LJ track: Familiar names and newbies

Viking Payton Smith (left) takes a handoff

from teammate Ebony Crandle in a relay

at the Eastern League Finals May 6, 2022

at Canyon Hills High.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Viking tracksters have been alive and well--as evidenced by their results posted on Athletic.net--including meets with The Rock Academy March 2, Mission Bay March 9, Saints March 16, and the most recent: Morse on Thurs., March 23.

Kirra Fisk, La Jolla's fabulous two-miler, has continued to perform well in this, her junior year, for the Vikings, leading the 1600-meter parade in the Morse meet with her cohort and close classmate Daphne Mayer, their times, respectively, 5:36.40a and 5:36.82a.

Payton Smith, the elite Viking sprinter who is fun to watch during the winter soccer season as she out-legs a rival for the ball, then puts it in in a lightning-strike-quick score, then leaves the game, is alternating 100 and 200 legs in successive meets recently.

Against the Tigers, the junior burned a 12.25-second time (wind above allowable limits) before two Morse sprinters, then Viking Reese Martin (a sophomore) in 13:89 in fourth place, and teammate Ellie Levine (a junior) in 14.16 in fifth place.

Just two days (March 25) before this writing, Smith showed off her talents before a wider audience at the Mount Carmel Relays (at Mount Carmel High in Rancho Penasquitos) in the 200 meters.

At the Division 1 level, among San Diego's top competition, Payton ran the half-oval in 24.08 seconds, in a visible whisker ahead of Kayla McBride in 24.29, to finish first.

Kirra Fisk runs in the Division 3

Prelims at Mt. Miguel High

May 14, 2022.

Then, to really blow minds, the La Jolla runner doubled in the 400 meters in the Division 1 race and won the one-lap sprint in 54.85 seconds, over two seconds ahead of the next finisher. (The "a" after the time indicates automatic timing, LJHS head coach Paul Byrne informs me.)

"Running well, looking strong...poised to continue to improve," commented Byrne.

"Her marks at Mt. Carmel this Saturday broke school records on both 200 and 400," Byrne said Mon., March 27. "Next goal, (CIF) SD Section records in both."

At the St. Francis Invitational March 18, Fisk won the whole kit-and-caboodle in the 3,000 meters, winning it by a whopping 10-second margin in 10:21.90 (wind-aided).

Regarding both Fisk and Smith, the head coach observed approvingly, "Great marks so far this season."

Some newer names at La Jolla High pop up in the season's results, but we'll investigate those at a later time.

Later in the same Finals, Smith

takes off in a sprint.

LJ softball: 'Metty' rocking the ball

Sophomore shortstop Roxanne Metcalf (second

from left) joins infielders in congratulating

pitcher Emmy Cardenas (6) after a strikeout:

from far left, 3b Kaitlin Murphy (25), Metcalf,

Cardenas, 2b Vivian Jensen (11), and

JC Taylor (far right).

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

With senior star Emmy Cardenas hitting .714 and holding a 7-0 record from the pitching circle, freshman Maddie Ehlert crushing the ball at a .500 clip, and fellow ninth-grader JC Taylor pounding the ball at .433, the main surprise for the 2023 Vikings is the extreme productivity of sophomore Roxanne Metcalf.

Metcalf, who played for Coach Anthony Sarain as a freshman, has come back in her 10th-grade year to carry a whopping .500 average in 41 plate appearances through La Jolla's first 12 games. (She missed one game.)

Roxanne has coaxed 10 walks, but she also has 14 hits in 28 at-bats--probably one of the reasons pitchers have walked her so much to avoid the damage she'll cause.

In the Vikings' opener Feb. 21, she started at first base against Monte Vista. On Sat., March 25, in a morning tournament game against Coastal Academy, she was planted at shortstop, leading the infield with junior Kaitlin Murphy to her right at third base.

Hitting in the fifth spot behind Cardenas in the third position and Taylor in fourth, Metcalf has driven in 17 RBI's, second only to Cardenas with 36. Ehlert is right behind her with 14 RBI's.

Another note: Roxanne has only struck out two times, which is phenomenal (Cardenas once, same as Ehlert and Murphy).

Viking teammates congratulate Kaitlin Murphy (25)

at the plate after she crushed her first-ever home run

in high school competition in the fifth inning

Sat., March 25, versus Coastal Academy.

La Jolla won in a tournament-shortened

game, 3-1.

LJ softball 3, Coastal Academy 1

Freshman JC Taylor, hitting a robust .433

after 12 games, with four doubles

and 12 RBI's.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

The Viking softball team came from behind to defeat Coastal Academy, 3-1, with an explosive fifth inning Sat., March 25, to up its season record to 8-4.

The lightning-bolt inning came just before time was called, as La Jolla was playing under a time limit for the next scheduled tournament game to begin right after.

Down 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth, junior third baseman Kaitlin Murphy bombed her first home run ever in high school competition, this her third year of Viking baseball. That tied the game 1-1.

After one out, senior Emmy Cardenas came up, batting in the third slot. Someone in the dugout said, "She's going to hit a homer." Soon after, she crushed a pitch well over the fence in left field onto the street at La Jolla High, but landing foul.

The right-hander, who started on the mound, hit into a fielder's choice, the out made at second with Cardenas successfully reaching first.

That led to freshman JC Taylor, batting left-handed, beating out an infield single, Cardenas coming all the way around to score on a throwing error.

Freshman Savannah Putnam came in in relief of Cardenas in the top of the sixth, but the game was called under the time limit.

LJ wrestling: Weekend competition

By Ed Piper

Weekend wrestling can pay its dividends, from all appearances, as Viking wrestlers continue their participation in off-season tournaments at Poway High, where years ago the coach who married my high school's Homecoming Queen (her photo was the cover for the 1969 El Alacran yearbook) established a powerhouse program that continues to today.

Noah Pace, the La Jolla 108-pound freshman who went 5-0 in the Eastern League and was named all-league, suffered a broken nose recently and didn't compete last Saturday (March 18).

But his father, Joe Pace, is leading a group of prep grapplers into this weekend's tourney at Poway. The matches are unique because they involve freestyle and Greco-Roman forms. (I'll have to ask the coaches what that means.)

Another cool thing in the Viking wrestling sphere was a clinic put on yesterday (March 23) featuring Shakur Rasheed, a Penn State All-American, at Mira Mesa High. If I didn't have such a basketball-conducive body, I'd be excited. (Someone told me this past season that there are tall wrestlers who are successful.) Wrestlers on the team email list were invited to attend--hopefully, some of them will share in the future how that presentation was. (There was a $40 advance, $50 at-the-door entry fee for the event.) La Jolla ought to think about something like that for the future.

LJ b VB - More photos

Photos by Ed Piper

#5 Kyle Benson

soph outside hitter

Coach Dave Jones

#9 Rowan Clark

junior defensive specialist

#21 Walter Birnbaum

senior outside hitter

#23 Jake Morrison

soph middle/outside

LJ b VB vs. Deer Valley - Beach Cities Invitational

Photos by Ed Piper

#13 Brennan Schmidt (right) - junior

outside hitter

#8 Adam Grushkevich

freshman setter

Assistant coach Jay Northrup (L)

#11 Alex Bubnack, junior

#18 Harrison Riley, junior libero

LJ baseball 0, Parker 2 - Photos

Photos by Ed Piper

Ethan Miller, starting pitcher

2b Adam Lefever leading off

Going over the ground rules - pregame conference

Hank Hansen

LJ baseball: Dealing with the rains

A dry field before the rains, on Feb. 18

just before the annual Alumni Game.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

"The beauty of having a turf field!"

That's how Viking baseball coach Gary Frank responded to a question about how his team were dealing with the rains overnight Tues., March 14, into Wed., March 15.

Frank, chatting via text during the morning Wednesday while the rains were still falling, reasoned, "If the rain stops around noon as it's supposed to, the field will be perfectly dry when we get up there (to the field on Muirlands' campus) today."

La Jolla has a game scheduled for Thurs., March 16, at home at 4 p.m. against Otay Ranch in a tournament.

"With that being said, if it is raining during practice time, we discuss the mental part of the game and get mental reps for the upcoming game."

The Vikings now have two batting cages, plus the new turf, installed last June. So they have lots of options for making the most of practice time.

On Thursday, Frank said Declan Kelly is starting.

Options after that? "Whoever follows will be determined by the game situation:" Hank Hansen, Justin Graff, Corey Druse, Chris Monell, a lefthander, and Harrison Martin.

LJ wrestling: Poway tournaments on tap

Viking Gustav Rinaldi (168 pounds) works

with Coach Kraig Feldman on a move

after a match at the Rancho Bernardo

Takedown Tourney Nov. 19, 1922.

Rinaldi, an All-Eastern Leaguer,

is a junior and has more gas in the tank

for his senior year in 2023-24.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

The first off-season tournament for La Jolla's wrestlers comes this Sat., March 18, at Poway High. Run by the San Diego-Imperial Counties Kids Wrestling Association, this tourney will pit grapplers in grades 9-12 in 15 weight classes from 100 pounds to 285, beginning at 9 a.m.

Saturday's tourney will be the first of six spreading out until May 6 at the venue.

Said Viking head coach Kellen Delaney in an email to families of his wrestlers, "Our Spring wrestling session has been going very well, with a strong group of participants."

There are two tracks of off-season workouts for LJHS wrestlers this spring. One consists of professional trainer Ryan Lennard's strength and conditioning sessions, which Delaney himself, 37 years old, is taking part in with his wrestlers in preparation for his own tournament competition in April in Las Vegas with Lennard attending.

Ryan is a former Viking wrestler, and he served as a trainer for the Chinese National Team a couple of years ago.

The other set of workouts has to do with the six Poway High tourneys, including Saturday's competition. The Viking varsity wrestling team captured the Eastern League championship this winter with a 5-0 dual meet record, including eclipsing league rivals Cathedral Catholic and Madison. Five wrestlers took All-Eastern League honors.

Freshman Noah Pace (left, 106 pounds) turns on his

opponent at the Rancho Bernardo Takedown Tourney

Nov. 19, 2022, a harbinger of good things to come

in his All-Eastern League year.

It was heady stuff for a program that had to weather the COVID-19 shutdown beginning March 13, 2020, with hand-to-hand, skin-on-skin preparation severely restricted and mask mandates in place for much of the next two years.

Somehow, Delaney and his colleagues kept the Viking program intact and put together a slate of male and female wrestlers--La Jolla had four girls compete in 2022-23--through thick-and-thin.

Three of the five Viking wrestlers named All-League are underclassmen and plan to return to the mat for the LJHS team in 2022-23: junior Gustav Rinaldi (160 pounds), sophomore Jack Long (170), and freshman Noah Pace (108).

Jack Long (170), a sophomore, works to gain

leverage in a bout at the RB Takedown Tourney

Nov. 19, 2022. Long has two more years

to build on his all-league resume this season.

WBC: The Shohei experience

Japan's Shohei Ohtani (16) delivers a pitch

in the top of the first inning against

China in the World Baseball Classic.

(Photo of TV screen)

By Ed Piper

I just finished up watching Shohei Ohtani's start against China (on DVR) in the pool-play phase of the World Baseball Classic, and it was dazzling.

Smiles all around, as the 6'5", 210-pounder runs like a deer on the basepaths in addition to throwing and hitting at a level no single man has ever done--Babe Ruth did it as a "hobby" for a short time, nothing like this for multiple years.

I was imagining, just from my years playing youth and high school baseball: Dean Treanor, the "gringo" coaching the Chinese national team, started a 19-year-old pitcher against powerhouse Japan, winner of two WBC's. Why? "He throws strikes."

Well, in this one, he struggled at the start. Can you imagine looking in for a signal when you're pitching to one of the top Major League players, author of 35 homers and almost 100 RBI's last year for the Angels?

Then, the converse: Batters from the Chinese Professional Baseball League, whatever that is, having to confront the authoritative command of Shohei Ohtani, who varied his pitches from 100 mph for a four-seam fastball, down to 85 mph for a changeup during his four innings of work?

No, I can't imagine that. Like us Camarillo High Scorpions having to bat against a pro. Couldn't do it very well, if at all.

Through the 50-or-so pitches he threw--setting him up to pitch in the quarterfinals Wed., March 15, or Thurs., March 16--Ohtani, over four innings, didn't come close to allowing a run. Surprisingly, more China hitters put the ball into play, a few gobbled up as grounders by the able Japanese infielders, than expected (even the TV analyst commented on that).

Another, almost eerie, element: the Japanese fans, in appropriate Japan-style rooting, sat quietly as Japan's defense and pitcher did their work, only clapping politely when an out was made. Then, when Japan bats, they go crazy. Very different cultural approach.

LJ baseball: Stats

Cole Roberts

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Looking purely at stats, with little to no game observations, some things seem to indicate themselves:

--Cole Roberts, the junior lefthander, can chew up a lot of innings. He has pitched 14 innings--the delay of the season opener played into this, as his turn in the rotation was coming up--more than any other Viking hurler in the first five games. He is 1-1, the only LJHS hurler with more than a single decision.

Coach Gary Frank said in his first outing, the opener, Cole "really started to pitch" after two innings or so.

--Hank Hansen is taking up where he left off last season. He's 6 for 17 in his first at-bats, with five doubles, the team lead.

--In the same vein, Declan Kelly is hitting 6 for 13, a .462 pace after only five games.

LJ baseball: Miller 'outstanding'

Ethan Miller (16),

in catcher's gear prior

to the Alumni Game

Feb. 18, spun

a no-hitter March 8.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Senior Ethan Miller, a 6'4" right-hander for La Jolla, spun a no-hitter against Mar Vista Wed., March 8. The Vikings won, 1-0, on a single run in the bottom of the third inning. Miller made it stand up with a shutout, besides the no-hitter.

He threw 62 pitches in a complete-game effort to put the Vikings' record at 3-2.

Forty-three of the senior's offerings went for strikes, with 20 out of 22 first-pitch strikes.

The only Mariner who got on base, senior Myles Sanchez, hitting in the seventh spot, was by a hit-by-pitch in the top of the third.

Without the hit batsman, Miller would have had a perfect game.

"Ethan was outstanding today," said LJHS coach Gary Frank. "He had command of all three of his pitches, and kept Mar Vista off-balance all game long."

Observed Frank, "We have always known Ethan possessed the talent and ability to do great things on the field.

"We are really proud of how well he was able to put it all together today."

LJ baseball 1, Mar Vista 0 - No-hitter by Ethan Miller

Ethan Miller (16), in catcher's

gear before the Alumni Game

Feb. 18, warms up.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Viking Ethan Miller nearly pitched a perfect game, facing only one batter over the minimum and no-hitting Mar Vista 1-0 in a blessing for the new turf field that Coach Gary Frank's team is playing on this spring.

Miller, backed by a La Jolla defense that played error-free, dispatched the stranded Mariners with only 62 pitches. The game took one hour, nine minutes.

Said Frank, "When we throw strikes and take care of the ball, we win games."

Miller, a right-hander, threw 20 first-pitch strikes to the 24 batters he faced.

LJ g lax 17, Henry 2 - 3/6

Viking Sasha Franklin (22) checks

Henry's Sasha R (18) early in the first half.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Ella Stephens, Cate Alexander, and Stella Artukovich scored the Vikings' first three goals within the first eight minutes of the first half on the way to a convincing win over visiting Patrick Henry Monday night, March 6.

Freshman Sofia Rose (9, right) teams with

senior Stella Artukovich (16) to gang up

on Emma B of Henry.

Freshman Lily Mebust (5) sprints upfield

with the ball toward the attacking area.

She is defended by Makenzie N (16)

of Patrick Henry.

Cate Alexander (15) heads upfield.

WBC and Spring Training

Topps 2023 baseball cards for Padres (from left):

Ha Seong Kim, Juan Soto, and Blake Snell.

By Ed Piper

Pretty intense is the word--two words--to describe right now in sports, including the second or third week of high school sports at La Jolla High.

Mainly with the excitement in the baseball world, the World Baseball Classic starts tomorrow night (March 7) with Latin teams, especially, feeling the excitement of their fans and Team Dominican Republic favored to win the whole thing. (Nelson Cruz is general manager/designated hitter of the team, as he networks and helps build enthusiasm among his compatriots on the island.)

MLB Spring Training, which I would normally have visited by now (I favor the last weekend in February, because it isn't yet hot-hot-hot like late March and I can get an early glimpse of workouts of some of the 15 teams in 10 complexes in Greater Phoenix), is going to take a backseat to the WBC March 7-21 while many members of teams go off to play for the Netherlands (Xander Bogaerts, shortstop for the Padres), the Dominican Republic (Manny Machado), Canada (Freddie Freeman--who would have thought both his parents were born in the Great White North?).

Viewing the WBC is going to be a little weird: lots of games at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Pacific Time on FSN1. Also, Fox; also TruTV, I think. What FSN2 is, I don't know. I called Spectrum, and Angela, my respondee, couldn't find a listing for FSN2. Some kind of streaming?

I drove Spectrum crazy by calling twice about getting MLB Extra Innings during the regular season. "That hasn't dropped yet," said my first agent three weeks ago. I have never watched as many MLB games as I did last year, when I first, belatedly, discovered Extra Innings. I couldn't believe I never tried it before!

What finally pushed me to try, and like it, was the increasing cost of going to a baseball game in person. Ticket plus transpo plus concessions is a lot of money, whether Petco Park or going all the way up to Dodger Stadium, which I did until two years ago (not counting 2020 and COVID).

I keep repeating the story the last week or so that I used to buy a ticket and attend a game at Qualcomm Stadium in the old days for $4--park free on the dirt next to IKEA, walk up and buy a centerfield seat for $4, then watch a game and read a book the rest of the afternoon. That's when I was single and had nothing better to do on Sunday afternoons.

In the days of Tom Werner, and after the "fire sale" of valuable Padres to gut the franchise in the early 90's, it was super-cheap to go to a game. There were so few people in the stadium, you could hear a single voice calling out to the players. Incredible compared to today's noisebox.

Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, warming up to pitch

for the Japan national team against China.

(Photo capture of TV screen)

LJ baseball 5, Olympian 2

Declan Kelly pitched a complete

game against Olympian,

walking none and striking out

five.

(Photo by Howard Frank)

By Ed Piper

La Jolla came back from being down two runs, piling up five runs in the fifth inning highlighted by junior Corey Druse's two-run ground-rule double, to overcome Olympian 5-2 and up their record in the young season to 2-1 Sat., March 4, at home.

In the big inning, after the Eagles scored two runs against starter Declan Kelly on a hard-hit double down the third-base line in the top of the second, Justin Graff led off with a single.

Max Hurley singled to left, bringing Graff around to third, then stole second. After Andrew Cho flew out to right, leadoff hitter Adam Lafever hit a nubber back to the box.

The Olympian pitcher, junior Andrew Arnce, got flustered when Graff first broke toward home before heading back, throwing the ball away at first. Justin scored, 2-1 Eagles. Hurley moved to third.

With Adam running on the pitch, Druse, in the second slot, smashed a one-hopper to the wall in left to score two more. Now the Vikings led, 3-2.

After Hank Hansen grounded out, big John Hartford--missing his rugby team--singled to drive in Corey. Kelly got hit by the pitch, then Nicky Jamieson-Cacalano drew a walk on four pitches.

That was it for Arnce. Graff followed up Jamieson's walk with his own base on balls from sophomore reliever Joshua Rodriguez. The Vikings led, 5-2, and that stood up to be enough for the final score.

Declan Kelly, for his part, pitched a complete game, giving up only one earned run. That's a pretty solid effort. The junior walked none, striking out five. He threw 89 pitches.

Justin Graff drew a two-out

walk in the fifth inning,

forcing in one of the Vikings'

runs for a 5-2 lead

that held up.

LJ baseball: More photos

Season opener - La Jolla 9, Morse 4

(Photos by Howard Frank)