Spring sports look

By Ed Piper

It has been a bit of a hectic spring high school sports season. I was out of town for three or more weeks, missing contests at La Jolla High but also refreshing and recharging to come back appreciating the vantage point I have as self-appointed unofficial "sports editor" of LJHS over the past 15 years.

Boys volleyball has already concluded playoffs, while we're looking ahead to the imminent start of the postseason in girls and boys lacrosse. The Viking boys lacrosse team is seeded second in the Open Division, which means they are the number-two team in San Diego County.

Softball has hung in there, despite major changes due to graduation and otherwise, under second-year Coach Andrea Denham's patient, consistent leadership.

Baseball always starts its playoffs last, extending league time, then affording participating teams a double-elimination tournament that fits the realities of having a strong baseball team that can still lose a game, yet be among top teams. It's just a different animal from basketball, in which a strong team usually dominates.

But we youth and high school enthusiasts all still realize that young student athletes can have things click one day, and have nothing fall together the next. That's the fun and excitement of sports--the results are totally unpredictable, until the game is played.

Those of us braving the elements at games this spring are well aware of the cooler temperatures and wetter climes this year. The first part of 2019 has presented a stark contrast to our previous seven years or so of drought and baking temperatures.

At this writing, one week into May, I was soaked during first period (substitute-teaching at a local high school not in City Schools) a short time after the morning sun shone. Now, just before lunch, the heat has resumed its place as temperatures slowly climb last week and this to a middle ground.

At my grandson's Pinto League game Sat., May 4, I wore shorts and had to cover my legs at the 8 a.m. contest with a blanket--too cold to leave them bare.