LJ baseball: Stan Smith

Stan Smith, catcher/second baseman from the Viking
Class of 1960, plays the National Anthem before
the 26th Annual Alumni Game. Bob Coates,
in wheelchair, sits nearby.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
 

By Ed Piper

Stan Smith, a catcher/second baseman on the 1960 La Jolla High baseball team, remembers surfing back in the day.

"We all learned at Windansea," he said at the 26th Annual Alumni Game Sat., Feb. 16. No one surfed at Windansea except people who grew up there or were invited. It was kind of a beach gang."

Taking a break to get a hot dog from the snack bar, after playing the National Anthem on his trumpet to open the nine-inning game, Smith remembered the Van Artsdalen brothers, Butch, from his own class, 1960, who became a world class surfer and went to Waimea in Hawaii, and Marvin, from the Class of 1962. "Marvin is full of stories," he said. "You ought to talk to him."

Smith rode the triple talents of baseball, music, and engineering to enter Cornell University. "I got a full ride to Cornell because of those three," he said. "My first year, I went to New York and I had no hat, no heavy coat. The first two months were okay.

"Then, when the cold weather hit, I couldn't write home fast enough to ask for a Loden coat with a liner.

"I transferred to Berkeley my sophomore year," he confessed. "I couldn't take it (the cold). I studied mechanical and industrial engineering."

The night before the Alumni Game, he took part in an informal dinner with fellow members of the Class of 1960 to plan for next year's 60th anniversary. They will take part in the Homecoming parade, among other events.

Smith spent time looking out for Robert Coates, Class of 1954, who was in a wheelchair and who benefitted from Stan checking in on him and pushing him from the visitors' dugout to the third base line for introductions and the National Anthem.

Cameron Coates, a catcher and son of Bob, also ferried his father around the field during the event.

LJ baseball: 26th Annual Alumni Game - Photos 2/16

By Ed Piper

 

LJ wrestling: Division finals

By Ed Piper

Freshman Buzzy Bomberger placed third at 115 pounds in the CIF Division 4 finals Sat., Feb. 9, at St. Augustine High. Junior Joshua Jasso took fourth place at 197 pounds, while sophomore Keegan Leonard placed sixth at 134 pounds.

There were some lesser known wrestlers from La Jolla who competed, as well, and I want to spotlight them.

Benji Torres, at 147 pounds, experienced the satisfaction of pinning Ernesto Ochoa of High Tech High Chula Vista in 3:40 in Consolation Round One after taking a fall in the first round.

Alex Von Mueller, likewise at 128 pounds, was able to pin Christian Maldonado of Crawford in 1:29 in Consolation Round One after suffering his own fall in the first round.

LJ b BB: Brownie points

Forward Evan Brown (23), with some of his
senior teammates, on Senior Night.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
 

By Ed Piper

Wow--there are 64 Evan Browns listed on Athletic.net, the track and cross country website.

But we like the one we have at La Jolla, the leaping, sprawling forward in basketball as well as the defender/receiver in football. We just wish we had more time with him, with his senior year counting down as we speak.

The bespectacled Brown (a Clark Kent kind of thing when he's not competing) hopped, skipped, and jumped 44 feet, 9.25 inches in the CIF Division 2 Finals on the Saturday before Memorial Day last May. That placed him fourth among all Division 2 triple-jumpers in the county.

He's also one of the yakkers on his respective teams: In football, someone needed an interview, and the coaches sent out Evan. I interviewed him for something else. Able to flow, put the words together. Makes sense with what he says. Comfortable in speaking.

I have a confession to make. Last year, I wasn't too impressed with Brown's play in basketball. I liked the heart, the effort. But too many times he went up for a shot under the basket--sometimes hesitating before launching--then got stuffed, or even hit the ball off the underside of the rim.

Now I can say it, because that isn't the way he finished this most recent basketball season, unfortunately his last at LJHS, since he's a senior.

Against higher-seeded Mater Dei Wed., Feb. 13, in their CIF Division 1 first-round playoff game, Brownie launched, launched again, and he wasn't hesitant the way he had been too many times during his first season against varsity competition.

It made its mark in showing me the impact--I hate to go through this again, but it was unfortunate--that Evan could have had on the Vikings' season if he had been healthy all season.

More to his needs, than to my "need" for La Jolla's basketball team to succeed for my own happiness, what a wringer Evan went through in coming back to competitive sports at the end of November, immediately reinjuring his healed broken collarbone in the first 1:58 of his comeback game, then sitting out until only recently.

What an emotional and mental challenge that is, to deal with the idleness and inability to do something you love and enjoy. Meanwhile, the clock was ticking on his remaining opportunities to get a further taste of basketball before his senior season was up.

I remarked on his abandon and total exertion against the Crusaders to Evan's father, Eric, who was proudly (deservedly so) taking photos of his son's team in the playoff. Eric's response was, "Each game he has played, he has gotten more and more back to where he was."

Upon reflection, I can see the growth and vast improvement even his limited play at the end of this season was in comparison to where he was last year. It's remarkable how much a teen develops in 12 months. Just amazing.

Besides growing normally over the span of 12 months, in that time Evan has worked out in football, lifted weights for that sport, and done all the things he did in training for his field events on the Viking track team last spring, culminating in his fourth place in CIF Division 2 in the triple jump.

LJ b soccer 0, San Dieguito Academy 1 - Photos 2/12 - CIF D2 1st Round

By Ed Piper

 

LJ Cheer: Photos 2/13 @ LJ b BB

By Ed Piper

 

 

LJ b BB: 'What if?'

Coach Paul Baranowski sketches out a play
on his dry erase board during a timeout
in the second quarter against the Crusaders.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
 

By Ed Piper

La Jolla's narrow 56-54 first-round loss to Mater Dei, during which the Vikings led 41-39 early in the fourth quarter, had to make a Viking observer ponder: What if?

 

What if Coach Paul Baranowski's squad had had Diego Solis, Gabe Solis, and Evan Brown the whole season?

 

What if Diego and Evan, especially, had been in playing shape and had been able to practice with the rest of the team, instead of having to play their way back into some kind of rhythm on the basketball court at the very tail end of the season?
 

Mater Dei Catholic recruits--it's a private religious school--yet Coach Jason Bryant's (he coached Lincoln when it won the state title in 2010) Crusaders were scared stiff as the visitors showed up and began to take the game by force in the second half.

 

This wasn't the same, short-roster team that Mater Dei had faced and beaten 47-41 in the Grossmont Tournament December 12.

Baranowski had an "embarrassment of riches" with his full roster available (and no Senior Night tradition to have to start all seniors)--the aggressive Jett Wilson to alternate with senior Nick Hulquist, with Gabe Solis, who looked alert and active during his play in the first half, as well as Diego, all at guard. This was in addition to Behzad Hashemi at point guard.

One remembers Gabe in his sophomore year, then, with the bumper crop of freshmen the year before, playing in the frosh championship game at University City High. (The baby Vikes narrowly lost that one, with the ever-popular Hussain Demiral coaching.)

Then, in the front court, there was Brown along with Max Raulston. Imagine if 6'7" Nathaniel Gates had stayed with basketball. He played in that freshman title contest. Where would he be now, with two more years of basketball experience, and increased height since he was a freshman?

My animus toward the game of football, and that one night when the two brothers were injured badly, only abates when I don't replay the second and third quarters--when they were each taken on a golf cart from the field to go to the hospital--in my memory.

 

I was asking my wife this morning, surely the football injury jinx can't last past back-to-back basketball seasons, can it? A year ago, Gabe suffered from a back injury sustained in the final football playoff game that nagged him in December and into January, when, finally, it was just too late for him to regain the mojo of his sophomore basketball season (on the JV's) and the summer following that.

 

The pleasant thought is of this spring and summer, and next year, when the Vikings will be anchored by (a presumably healthy) Diego Solis, who will be a rising junior, Christian Gamboa, ditto on school year, and rising sophomore Max Raulston. That's not a bad core.

LJ b BB 54, Mater Dei 56 - CIF Division 1 first round

Viking forward Max Raulston (left foreground)
inbounds the ball against Mater Dei, La Jolla
trailing 34-31 in the third quarter.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
 

By Ed Piper

La Jolla showed what it was capable of at full power in its first-round playoff game at Mater Dei Wed., Feb. 13.

Forward Evan Brown and guards Diego and Gabe Solis, all injured in football, had practiced and played enough to regain a lot of their effectiveness after sitting out most of this basketball season.

Only by the skin of their teeth did the sixth-seed Crusaders, with the six clutch free throws of sophomore Melo Sanchez in the last 1:04, pull out a 56-54 win over the 11th-seed Vikings.

Coach Paul Baranowski's La Jollans, with him free to use all his talent for the first time this season, started out rough. They fell behind 19-6 in opening minutes.

But then, after shooting guard Adrian Calderon could be cooled down from a triple three-point frenzy, the Vikes plugged into their latent power to come back to within 21-20 at the end of the second quarter.

The visitors took their first lead, 38-36, on Behzad Hashemi's pull-up three with 9.1 seconds left in the third period.

Diego Solis was a torrid left-handed blur. Just before Hashemi's jumper from the right angle, the sophomore stole the ball on the Crusaders' inbound after Evan Brown's backhanded layup. But Diego ended up on the floor as Mater Dei's guards trapped him in a corner. Baranowski bellowed for a foul call, but none was forthcoming.

Minutes later, Solis was there to put back a blocked Behzad attempt to tie the game 43-43 with 4:53 left. Crusader Jake Tawhiao quickly scored two buckets for a five-point lead, and that set up Sanchez's last-minute heroics.

Just before those, Viking freshman Max Raulston made two steals. After the first, at 1:43, Christian Gamboa could not convert on a jump shot that rimmed the basket with one second left on the shot clock.

Then Raulston surprised the Crusaders with the steal of an inbounds pass, and launched to bank in a shot as he was fouled. Only 1:16 remained. He missed the free throw. At that point, the visitors trailed 52-48.

LJ g BB 45, Point Loma 54 - CIF Division 3 Playoffs - First Round

Vikes' Kat Kurtchi is obscured by the ball as she
grabs a rebound in the second quarter
against host Point Loma.
(Photos by Ed Piper)
 

By Ed Piper

Viking sophomore Sydney Hatfield just got cleared to play basketball Fri., Feb. 8. Then she played in the fourth quarter that night at Senior Night as La Jolla squeaked past Mission Bay by four points in front of an enormous crowd.

Coming off rehab for an ACL tear that sidelined her for the past nine months, the North Carolina transplant filled a key role for Coach Darice Carnaje's squad Tues., Feb. 12, in the first round of the Division 3 playoffs at Point Loma.

Employed at the high post in the Vikings' set offense for much of the game, the redheaded Hatfield helped move the ball, drive down the paint, or feed one or the other of La Jolla's main scorers, guards Katrina Kurtchi and Brooke Strowbridge.

In a wild game, the visitors came from 17 down in the second quarter to within three early in the fourth quarter. Vocal fan contingents for both schools cheered or booed the melee, in the remodeled Pointer gym sporting brand new Pointer-maroon bleachers on both sides.

Earlier, the game looked like a rout for Point Loma, with travel-squad-savvy Sadie Heckman, a 21-point-a-game scorer, leading the charge.

But then Hatfield and gang turned the shootout into an update of the Hatfields-McCoys feud: Trailing 24-7 with over four minutes remaining in the second quarter, the Vikings closed the first half still down by 14.

Heckman was assessed for her third foul in that span, and the host Point Lomans lost confidence and momentum.

In the third quarter Kurtchi turned into a whirling dervish, delivering on full-court dashes to the basket. She scored three baskets and six free throws in that period alone.

The Vikings during a third quarter timeout. Coach
Darice Carnaje (kneeling) holds forth to her
troops, who came back from a 17-point
deficit to within 3 before falling. Sydney
Hatfield is the redhead second from left.

Sophomore Caroline Palmer, not a scorer but another wise owl on the basketball court kind of like Hatfield, ended up on the floor multiple times as she scrapped, scrambled, and dived for balls with good, physical play.

With 5:37 to play in the game, Sydney's layup brought the Vikings to within three, 41-38. It looked like they were going to close things out, but a few missed free throws and freshman Mikaela Miles stood in their way.

Miles, a long-braided, bespectacled guard, drove to six key points as the Pointers, on air support, fought back, even after La Jolla came back to trail again by three, 46-43, with only 1:58 to play. Kat's layup did that.

Pointer senior captain Jessie May's two free throws with half a minute remaining countered Palmer's pair of charity tosses only seconds before. Point Loma led, 52-45.

That was enough to end the Vikings' season, and send the Pointers on to the second round of the playoffs Friday against Calvin Christian. Carnaje's squad ended 11-14 overall, 8-4 in the Eastern League. Point Loma is 18-9 overall, 5-7 in the Eastern League.

Kurtchi scored 24 points, including 10 free throws as the result of aggressive drives into the middle. In a rare occurrence, she didn't register a three-pointer.

Hatfield scored a gutsy eight points. Despite the strong finish, she said, "(It felt) rusty. I'm way out of shape. I haven't played in nine months. Plus I haven't played with these girls." She wasn't making excuses. She was answering a reporter's question honestly.

How did they engineer the near-comeback? "Teamwork," said Hatfield, who doesn't show a Carolina accent. "We have a lot of seniors (including Strowbridge and Kurtchi), and we worked hard."

For Point Loma, Heckman had 21 before fouling out in the fourth quarter, when she didn't score a point. Miles added 17.

LJ sports: 'Shrink' or coach?

By Ed Piper

There was a man lurking around the water polo and baseball programs at La Jolla High I caught glimpses of for a few years. As a long-time (now 15 years) but peripheral (my own media) member of the Viking community, I didn't know who he was.

But I did observe him to be calm, obviously connected with student athletes and coaches in the two programs as was evident from his frequent presence at games and chats with individual team members, and apparently having integrity.

Someone, when I asked, said Brian Alexander (I didn't yet know his name) was the "mental skills coach" at LJHS. I thought, boy, this is quite a change from the days--I'm 64--when I played, and a "shrink" or psychologist around athletes could be looked on favorably, or: You really have a problem, dude! If you need therapy, your teammates very likely would see you as a "head case", never a compliment back in the day.

Another issue I found curious, again, looking from the outside, was the fact this gentleman moved in the circles of water polo and baseball--two very different sports, with not a lot of overlap between athletes and adherents.

I finally found an opportunity recently to introduce myself to Brian, a solid hulk of a man. I mentioned my water polo-baseball curiosity.

"It has to do with relationships. Finding coaches who I can work with, and who can work with me, who are comfortable with having me around," Alexander, a former elite water polo player, confided at poolside at Coggan Pool that afternoon.

I can definitely relate to that. As a media person covering all the Viking teams, but on my media outlets on my terms, not every coach is comfortable with my presence. Coaches' receptions spanning a decade and a half range from Jason Carter, then head football coach, stopping in the middle of a scrimmage at Parker to greet me by name, "Hi, Ed," and shake my hand. We had never met before, and this signaled his awareness of media as well as his open-arms welcome of me to be around his team.

On the other end of the spectrum was the (long-ago, name forgotten) girls golf coach, a dozen or more years ago, whom I had not introduced myself to, yet had taken photos at his girls' matches. While I snapped photos of warm-ups, he called over, "My girls say your shutter bothers them." I thought, That's interesting. At the time, I carried in my mind (being a photographer), All people like photos. That isn't true, but I didn't know it at the time.

That day, I walked the course at Torrey Pines, took hundreds of photos of the Vikings girls golfers, then went on my way. On the drive home from Del Mar, it dawned on me what the coach meant: He was telling me he really did not want me around. So I didn't return to that sport for a decade.

So, long story to make my point, I immediately could grasp what Brian was saying about a connection and a fit.

What's more, in reading Alexander's website, I realize that he is providing a service. He is in business. He counsels coaches and their athletes in how to think about their sport and their performance. He charges for this service. So, the arrangement has to be amicable to both sides.

"I also have to see if there is a connection with athletes," Alexander explained. This was right before a recent Vikings girls water polo match, so after an amiable chat, he excused himself and took his place in the tiny bleachers at which La Jolla was sitting.

Not all athletes are open to such coaching. I know an elite athlete related to my extended family who was a top college performer in his sport, who has struggled in the pros, yet rejects any opportunity to receive "mental skills" coaching. The explanation that has been passed on to me is that he doesn't want to take the chance he might fail even after consulting a sports psychologist (that's what they used to be called)--that would be final failure.

LJ sports: Playoff time

By Ed Piper

Playoff Tuesday and Wednesday approach, with four Vikings teams in postseason action the next two days, in addition to the wrestlers' CIF Division 4 meet that occurred Sat., Feb. 9.

The strongest team promises to be the La Jolla girls water polo team, which faces number-one seed and rival Bishop's in the Open Division semifinals Wed., Feb. 13, at at 6:30 p.m. at Coggan Pool.

Coach Amy Jennings' Aquawomen vanquished Cathedral Catholic 8-5 Thurs., Feb. 7, in a tight match against a higher seed (the Dons with the fourth seed, the Vikes fifth) in the quarterfinals, as Jensine Bugelli scored a hat trick and captain Katy Koenig snagged a late goal to help ensure the win.

Another stealthy contingent is the boys soccer team, which squares off against San Dieguito Academy Tues., Feb. 12, at 5 p.m. The Vikings have been playing well, but they have faced more stiff competition after their elevation to Division 2, which followed a rise to Division 3 a couple of years ago after taking the CIF Division 4 title.

In the playoff doubleheader Tuesday, Coach Darice Carnaje's girls basketball team will travel to Point Loma for a 7 p.m. match. Senior Katrina Kurtchi has made a remarkable transformation from a three-point shooter as a freshman, to a team-oriented, team-leading guard who combines play-making with her long-distance shooting skills.

"It took three years," commented Carnaje with a laugh on her team leader. The Vikings have made the most of their talent, incorporating several new players this year after graduating some seniors who had been part of the rotation for four years.

In addition, the Viking boys basketball team takes the long trip in traffic to the South Bay Wednesday evening for a 7 p.m. first-round Division 1 playoff against Mater Dei Catholic. Coach Paul Baranowski's squad dropped an earlier game with the Crusaders in December.

Nick Hulquist, Langston Aron, and their teammates would enjoy making some fireworks at Mater Dei, after a tough Western League schedule that limited them to a trey of triumphs and a 10-18 overall record.

LJ b BB 57, Mission Bay 69 - Senior Night

The Vikings' seniors after the game: from left,
Jett Wilson, Evan Brown, Gabe Solis,
Behzad Hashemi, and Nick Hulquist.
Not pictured: Langston Aron.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
 

By Ed Piper

La Jolla, led by its seniors on a huge Senior Night, made a late run at Boogie Ellis and highly-ranked Mission Bay, but eventually succumbed to a 69-57 defeat to close its disappointing Western League schedule Fri., Feb. 8.

The Vikings (3-9 in league, 10-18 overall) put themselves in an early hole, falling behind 18-4 after the first six minutes. The Bucs' big man and unheralded cog in their successful run of the last three seasons, 6'7" Ronnie Latting, gave them fits and was able to move inside with ease.

The enormous crowd, standing room only, wanted more to cheer about after witnessing their heroes walk in through the bright red Vikings tunnel in pregame ceremonies. The first three quarters didn't afford many opportunities, with Mission Bay leading 22-8 after one period, and 35-22 at halftime.

The third quarter was especially disastrous, as Buc guard Jaymarree Norton helped push the visitors along with Ellis, piling up a 28-point advantage at 57-29 on Savaughn Davis' three-pointer late in the stanza.

Finally, La Jolla senior Gabe Solis, playing in his last regular season game after missing most of the season with an injury, didn't show control but lots of verve as he, classmate Behzad Hashemi, even 12th-grade forward Evan Brown--himself also having missed most of the schedule with a football injury--repeatedly attacked the basket.

Hashemi awoke from a game-long, over-hyper slumber with two treys. The noise was deafening, as the ASB-promoted crowd filled even the upper level of the visitors side. The LJHS band was in attendance in uniform, which lent a nice touch in this year of transition to a new instructor.

The Vikings closed the gap late to 13, 57-44, with 5:39 left on Behzad's second three-pointer. That was the slimmest margin until the final score, a 12-point separation.

La Jolla looked once again a little like the Lilliputians before the 6'7" Latting and high-flying Ellis. They certainly pushed Boogie, who hardly took a substitution break, though the game was meaningless in the final standings. The 6'2" Duke commit was animated, remonstrating frequently with the officials when he thought a foul should have been called. His eyes were intense. He certainly wasn't taking the night off.

There had been question as to his status leading up to the game, because he had been seen wearing a protective boot a couple of weeks ago and he sat out a game against league champ St. Augustine with "sore ankles", according to his coach, Marshawn Cherry.

An observer who knows the Buc program well said Friday night that there had been "no injury" to Ellis' lower extremities. He had warmed up for the Saints showdown, but was reported to be moving gingerly on his ankles, ultimately not playing in that game, which Coach Mike Haupt's Saints won easily.

LJ b BB: Photos 2/5 vs. Christian

By Ed Piper