Rich Cardenas, father of Andrew (baseball) and Emmy (softball) players from LJHS, remarked at least twice to me this spring, "When I read that article (about both teams winning league titles), I had never seen those two teams mentioned (in that way) in the same article."
The spring was quite remarkable: an Eastern League title for the Viking softballers (8-0), and one for the baseball team (7-6). Gary Frank's baseballers went to the edge of the cliff against Lincoln, losing two straight games, before winning the title-decider May 15 after a three-run bomb by the Hornets' Dom Mendoza, a sophomore, in the bottom of the seventh. Nerve-wracking. I can still feel it now.
What's more remarkable, and fun from the Viking side, is that Rich's kids both experienced league championships during their years performing for La Jolla High. Emmy, a pitcher/home run hitter during her years on campus, helped win a league title during her sophomore year, 2021. (The previous season was mostly wiped out by the COVID pandemic, costing her games in which she could have furthered her then-home run record.)
Andrew (alternately known as "Drew", even "Andy"--Rich says he himself doesn't mind), of course, was a crucial part of the Vikings' pennant effort this spring. During La Jolla's nail-biter to win it May 15, the younnger Cardenas sibling hurled 6 2/3 innings of gutsy ball in an argument-filled (by Lincoln's coach) contest.
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