 regular-season games.
If you've had enough of travel games during La Jolla's year of construction, you'll be able to overdose on football games on the Vikings' new playing surface on Fay Avenue.
Morrison's first edition, through the first four Friday nights in September, will play Hilltop, Country Day, Mater Dei, and Coronado in weeks two through five of the CIF schedule.
Then, in October, La Jolla will play host to Patrick Henry in the Eastern League opener and Serra in weeks seven and eight.
An observer said that La Jolla High, while undergoing construction of new buildings housing the coaches' offices and the boys locker room, plus a new press box and concession stand, didn't apply to get new stadium lights due to possible restrictions.
Mission Bay High now has lights for night games, which it didn't have before. But as part of the agreement to have the lights, the school has had to agree with limits on their usage to mitigate disruption to surrounding neighborhoods. During one football game La Jolla played in the new stadium last year, the lights shut off during the game with time remaining in the contest.
Apparently there are Coastal Commission restrictions, among other factors, that could have similarly limited La Jolla High's use of new lights for night games. So, according to this source, the administration decided not to make a change in the stadium lights, even with the potential upgrade. Photographers have noted the inadequacy of the lights for chronicling night games at Edwards Stadium.
LJ softball 8, Mission Vista 1
Josie Sinkeldam beats out an infield hit on a hustle play
as Kyra Ferenczy scores from third in the bottom of
the fourth to build the Vikings' lead to 6-1.
(Photos by Ed Piper)
By Ed Piper
"We still haven't shut up their chatter," said La Jolla assistant coach Tracy Brown later in the Vikings' 8-1 win over visiting Mission Vista in the first round of the Division 4 softball playoffs Thurs., May 18.
La Jolla never did, which is to the Timberwolves' credit. Even after the hosts, the third seed in the bracket, built a big lead behind 16 hits and threatened to force the 10-run rule to be implemented.
Shortstop Josie Sinkeldam, self-named "the SS Josie", hit a bases-loaded knock with no outs in the bottom of the third to drive in Vanessa Shaffer and Kyra Ferenczy to put the Vikings ahead 2-1, after Mission Vista had opened up scoring with a run in the top of the inning.
Then, after an intentional walk to Linda Brown, Emily Alvarez drove in two more runs for a 4-1 lead. Brown was asked how many intentional walks she has this season. In Coach Anthony Sarain's statistics on maxpreps.com, it is the one statistic that isn't included. Brown wasn't sure. She said, "Four, I think."
Ava Verbrugghen then stepped to the plate and drove in another run for a 5-1 advantage.
La Jolla plays Mission Bay, an upset winner over Calvin Christian, in a second round game at home at 10 a.m. Sat., May 28.
Catcher Hailey Ramos (4) makes a good play on a
bunt attempt as pitcher Kira Ferenczy looks on.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Vikings further added to their lead when Sinkeldam beat out an infield hit as Ferenczy scored from third. That made it 6-1, with the T-wolves still doing their cheers in the visiting dugout.
Briana Bilderback, promoted from the junior varsity for the playoffs, surprised Tracy Brown, the first base coach, and Sarain, the third base coach, by stealing on the first pitch after being inserted as a pinch runner for Alvarez in the bottom of the fifth.
She came around to score on Shaffer's single. That gave La Jolla a 7-1 lead. Every run is important in the playoffs. Shaffer had three hits in her first three at-bats.
A teammate in the Vikings' dugout said, "(Bilderback) was given the sign to steal." Sarain, a few feet away in the coach's box at third base, said, "No, she wasn't." After the inning, Tracy Brown said, "I told her to listen to me when to go. The next thing I knew, she took off (without the sign to steal)."
Sarain, shaking his head, pointed out the run wouldn't have scored if Bilderback hadn't been pinch-running. Her speed made the play possible. But if she had been thrown out attempting to steal, with no instructions to steal, it would not have been a good result.
Ferenczy, the freshman, limited the T-wolves
to four hits in another quality start.
Friday, May 20, 2016
LJ g BB: Summer league
By Ed Piper
Darice Carnaje, La Jolla girls basketball coach, said her girls were anxious and ready to get out on the court.
Carnaje's teams, even when out-manned (womanned?), never quit and often rally toward the end of games that earlier seemed out of reach. That was the case in a spring/summer league game against Olympian Thurs., May 19, after the Vikings fell behind in the third quarter against more experienced players.
La Jolla only lost by a few points. There are several returnees from last year's varsity, along with some new faces who will see minutes this coming year.
What you look for in a spring or summer league is improvement--who has been practicing and pondering about basketball since last season? There is no shortcut to development. Time with the ball and on the court has no substitutes.
In that vein, Si Young Kim showed way more mobility on the court than I've ever seen before. Point guard Rebecca Saul, headed toward being a junior, has developed physically and is no longer the mighty mite she was a year and a half ago as a freshman.
My bad, but I don't know names of the new faces coming up from junior varsity as much as people more closely involved in the program. I asked Carnaje before the Olympian game (the Vikings also played Cathedral Catholic the same evening) for names. Her reply: "Anyone who is not on the varsity roster (from last season)."
The Vikings bring heart and scrappiness. You still want to see players who don't only dribble with their right hand. Rebecca found that out against better teams last year, and in the playoffs, when opponents pressured the backcourt to cough up turnovers.
Shooting guard Katrina Kurtchi took the ball to the hoop aggressively several times. Imani Trinidad-Gallagher showed enthusiasm. Kate Miller, who I remember playing in the Point Loma summer league three years ago, is going to be a senior.
The key, besides Carnaje's magic work to get the most and more out of her players, is how many minutes on the court can the girls compile to increase their comfort and confidence, as well as their basketball I.Q.
Darice Carnaje, La Jolla girls basketball coach, said her girls were anxious and ready to get out on the court.
Carnaje's teams, even when out-manned (womanned?), never quit and often rally toward the end of games that earlier seemed out of reach. That was the case in a spring/summer league game against Olympian Thurs., May 19, after the Vikings fell behind in the third quarter against more experienced players.
La Jolla only lost by a few points. There are several returnees from last year's varsity, along with some new faces who will see minutes this coming year.
What you look for in a spring or summer league is improvement--who has been practicing and pondering about basketball since last season? There is no shortcut to development. Time with the ball and on the court has no substitutes.
In that vein, Si Young Kim showed way more mobility on the court than I've ever seen before. Point guard Rebecca Saul, headed toward being a junior, has developed physically and is no longer the mighty mite she was a year and a half ago as a freshman.
My bad, but I don't know names of the new faces coming up from junior varsity as much as people more closely involved in the program. I asked Carnaje before the Olympian game (the Vikings also played Cathedral Catholic the same evening) for names. Her reply: "Anyone who is not on the varsity roster (from last season)."
The Vikings bring heart and scrappiness. You still want to see players who don't only dribble with their right hand. Rebecca found that out against better teams last year, and in the playoffs, when opponents pressured the backcourt to cough up turnovers.
Shooting guard Katrina Kurtchi took the ball to the hoop aggressively several times. Imani Trinidad-Gallagher showed enthusiasm. Kate Miller, who I remember playing in the Point Loma summer league three years ago, is going to be a senior.
The key, besides Carnaje's magic work to get the most and more out of her players, is how many minutes on the court can the girls compile to increase their comfort and confidence, as well as their basketball I.Q.
Thursday, May 19, 2016
LJ b lax 13, Valley Center 8
Goalie Morgan "Mogie" Watson scoops up
loose ball as Ryan Blackburn helps defend
in closing minutes with five-point lead secure.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
By Ed Piper
La Jolla's boys lacrosse team went on a 9-2 streak after trailing by three goals in the second quarter, and earned a place in the CIF Division 2 championship game with a convincing 13-8 win over Valley Center Wed., May 18, at Mission Bay High.
Tyler Cook, a compact and quick 5'7", scored three goals in a row down the stretch to help the Vikings salt the victory and face Del Norte in the finals, which will be played Sat., May 21, at Granite Hills High at 2:30 p.m.
After a 2-2 tie at the end of one quarter, La Jolla quickly fell behind, 5-2 as the Jaguars, aroused and playing in front of a small but vocal rooter-bus contingent from Valley Center, put the Vikings on their heels.
The margin was 6-4 at halftime. La Jolla coach Tom Duerr fed his players something at halftime, because they roared out and immediately reversed their second-quarter tentativeness with aggressive play and a flurry of goals.
Freshman Uee Wintringer netted two goals in clutch time. Senior Connor Usselman scored a hat trick in the game. Cook, on the move, kept Valley Center on the ropes with his three consecutive goals, spread across the close of the third quarter and the beginning of the final period.
Sunday, May 15, 2016
LJ b VB 3, Parker 0
Daniel McColl (7), primarily a football player, shows
surprising lift with his 255-pound frame. McColl
contributed three kills and a block.
(Photos by Ed Piper)
By Ed Piper
Curran Robertson, La Jolla's senior libero, signaled a friend in the stands with a smile as he took a drink during a break on the sidelines, the Vikings leading visiting Parker 11-8 in the second game.
Dave Jones' volleyball team, ranked first and second in CIF during the closing weeks of the regular season, had just overcome an 8-1 deficit, after winning the first game Sat., May 14. The Vikings were on a roll, and with the comeback seemed to break the back of the Lancers, whose crowd had been especially vocal during that initial game.
La Jolla took the second game, then the third and deciding game was almost automatic as the Vikings swept Parker and earned a semifinal matchup at number-one seed Carlsbad Wed., May 18.
Outside hitter Dane Pieper caused sparks with his electric spikes to punctuate Viking rallies, having fully recovered from a bad ankle sprain earlier in the season. He finished with 13 kills, Jake Northrup 10.
Middle hitter-blocker Chase Blackwell, among others, showed his maturation as he delivered several key hits. He garnered six kills.
And senior setter Gavin Heap was fluid in back- and forward-setting his spikers as the well-oiled LJHS machine blanked the visiting team. Heap had 15 assists. and sophomore Luke Lentin added 13.
Robertson, one of four captains for the Vikings, executed 10 digs on defense.
Sophomore Oliver Parker had
three blocks and two kills.
Sunday, May 8, 2016
LJ b lax: Number-one seed
La Jolla is on the upswing in lacrosse--both boys and girls.
The Vikings boys team is seeded number one in the CIF Division 2 playoffs. Tom Duerr's squad enjoys a bye in the first round Tues., May 11. The Vikes play the winner of the San Diego-Montgomery game in the second round Sat., May 14. Those are the eighth and ninth seeds.
Meanwhile, the girls team, playing number-two seed La Costa Canyon in the first round of the Open Division playoffs, dropped a narrow 6-5 decision Sat., May 7, to end its successful season.
The Vikings boys team is seeded number one in the CIF Division 2 playoffs. Tom Duerr's squad enjoys a bye in the first round Tues., May 11. The Vikes play the winner of the San Diego-Montgomery game in the second round Sat., May 14. Those are the eighth and ninth seeds.
Meanwhile, the girls team, playing number-two seed La Costa Canyon in the first round of the Open Division playoffs, dropped a narrow 6-5 decision Sat., May 7, to end its successful season.
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Busted again
By Ed Piper
Kicked off a field or court of play again.
Other photographers have stories like this, too:
I planned my week, noted events on a calendar, and rushed home from substitute-teaching to get my camera equipment and cover La Jolla's CIF badminton match at San Diego High School.
Mind you, Jerry Tellers, my contact with the Viking badminton team--head coach last year, assistant this year--is just great. "In my gym, you can come anytime," he told me after what I'm about to tell you transpired.
I was geared up, kneeling and starting to fire up my photo-taking when a gentleman walked up.
"Are you from the newspaper?" "No, from a website." "I'm the coach." "I take photos of La Jolla sports, so it probably won't help you" (smiling, not saying it in a smart way).
Not suspecting what he was going to say next, but I've had it happen before, I asked him, "Is it okay for me to be here (on the court)?" I fully expected him to say, "Go ahead, have your run of the place."
Instead, he said: "For a few shots. Not for the whole match."
You're in the middle of shooting. You're focused on the task at hand. And you hardly know what to say, your mind on the kids hitting the birdie, not on what rejoinder to have for being told you're basically kicked off the court.
Rejoinders like: "Don't you think photos of your sport would help promote it?" Or, "Athletes really enjoy photos of their events." Or, "Don't you think coverage of any kind helps your team and your sport, whether directly or indirectly?"
Those were some of my thoughts later, but at the time I reacted (to myself). I took shots of a few more kids, and left--after I told Jerry, "The other coach doesn't want me on the court."
That was it for my Friday afternoon. Blown. I got enough shots to use. But I had planned for this, come all the way down from Clairemont to downtown for it, and had it cut short.
I was fuming by the time I got to my car. I rolled my case out the nearest gym exit. What a drag.
Plus the "take a few shots"--if you know photographers, you know how we operate: Take as many shots as you can, then pick out the best ones to use. I was almost guffawing at the suggestion, "Take a few shots." Like you put the whole event in a tiny can and you're done.
I debated--for about one second--whether to write a blog entry on this. But it's a view you rarely hear. Photographers aren't usually writers. But I began as a writer, then added photography. So, some people would probably be surprised to hear about photographers' misadventures.
These days, it's much more pronounced than years ago. I was on Crystal Pier at Pacific Beach some time ago, taking a break from photographing surfers right next to the pier. A woman came up to me and asked, "Did you take pictures of me?" Surprised, I looked around and said, "No." She said, "Can I see your photos to check?" I said, politely, though there was no way I was going to let someone look in my equipment, "No. I didn't take photos of you."
What I had done, inadvertently, while I stood leaning against the railing on the side of the pier walkway was allow my camera lens to point down the pier. Where this lady had been. My camera was turned off, but she didn't know this. Or believe it.
I assured her with an earnest look on my face: "I give you my word that I did not take photos of you."
She left. She came back a short time later, pushing. "Did you take photos of me?" This lady had a problem, and I hadn't necessarily caused it. Though I now understand a little more where people are coming from when it comes to cameras. They're touchy. I told her firmly, "Ma'am, I already gave you my word that I did not take photos of you." And that was the final word.
By the way, my shots of the surfers from the pier came out fantastically. Really good close-ups, full image, of guys riding and cutting back and forth in the waves. Very satisfying in that respect.
Back to the playing field: Some people (and this applies outside of sports, as well) like photos, and some people don't.
Years ago, in a galaxy far away, there was a girls golf coach at La Jolla whose name I don't remember--long before the present coach, Aaron Quesnell, who appreciates and welcomes photo coverage of his team--who didn't like photos.
At that time, I carried the idea that everyone will like my photos, so go ahead and make them available to them. At a match, I asked the coach, "Coach, do you have an email address I could send the photos of your girls to?" (This is before I had my photo website.)
"No."
I was slow-witted. So I asked, "Is there a friend who has an email address I could send the photos to?"
He said, "No," again, without hesitation.
I should have read his signals pretty clearly. He didn't want photos of his team.
The next week, like an eager puppy dog to take more photos, I showed up at another match of his team's. While I was standing, clicking shots of his girls practicing drives, he called over to me, "My girls say your shutter bothers them."
I go, "Huh?" to myself. I didn't get what he was saying.
What I should have done way back at the first match I covered for this team was walk up to the coach, introduce myself, and tell him I planned to take photos. I didn't know to do that. I would have quickly found out where the coach was coming from, and saved myself a little grief.
Instead, I walked out onto the course and took more photos, but from more of a distance. Then I went home. Soon after, I processed the very clear signals the coach had given me, and realized I wasn't welcome at the team's matches. I didn't go back for several years.
To put a positive ending on the story, fast forward eight years or so to Quesnell, the present coach. A year ago, I contacted him. I was trepidatious that he had the same attitude toward photos that his distant predecessor held.
I was pleasantly flabbergasted to be greeted verbally with open arms and in person with big smiles. In fact, this school year, we refined our working relationship to an even higher level by his planning out where I could stand off the first tee for his boys team and click photos of a practice shot before each duffer's actual opening tee shot. Wow. What a long way we've come.
Kicked off a field or court of play again.
Other photographers have stories like this, too:
I planned my week, noted events on a calendar, and rushed home from substitute-teaching to get my camera equipment and cover La Jolla's CIF badminton match at San Diego High School.
Mind you, Jerry Tellers, my contact with the Viking badminton team--head coach last year, assistant this year--is just great. "In my gym, you can come anytime," he told me after what I'm about to tell you transpired.
I was geared up, kneeling and starting to fire up my photo-taking when a gentleman walked up.
"Are you from the newspaper?" "No, from a website." "I'm the coach." "I take photos of La Jolla sports, so it probably won't help you" (smiling, not saying it in a smart way).
Not suspecting what he was going to say next, but I've had it happen before, I asked him, "Is it okay for me to be here (on the court)?" I fully expected him to say, "Go ahead, have your run of the place."
Instead, he said: "For a few shots. Not for the whole match."
You're in the middle of shooting. You're focused on the task at hand. And you hardly know what to say, your mind on the kids hitting the birdie, not on what rejoinder to have for being told you're basically kicked off the court.
Rejoinders like: "Don't you think photos of your sport would help promote it?" Or, "Athletes really enjoy photos of their events." Or, "Don't you think coverage of any kind helps your team and your sport, whether directly or indirectly?"
Those were some of my thoughts later, but at the time I reacted (to myself). I took shots of a few more kids, and left--after I told Jerry, "The other coach doesn't want me on the court."
That was it for my Friday afternoon. Blown. I got enough shots to use. But I had planned for this, come all the way down from Clairemont to downtown for it, and had it cut short.
I was fuming by the time I got to my car. I rolled my case out the nearest gym exit. What a drag.
Plus the "take a few shots"--if you know photographers, you know how we operate: Take as many shots as you can, then pick out the best ones to use. I was almost guffawing at the suggestion, "Take a few shots." Like you put the whole event in a tiny can and you're done.
I debated--for about one second--whether to write a blog entry on this. But it's a view you rarely hear. Photographers aren't usually writers. But I began as a writer, then added photography. So, some people would probably be surprised to hear about photographers' misadventures.
These days, it's much more pronounced than years ago. I was on Crystal Pier at Pacific Beach some time ago, taking a break from photographing surfers right next to the pier. A woman came up to me and asked, "Did you take pictures of me?" Surprised, I looked around and said, "No." She said, "Can I see your photos to check?" I said, politely, though there was no way I was going to let someone look in my equipment, "No. I didn't take photos of you."
What I had done, inadvertently, while I stood leaning against the railing on the side of the pier walkway was allow my camera lens to point down the pier. Where this lady had been. My camera was turned off, but she didn't know this. Or believe it.
I assured her with an earnest look on my face: "I give you my word that I did not take photos of you."
She left. She came back a short time later, pushing. "Did you take photos of me?" This lady had a problem, and I hadn't necessarily caused it. Though I now understand a little more where people are coming from when it comes to cameras. They're touchy. I told her firmly, "Ma'am, I already gave you my word that I did not take photos of you." And that was the final word.
By the way, my shots of the surfers from the pier came out fantastically. Really good close-ups, full image, of guys riding and cutting back and forth in the waves. Very satisfying in that respect.
Back to the playing field: Some people (and this applies outside of sports, as well) like photos, and some people don't.
Years ago, in a galaxy far away, there was a girls golf coach at La Jolla whose name I don't remember--long before the present coach, Aaron Quesnell, who appreciates and welcomes photo coverage of his team--who didn't like photos.
At that time, I carried the idea that everyone will like my photos, so go ahead and make them available to them. At a match, I asked the coach, "Coach, do you have an email address I could send the photos of your girls to?" (This is before I had my photo website.)
"No."
I was slow-witted. So I asked, "Is there a friend who has an email address I could send the photos to?"
He said, "No," again, without hesitation.
I should have read his signals pretty clearly. He didn't want photos of his team.
The next week, like an eager puppy dog to take more photos, I showed up at another match of his team's. While I was standing, clicking shots of his girls practicing drives, he called over to me, "My girls say your shutter bothers them."
I go, "Huh?" to myself. I didn't get what he was saying.
What I should have done way back at the first match I covered for this team was walk up to the coach, introduce myself, and tell him I planned to take photos. I didn't know to do that. I would have quickly found out where the coach was coming from, and saved myself a little grief.
Instead, I walked out onto the course and took more photos, but from more of a distance. Then I went home. Soon after, I processed the very clear signals the coach had given me, and realized I wasn't welcome at the team's matches. I didn't go back for several years.
To put a positive ending on the story, fast forward eight years or so to Quesnell, the present coach. A year ago, I contacted him. I was trepidatious that he had the same attitude toward photos that his distant predecessor held.
I was pleasantly flabbergasted to be greeted verbally with open arms and in person with big smiles. In fact, this school year, we refined our working relationship to an even higher level by his planning out where I could stand off the first tee for his boys team and click photos of a practice shot before each duffer's actual opening tee shot. Wow. What a long way we've come.
Thursday, May 5, 2016
LJ b tennis: New facilities
By Ed Piper
Matt Previdi, La Jolla High boys tennis coach, says the new tennis pavilion, boys locker room, and coaches offices will be a help in drawing more premier tennis players to the Viking campus beginning next year.
Previdi, who has overseen the Vikings going to the CIF Finals multiple years in a row, cast an eye toward the structures that are rising right next to the tennis courts on campus. The new surface on the football field is said to be on schedule for availability to the football team in August. The other components of the rebuild--hopefully at the same time or soon thereafter.
"In Del Mar, there's Torrey Pines and maybe one other high school," the head coach said while his team battled Vista in the first round of the CIF Division 1 playoffs Tues., May 3. "In La Jolla, you have Bishop's, Country Day, La Jolla High, even Parker is drawing students from this area to play for their tennis team.
"With the enhanced facilities here, that will be one more way to attract some of the top tennis players to La Jolla High."
The Vikings, seeded fifth, vanquished Vista 15-3 in the first-round match.
The following day, Wednesday, La Jolla had to travel to fourth-seed La Costa Canyon and lost 11-7 to end its season.
"We had three doubles matches we should have won," said Previdi. "The guys were a little tight being at their place."
But he took a positive view of the season overall. "It's been great," he said. "A great team, a great group. We've learned a lot, we've improved."
Jack Hogan, the Vikings' number-one singles player, had a wrist injury that sidelined him for three weeks during the season. During his absence, La Jolla dropped a narrow decision to Scripps Ranch. So, Previdi's point was, La Jolla had lots of talent and plenty of go-power this season.
Matt Previdi, La Jolla High boys tennis coach, says the new tennis pavilion, boys locker room, and coaches offices will be a help in drawing more premier tennis players to the Viking campus beginning next year.
Previdi, who has overseen the Vikings going to the CIF Finals multiple years in a row, cast an eye toward the structures that are rising right next to the tennis courts on campus. The new surface on the football field is said to be on schedule for availability to the football team in August. The other components of the rebuild--hopefully at the same time or soon thereafter.
"In Del Mar, there's Torrey Pines and maybe one other high school," the head coach said while his team battled Vista in the first round of the CIF Division 1 playoffs Tues., May 3. "In La Jolla, you have Bishop's, Country Day, La Jolla High, even Parker is drawing students from this area to play for their tennis team.
"With the enhanced facilities here, that will be one more way to attract some of the top tennis players to La Jolla High."
The Vikings, seeded fifth, vanquished Vista 15-3 in the first-round match.
The following day, Wednesday, La Jolla had to travel to fourth-seed La Costa Canyon and lost 11-7 to end its season.
"We had three doubles matches we should have won," said Previdi. "The guys were a little tight being at their place."
But he took a positive view of the season overall. "It's been great," he said. "A great team, a great group. We've learned a lot, we've improved."
Jack Hogan, the Vikings' number-one singles player, had a wrist injury that sidelined him for three weeks during the season. During his absence, La Jolla dropped a narrow decision to Scripps Ranch. So, Previdi's point was, La Jolla had lots of talent and plenty of go-power this season.
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
LJ b BB: Reconfiguration
Charlie Gal, shown here congratulating
Reed Farley (33) during the Vikings'
51-44 win at West Hills in the CIF
semifinals, will have a lot more
seasoning next fall.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
By Ed Piper
Paul Baranowski, head coach of La Jolla High boys basketball, listed the following teams in a new league configuration, not yet official: Serra, Scripps Ranch, Patrick Henry, Hoover, and Madison, along with the Vikings.
"We won't know until May 15," the veteran coach said by phone May 3. That's when the CIF council tasked with official league configurations meets to finalize the new lineups.
"It's based on the last five years and power rankings," said the former Arizonan, who said he had hoped to take La Jolla to a summer league in Flagstaff this summer, but the timing just doesn't work out.
Baranowski said the varsity won't participate in the Montgomery league this summer, which one observer sees as a positive change due to the soft opponents LJHS often seemed to face. But the coach insisted that play in that South County league provided valuable game-condition experience for several younger players in the La Jolla program.
In the summer basketball information he released, the La Jolla coach showed both varsity and JV's will play Tuesdays in the Hoover league. In addition, the varsity will play in the West Hills Invitational again this year, June 17-19.
Other familiar engagements from past years will include Point Loma Nazarene and Grossmont.
The Vikings went to the CIF Division 2 championship game the past season, before falling to Country Day. They will return Reed Farley, Charlie Gal, Daniel McColl, Nick Hammel, and Quinn Rawdin from that squad.
Sunday, May 1, 2016
LJ baseball: Versatility
By Ed Piper
We could be in the earlier stages of a mini "Golden Age" of Viking baseball, with last year's edition going to the CIF championship game at USD before losing to Otay Ranch, and this season's squad ensconced in the ninth slot in the San Diego Section, based on a 10.3 strength rating.
La Jolla, showing consistency and plenty of talent on a 13-man squad, sits in a good position in the Western League with a 5-1 record, trailing first-place Madison by two games through the first half of the 12-game schedule.
The strength on a slimmed-down team like this is the combination of skills each player brings: Johnny Agbulos, now batting in the second slot in the order behind Trenton Fudge, patrols right field ably and leads Western League pitchers in ERA with a microscopic 0.66 runs per seven innings.
The diminutive lefty batter, despite throwing right, has 71 at bats, more than any of his teammates, with 11 RBI's, which is great hitting at the top or second in the order.
Junior Nick Ferenczy was the starting pitcher in the Point Loma game at Petco Park, and has played third base and second base in the infield. He's 3-1 with a 2.33 ERA in seven starts.
Stone Scoppettuolo holds down center field when he is not pounding the strike zone from the mound in his pitching appearances. He leads the team in RBI's with 18 while hitting .328 in the third slot. His OPS is out of sight, at 1.056, the only team member over 1.
Utility man Ben Wintringer has played I-don't-know-how-many positions on defense while contributing at the plate and on the basepaths. He's hitting .291 with 11 RBI's. He leads the team with 19 walks. He doesn't strike out much, with only six K's in 77 plate appearances.
The effusive senior has also logged 15 1/3 innings pitching, mostly in relief, and has taken away two wins.
Plus Fudge, leading the team in batting average at .368 as the leadoff hitter, is second only to ace Nick Hammel among pitchers with 32 1/3 innings pitched, with a 3-2 record and 2.38 ERA. Fudge has the most hits on the team with 25.
He and catcher Garrett Brown have both gotten aboard four times being hit by the pitch.
Hammel, the righty, is 6-1 in 10 appearances, half starting and half coming in in relief. He came in midway through the Petco game, settled things down, and took the win after Zach Sehgal's walk-off hit in the bottom of the seventh.
Nick's ERA is a good 2.29.
Just about everybody pitches, with Sebastian Partida, Dane Hansen, and even Brown taking turns.
The team batting average is a solid .288. The team ERA, 2.39, is also good.
La Jolla has two games remaining against front-runner Madison, as well as two each against lower-rung Point Loma (1-4 through the first half of the Western League) and Mission Bay (the cellar dweller at 0-7).
We could be in the earlier stages of a mini "Golden Age" of Viking baseball, with last year's edition going to the CIF championship game at USD before losing to Otay Ranch, and this season's squad ensconced in the ninth slot in the San Diego Section, based on a 10.3 strength rating.
La Jolla, showing consistency and plenty of talent on a 13-man squad, sits in a good position in the Western League with a 5-1 record, trailing first-place Madison by two games through the first half of the 12-game schedule.
The strength on a slimmed-down team like this is the combination of skills each player brings: Johnny Agbulos, now batting in the second slot in the order behind Trenton Fudge, patrols right field ably and leads Western League pitchers in ERA with a microscopic 0.66 runs per seven innings.
The diminutive lefty batter, despite throwing right, has 71 at bats, more than any of his teammates, with 11 RBI's, which is great hitting at the top or second in the order.
Junior Nick Ferenczy was the starting pitcher in the Point Loma game at Petco Park, and has played third base and second base in the infield. He's 3-1 with a 2.33 ERA in seven starts.
Stone Scoppettuolo holds down center field when he is not pounding the strike zone from the mound in his pitching appearances. He leads the team in RBI's with 18 while hitting .328 in the third slot. His OPS is out of sight, at 1.056, the only team member over 1.
Utility man Ben Wintringer has played I-don't-know-how-many positions on defense while contributing at the plate and on the basepaths. He's hitting .291 with 11 RBI's. He leads the team with 19 walks. He doesn't strike out much, with only six K's in 77 plate appearances.
The effusive senior has also logged 15 1/3 innings pitching, mostly in relief, and has taken away two wins.
Plus Fudge, leading the team in batting average at .368 as the leadoff hitter, is second only to ace Nick Hammel among pitchers with 32 1/3 innings pitched, with a 3-2 record and 2.38 ERA. Fudge has the most hits on the team with 25.
He and catcher Garrett Brown have both gotten aboard four times being hit by the pitch.
Hammel, the righty, is 6-1 in 10 appearances, half starting and half coming in in relief. He came in midway through the Petco game, settled things down, and took the win after Zach Sehgal's walk-off hit in the bottom of the seventh.
Nick's ERA is a good 2.29.
Just about everybody pitches, with Sebastian Partida, Dane Hansen, and even Brown taking turns.
The team batting average is a solid .288. The team ERA, 2.39, is also good.
La Jolla has two games remaining against front-runner Madison, as well as two each against lower-rung Point Loma (1-4 through the first half of the Western League) and Mission Bay (the cellar dweller at 0-7).
LJ baseball: Scoppettuolo cooks
By Ed Piper
Stone Scoppettuolo, a senior center fielder for La Jolla, resolved his issues after taking last year off and now leads or ranks high in several categories among Western League players.
The six-footer, who has also made key contributions on the mound for Coach Gary Frank's 17-6 squad (5-1 in league), ranks number one in home runs (2), RBI (18), and runs scored (22).
Scoppettuolo, with a long name for home announcer Dave Ponsford to get his chops around, is third among Western Leaguers in slugging percentage (.593), stolen bases (7), and fielding percentage (.984).
Stone Scoppettuolo, a senior center fielder for La Jolla, resolved his issues after taking last year off and now leads or ranks high in several categories among Western League players.
The six-footer, who has also made key contributions on the mound for Coach Gary Frank's 17-6 squad (5-1 in league), ranks number one in home runs (2), RBI (18), and runs scored (22).
Scoppettuolo, with a long name for home announcer Dave Ponsford to get his chops around, is third among Western Leaguers in slugging percentage (.593), stolen bases (7), and fielding percentage (.984).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)