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1976

Coaches: Ron Mehuron, varsity football. Al Marshall, assistant varsity football. Tex Ronning, JV football and wrestling. Scott Graff and Ken O’Connell assistant JV football. Nick Dilurgio, frosh football and head track. Jeff Beeman, water polo and swimming. Greg Brock, cross country and track. Don Dempwolf, soccer and golf. Dennis Mullen, girls and boys tennis. Pete Newell basketball and girls softball. Mike Thibault, JV basketball. Pete Pappas, frosh basketball. Ray Hunter, girls basketball and JV baseball. Bill Dodge, baseball. Ginger Anderson, girls volleyball and her assistant Julie Johnson.

1976
FOOTBALL All games were league games in the last year SC was a member of the MBL. The next year the SCCAL started. North Salinas 0-43, Watsonville 12-30, Alisal 6-34, Harbor 8-53, Monterey 0-54, Soquel 13-61, Seaside 6-60, Aptos 12-14, SLV 12-22. League record 0-9 last place. Season record 0-9.

From the Trident. 76’ Varsity Football A Valiant Few. This year the Cards took their lumps, but kept their pride. They were hard hit by losses, by injuries, by criticism and by opposing players. Nonetheless, sixteen Cardinals sweated it out — not because they had to, but because they were willing to. They were a valiant few. Their last two games were their best. They nearly overthrew Aptos, losing 12-14. In final game they were barely outrun by SLV 12-22.
Despite the conditions, the teams Most Valuable Back, Larry Monroe played brilliantly easily making the ALL MBL team and leading the league in rushing. His top games were 176 yards against Soquel and 148 against SLV. Quarterback Scott Seymour, from a comment by a teammate, as the guy who “kept the team together.” He was named the teams Most Valuable player.
All sixteen showed a certain valor. After the Monterey game, referee Jack Harris summed up the season by saying, “Though badly overmatched and outweighed, the SC team and coaches were perfect gentlemen and were certainly winners in that they never quit. I feel they should be recognized.” We agree. We will remember not so much the record they made, but the respect they earned.
The Valiant Sixteen: Peter Anecito, Edward (later, Charles) Burks, Joe Clarey, Brent Gallick, Carl Jones, Gerald Logan, Greg Lopez, Tony Lopez, John Mahaney. Doug Martin, Larry Monroe, Clyde Persley, Jeff Rogers, Scott Seymour, Dan Marino and Mike West.

Junior Clyde Persley has earned the Jock of the month award for his leadership qualities and astounding tenacity for the out manned football team in their last season of tough MBL play. Clyde’s efforts inspire his teammates as well as the local fans. As one of the eleven returning players, Clyde is a standout in all phases of the game, offensive and defensive back in addition to all the special teams.

Rest from the Sentinel. First Half Blitz Overcomes Cards In MBL Opener. North Salinas speed, quickness and depth were too much for SC. The Cards were down by three touchdowns in the first seven minutes of the game en-route to a 43-0 loss. North Salinas was ahead 35-0 at halftime. The closes penetration to the North Salinas goal line was the 22 yard line. The only play that worked very well for SC was an end around play which resulted in Bruce Gardner picking up 44 yards in four carries. Larry Monroe carried 16 times for 35 yards was the only other Card with plus yards gained. Pass receiving yards were Persley 46, Burks 7 and Hightower 6. Seymour completed 5 of 15 passes for 59 yards. Eddie Hightower suffered a knee injury in the last quarter. North Salinas out gained SC 329-98.

Running, Passing Trounce Santa Cruz. In the sixty-seventh meeting of the long time rivals resulted in a 30-12 Watsonville victory. From the Watsonville coach, “They’re a good team, but they just don’t have enough bodies.” SC suited up just 17 players. Watsonville had piled up a 30-0 lead before SC scored.
But when SC did score they did it in style. SC took over on their own 24 yard line. Quarterback Scott Seymour handed off to Clyde Persley, who turned the corner and ran 76 yards for the Cards first touchdown of the season. SC scored once more in the last minutes of the game. Persley set up the score with 12 yard run on a crucial fourth and three situation and then scored on a one yard plunge.
Watsonville out gained SC 267-185. Rushing yards were Persley 15 carries for 130 yards; Monroe 13 for 37. Receiving yards: Clarey 4 and Persley 16. Scott Seymour attempted 15 passes and completed two for 20 yards.

Alisal Dominates Cardinals 34-6. The Cards battled valiantly through the first quarter, shutting off the explosive Alisal offense. Fine defense by John Chenoweth, Brent Gallick, Peter Anecito and John Manoney controlled the Trojan running game in the early going. The Cards are forced to play both ways, offense and defense and get worn down as the game goes on. Only once did SC threaten to score in the early going. A frantic Card rush blocked a punt and recovered on the Alisal 22. SC relied on the running of Clyde Persley, who moved the ball to the three yard line, where the drive stalled.
Half way through the fourth quarter, the Cards finally engineered an impressive drive. Starting at their own 16, quarterback Steve Seymour passed twice to Larry Monroe, then used the running of Monroe and Persley to scramble to the one yard line, before Monroe dove over guard Anecito for the touchdown. Alisal out gained SC 351-201. Larry Monroe had a fine game rushing for 91 yards in 23 carries, followed by Persley 16 for 49, Lopez 6 for 7 and Seymour 6 for minus 11. Receiving yards: Monroe 49, Rogers 9 and Persley 7. Seymour completed 5 of 8 passes for 85 yards.

Harbor Takes Advantage Of Santa Cruz Miscues 53-8. SC ran at Harbor with some success in the first quarter, but three turnovers in the first half and one after intermission effectively stymied the Cards, while Harbor made the most of its superiority in numbers and weight. SC clearly were over matched, giving up 70 to 80 pounds a man in some cases, although they didn’t lack for courage as they gritted their teeth and battled with all the energy they had.
Tiny Ed Burks, a 125 pounder, who did not back up from the much larger Harbor players all night, intercepted a pass. Pete Anecito, who like Burks is a junior recovered a fumble. Harbor scored on its first possession after recovering a fumble on the Card 30. SC came right back on the kickoff return of Clyde Persley for 21 yards to the SC 28. Quarterback Scott Seymour kept it for four yards and Harbor was penalized five yards on the next play. Then Larry Monroe, his line sustaining its blocks, stunned everyone by galloping 63 yards for a Card touchdown. But it was called back for backfield in motion.
SC managed to keep their heads high in the fourth quarter and on pride alone averted a shutout. Anecito recovered a fumble on the Harbor 29 and in six plays SC scored its only touchdown. Monroe packed the ball three times for 15 yards and Persley scored on a reverse around left end on a third and goal. Monroe rammed into the end zone for a two point conversion. Harbor out gained SC 260-181. Rushing yards were Lopez 6 carries for 17 yards, Seymour 7 for minus 7, Monroe 18 for 50 and Persley 9 for 14. Receiving: Persley 29 yards. Seymour completed one out of 4 passes for 29 yards.

Monterey Topples Cardinals 54-0. With only 18 men suited, the team put out their best and that is all anyone can ask, especially against last years league champion and probably the champion again this year. In looking for a bright spot, one would have to single out quarterback Scott Seymour, who avoided a heavy rush often enough to complete seven of 11 passes for 48 yards. Leading receiver for SC was Ed Burks who snared three passes for 18 yards. Jeff Rogers and Clyde Persley each caught two passes. SC was held to 48 yards on the ground and Larry Monroe picked up 29 of them. Other ball carriers where Persley 19, Olympio 5, Lopez 13 and Clarey 0. Monterey had a 30-0 lead at halftime. Monterey out gained the Cards 467-96. Mike West made three solo tackles.

Soquel Topples SC In ‘Big Game’ 61-13. The game seemed more like a light workout than a heated football game for the Knights, who dominated the game from the opening kickoff. SC played respectively, especially on offense, but the power football employed by Soquel was too much for the Cards. SC fullback Larry Monroe went 65 yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter for the Cards first tally. Monroe carried the ball 25 times for 176 yards, easily his best performance of the season. Monroe scored once again on a two yard crack with five minutes left. Lopez carried 17 times for 57 yards. Receiving yards were Persley 14, Moreno 56 and Monroe 14. Seymour completed 5 passes for 84 yards.

Seaside Drops Cards 60-6. Only four times that Seaside had the ball that it failed to score. In the first and early second quarter action, the Card defense would not play dead for the aggressive Spartans. But numerous offensive miscues kept the defense on the field to long and they wore down. Tony Lopez plunged two yards for the last score of the game to put SC on the scoreboard. SC players must be credited, if for no other reason, for their determination and sportsmanship on the field. Rushing yards were Monroe 13 carries for 70 yards and Lopez 8 for 26. Receiving yards: Monroe 52, Moreno 13, Rogers 6 and Persley 10. Seymour completed 10 of 24 passes for 81 yards.

Aptos Survives Scare From SC for 14-12 Win. Gallant Effort By Cards Falls Short. The silence was deafening. The spectators from both sides were emotionally drained. They couldn’t quite believe, somehow that SC almost won a football game. The “almost” meant the Cards, victims of numerous lopsided defeats this season played their finest game of the season only to drop an agonizing decision to Aptos.
SC out gained Aptos 255-118 yards. Neither team had a fumble. SC lost only 20 yards on penalties and Aptos 36. SC had 13 first downs Aptos 11. SC won the statistical battle. Aptos had to kick a pair of extra points, stop two SC two point conversion tries and cut the Cards off at the pass on a fourth and goal inside the one yard line in the second quarter. SC had traveled 90 yards only to be thrown back on that one play. To say the game was unbelievable wouldn’t do it justice. Aptos sporting the league’s most awesome passing attack, came to the game as a 30 point favorite. But SC covered the Aptos receivers well enough to limit the Mariner aerial game to 3 completions in 9 passes thrown for 49 yards.
SC out gained Aptos on the ground 93-69 and in the air 162-49. Clyde Persley caught five passes from Steve Seymour for 113 yards, once wrestling the ball away from a defender. One of his receptions was a 43 yard shocker in the first half and the other a 41 yarder in the second half, both on very fine efforts. This game contained enough drama to keep Maalox folks in the chips for years to come. It was enough to jangle the nerves of the calmest of football fans. Aptos succumbed to SC in the final few seconds of the first half, but refused to budge down the stretch, killing the final SC threat with only 41 seconds left in the game.
The key to SC remaining in contention until the last few seconds, Coach Ron Mehuron felt, was the dedication of his players. “They were able to come back and score after Aptos had scored and then the defense was able to hold them. Everybody made up their minds to put forth their best effort, something they hadn’t always done before. It was a tough one to lose. I feel very badly for them.”
Assistant coach Larry Griffin, a former sports great at SC, lauded the defensive secondary. “They really played heads up football against the number one passer in the league. I think we showed a lot of people that we can stop a passer of that caliber. The players have made great strides since the beginning of the season and they’ve learned a lot.”
Larry Monroe picked up 58 yards rushing and also was exceptional on defense, a fact especially evident when he intercepted a pass to choke off the first Aptos offensive series of the game. Later in the first quarter, Aptos made the most of their second opportunity, gaining possession at the SC 37 on a botched SC punt attempt and moving to the end zone in six plays. SC fought back brilliantly, gobbling up 90 yards in a drive that was to end in frustration. With fourth and goal inside the Aptos one yard line, Monroe crashed into the line, but was driven back a yard to stop the winning score. Aptos punted to the SC 42, 58 long yards from promised land with only 52 seconds left in the first half. Tony Lopez rushed for a yard, Monroe sliced around the left side for 14 and SC called time out at the Aptos 43 with only 26 seconds left. After an incompletion, Seymour got hot, hitting Persley for 10 yards, Dan Moreno for 19 and with two seconds left, rifled a 19 yarder over the middle to Monroe for a TD. Monroe’s run for the two point conversion was stopped a foot short.
Aptos took the second half kickoff to their 42 yard line and then took 11 plays, all on the ground to score and make the extra point for a 14-6 lead. It looked like Aptos might bust the game open, but it wasn’t to be. SC showed spunk by moving 67 yards in eight plays in the ensuing series following Persley’s 22 yard kickoff return. The big play of the march was a 41 yard completion from Seymour to Persley, who wrestled the football a way from a defender to make it first and goal at the Aptos four yard line. Tony Lopez drove for a yard and on the next play was held for no gain. Then Monroe stormed over left guard for the touchdown. Persley was stopped short on the two point conversion to leave the score 14-12.
The rest of the ballgame was played in scoreless, but far from dull fashion. SC took possession for the last time with 5:43 remaining in the fourth quarter and advanced from its own 38 to the Aptos 35 in 11 plays before Scott Seymour was brought down for a five yard loss on fourth down with 41 seconds left on the clock. Aptos killed the clock with three straight kneel downs, killing a few hundred SC hearts. Rushing yards were Tony Lopez carried 14 times for 36 yards, Monroe 18 for 58, Persley 2 for 4 and Seymour 10 for minus 5. Receiving were Persley 113 yards, Moreno 19 and Monroe 20. Seymour completed 8 of 12 passes for 162 yards and no interceptions, his best game of the season..

Cougars End Season by Toppling Game SC 22-12. From the opening kickoff , when Valley coach John Kirby, former star athlete in three sports at SC and the most outstanding player of the last fifty years in Santa Cruz county, called for an onside kick. The Cougars made it apparent they were out to win. Neither team had won a contest prior to this game, but both teams played with the intensity of a championship being at stake.
SC led at halftime 6-0. SC drove 95 yards in a dozen plays, the first time they had the ball. Larry Monroe carried three times for 57 yards during the drive, including a 29 yard jaunt for a touchdown. He was stopped in a bid for a two point conversion. Twice in the first half, SLV drove within the SC five yard line, but fumbles killed both efforts. SLV drove to tie the score in the third quarter. A pass interference penalty allowed the drive to continue as it was a fourth and ten situation. Another Card penalty helped the drive. The Cougar line was blowing big holes in the SC line to make the touchdown drive into the end zone. Scott Seymour batted down the pass for the two point conversion and the score was tied 6-6.
The Redbirds showed good form and poise after the SLV touchdown, by promptly driving 51 yards to regain the lead. SC never gained more than five yards at a time during the drive, but Monroe and Tony Lopez and 25 yards in SLV penalties pushed SC inside the SLV 10 yard line. Seymour nailed down a key first down at the six, sneaking one yard on a fourth down play. Monroe hit pay dirt on the very next play, ramming up the middle. With 3:26 left in the third quarter. Lopez tried unsuccessfully for the two point conversion, but SC had an unaccustomed 12-6 advantage. SLV returned the ensuing kickoff back to their own 45 yard line, but were forced to punt. SC was penalized for too many players on the field, which allowed SLV to regain possession. In a time gobbling drive, SLV scored and added the two point conversion to go ahead 14-12.
Monroe, who rushed for over 100 yards in the first half was virtually shut down by the Cougars, when the going got really tough in the third and fourth quarters. With 6:11 left in the game SLV scored and added the two point conversion to end the scoring 22-12.
The only other action after the score was an all out brawl after time had run out. No one was injured in the melee, during which spectators seemed on the verge of joining. Unfortunately, some players took to the fight with much more vigor than they did the game.
SC out gained SLV by only 18 yards, 271- 253. First downs were even with 15 each. The stats were very close. Rushing yards were Monroe 19 carries for 148 yards, Lopez 10 for 28, Seymour 4 for 26, Persley 3 for 2 yards. Receiving yards were Moreno 15, Burks 5 and Persley 47 yards. Seymour completed five passes out of 18 attempted for 67 yards and had no interceptions.

Larry Monroe was chosen Jock of the Month for his play against Aptos. Larry picked up 58 yards rushing and scored both Card touchdowns. Monroe was exceptional on defense and one of his plays was intercepting a pass.

Team honors
Most Valuable — Scott Seymour
Outstanding Lineman — Brett Gallick
Outstanding Back — Larry Monroe
Sportsmanship award — Mike West

Sentinel All County team: senior running back, 6-0, 185, Larry Monroe. Honorable mention: Brent Gallick, Greg Lopez, Scott Seymour, Tony Lopez, Clyde Persley, Doug Martin, Danny Moreno.

The teams Most Valuable Back, Larry Monroe played brilliantly easily making the ALL MBL team and leading the league in rushing. His top games were 176 yards against Soquel and 148 against SLV.

JV FOOTBALL League: Alisal 40-12, Harbor 21-18, Monterey 12-48, Watsonville 12-21, SLV 20-12, Soquel loss, Seaside loss, Aptos 14-15. Season record 3-6.

Team members by position
Ends: Rusty Locatelli, Fidel Ruiz, Ken Rodgers, Mitch Levine and Don Passerino
Tackles: Andy Foster, Joe Stoops, Randy Smith, Bill Sarrow, John Papa, Robert Agorastos and Pat Simmons
Guards: Jon Fenton, Henry Lavender, Ron Hill and Gary George
Centers: Nick Curran, Robert Chavez, Greg Raphael and David Arenes
FL: Jerry Alvarez, Ron Love and Andre Wilkes
Quarterbacks: Greg Ronning and Steve Wahl
Backs: Dave Singleton, David Richardson, Steve Imonti, Dennis Modena, Toney Lopez, John Munoz and John Hopping
Head coach Tex Ronning and assistants Scott Graff and Kenny O’Connell.

Super defense and an excellent offense that rolled like they are supposed to for the BIG RED machine posted an impressive win over Alisal 40-12 even though they were down 6-12 at half time. The football team played like a track team in the fourth quarter. John Hopping with one of those “hello good by days” rang up 105 yards rushing. Quarterback Greg Ronning, behind the blocking of center Robert Chavez scored on runs of 7 and 2 yards. Rusty Locatelli topped it all off with his ability to run dazzled the fans with a 65 yard punt return for a touchdown. David Richardson tacked on six points on a 9 yard jaunt. Jon Fenton kicked four extra points in the fourth quarter. The Card defense was super led by Jerry Alvarez, Ron Hill and Jon Fenton, who were given special praise for their play.

Cross town rival Harbor was downed 21-18. John Hopping had another big day running for 123 yards and two scores of 25 and 65 yards. Henry Lavender pounced on a Harbor fumble in the end zone for six points. Jon Fenton kicked three extra points.

The next game was a loss to Monterey 12-48. John Hopping was chosen as the JV player of the week. He gained 228 plus two scores in two weeks action.

Cards Drop 28-12 Loss to Watsonville. Card running back Andre Wilkes scored two touchdowns, one on a 42 yard pass from Greg Ronning and the other on a 26 yard run. Ronning completed 12 passes for 147 yards and one TD. Coach Tex Ronning praised the play of defensive back Jerry Alvarez and defensive linemen Robert Chavez and Henry Lavender.

JV’s lose tough battle with Aptos 14-15. Aptos scored first, then John Hopping scored on a long run down the sidelines. Andre Wilkes scored the extra point to tie the game. Rugged John Munoz set up the next Card score by intercepting a pass. Wilkes then on the third play from scrimmage scored to make it SC 14-8. Jerry (Alvin) Alvarez had a good day on defenses as he stopped numerous threats by Aptos all night long. This was by far the best and toughest game of the season for the Cards.

Card JVs Top Valley 20-12. Two first half touchdowns propelled the victory. Touchdowns were scored by John Hopping, John Munoz and Steve Imonti. Jon Fenton booted two extra points.

Team Honors
Ron Hill was chosen Outstanding Lineman.
Andre Wilkes was Outstanding Back.
John Hopping was Most Valuable player.
Greg Ronning was selected for the sportsmanship award.
Bob Agorastos was Most Improved.

FROSH-SOPH FOOTBALL Harbor 33-0, Monterey 7-20
The team had a very successful season going 4-4-1in a tough league. The team is led by Coach Nick Delurgio and quarterback Mike Gregoric. The standouts were Bob Martin, Chris Harper and Carlos Ybarra. Other players mentioned in the yearbook were Peter Pinavilla, Warren Harding, David Alvarez, Eddie Camacho, Don Dummler and Dwayne Whitley.

The team has won 3 games and is on a two game winning streak. The last game they beat Harbor 33-0. Touchdowns were scored by David Alvarez, Greg Gregoric, Dwayne Whitley and Chris Harper who scored twice.

In a 7-20 loss to Monterey Bob Martin scored the only Card TD.

In a win against Aptos, Mike Gregoric had the best day of his young career by throwing two touchdown passes a and running one in himself. Powerful and dangerous David Alvarez got the team rolling along with a 8 yard run for the first TD. Then Gregoric hit “To Tall” Bob Martin for a 68 yard pass and run for the Cards second score to end the half ahead 12-0 It did not take the Cards long in the second half to score on a pass from Gregoric to Martin for 22 yards. Ed Camacho caught a pass to the extra point making the score 20-0. On the next possession Gregoric ran for a TD.

Mike Gregoric and Don Dummler received recognition as team co-captains.
Chris Harper was Most Improved.
Dummler was selected for the sportsmanship award.

CROSS COUNTRY
At the CCS Region IV meet at Crystal Springs in Belmont, Dave Gregoric placed seventh out of 75 runners and advanced to the CCS meet.

Boys team had six members, just enough to compete as a team. They were Blake Lua, Alan Spano, Mark Harlan, Dave Gregoric, Jeff Weber and Charles Patterson.

The SC cross country Muskrats ended the season with a good showing in the 11 team MBL league meet. The varsity placed fifth with two runners finishing in the top 15 and earning medals. Dave Gregoric placed sixth and Mark Harlan took fourteenth. The frosh-soph team took fourth place led by medal winner Mark Mahaney, who placed fifth. The JV squad placed sixth for their best showing of the year.

In a dual meet with Seaside, out of the four separate races, a Card runner crossed the finish line first in three of them. Dave Gregoric won the varsity race. Mark Mahaney broke the tape in the frosh-soph race and Terry Schneider won the girls race with little trouble.

David Gregoric a senior and four year letterman grabbed the male Most Valuable Runner award. Mark Harlan, Charles Patterson and Jeff Weber walked away with trophies as well.

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY had a 9-1 record in league.
Terri Schneider led the girls with a second place finish at the MBL meet. She also won the dual meet against Seaside with little trouble.

Girls team had eight members. They were Linda Rablado, Terri Schneider, Lydia Wilson, Terri Soloman, Janet Garcia, Nancy Pancake, Nina Peticolas and Laila Soloman.

Terri Schneider four year letterman was recognized at the Fall Sports Awards night for her leading the cross country team to a 9-1 record. Schneider placed second at the league meet for which she was honored with the schools Most Valuable Female Runner award.

Nina Peticolas received the cross country sportsmanship award.

GIRLS TENNIS BIG SUCCESS.
Scores: Defeated Notre Dame, Marello, Harbor and SLV by consecutive scores of 7-0 and Alisal 6-1. (scores missing) Season record 9-1 second in SCCAL.

Three years ago in their first year as a team their record was 2-5. Last years record was reversed to 5-2 and second place tie in the league. This year it improved again to 9-1 and a clear second place to Salinas, who beat the Cards 4-3 in the last match of the season. One more win in this last match would have ended Salinas’ 21 match win streak. Next year this will not be the case as the Cards will be playing in the Santa Cruz County Athletic League.

On the way to the title, undefeated Tracey Tsugawa with a record of 6-0 and Pam Mills 5-0 were a big factor in the teams success. The team is undefeated with a match record of 6-0 with four impressive wins over Notre Dame, Marello, Harbor and SLV by consecutive scores of 7-0 each time.
Other singles players Liz Crowell, Libby Pappas and Laura Weybright plus the two girls mentioned above are to receive praise for their singles play along with doubles partners Gina Delicchi and Melody Capp; Nancy Rice and Barbara Bernard; Julie Schneider and Annette Mungai for their super doubles play. The team has four more matches left this season.

The Cards toppled Alisal 6-1. Tracy Tsugawa finished her season undefeated with a 10-0 record. The doubles tandem of Barbara Bernard and Nancy Rice went 10-0 and will be back next year. Laura Weybright started slow, but came on to win her last 8 matches. Seniors Liz Crowell and Libby Pappas finished 8-2. Liz Crowell has a tremendous record over her three years on the tennis team with a 21-3 won loss total. Other seniors playing their final matches for the Cards are Gina Delucchi and Melody Copp.

Liz Crowell was named Jock of the Month for her play as the number one player on the fine Cardinal tennis team for three years. This year Liz progressed to the finals of the MBL singles tournament with a 8-2 record. Her overall record for three years are 7-0 as a sophomore; 5-1 as a junior and 8-2 as a senior.

Lori DeRego was selected for the sportsmanship award.

WATER POLO
Time and again, the Cardinals scored this year, but so did their opponents and more often. Still the team deserved more credit then they got. As bodysurfing is to surfing, water polo is to basketball. In both cases the first is less popular to watch, since most of the action cannot be seen. Yet the action is there and so is the effort.

Dean Stengl and Jon Hatch were honored for outstanding water polo performances. Dean Stengl was selected for the sportsmanship award. Coach Jeff Beeman.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Less gifted and less victorious than last year, this years varsity squad struggled through the early part of the season losing five out of the first six games. Without a hint of panic, coach Ginger Anderson gingerly guided the team back to a respectable level of play, teaching direly needed fundamentals,

Players were Jody Hansen, Julie Schneider, Laurie Thomas, Michelle Lewis, Nancy McPherson, Terry Schneider, setter Dina Curotto and Melody Copp, senior owner of a volcanic serve.

GIRLS JV VOLLEYBALL (have no information on the season)
Team members were Laura Johnson, Ingbritt Christensen, Sarah Lynch, Lisa Johnson, Tina Badeaux, Sue Wilson, Kim Knox and Jeannine Esposito.

BASKETBALL Practice games: Palma 36-51. Dads Club Tournament: Soquel 47-49, Hollister 53-63, Watsonville 56-41 for seventh place. Carmel Invitational: Gilroy 32-49, Mt. View 37-32, Seaside 32-36 for fourth place. King City 34-59, Marello 40-47. Practice record 2-7. League Southern Division: Monterey 29-59, North Salinas 51-65, Seaside 52-45, Salinas 23-43, Alisal 45-69. Southern record 1-4. Northern Division: Harbor 49-48, loss; Watsonville 30-61, loss; SLV 35-38, loss; Soquel 46-37. Loss; Aptos 57-58, 44-42. North Division record 3-7. Combined MBL record 4-11 for sixth place. The final standings of the MBL North were Aptos 10-5, Harbor 9-6, Watsonville 8-7, SLV 5-10, Soquel 5-10 and SC 4-11. Season record 6-18.

(Missing a practice game and second games with Harbor, Watsonville, Soquel and SLV.)

Team members: Seniors are Bryon Pini and Kenny O’Connell, who missed all of last season with a knee injury is well and will make a big difference to this team.
Juniors are Al Kensinger, John Musselman, Scott Seymour, Paul Wainscoat, Clyde Persley, Eddie Hightower, Mark Snow and Larry Yien
Sophomores: Jeff Weber, Paul Wainscoat, Charles Burks, Doug Martin, Matt Tsugawa,

Turnovers Hurt SC in a 36-56 loss to Palma in the season opener. SC was plagued by 21 ball control errors, was out rebounded 27-28 and shot a whopping 26 percent from the floor. SC trailed by just three points 8-11 at the end of the first quarter, but a fruitless second period saw the Cards score just two points to go down 10-28 at half. Scoring: Weber 0, Kensinger 4, Seymour 4, Pini 10, Martin 2, O’Connell 8, Wainscoat 2, Persley 4, Musselman 2 and Tsugawa, Burks, Yien all 0.

Soquel Knights Nip SC 49-47, In Dads Club Thriller in one of those barnburners that nobody should really lose. In the first round of the tourney it was anything but artistic, but it was most entertaining. Turnovers played a big role for both clubs. Soquel surged out to a seven point lead in the final three minutes of the game. But SC responded as Jeff Weber pumped in two baskets and Ken O’Connell added a foul shot to make the score 45-49. O’Connell with his hustle on defense and another bucket from Weber got the Cards back in the game 47-49. Soquel turned the ball over twice and SC had plenty of time to tie the game, but fell victim of turnovers themselves. Scoring: Weber 10, O’Connell 17, Kensinger 9, Wainscoat 4, Pini 1 and Musselman 6.

Hollister beats SC 63-53 in consolation game. Hollister had a 28-16 halftime lead. At the end of the third it was 42-34. After scoring only 16 points the first half, the Cards more than doubled their score in the second half by sinking 37 points. With four minutes to play the Cards drew within four points at 42-46. But against the tall Hollister team the Cards were like midgets in the land of the giants. Scoring : Tsugawa 0, Weber 17, O’Connell 13, Kensinger 12, Wainscoat 4, Pini 6 and Musselman 2.

O’Connell Sparks Cards To Seventh Place In 56-41 win over Watsonville. Senior guard Kenney O’Connell tossed in a game high 19 points and dished out five assists. He finished the game shooting 50 percent from the field on 9 of 18 attempted with most of them coming from the 16 to 20 foot range. “Kenny played a super game out there tonight and when you look for senior leadership there’s none better than Kenny and Brian Pini to give it.” said coach Pete Newell. Despite standing only 6-2 Pini, who plays center grabbed 10 rebounds to lead SC to a 33-31 rebounding edge over the taller Cats, who have two 6-6 front liners.
Many of the other Cards were instrumental in the win. Jeff Weber and Al Kensinger each had eight points and five assists with the former pulling down seven rebounds. Jerry Soper who the night before played for the JV’s, netted seven points coming off the bench. Guard Paul Wainscoat tossed in five points and John Musselman led the defensive charge with four steals. After playing almost 10 minutes of nip and tuck basketball the Cards took the lead for good when O’Connell popped in a 16 foot jumps shot to put the Cards ahead 20-18 for good. SC increased the lead to 34-24 at half time. SC reeled off the first nine points of the second half for a total of 15 unanswered points to go up 43-24 with 2:20 left in the third quarter. Scoring: Weber 8, O’Connell 19, Kensinger 8, Soper 7, Wainscoat 5, Pini 7, Musselman 2 and Snow, Yien, Tsugawa all 0.

Santa Cruz Cards Dumped, 32-49 by Gilroy in the first round of the Carmel Invitational. Gilroy practically shut down the Cards only allowing seven points in the first quarter and five in the last quarter. They did an exceptional job on O’Connell holding Kenny to four points. Kenny has been averaging 14 points a game. Scoring: Weber 4, Burks 2, Persley 2, O’Connell 4, Kensinger 6, Seymour 0, Wainscoat 5, Martin 5, Pini 4 and Tsugawa 0.

Fine defensive effort won the second game of the tourney against Mt. View 37-32. The defense allowed Mt View only 25 shots in the game. “We came to play tonight. Our defense won the game for us. We played more together as a unit at both ends of the floor,” said Coach Newell. SC forced the Eagles into 18 ball handling errors, many of them down the stretch. The Cards led 19-18 at half and then held Mt. View to only six points in the third quarter to go ahead by five points, which they held to the end of the game. Scoring: Weber 2, Kensinger 0, Seymour 9, Pini 6, Martin 0, O’Connell 13, Persley 1 and Wainscoat 6.

Cardinals Drop Close One 32-36 to Seaside in the third round at Carmel. Very poor foul shooting came back to haunt SC. The Cards missed five one-on-one foul shots in the last six minutes. “We played really good defense overall. The only exception being a letdown, which let the Spartans score six points in the last 30 seconds of the game, We played well enough to win,” said Coach Newell. Newell cited, Jeff Weber for his outstanding defensive play. Weber led the Cards with 12 points, seven rebounds and held Seaside’s best scorer to six points. Brian Pini grabbed 11 rebounds as SC won the rebounding battle 28-27. Scoring: Weber 12, Kensinger 10, Seymour 2, O’Connell 2, Persley 2 and Pini 4.

In their last two tune ups before the start of league play next week the Cards lost to King City 34-59. There was no write up. Scoring: Weber 8, O’Connell 10, Persley 4, Kensinger 6, Seymour 2, Wainscoat 4 and Burks 0.

SC had Marello on the ropes, but let them slip away 40-47. The Cards took leads as large as seven points over the heavily favored Panthers, but a third period charge in which Marello outscored SC 12-4 gave the Panthers a hard earned victory. This game was probably SC’s best performance to date. Although some players were grossly mismatched size wise, SC played well enough to trail by just three points 22- 25 at halftime. SC took the lead at the end of the third period on Scott Seymour’s jump shot with five seconds remaining to make the score SC 36-35. SC ran off ten straight points in a five minute stretch in the third quarter to suddenly take a 34-27 lead. O’Connell accounted for six of the points on clutch jump shots and Seymour swished a jumper. Scoring: O’Connell 14, Martin 10, Wainscoat 2, Kensinger 2, Persley 8, Seymour 8 and Weber 2.

Monterey Trounces Cardinals 59-29 in the MBL Northern Division opener. Monterey led 44-9 going into the final quarter. SC made 27 ball control errors and Monterey only seven. Scoring: O’Connell 5, Wainscoat 2, Weber 9, Kensinger 2, Martin 4, Persley 2, Seymour 2 and Musselman 3.

North Salinas defeats SC 65-51. The Cardinals had a good offensive game. The half time score was North Salinas 38-27. SC shot a cold 18 for 47 attempts from the floor. North Salinas hit 27 of 47 for a blistering 59 percent. North High won the boards 27-25. Scoring: O’Connell 11, Pini 13, Weber 15, Wainscoat 2, Musselman 2, Martin 2. Seymour 2, Kensinger 4 and Persley 0.

Card Cagers Stun Seaside 52-45. SC thoroughly beat the Spartans in almost every department. The Cards are finally beginning to gel. The Redbirds led right from the start, when Clyde Persley canned a 15 footer with 7:40 left in the first quarter. Persley was one of several SC players who played well. More than once he broke the game with steals and other good defensive plays.
This was the first game substitutions could be made without any drop in talent. Doug Martin, Al Kensinger and Paul Wainscoat came in to give the starters a rest and did a super job. Martin entered the game midway through the second quarter and quickly responded by drawing a foul and sinking a free throw giving SC a 14-12 advantage. Martin scooped up a loose ball and muscled it in for a basket moments later, then tipped in a rebound and then did a reverse lay up to make the score 24-18.
Kensinger hit a critical jump shot with 2:17 left in the half, added some fine ball handling and played good defense to really help out.
Wainscoat went hog wild during a five minute stretch in the second period, hitting a jumper, stealing a pass, laying it in for two more and adding two free throws to give him six second quarter points. This gave SC a 28-18 lead. Between them they contributed 15 of SC’s 17 points in the quarter.
Kenny O’Connell obviously was the catalyst. He used his poise and basketball savvy to run the SC attack. He broke Seaside with key hoops many times in the game. His patience on offense was a big factor in the win. SC stalled at the end of the third quarter and O’Connell hit a jumper with 4 seconds left to put the Cards up 38-28. With 6:50 left Seaside hit four points to cut the lead to 38-32.
Bryan Pini scored four points to put the score 42-38 with four minutes to play. With 18 seconds left, O’Connell sank two free throws to end the game 52-48. The 6-2 Brian Pini’s return to the lineup made a big difference. Scoring: O’Connell 17, Wainxcoat 6, Weber 2, Kensinger 2, Pini 8, Persley 6, Seymour 4 and Martin 7.

Against Salinas without their two centers Doug Martin and Bryan Pini, Coach Newell tried a little strategy, because of the Salinas height advantage, the Cards stalled the whole first half. It did hold Salinas to a 8-0 lead. SC took only two shots in the first half and both were by O’Connell. In the second half the stall was lifted. Jeff Weber broke loose for a 15 foot jumper to make the score 2-10. The final score was 23-43. Scoring: O’Connell 8, Wainscoat 4, Weber 6, Kensinger 1, Persley 0, Musselman 2, Burks 1 and Yien 1.

SC Errors Spell 45-69 loss to Alisal. Alisal is the biggest team in the MBL, so SC conformed to Coach Newell’s careful, deliberate offense. Alisal broke out to a 8-0 led, but Scott Seymour hit a jumper, Weber scored on a fast break, then sank two free throws and O’Connell hit a jumper to make the score 8-12 at the end of the first quarter. At halftime Alisal led 28-20 and at the end of the third 50-33. Scoring: O’Connell 17, Wainscoat 2, Weber 8, Kensinger 2, Persley 4, Seymour 4, Musselman 8 and Snow 0.

Ken O’Connell was Jock of the Month. Ken is leading the team in assists and averaging about 11 points a game. His worth to our team can not be measured by the box score, largely because his major contribution comes from his leadership. Kenny is not only a good basketball player, but he is also a very good all around athlete. Because of his prior leg injuries he received in football last year, he was not able to play basketball or baseball. Ken is a great asset to SCHS sports.

SC Wins over Harbor 58-57. Harbor opened with a zone defense and SC played a patient offense. “Basically, we made Harbor play at our tempo, said coach Newell. SC held an eight point lead at halftime, 23-15. The Pirates tied the score at 44-44 and then Paul Wainscoat put SC ahead to stay with a pair of free throws. SC shot 17 for 21 at the foul line and 16 for 35 from the floor. Both excellent shooting. Coach Newell, “We just spread out. I call it our delay game. All we really shot were lay ups. We didn’t shoot any of those perimeter jump shots in the second half. Scoring: O’Connell 4, Wainscoat 8, Weber 13, Kensinger 0, Pini 7, Persley 6, Musselman 2 and Martin 0.

Then Stumbles against Watsonville 30-61 the day after the win against Harbor. What a difference a day makes! Watsonville scored the first 23 points and then coasted. Coach Newell, “They hit the first five or six shots they took and we missed five or six. Now we are looking up at the scoreboard and we start to press, because we see we haven’t any points.” SC went 0 for 10 attempts in the first period and made 10 turnovers to boot. At halftime the Cards were 3 for 23, while Watsonville went 15 for 25.
But the real story was on the boards where Watsonville had a 34-20 edge. The halftime score was 35-7. Clyde Persley scored SC’s first basket with 4:49 to play in the second quarter. (The night before, SC played a super game against one of the top teams in the league to win. A game like that, when you are the underdog, takes a lot out of the players. Too bad they had to play on consecutive nights.) Scoring: O’Connell 4, Wainscoat 2, Weber 4, Kensinger 2, Pini 2, Persley 6, Seymour 7, Musselman 2, Martin 1 and Tsugawa 0.

Cougars upend Cardinals For First League Triumph winning 38-35 by fighting off a late SC rally. Both teams have identical 2-7 league records. Even more costly to the Cardinals then the loss of the game was the loss of Kenny O’Connell, who broke his left thumb in practice. O’Connell was the catalyst of the team as well as its leading scorer averaging 11.6 points a game, total 93 points. His absence might be one SC won’t be able to overcome. Coach Newell felt, “Considering the fact that we lost Kenny, the kids played quite well. Paul Wainscoat filled in for Kenny very well. Eddie Hightower in his first action of the year (who’s been out with a knee injury) also played well. Once he gets his confidence and timing down he’s going to give us and added dimension to our forward spot. The difference in the game was the bouncing of the ball. We just could not get it to fall in on our inside shots.”
SC especially had trouble shooting in the second half, when they made only 5 of 18 for 26 percent. Overall the Cards were 16 of 43 for 37 percent. The lead changed hands nine times and was tied six occasions, before SLV moved out to a 32-30 lead at the end of the third period. SLV upped it to 38-30, before Wainscoat hit a 15 footer with 3:50 left in the game. Pini pulled it to within four on a rebound basket with 2:13 left. Clyde Persley cut it to three on a foul shot. A blown lay up and another close in shot missed drove the final nail into the Cards. Pini topped the Cards in rebounding with nine. Scoring: Wainscoat 6, Weber 6, Pini 11, Persley 5, Seymour 0, Musselman 5 and Hightower 2.

Santa Cruz Surprises Soquel 46-37. Soquel like so many other league teams, didn’t take the Cards seriously. SC is tough to beat at home. Eddie Hightower, a fine athlete with a problem knee had a excellent game. “Ed Hightower as the game progressed was the best player on the court. He gives us a big man who can go to the hoop with authority,” said coach Newell. Ten of Hightower’s twelve points were scored in the second half, when SC jumped to leads as large as 14 points.
SC went to the boards with a lot of muscle out rebounding Soquel 32-18. Newell felt, “We rebounded better, played harder and our defense was better than Soquel.” Scott Seymour hit a jump shot from the top of the key with over two minutes to play in the first half to give SC their first lead of the game 17-15. Brian Pini tipped in a shot to send the Cards into the locker room with a 19-17 lead.
SC held the Knights to just six points in the decisive third quarter. Pini, who had a super defensive game, scored two big baskets in the third quarter to make the score 25-21. At the end of the quarter SC was ahead 31-23. Soquel never threatened in the fourth quarter. SC now has a 3-7 league record. Scoring: Wainscoat 3, Weber 10, Kensinger 0, Pini 6, Persley 6, Musselman 2, Martin 2, Snow 1, Hightower 12, Yien 0 and Tsugawa 0.

Wild 44-42 Santa Cruz Victory Over Mariners. Paul Wainscoat threaded a pass through a host of Aptos defenders and into the arms of senior center Bryan Pini, who banked the ball into the hoop with just three second remaining on the clock. Earlier in the season, Aptos escaped with a one point 58-57 win over the Redbirds.
In SC’s packed gym with area wide renown cheerleader Crazy George leading pregame cheers to get the crowd into game form, turned the tables this game. SC jumped to an early lead and threatened to make it a runaway by leading 18-10 at the quarter. But Aptos came back and Pini hit a last second basket to end the half with SC ahead 27-22. SC still led at the end of the third quarter 39-34. The Cards might have been able to blow the game wide open in the fourth stanza, but errors after good defensive plays kept the game close. Aptos reeled off six straight points to tie the game to knot the score 40-40 with 1:35 left to play.
Clyde Presley greeted the Aptos ball handler at half court with a good clean steal and with coach Newell following him down the sidelines, put up the go ahead lay up. Aptos tied it up again 42-42. SC called time with 1:08 remaining. The Cards played catch until only 0:11 showed on the clock. Not every team in the league can work the ball as well as SC did. SC has begun to show good poise for a team made up of mostly juniors. Pini did his part and the Cards completed the second part of a one-two knockout punch, which previously put away another league leader Harbor.
The Redbirds have now won three of five and two in a row. Newell probably wishes the season started now, for his Cards can play with anybody in the MBL. Jeff Weber led the Cards in scoring with 17, most of them in the first half, when the Cards needed some scoring punch. He has staked out the right side baseline as his hot spot. Scoring: Pini 8,Wainscoat 6, Weber 17, Persley 5, Seymour 4. Musselman 0, Martin 0 and Hightower 4.

Last Second Mariner Win 58-57. Aptos held onto first place in the North by the skin of their teeth. It looked like Aptos had things well in hand with a 58-53 lead with 15 seconds to play. But then Jeff Weber hit a jump shot. On the inbound pass, John Musselman intercepted the pass under the bucket and laid it in to make it 57-58 with five seconds to play. SC tried to get a time out, but the officials wouldn’t call time as the clock ran out.
Aptos built up a 31-23 lead at half. Two minutes into the second half Aptos led 35-23. But the Card team would not quit and ran off four straight buckets to make it 31-35. SC pulled to within 43-44 with 5:30 to play, but could never over take Aptos. The Cards got within one at 50-49, 52-51, 54-53, but every time the defending MBL North champions had enough to pull away. SC controlled the boards 27-18. Aptos coach Bill Warmerdam said, “They moved the ball well. Nobody has moved the ball like that against us all year. You saw what happened when we tried to go man-to-man, didn’t you. They are quick.” Coach Newell praised, “Jeff Weber for his offensive rebounding and was also pleased with Musselman and Paul Waiinscoat. Scoring: O’Connell 18, Weber 13, Wainscoat 6, Kensinger 0, Persley 6, Musselman 7 and Pini 7.

Sentinel County Basketball Scoring Leaders by place in order, name, points and average.
PL NAME PT AV
10 O’Connell 119 10.8
15 Weber 111 9.2
19 Pini 93 8.4

On offense the SC team was sixth with 593 points with 47.4 points a game scored.
On defense the SC team was also sixth allowing 726 points scored for and average of 51.9 points a game.

Kenny O’Connell was selected to the ALL MBL squad.

JV BASKETBALL WIN CHAMPIONSHIP with a 11-4 MBL record and a season record of 16-8. At the SLV JV tournament: Aptos 54-36, Harbor 30-43, Soquel 51-44 for third place. Some of the league games: Monterey 42-59, Salinas 51-62, Soquel 57-47, SLV 71-63, Watsonville 64-29 and Harbor 29-20.

Team members are Geoff Girard, Mark Bruce, Jerry Soper, John Trebbien, Bob Martin, Rusty Locatelli, Chuck Middleton, Mitch Levine, Charles Burks, Steve Wahl, Steve Imonti, Michael Gerety and Henry Lavender.

Our first boys’ basketball champions in any division in more than six years. Coach Thibault sported leisure suits during the games, but he conducted the team in no leisurely manner. Sweat ran freely! At times the JV’s even worked as hard as the varsity. An influx of super freshmen talent provided by Mark Bruce and Bob Martin and the steady play of sophomores Oreste “Rusty” Locatelli, Jerry Soper and Chuck Middleton combined to bring SC the long awaited Title

Coach Mike Thibault (who went on to coach in college, the NBL and the women’s WNBL as head coach and winning league titles. The team had a top notch coach.) commented on his team, “This championship was a total team effort that began last Spring during our preparation for Summer League. These players have put in a lot of hours of hard work and I am glad that they were rewarded for their efforts. Hopefully, this championship is only one step in the improvement of our entire basketball program. The Cards are on the way up.”

In a warm up game for the season the JV team played the varsity and held their own except in the third quarter, when they were outscored 23-7, otherwise they were in the game. Scoring for the JV’s: Mark Bruce 8, Chuck Middleton 4, Jeff Girard 5, Rusty Locatelli 5, Mitch Levine 7, Jerry Soper 7, Steve Imonti 2, Henry Lavender 5 and Bob Martin 7.

This is the first league championship for a SCHS basketball team since the varsity won the league in 1969. The Cards nailed down the title in a come from behind 57-47 win over Soquel, although down by 11 points in the first half. The Cards never quit hustling and turned the game around by scoring the first ten points of the second half. They gradually increased their lead with some clutch free throw shooting by Chuck Middleton, Rusty Locatelli and Jerry Soper. Bob Martin was the leading rebounded with nine. The Cards had four players in double figures. Middleton with 18, Locatelli 16, Soper 11 and Martin 10.

The Cards got themselves in position to win the title by winning the previous three games. The most important of the wins was upsetting SLV, who was leading the league at the time 71-63. Locatelli scored a season high 26 points and Soper added 18. The two other wins were against Watsonville 64-29 and Harbor 29-20. John Trebbien went on a shot blocking binge, highlighted by 6 vs. the Cats and 5 against SLV.

The Cards took third place at the SLV JV tournament behind SLV and Harbor. In the first game they prepared themselves to play the dominate school in basketball the last few years Aptos and beat them convincingly 54-36. Jerry Soper scored 17 and Rusty Locatelli got 10 points to lead the scoring. Bob Martin led the rebounders with 10. Against physical Harbor the Cards led a half time 20-17. In the second half they were held to ten points to lose 43-30. High point man was Mark Bruce with 9 points. In the third place game the Cards beat Soquel 51-49 in an up and down close game. Highlights were when Geof Girard scored three points to put the Cards ahead for good. Jerry Soper with 15, Bob Martin with 12 points and Jerry Soper making the All Tourney team. The record so far is 3-1.

The league record at the end of January is 6-2, despite two losses in the first two games. The first was a loss to Monterey 42-59, due to the absence of 5 players from injury or disciplinary reasons. At Salinas they lost 51-62. In the two losses there have been two bright spots for the team and that is the play of Bob Martin and Chuck Middleton. Martin scored 16 points and led in rebounding. Middleton played very well on defense as he took three offensive charges, seemed to be on the floor most of the time diving for loose balls, trying to steal balls and scored 12 points.

Santa Cruz JV’s Capture MBL North Title by rallying back from a first half 22-30 deficit against Soquel to out score the Knights 35-17 in the second half to win 57-47. Chuck Middleton led all scorers with 18 points followed by Rusty Locatelli with 16. Other scorers were Bruce 2, Soper 11, Trebbian 0, Martin 10, Burks 0 and Levine 0.

FROSH BASKETBALL Season record 4-19.
Team members were Chris Harper, Ken Rosa, Clay Badger, Rob Stone, Jeff Anecito, Larry Johnson, Dwayne Whitley, Davie Ferrara, David Ronda and Joe McCroskey.

Coach Pete Pappas smiles as he is sending seven outstanding freshman to the JV team next year.
Guard Chris Harper was the most consistent player and was elected Most Valuable Player. Steady David Ronda received the Sportsmanship award. Hustler Joe McCroskey garnered the Most Inspirational Honor.

At the Harbor frosh-soph tournament the team lost two games and is now 0-5 on the season. Injuries and grade problems have hindered the team.

Harbor Frosh Nab 44-28 victory over SC. Harbor led 20-13 at half. Harbor is 13-3 overall and 6-1 in league. Scoring: Harper 3, Ronda 2, Sanford 8, Johnson 5, Ken Rosa 8 and Stone 2.

GIRLS BASKETBALL UNDEFEATED IN LEAGUE WIN TITLE FOR SECOND CONSECUATIVE YEAR.

Santa Cruz Invitational Girls Basketball Tournament Games: Notre Dame 43-21, Aptos 37-36, Harbor 31-50 for second place. League: Harbor 53-34, Alisal 40-12, Soquel 52-9, SLV 49-31, Notre Dame 41-17, Marello 44-23, Aptos 46-43, Watsonville 42-31, Salinas 58-23, North Salinas 59-45. League record 10-0. Season record 12-1.

Team members: Nancy Merez, Georgia Sandas, Colleen Reedy, Michele Hoga, Leta Stagnaro, Laurie Thomas, Joyce Hightower, Candi Jackson, Evonne Sandas and Sue Dodge.

In the first game of the Santa Cruz Invitational, SC easily took Notre Dame 43-21. Scoring Evonne Sandas 19, Michele Hoga 12, Sue Dodge 7, Nancy Marez and Colleen Reedy 2 each and Georgia Sandas 1.

In the second game against Aptos, Nancy Marez hit a free throw with one second left on the clock to give SC a one point win over Aptos 37-36. Sue Dodge led all scorers with 17 points. Other scorers Evonne Sandas 8, Nancy Marez 6, Michelle Hoga 4.

In the finals Harbor upset the Cards winning easily 50-31. Scoring Dodge 18, Candy Jackson 5, Evonne Sandas and Hoga 4 each.

Sue Dodge was named to the All Tournament team.

In the next game and the first league game, the Cards made Harbor pay for the big loss in the tournament by blitzing them 53-34. Four SC players scored in double figures. Dodge 14, Evonne Sandas and Hoga 12, Joyce Hightower 10, Marez 4 and Laurie Thomas 2.
Scoring by quarters
Santa Cruz 13 11 15 14 53
Harbor 4 12 10 8 34

Eleven girls scored for SC in a 40-12 win over Alisal. Scoring: Hightower 10, Dodge 8, Evonne Sandas 5, Hoga 4, Leta Stagnaro, Candi Jackson, Colleen Reedy, Laurie Thomas, Elaina Guidici and Georgia Sandas 2 each and Marez 1.

SC girls rip Soquel 52-9. Scoring: Evonne Sandas 12, Hightower 7, Hoga 6, Marez and Jackson 5, Thomas and Guidici 4 each, Stagnaro 3, Lewis, Georgia Sandas and Dodge 2 each.

Fourth straight SC hoop triumph over SLV 49-31. A 30-14 edge in the first half catapulted the Cards to the win. Scoring: Evonne Sandas 14, Hoga 10, Dodge 9, Hightower 8, Thomas 5, Marez 3.

SC wins fifth straight with victory over Notre Dame 41-17. In the five games, the Cards have a scoring average 48 points a game and gave up only 20 points a game. Scoring for this game. Hightower and Evonne Sandas 12, Dodge 8, Hoga 7, Georgia Sandas and Marez 1 each.

SC girls topple Marello 44-23. Big edges in the second and fourth quarters carried the Cards to their sixth league win. Scoring: Dodge 16, Jackson 8, Hoga 9, Guidici 6, Evonne Sandas 4, Thomas 2 and Leta Stagnaro 2.

Aptos rally falls short as SC pulls out a 46-43 win. Aptos was down 38-30, before a fourth quarter Aptos charge. Evonne Sandas and Sue Dodge were key factors on defense, while Joyce Hightower supplied the offensive power under the basket and paced SC’s scoring with 13 points.

Eight in a Row for SC in a 42-31 win over Watsonville. Consistent play throughout propelled the Cards to their victory. This year Watsonville’s Paula Dodge out scored Sue Dodge 15 to 14. Other scoring; Hightower 10, Evonne Sandas 8, Jackson and Hoga 4 each, Marez 2.

SC girls still unbeaten run its record to 9-0, posted a 58-23 victory over Salinas. Joyce Hightower pulled down 13 rebounds and tallied 15 points. Sue Dodge scored 12 points and contributed 6 assists. The SC defense was “extraordinary’ in the first quarter, allowing zero points and in the third period only allowing 2 points. Other scoring: Evonne Sandas 14, Candi Jackson 5, Georgia Sandas 4, Nancy Marez, Leta Stagnaro, Colleen Reedy and Elaina Giudici 2 each.

SC Nabs Girls Hoop Title for the second consecutive year, by beating North Salinas 59-45. The first period decided the game as the Cards came out on fire scoring 21 points while holding the Vikings to only 6 points. Hightower pulled down 13 rebounds, while Dodge chipped in 11 assists and 18 points to spark the team in this hard fought battle. Evonne Sandas had a tough time scoring, but her outstanding defense played a key role in the game. Three Cards scored in double figures. Dodge had 18, Hoga 16 and Hightower 13. Other scorers: Evonne Sandas 6, Thomas 4, Stagnaro 2.
Coach Ray Hunter’s comments on the highly successful season were “ This team consists of twelve wonderful kids, who really worked hard to make it two straight undefeated season in a row and next year we are going to try to do it again.”
Scoring by quarters
North Salinas 6 14 11 14 45
Santa Cruz 21 10 14 14 59

To show the balance of the Cards scoring for the season the top four scorers were close in total points in League: Dodge 108, Sandas 97, Hightower 96 and Hoga 75. For the season Dodge 150, Sandas 128, Hightower 96, Hoga 95.

Sentinel column headline: Banner year for SC Girls. Sue Dodge and Evonne Sandas, two young ladies with refreshing outlooks on life, have helped make this a banner year for girls athletics at SCHS. They have done it all with the guidance of male coaches. Among the things they have in common is the love to compete. Both their teams, basketball and softball won league championships. Basketball going 11-0 and softball 7-1. They and their teammates are willing to put forth the hard work necessary to duplicate these success to win league again next year.
Yet they are not sacrificing their femininity or their schoolwork in the process. They say it does not make you any less a girl. There is ample time to compete in athletics and study, too.
The two of them play against boys in pick up games any chance they get, if they can find willing guys, who are willing to get beat by two girls. Since they are good enough to compete against boys, they have been invited to play on the boys JV team. Since the girls played in the Fall, there is no overlap in seasons. But they are not interested, thank you. Miss Dodge said, “You can take it as a compliment, when they say you have the ability to participate on a boys team, but it would not really be fair to the boys or to us.” Miss Sandas said, “ they have their sport and we have ours and there is nothing to be gained by us joining a boys team.”
Their coach ran the girls team just like he would a boys team and one might think this approach would be too harsh for sophomore girls and even senior girls to take. But there weren’t any floods of tears. Sometimes they objected to one thing or another, but for the most part, the girls said, “when we found out the way he was coaching us was working, we did not mind”.
When the team started winning, people being people, liking a winner and all, the attendance began to increase. When the team won the end of the season Seaside tournament against good teams like Hartnell College and Seaside high, Miss Sandas admitted “Our heads got a little big for us, but it did not last long as we went right into softball and our softball coach would not allow any of that”.
Their coaches expected everyone to be into the games and to compete. Miss Dodge has an idea along that line, which I think hit’s the nail on the head. “Girls attitudes towards sports now are the same as boys’ attitudes were about 10 years ago. A lot of boys are now saying, if practice is too long, if I don’t like what the coach says, I’ll just quit.” “We seem to be willing to listen more than a lot of the boys, they seem to want to make stars out of themselves and not play for the team.”
They both were happy to see more girls sports being added. This year there were teams in track and volleyball. Next year there will be tennis. But as for playing on boys teams, they are proud being where they are right now and won’t be swayed.

Evonne Sandas has been named the Jock of the month of October for her floor leadership and one of the defensive stars of the league. She is shooting 40 percent from the floor and 70 percent from the foul line. She is second in assists and is one of the quickest thinkers in game situations.

The most impressive Cardlette squads was the two time league champion basketball team led by Sue Dodge and captain Evonne Sandas, who their coach Ray Hunter called the “two best basketball players in this part of the country.” He might be a little prejudice. Joyce Hightower was chosen Most Valuable Player. Coleen Reedy was selected for the sportsmanship award.

BOYS SOCCER Practice games: Hollister 3-3, 1-0; Soquel 1-2, 3-4; SLV 10-0, 1-2; Harbor 12-0, Watsonville 0-4. Practice record 3-4-1. League: Aptos 1-4, 3-2; SLV 7-0, 2-0; Harbor 5-1, 0-3; Watsonville 1-9, North Salinas 2-0, Alisal 2-6, Salinas 1-5. League record 5-5 for second place in the MBL NORTH. In a MBL play off with Watsonville the Cards were defeated 1-8 to make their season record 8-10-1.

Second place is the MBL North is the highest a SC varsity soccer team has ever finished. This in itself speaks highly of a team which has been in competition for only three years.

SC hosted its first ever soccer tournament, a preseason MBL competition, which was won by Alisal. Other teams competing were SLV, Salinas, North Salinas and Harbor for a group of six schools. Each team played three games of 25 minute halves. SC set a new team scoring record, when they defeated Harbor 12-0 for their only win in the MBL tournament. Jack Cabrera set an all time individual player scoring record with five goals in this game.

Soccer is getting more and more popular and the turnouts have doubled since last year. Soccer is in its third year of play. The first year did fairly well to get started. Last year started with a 9-0 record fell off a little and just missed the CCS playoffs. This years team is young and has only three seniors: Leo Cortez, Pablo Chagolla and Jose Saucedo.
The first game this season was a 1-1 tie with Hollister. The next game with Soquel started with the Knights scoring 2 points in the first half, while the Cards were being too careful and not passing enough. The Cards scored to make the final 1-2 loss. The rematch with Hollister, the Cards played the whole game well with a lot of passing and good defense. Pablo Chagolla scored the only goal on a penalty kick.
At this point in the season the varsity record is 1-2-1 and the JV record is 2-2. The team has three cheer leaders this year, they are Diana Ybarra, Cindy Olympio and Ticha Alvarez.

SC retains its position on top of the MBL North with a 4-2 record in a double overtime game win 3-2 against Aptos, in the most exciting game of the season. This is the fourth straight win for SC and puts them in first place. Mike Lopez won the game on a goal with one minute left in the second overtime. Lopez also had scored the goal that sent the game into overtime, finding the range with five minutes left in regulation. Leo Cortez scored the first goal. Coach Dempewolfe praised Mike Lopez for “an outstanding game” and noted that Romiro Hernandez played “probably the best game of his career at SC. At middle fullback, he controlled the whole field. Pablo Chagolla and Leo Cortez played their usual steady games.”
The JV’s are also in first place with a 5-1 record.

Leo Cortes established a new school individual scoring record with 20 goals this season.

SC was shut out of only one game, while blanking six opponents.

The Cards outscored their practice opponents 31 to 13, but were out scored by their league opponents 24 to 30. For the whole season SC out scored their opponents 55 to 43.

Stats for players:
Single game high score by a player — Jack Cabrera 5
Pre-season total scoring — Jack Cabrera 11
League season total scoring — Leo Cortes 10
Post season total scoring — Leo Cortes 1
Overall season scoring — Leo Cortes 20

Stats for the team:
Highest game score — Harbor 12-0
Shut outs — 6
Consecutive wins — 4
Consecutive losses — 2

Individual scoring for the season:
Leo Cortes 20
Jack Cabrera 16
Mike Lopez 7
Pablo Chagolla 4
Joey Lopez 3
Filo Perez 2
Jim Cabrera 1
James Bell 1
Lupe Gonzales 1
Total 55

Awards voted on by the players:
MVP — Ramiro Hernandez
Best Offensive player — Leo Cortes
Best Defensive player — Ramiro Hernandez
Dads Club Sportsmanship award — Mike Lopez

VARSITY AND JV players listed by year in school:
Seniors: Leo Cortes, Pablo Chagolla and Jose Saucedo,
Juniors: Jack Cabrera, Jim Cabrera, Joey Lopez, Tim Firestone and Ramiro Hernandez,
Sophomores: Richard Ellis, Scott Foster, John Beiers, Mike Lopez, Dennis Modena, Gary George, Nick Curran, Eric Forgaard, Filo Perez, Lupe Gonzales, Fidel Ruiz and Polo Ramirez
Freshman: Kit Kashap, Nick Perez, Grant Codiga, Pete Gunn, Marty Davis, Mark Signor, James Bell, Len Schlegel, Chris Hossay, Juan Gonzales and Mark Grant.
Coach Don Dempewolfe

JV SOCCER Practice games: Hollister 0-1, 1-2; Soquel 5-0, 4-1; SLV 2-0. Practice record 3-2.
League: Aptos 3-0, 3-0; SLV 4-0, 1-1; Harbor 2-1, 0-1; Watsonville 2-7, North Salinas 1-0, Alisal 0-2, Salinas 2-1. League record 6-3-1. Tied for first place in the MBL Northern Division
The JV’s went 9-5-1 for their first winning season.

SC beat Aptos 3-0. In league play they are now 5-1 and are in first place. Richard Ellis and Pete Gunn scored and the third goal came when the ball bounced off a Aptos player into the goal.

They also set a consecutive winning mark with a five win in a row. The most for any SC soccer team. A season scoring record was also set of 30 goals scored against only 18 by the opposition. The team played well as a team with everyone contributing to the overall success of the season.

They out scored their practice opponents 12 to 4 and their league opponents 18 to 14 for a season difference of 30 to 18.

Stats for players:
Single game high score by a player — Pete Gunn and Lupe Gonzales 3
Pre-season total scoring — Lupe Gonzales 6
League season total scoring — Pete Gunn 7
Overall season scoring — Pete Gunn and Lupe Gonzales 11

Stats for the team:
Highest game — Soquel 5-0
Shut Outs — 6
Consecutive wins — 5
Consecutive losses — 1

Season individual scoring:
Lupe Gonzales 11
Pete Gunn 11
Ricky Perez 3
Polo Ramirez 1
Richard Ellis 1
Scott Foster 1
Total 28

JV awards were Chris Hossay, Sportsmanship award. Richard Ellis, Most Valuable Player

WRESTLING Practice scores: Branham 42-33, Homestead 36-17, Mt Pleasnt 41-25, Live Oak 46-15; Mt. View 36-26. Practice record: 5-0. League: Monterey 47-21, Salinas 43-18, Alisal 26-34, Harbor 42-23, Seaside 45-9, Watsonville 22-30, SLV forfeit, Soquel 44-25, Aptos 26-23, North Salinas 26-28. MBL dual meet record 7-3.

All from the Trident. Both squads had great a year going 13-2 and took third place at the MBL Tournament. The JV’s went 12-2-1.

The Cardinals had three league champions, more than any other school. The Champs were Roy Lopez at 98 pounds, Bob Layton at 106 and Paul at Gabriel 157. Greg Lopez and Peter Stelling took second places. Tony Lopez, Bruce Rowe and Greg Ronning finished fourth. All eight will compete in the CCS Region IV tournament.

The top wrestlers with the most points were Roy Lopez and Bob Layton tied for the top spot with 74 points. Greg Lopez 65; Tim Ronda 50; Bruce Rowe 50; Paul Gabriel 49; Pete Stelling 49 and Greg Ronning 48. Those who led in pins were Don Dummller with 14; Roy Lopez 12; Bruce Rowe 10; and Rick Hand 10. Leaders for the Rookie of the year are Mike Gregoric 43 points; Rick Hand 32 and Don Dumller 32. Breaking the record for the most take downs is Greg Lopez with 66 to break the old record in 1969 by Phil DiGirolamo who had 62.

At the Aptos Tournament Bobby Layton at 112 pounds place second. Sophomore Roy Lopez at 103 pounds took third. Tim Rhonda, Bruce Rowe and Greg Ronning all finished in fourth place.

There are 33 wrestler’s out for JV and varsity. According to Coach Tex Ronning there are 3 returning seniors, 3 juniors and 5 sophomores all holding down varsity positions. Outstanding freshmen out this year are Mike Weybright, Chris Ronzano, David Alvarez, Mike Gregoric, Rick Hand, Don Dumller, Troy Higgins and John Faylor. Spectacular years are expected from Roy Lopez, Bob Layton and Pete Stelling.
The JV squad took fourth place at the Soquel JV tournament. Pat Rodriguez at 112 pounds took the only first place for the Cards. Freshmen Mike Gregoric at 138 and Rick Hand at 145 took second places. Jerry Alvarez at 120 took third place. Troy Higgins at 191 took fourth place along with John Munoz at 154 pounds.

Sentinel. Dec.11. Cardinals Dominate Novice Mat Tournament. SC had six winners: John Corona at 120; Steve Rodriguez 127; Victor Mungia 133; Tom Blanco 133; Mike Mahaney 145; and Ruben Della-Sera 235. Easter at 127 was a second place finisher and Baird placed third.

Cardinal varsity Matmen Undefeated 3-0. The Cards riding on five pins, rolled up a 41-25 victory against Mt Pleasant on Saturday and topped Homestead 36-17 on Friday. Against Mt Pleasant freshman Rich Hand at 145 pounds, led the SC assault with a very lopsided 21-6 decision. Recording pins were Rudy Silva, 95; Bob Layton, 112; Bruce Rowe, 127; Greg Lopez, 165 and Brent Gallick 175.
Against Homestead, freshman Mike Gregoric, 133 racked up a 13-0 decision. Rowe posted the only pin. Others who won by decisions were Roy Lopez, Layton, Rhonda, Gabriel, Gallic and Papa. Ronning had a draw.

JV’s beat Mt Pleasant 44-26 and Homestead 61-12. Winners against Mt Pleasant by pin were Alvarez, 120; Gregoric, 138; Passerino, 145; Stoups, 154; Dumlle,r 165 and Cloud, 175. Winners by decision were Munoz, 112 and Nelson, 127. Against Homestead winners by pin were Rodriquez, 112; Hopping 127; Alvarez, 123; Hand, 145, Munoz, 154; Dumller, 165; Cloud, 175; Faylor, heavyweight. Winners by decision were Reedy, 120 and Passerino, 138.

Matmen Undefeated. The Cards are now 6-0 overall and 2-0 in league. The last win was over Salinas 43-18. Roy Lopez, Bruce Rowe and Paul Gabriel all won by pins. Winners by decision were George Lopez at 145 and Pete Stelling at 165; The heavier weights lost in close matches. Alan Cloud at 175, John Papa at 191 and John Faylor at heavyweight.
In the JV match the Cards prevailed again 44-21. Chris Ronzano, John Hopping, Rick Hand, John Munoz, Don Dumller and Troy Higgins each won by pins. The JV’s are also 6-0 and 2-0 in league.

Mat-maids were Kathy Bagnall, Tammy McNeil, LeAnn Meyers and Judy Esche.

BASEBALL MBL CHAMPIONS, REGION IV CHAMPIONS AND SECOND PLACE IN CCS.
Practice games: Prospect 6-1, PAL tournament: Harbor 8-9, Live Oak 5-6 ten innings, Hill 15-2. Carmel 9-1, Pacific Grove 3-2, Hollister 3-1, Serra 5-4 eight innings. Monterey Tournament: Monterey 2-1, Pacific Grove 4-5, Alisal 2-5. Practice record 7-4. South Division League: North Salinas 6-5, Monterey 3-4, Alisal 3-4 ten innings, Seaside 0-8, Salinas 8-8 eight innings, 11-5 to make up the tie game. Southern Division record 2-3. Northern Division: Soquel 7-6 nine innings, 6-2; Aptos 6-8 nine innings, 1-3; Watsonville 6-5 eighth innings, 4-3; SLV 5-3, 15-7; Harbor 4-7, 8-5. Northern Division record 7-3. Combined MBL record 9-6 for a tie with Aptos. MBL Playoffs Seaside 8-0, Aptos 6-5 for championship with total MBL record 11-6. CCS playoffs: Valley Christian 4-1, Hollister 6-2 for Region IV title.
El Camino 5-4, Leigh 2-6 for second place in CCS. Season record 21-11.

Played seven extra inning games, losing four of them. The team really matured as the season progressed. They wound up the season on a high note winning 13 out of 16 games after Spring vacation and had 8 straight wins until the CCS final.

MBL playoffs for the first time since inception of playoffs three years ago, there will not be a second place team playing. Both the North and South Divisions finished with co-champions. In the South, Alisal and Seaside were identical at 11-3. They split their series 1-1. SC and Seaside play and Seaside shut out the Cards 8-0 in their one league game.

The SC baseball team won the CCS Region IV championship six straight years from the first
CCS championship in 1967 to 1972. This year makes SC a seven time Region IV champion.

Three first stringers return from last years Northern Division champions. They were senior pitchers Kevin Rains, a third year starter and Greg Wehr. Last years outfielder senior Dave Munoz is the catcher. Other players are junior, Al Kensinger, who played second base last year is now the shortstop. New senior players to the team this year are Ken O’Connell a top athlete, who was not able to play last year due to a knee injury and another top athlete Larry Monroe, a fine football player. Senior Jeff West is a transfer student. Junior Dave Ellis spent some time with the varsity last year. Juniors, Jim Abicht, Ralph Russo, Mike West, Mitch Levine and Tony Lopez are up from the JV team. Freshman Carlos Ybarra and Jaime Bell stepped in as first stringers.

Rains, Wehr combined to pitch a three hitter to lead Cardinals to 6-1 opening game win over Prospect. Last years defending MBL Northern Division champions got on the score board with three quick runs in the top of the first inning. Walks to Carlos Ybarra and Kevin Rains followed by Dave Ellis being hit by a pitch loaded the bases. Ralph Russo walked to force in Ybarra. Al Kensinger also walked to force in Rains. Mike West hit a sacrifice fly to score Ellis. In the second inning, Ybarra drove in West. Rains drove in a run in the fourth, Ken O’Connell drove in two runs in the fifth. Kensinger drove in a run in the sixth to finish the scoring. Kevin Rains started on the mound and went four innings giving up two hits, one run, walked two and struck out five for the win. Greg Wehr finished the last three innings giving up no hits, runs or walks and struck out four. Ralph Russo and Mike West both drove in two runs. Munoz, Ellis and Abicht each stole a base. Cards had one error. Lineup: Munoz C, 4-2; Ybarra 2B, 1-0; Rains P/3B, 3-0; Dave Ellis RF, 2-0; Russo 1B, 3-1; Kensinger SS, 1-1; Rodgers CF, 2-0; Abicht 3B, 2-0; West LF, 3-1; Passerino C, 0-0; O’Connell 2B, 1-0; Hopping CF, 1-0; Wehr P, 0-0 and Bray RF, 1-0.

In the first game of the San Jose PAL tournament the Cards lost to Harbor 8-9. Again the Cards scored three runs in the first innings on four walks, a hit batter and a sacrifice fly. The Cards scored in every inning but the third and seventh even though the first two batters in these two innings walked.
Rains started and went three and two-thirds innings giving up five hits, two earned run, one walk and struck out four. Wehr finished up the last three and one-third innings giving up seven hits, seven earned runs, walked seven and struck out six for the loss. O’Connell and Kensinger drove in two runs apiece. Others with RBI’s were Ybarra, Rains, Russo and Rogers. Munoz, Ybarra and O’Connell each stole a base. Cards had two errors. Lineup: Munoz C, 3-1; Ybarra 2B, 1-1; Rains P/3B, 3-1; Dave Ellis RF, 3-1; Russo 1B, 2-0; Kensinger SS, 2-1; Rodgers CF, 3-0; Abicht 3B, 1-0; West LF, 3-1; O’Connell 2B, 2-1; Wehr P, 1-1 and Bray RF, 1-0.

Cards lose to Live Oak 5-6 in ten innings in the second game of the tournament. Kevin Rains threw a complete ten inning game giving up 16 hits, two earned runs, walked two and struck out seven. Rains gave up an earned run an inning in the first two innings and that was the end of Live Oak earned runs. Live Oak did score three more runs in regulation play, but they were unearned.
From the sixth through the nine innings, Rains held the Acorns scoreless, but in the tenth an error accounted for the winning run. A fine pitching performance under pressure for Rains. RBI’s two by Dave Ellis, one each for Munoz, Ybarra and West. Munoz had two stolen bases and Ybarra one. Ellis had a triple and double plus his two RBI’s. Rogers had a double, O’Connell and Munoz both had triples. The Cards scored again in the first inning, but only twice this time. They scored single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh. Cards had six errors.
Lineup: Munoz C, 2-1, four walks; Ybarra 2B, 3-0, three walks: Rains P, 3-0; Dave Ellis 1B, 4-2; Russo RF, 5-1; Kensinger SS, 3-0; Rodgers CF, 5-1; West LF, 1-0; Abicht 3B, 4-1; O’Connell LF; 4-1 and Hopping PH, 1-0.

In the third and last game of the tournament the Cards scored early and late to win 15-2 over Andrew Hill. The Card record in the tournament was 1-2. The Cards were still in the get players some playing time mode. Greg Wehr started and went five innings giving up four hits, no earned runs, walked two and struck out nine for the win. Four out of his five innings, he put down the side in 1-2-3 order. Jim Abicht pitched the last two innings giving up three hits, one earned run, no walks and struck out the side in one inning.
Ken O’Connell had a triple and drove in a run. Jim Abicht went 3 for 3 with two doubles and a RBI. Rains doubled and drove in three runs. Those who drove in one run were Russo, Rodgers and West. Cards had one error. Lineup: Munoz C, 2-2, two walks; O’Connell 2B, 2-1; Rains 3B, 4-1; Dave Ellis 1B, 5-1; Russo DH, 5-1; Kensinger SS, 3-3; Rodgers CF, 5-1; West RF, 4-1; Hopping LF, 2-0, two walks; Wehr P, 0-0; Abicht 2B/P, 3-2 and Passerino C, 1-0.

Cards Rip Carmel, 9-1. Lefty Greg Wehr hurled a nifty one hitter for five innings and Al Kensinger came on in relief to give up one more bingo. Between the pitching of Wehr and Kensinger along with a three run home run shot by Kevin Rains, the game for intensive purposes was over after two innings. Three times the Cards scored in the bottom half of the first and a 320 foot blast Rains hit over the left field wall pushed SC to a commanding 8-0 lead.
Wehr went the first five innings giving up two hits, no runs, walked none and struck out five for the win. Al Kensinger went the next two giving up two hits, no earned runs and hit one player. In the fifth game of the season, the Cards were still using these practice games to get all players some playing time. O’Connell had two stolen bases and one each for Munoz, Kensinger and Rains. O’Connell had two stolen bases and one each for Munoz, Kensinger and Rains. Cards had two errors. Lineup: Munoz C, 4-2; O’Connell 2B/SS, 3-1; Kensinger SS/P, 2-1; Rains 3B, 3-2 with a home run and three RBI‘s; Dave Ellis LF, 3-1, one RBI; Ralph Russo 1B, 4-2, one RBI; Jeff Rodgers CF, 3-1, one RBI; Jim Abicht RF, 3-0; Greg Wehr P, 3-0; Eddie Camacho 2B, 0-0.

Seventh Inning Single Rallies Santa Cruz to a 3-2 win over Pacific Grove. For an early season baseball game, you can bet your bottom dollar you won’t see a more exciting game. In the end, an opposite field single with two outs off the bat of Al Kensinger drove in Munoz to provided SC with a victory. Kensinger became the hero in two ways. Not only was his bat the lethal weapon, but his pitching arm proved a big factor in the seventh frame. Kensinger took the mound to relieve Kevin Rains to start the sixth inning. Kensinger went the next two allowing only one hit, no runs and struck out three in the last inning for the win.
Rains went five innings giving up seven hits, one earned run, walked one and struck out three. In the first inning Kensinger also drove in Munoz, who had singled and stole second and third. In the fourth O’Connell singled in Rains who had doubled. This was senior Larry Monroe’s first varsity baseball game, even though he has been a major player on the football team. (his value to the team will grow as the season progresses) Lineup: Munuz C, 4-1; Ybarra 2B, 2-0; Kinsinger SS/P, 3-2, two RBI’s; Rains P/3B, 3-0; O’Connell 3B/SS, 3-1, one RBI. Monroe CF, 3-1; Rogers LF, 3-0; West RF, 2-0; Wehr 1B, 3-1 and Camacho PH, 0-0.

Again this year the league is divided up into North and South Divisions. The schedule is one round of games against the opposite division at the beginning of the schedule and then two rounds against the same division. For the second straight year two Northern division teams played for the combined league championship.

Cardinals Win Thriller in 6-5 come back win over North Salinas in the first league game. The Cards seem to be saving their best for last. Two games in a row, the Cards have rallied in the seventh inning. Down by three runs, Larry Monroe led off the inning and lifted SC off the seat of its pants with a towering 365 foot home run shot over the center field wall and suddenly the Redbirds were off and running. After an out, Russo got aboard on an error and a shot up the middle by Greg Wehr, who had reentered the game after hurling the first four innings, put a pair of runners on base and was replaced by pinch runner Hopping. Munoz drove them both in with a double to tie the game 5-5. On the first pitch to O’Connell Munoz stole third. O’Connell then drove Munoz in with a walk off single.
Only one Viking run was earned and the real nightmare came in the fifth, when they scored three runs as the result of two of the four errors the Cards had for the day. In the first inning the Cards scored two runs. Munoz led off with a walk, O’Connell singled, Kensinger bunted them up and Rains drove them home to put the Cards ahead 2-1, which lasted until the fifth inning when North Salinas scored three runs to take the lead 4-2. They scored another run in the seventh to extend their lead to 5-2.
Greg Wehr started and went four and two-thirds innings giving up seven hits, two earned runs, four walks and two strike outs. Al Kensinger pitched two and two-thirds innings giving up two hits, no earned runs, no walks and struck out one for the win. Munoz and Rains each had two RBI’s and O’Connell and Monroe each had one. Lineup: Munoz C, 2-1; O’Connell LF/SS, 4-3; Kensinger SS/P, 2-0; Rains 3B, 3-1; Ellis 1B, 3-1; Monroe CF, 3-1; Ybarra 2B, 2-0; Russo RF, 3-0; Wehr P, 1-0; Rogers LF, 2-1 and Hopping PR, one run.

Cardinals Suffer Loss To Monterey 4-3. Seven games in a row the Cards have scored in the first inning and most of the time it has been at least two runs. This game was no exception. Munoz walked and was singled to third by O’Connell, who was thrown out at second on a steal attempt. Kensinger singled home Munoz. Rains singled Kensinger to second and Ellis singled infield to load the bases. Ybarra singled in Kensinger for the second run. In the second inning Monterey tied the game, with one hit, a hit batter, a walk, wild pitch and an error. In the fifth inning Munoz singled, stole second and scored on an error. In the sixth inning Rains singled, but the ball got away from the outfielder and when Rains tried to score, he was cut down at the plate. In the seventh Russo got on by an error and was sacrificed to second, but two ground outs ended the game. Dave Ellis had a double.
Rains started on the mound and went four and two-thirds innings giving up four hits, two earned runs, walked three, struck out two and took the loss. Wehr went one and one-third innings giving up no hits or runs, one walk and one strike out. The Cards had two errors. Lineup: Munoz C, 3-1; O’Connell 3B/LF, 4-1; Kensinger SS, 3-1; Rains P/3B, 3-2; Ellis 1B, 3-2; Monroe CF, 3-0; Ybarra 2B, 3-1; Russo RF, 3-0; Rodgers LF, 2-0; Wehr P, 0-0, sacrifice and West PR.

Cards beat Hollister 3-1. Cards continue to score in the first inning as Munoz singled and went to second on a bad pick off play. He went to third on a ground out and scored on another ground out. Kensinger started and went four innings giving up five hits, one run, walked one and struck out four for the win. Wehr went the last three innings giving up no hits, runs or walks and struck out six out of nine possible outs for a save. In the fourth inning Rains hit into a force out, then stole second, went to third on and error and scored on a first and third play with Ellis stealing sescond. Munoz homered in the fifth inning. Rains had two stolen bases, Munoz and Ellis had one. Cards made one error. Lineup: Munoz CF, 3-1; O’Connell SS/LF, 3-0; Kensinger P/SS, 3-1; Rains 3B, 2-0; Ellis 1B, 3-0; Monroe C, 1-0; Ybarra 2B, 2-0; Rodgers LF, 1-0; West RF, 1-0; Wehr P, 1-0 and Abicht RF, 1-0.

Suicide Squeeze Ruins Cardinals 4-3 in ten innings. Greg Wehr pitched more than well enough to have earned a win. He went nine innings giving up five hits, two earned runs, walked three and struck out five. Al Kensinger relieved in the tenth and gave up two hits, one run and hit a batter. Alisal started off the scoring with two unearned runs in the third inning. SC tallied three runs in the sixth to go ahead 3-2. Lead off man Dave Munoz walked, Ken O’Connell singled to centerfield and when the ball was miss played each player move up a base. Al Kensinger walked to load the bases. Rains hit a sacrifice fly to score Munoz. Monroe walked to load the bases again. Greg Wehr drove in O’Connell and Rains.
In the last of the seventh the Alisal number nine hitter homer to tie the score. In the bottom of the ninth with one out, the second place hitter singled. When he stole second, the throw to second got away and he went to third. From there he was squeezed home to end the game. Rains had two stolen bases, Munoz and Kensinger each had one. Cards had four errors. Lineup: Munoz C, 4-1; O’Connell 2B/CF, 5-2; Kensinger SS/P, 3-0; Rains 3B, 4-1; Ellis 1B, 5-0; Monroe CF, 2-0; Ybarra 2B, 1-0; Wehr P, 4-2; Abicht RF, 3-0, Rogers LF/CF 3-0 and Russo LF, 1-0.

Seaside Wallops Cards 8-0. The first Seaside batter got on by an error, but was doubled off base on a line drive. In the fourth inning Seaside scored three runs, but none were earned, because of errors. In the fifth inning Seaside scored five runs, but only one was earned. Due to three errors. The Cards ended up with five errors, which allowed seven extra runs to score. In addition to the errors the Cards only had four hits. They will need to play much better if they expect to be a player in the league this year. Kensinger started and went four innings giving up no earned runs, four hits, walked none and struck out one. Rains pitched two innings giving up five hits, one earned run and walked none. Lineup: Munoz C, 3-0; Kensinger P/SS, 3-0; O’Connell SS/3B, 3-0; Rains 3B/P, 3-0; Ellis CF, 3-0; Wehr 1B, 3-2; Russo LF, 2-0; Ybarra 2B, 2-1; Abicht RF, 2-0 and West RF, 0-0.

Eight Innings Later SC, Salinas Tied. The game that ended in an eighth inning 8-8 tie with Salinas will be replayed all over again at a later date. All told, nine of the eleven MBL teams have played to at least one standoff. The game at Salinas Municipal Stadium for the last two innings was played under the lights, but had to be stopped at 7, because Hartnell had a 7:30 game there. SC scored two in the fourth, four in the fifth and two in the sixth. In the fifth Monroe drove in Dave Ellis and Mike West with a towering 375 foot triple to left center. Al Kensinger drove in Monroe and Munoz with the tying runs on his clutch two out single. In the top sixth, Rains opened the inning with a 390 triple to left center and scored on Wehr’s single. Wehr moved to second on a ground out and scored on Mike West’s double, which he stretched with sheer hustle.
Had it not been for the sparkling defensive play of second baseman O’Connell, who came up with three gems to prevent no less than three runs, SC would have left Salinas with a loss. One was a two out diving catch going toward second leaving a runner stranded on third. After making a diving stop of a two out shot up the middle, he recovered and fired a bullet to catcher Munoz to cut down a runner at the plate. With a runner on second, he took a relay throw from right fielder West and uncorked a cannon shot to Munoz to cut of the runner at the plate to stop the winning run from scoring. The defense played much better, even though it made three errors, only one caused a run to score.
The pitchers control was much better also as they walked only one batter, but they did give up 14 hits. Wehr started on the mound and went two innings giving up three hits and two earned runs. The top batting order was more involved this game scoring five of the Cards eight runs. Larry Monroe and Kensinger each had two RBI’s followed by Munoz, O’Connell and Wehr with one each. Rains and Monroe had doubles. Cards had three errors. Lineup: Munoz C, 2-1; Kensinger SS/P, 4-1; O’Connell 2B/3B, 5-0; Rains 3B/P, 4-1; Ellis 1B/CF, 5-2; Wehr P/1B, 5-1; Russo LF, 5-0; Rogers CF, 1-0; Ybarra 2B, 1-1, two walks, three runs; Abicht RF, 0-0, walk; Monroe RF, 3-2 and West RF, 0-0.

Cards make a comeback to take Soquel 7-6 in a ten inning battle at Harvey West. Excellent relief pitching by both teams pitchers added suspense to the game as it took three extra innings for the winning run to be scored with the aid of two Soquel errors. Big hitters for the Cards were Wehr, who went 3 for 5 with two doubles and four RBI’s, and Kensinger who tripled in two runs.
Soquel started the scoring in the first inning, helped along with a throwing error. SC came right back and scored two, when O’Connell led off with a single, Rains walked and Wehr doubled them home. In the top of the fourth Soquel rocked Wehr for four straight hits to score four runs. SC came back with a run when Rains walked, went to second on Wehr’s single and scored on Monroe’s single.
In the fifth, Rains relieved Wehr and gave up an unearned run and then went on to blank the Knights the rest of the way. SC scored three runs in the fifth to tie up the game 6-6. Abicht led off with a single, O’Connell walked and Kensinger tripled them home. Rains doubled Kensinger home to end the scoring until the ninth inning.
Kevin Rains threw five innings of brilliant relief giving up four hits, no earned runs, walked one and struck out two for the win. Greg Wehr started and went four innings giving up five hits, three earned runs, walked two and struck out three. Cards had four errors, three of them allowed runs to score. Lineup: O’Connell CF, 4-1, three runs; Kensinger SS, 4-1; Ellis 1B, 4-0; Rains 3B/P, 2-1, double, three walks, three runs. Wehr P/1B, 5-3; Monroe C, 3-1; Russo LF, 4-0; Ybarra 2B, 1-0; Abicht RF, 4-1; Rogers CF, 1-0; West RF, 1-0 Lopez C, 0-0 and Levine RF, 0-0.

Cards lose to Aptos 6-8 in nine innings. The game ended on a two run home run by Aptos. The game might not have been artistic, but it kept the fans on the edge of their seats throughout. This was one of those games where its too bad one team must lose. Aptos is in first place with a 3-3-1 record and SC is 2-4-1. A single round against the Southern Division is in those records.
The score was tied twice and the lead changed hands five times during the afternoon. Kenny O’Connell did a little of everything for the Cards. He played shortstop, centerfield, third base and even coached third base. He also drove in two runs and made two nifty fielding plays in the bottom of the seventh inning. A falling down grab of a popup in foul territory near the fence and made a long throw to first to retire another batter.
Two errors, a walk, a fielders choice and Mike West’s single followed by O’Connell’s RBI groundout enabled the Cards to grab a 3-1 lead in the top of the second. West walked was sacrificed to second by Jim Abicht and came roaring home on O’Connell’s single to put the Cards one run behind 4-5 at the top of the fourth. In the fifth, Rains walked, Monroe was hit by a pitch and Ralph Russo drove in Rains. Russo was sailing toward second, but the throw was bad and Monroe scored to put the Cards up 6-5.
Aptos scored in the sixth to tie the score 6-6. Errors SC 6, Aptos 5. RBI’s O’Connell 2 Russo and West one each. Lineup: O’Connell SS/CF/3B, 5-1; Kensinger P/SS, 5-1; Ellis CF/1B, 5-1; Rains 3B/P, 4-0; Wehr 1B/P, 3-1; Monroe C, 3-1; Russo LF, 3-1; West DH, 3-1; Abicht RF, 3-0 and Bell 2B, 0-0.
Pitching stats by name, innings pitched, hits, earned runs, walks and strike outs.
NAME IP H ER BB SO
Kensinger 2 4 2 1 0
Wehr 1 2 0 0 0
Rains 5 6 1 3 3

In the first game of the Monterey Tournament the Cards took revenge from their earlier league loss to Monterey, by winning 2-1. Greg Wehr pitched a complete game master piece. In five innings, he put down the side in order. In the other two he only faced four batters, two over the minimum for the game, while striking out 13. He allowed one hit a home run and walking only one. Plus Wehr also served as the Cards clean up hitter. The Cards had only one error. Kensinger led off the game with a walk, went to second on a wild pitch, to third on Ellis’ single and scored on a double play. Freshman Jaime Bell in his first varsity game got a hit for the second time in the game in the fifth inning. He was sacrificed to second by Kensinger and scored the winning run on fielders choice by O’Connell. Lineup: Kensinger SS, 0-0, two walks, two sacrifices; Ellis 1B, 4-1; O’Connell CF, 4-0; Wehr P, 3-0; Monroe C, 3-0; Rains 3B, 2-1; Russo LF, 2-0. West DH, 2-0; Bell 2B, 3-2 and Rogers RF, 1-0.

Cards lose to Pacific Grove 4-5 in the second game of the tournament after going ahead 4-2 in the second inning as Ralph Russo hit a grand slam home run. The Cards were held to four hits. Pacific Grove scored two runs in the first inning at El Estero Park, then the Cards scored all four of their runs in the second inning as they batted around. Rains led off with a walk, Wehr followed with another walk, Monroe beat out a sacrifice bunt to load the bases. Bell hit into a force out at the plate and then Russo hit his grand slam homer to end the SC scoring for the day. Rains pitched a complete game giving up nine hits, five earned runs, walked two and struck out one. He had three innings of one up and three down and two others he faced only four batters, which is a good outing. Cards had only one error. Lineup: Kensinger SS, 1-0, three walks; O’Connell 3B, 4-0; Ellis 1B, 4-0; Rains P, 1-0, three walks; Wehr DH, 3-1; Monroe C, 3-1; Bell 2B, 3-0; Russo LF, 3-1; Abicht RF, 3-1 and Rogers RF, 0-0.

Cards lose to Alisal 2-5 in the last game of the tournament. The Cards scored first with two runs in the third, when Rodgers walked, went to third on Kensinger’s hit and was thrown out at the plate on an infield fielders choice grounder by O‘Connell. Putting runners on first and second. Rains singled to drive in Kensinger and O‘Connell sped to third. Rains got into a run down on a first and third play and was hit in the back of the neck by the ball and in the process O’Connell scored. Alisal came right back and scored two in the top of fourth to tie the game up 2-2. Then picked up one in the sixth and two in the seventh.
Al Kensinger started and held the Trojans scoreless in the first three innings. He went six innings giving up seven hits, two earned runs, walked one and struck out one. Rob Agorasitos up from the Jayvees pitched the seventh inning giving up two hits and two runs driven in by a home run. Cards had two errors. Lineup: Kensinger P/SS, 3-0; O’Connell LF, 3-1; Rains 3B, 3-2; Wehr 1B, 3-1; Ellis CF, 3-1; Monroe C, 3-1; Bell 2B, 3-0; Russo LF, 3-0; Rodgers RF, 2-0; Agoratos P, 0-0, Lopez C, 0-0 and West PR.

Cards come from behind to defeat Watsonville 6-5 in the eight innings. The Cards used three pitchers to win in eight innings. Rains started and got the side out in order in his last three full innings pitched. But he ran into trouble in the fifth frame, when two hits and two errors got him into trouble. Wehr came in to get a strike out for the second out, gave up a single that drove in two runs and got the final out on a fly ball. None of the runs were earned. Kensinger finished up the last two innings. A hit batter and an error helped an unearned run to score in the top of the seventh to tie the score.
The Cards came right back, when a Cat error and three straight hits scored two runs with no outs. Two freshman, Ybarra doubled in the tying run and Bell singled in the winning run. Monroe had a triple. The Cards batted around in the fourth to go up 4-0. Those with RBI’s were Wehr, O’Connell, Munoz, Ybarra and Bell. This is the first playing time for Munoz since his illness. His speed is an asset to the team. Cards had three errors. Lineup: Kensinger SS/P, 4-0; Ellis CF, 4-1; Rains P/3B, 4-2; Wehr 1B/P/1B, 4-1; Monroe C, 3-2; O’Connell 3B/LF, 3-2; Ybarra LF, 2-1; Bell 2B, 3-1; Munoz RF, 3-1.

Cards Knock Off SLV For Big Win 5-3. Cards score three in first inning with Dave Munoz back at the lead off spot after losing time to illness. At the beginning of the season the Cards were scoring in the first inning regularly. Kevin Rains double drove in the first run and Larry Monroe’s triple drove in two runs. SLV came back and scored two in the fourth. In the fifth, Munoz singled, then stole second and third and scored on Al Kensinger’s hit. SC scored again in the sixth when Ybarra was hit by a pitch and went to second on a wild pitch and was driven home by Dave Ellis. SLV scored their last run in the seventh with the benefit of two errors. Greg Wehr started and went six and two-thirds innings giving up three hits, one earned run walked two and struck out six. Al Kensinger pitched one-third of an inning . He moved to the mound with two outs and runners on first and third and got the final out. Munoz had two stolen bases and Kensinger one. Cards had four errors. Lineup: Munoz RF, 4-2; Kensinger SS/P, 4-2; Rains 3B, 3-1; Wehr P/1B, 2-0; Monroe C, 4-1; O’Connell CF/SS, 2-0; Ybarra LF, 3-1; Bell 2B, 2-0; Russo 1B, 2-1 and Ellis 1B, 1-0.

In a practice game against Serra of San Mateo, a member of the strong WCAL, the Cards pulled out a 5-4 victory in the eighth inning, when Russo squeezed in O’Connell. Al Kensinger started and went four innings giving up six hits, one earned run, walked two and struck out one. Kevin Rains relieved and went two innings giving up one hit, no runs or strike outs and one walk. Jim Abicht pitched the last two innings giving up one hit, no earned runs, walked one for the win. In the first inning Kensinger walked, stole second and scored on Rains single.
In the sixth, the Cards down 4-1 rallied. Rains led off with a walk followed by Monroe who walked. Dave Ellis tripled them home and scored on an over throw to tie the score. In the eighth, O’Connell walked, went to second on a wild pitch and stole third. Ralph Russo bunted on a safety squeeze and great base running by O’Connell, who waited for the throw to go to first and then on a tight play at the plate jarred the ball loose from the catcher, scored the winning run. Cards had three errors. Lineup: Kensinger P/SS 2-0, two walks; Ybarra 2B, 2-1 Rains 3B, 3-2; Monroe C, 1-0; Ellis CF, 3-0; O’Connell SS/LF, 1-0, three walks; Russo 1B, 2-0, two sacrifices for RBI’s; Abicht RF/P, 2-0; Munoz C, 2-0; Tony Lopez LF, 1-0; Mitch Levine RF, 1-0 and Bell 2B, 0-0, walk.

Harbor comes from behind to give the Cards their second loss in MBL North Division play. It gives SC a 3-2 record in the first round of play. The Cards were ahead 4-3 going into the seventh inning, but the Pirates scored four runs, all earned, in the top of the seventh to win. Rains started and went three innings giving up two hits, one earned run, hit two batters and walked one. Kensinger pitched the next four innings giving up three hits, four earned runs, walked two and struck out four for the loss.
In the first inning Rains walked, stole second, and scored on Wehr’s single. In the third Rains and Wehr walked. Monroe hit into a fielders choice at second and then stole second.. Ellis drove in Rains on a sacrifice fly to right field. Monroe stole second and on two wild pitches in a row he scored. In the fifth Monroe singled, stole second and on two ground balls scored. Lineup: Munoz RF, 2-0; Kensinger SS/P, 4-0; Rains P/3B, 2-1; Wehr 1B, 3-1; Monroe C, 3-1; Ellis CF, 2-1; O’Connell 3B/SS, 4-0; Ybarra LF, 2-0 and Bell 2B, 1-1, two walks.

Santa Cruz High Gains Some Breathing Room by beating Soquel 6-2 to start the second round of league play. Santa Cruz put some breathing room between itself and the three other contending teams for the second place playoff spot with a 5-5-1 record. SC MUST defeat red hot Aptos, who’ve won five straight in order to have any shot at catching them for first place. Soquel scored both their runs in the first inning.
The Cards scored single runs in the second and fourth innings to tie the score.. Centerfielder Larry Monroe scored them both and went 2 for 4 to raise his batting average to .323. Bell’s infield force out drove in the first run and O’Connell’s grounder drove in the second. Dave Munoz started the winning rally in the fifth with a single and stole second. Rains drove him in with a double. Dave Ellis drove Rains in. A pair of insurance runs were added, when Jaime Bell tripled to center to drive in Ken O’Connell from first and a wild pitch enabled Bell to score.
Soquel had men in scoring position in four of the last six innings, but Wehr with some clutch pitching worked his way out of the jams. RBI’s Bell two and one each for O’Connell and Rains. Munoz and Monroe each had two steals and Kensinger and O’Connell each had one. Wehr went all the way on the mound giving up nine hits, two earned runs, no walks and struck out four for the win. Cards had no errors. Lineup: Munoz RF, 2-1, two walks; Kensinger SS, 3-1; Rains 3B, 3-1; Wehr P, 3-0; Ellis 1B, 4-1; Monroe C, 4-3; O’Connell RF, 2-1; Ybarra LF, 3-1 and Bell 2B, 4-1.

Cards Come Alive. In a make up of the 8-8 tie with Salinas earlier in the season, the Cards came out with a 11-5 win. SC with a 6-5 record is defending Northern Division champions, but the pressure of winning the title is on the shoulders of the Cards. Aptos is in first place with a 7-3-1 record.
The Cards led off the game with three runs, added one more in the second and one in the fourth. Salinas scored two in the second and three in the fifth to tie the score 5-5. The Cards scored three runs in each of the sixth and seventh to pull out a win. Kensinger started and went five innings giving up eleven hits, five earned runs, walked none and struck out two. Rains finished the last two giving up one hit, to runs, four walks and two strike outs for the win.
Top hitters were Monroe, who went 3 for 4 with two triples and a RBI. O’Connell had a triple and a RBI. Wehr had a triple and a RBI. Others with RBI’s were Rodgers with two and Rains, Ellis and Kensinger one each. Cards had two errors. Lineup: Munoz C, 3-0; O’Connell 3B, 3-1; Monroe CF, 4-3; Rains 3B, 3-1; Wehr P, 3-1; Ellis RF, 2-0; Kensinger P, 2-1, three walks; Ybarra LF, 4-1; Bell 2B, 3-0; Russo PH, 1-0 and Rodgers RF, 1-1, sacrifice RBI.

Cards again lose to Aptos 1-3. Rains pitched a complete game giving up six hits, two earned runs and did not give up a walk or strike out a batter. The Cards were only able to eke out two hits. It was a well pitched and played game on both sides. Cards made two errors. Lineup: Munoz C, 3-0; O’Connell SS, 4-3; Monroe CF, 3-0; Rains P, 2-0; Wehr 1B, 3-0; Ellis RF, 3-0; Kensinger SS, 2-0; Ybarra LF, 2-0 and Bell 2B, 2-1.

Cards beat Watsonville again by one run 4-3. Wehr pitched another good game giving up six hits, one earned run, walked one and struck out four going the route. In the first, O’Connell singled and Monroe doubled him home. Ybarra drove in Monroe with a single and reached third on two pass balls. Munoz singled him home and then stole second. He scored on O’Connell’s single. In the fourth Bell reached base on an error, went to second on Munoz single, to third on O’Connell’s hit and scored on Monroe’s sacrifice fly to right field. Munoz stole two bases. Cards had two errors. Lineup: Munoz C, 4-3; O’Connell RF, 4-3; Monroe CF, 3-1; Rains 3B, 4-1;; Wehr P, 2-0; Ellis 1B, 2-0, two walks; Kensinger SS, 3-0; Ybarra LF, 2-1 and Bell 2B. 3-0.

Cards Explode In Late Innings. Both teams fatten up their batting averages as Cards defeating SLV 15-7. Although SC failed to defend its Northern Division title, the Cards did manage to
scramble after the Easter break to make the upcoming MBL playoffs. And they did so with several unheralded freshman like Carlos Ybarra and Jamie Bell, the eighth and ninth batters in the lineup.
SLV rallied for five runs in the fifth inning for what looked like and insurmountable 7-3 margin with the bottom of the order coming to the plate. Up to this time SC had only one hit. Ybarra promptly ended that theory, with a sharp single. Bell hit a triple to score Ybarra. A single by Dave Munoz and back-to-back doubles by Ken O’Connell and Larry Monroe put SC ahead 9-7. Two more extra base hits, one by Kensinger and a second by Monroe, produced six more runs and a lopsided win after a shaky start. Five of SC’s ten hits were for extra bases.
Rains started and went four innings giving up six hits, two earned runs, walked two and struck out one for the win. Kensinger went one inning and gave up four hits, three earned runs and one walk. Wehr went two innings giving up five hits, four runs, one walk and two strike outs. Lineup: Munoz C, 3-2 a walk, three runs, one RBI, stolen base; O’Connell 3B/RF, 3-2 a walk, two doubles, three runs; Monroe CF, 3-2 two doubles, two runs, sacrifice fly, five RBI‘s; Rains P/3B, 3-0, one run; Wehr 1B/P, 4-0; Ellis RF/1B, 1-0 three walks, two runs; Kensinger SS, 4-1 one triple, two RBI;s, one stolen base; Ybarra LF, 3-2 one run; Bell 2B. 3-0 a triple, two runs, walk, stolen base and West PH, 0-0, walk..

Cards Gain Playoff Momentum knocking off Harbor 8-5 grabbing a big early lead and then surviving a fast finish by their hosts. Cards reverse earlier meeting with Harbor. Cards tied Aptos for the best the best record in MBL North Division with a 9-6 records. SC will play the South Division champions Seaside in the opening round.
A four run first inning got SC off and running as lead off batter Dave Munoz singled, stole second and scored on Kenny O’Connell’s double. Larry Monroe walked and Kevin Rains clouted a three run homer to left center. Wehr started and went four innings giving up two hits, one run, one walk and four strike outs. Three of his four innings pitched were three up and three down. Since the Cards scored four runs in the first inning on Rains grand slam home run, Wehr was credited with the win, which he deserved anyway. Rains pitched the last three innings giving up six hits, four earned runs, walked three and struck out two.
The Cards scored three runs in the sixth, when Bell tripled and scored on Munoz ground ball. Munoz stole second, O’Connell walked and they both moved up on a wild pitch. Munoz scored on Mike West’s sacrifices fly to center. O’Connell scored on Rains double. In the seventh Ellis walked, stole second and scored on Bell’s single. Harbor made a run in the seventh inning scoring three runs. Cards had no errors. Lineup: Munoz C, 5-2, two runs, two stolen bases; O’Connell RF/3B, 2-2 double, two runs, two walks; Monroe CF, 3-1; Rains 3B/P, 3-2, homer, 4 RBI’s, double, one run, one steal; Wehr P, 2-0; Ellis 1B, 3-1, two steals, one run, one walk; Kensinger SS, 4-1; Ybarra LF, 4-1 and Bell 2B. 4-3 triple, run, one RBI; Rogers RF, 2-0; Levine CF, 0-0, Lopez CF,0-0 and West PH, 0-0 had a sacrifice fly for an RBI.

Greg Wehr was named Jock of the month of May for being a major contributor to the team, being the number one pitcher, for his versatility of playing first base while not pitching to keep his clutch hitting bat in the game. Greg plans to continue playing at Cabrillo.

Playoffs In MBL Tuesday. For the first time since inception of playoffs three years ago, there will not be a second place team playing. Both the North and South Divisions finished with co-champions. In the South, Alisal and Seaside were identical at 11-3. They split their series 1-1. SC and Seaside play and Seaside shut out the Cards 8-0 in their one league game.

Cards Blank Seaside 8-0. Seaside, who had beaten the Cards 0-8 at the beginning of the league season had the score reversed in the first game of the league playoffs as the Cards won 8-0. But SC traditionally gets better as the season progresses and once again the Cards were at their best when the chips were down.
Wehr got the win scattering four harmless hits, walking only two and striking out seven in five fine innings. Rains worked the last two innings striking out four hitters. He ended the seventh by striking out all three batters. The Cards broke the game open in the third inning scoring 6 runs. Rains again had a fine day at the plate going 3 for 4, while hitting a home run in the second game in a row.. Freshman Carlos Ybarra had a big day at the plate going 3 for 3 and driving in two runs.
There were four sharp defensive plays by the Cards, which aided in the win. The first one was by Ybarra as he ran for what seemed to be forever and made a chatch in short left field. Catcher Dave Munoz made an excellent throw to first base for an out in the fourth inning. Shortstop Al Kensinger was on target with a long throw to first in the fifth. Freshman Jaime Bell knocked down and prevented an extra base hit later in the fifth. Toss in a good scoop later by first baseman Dave Ellis and you have five reasons why Seaside had difficulty SC.
Aptos beat SC twice in league play, but the Mariners will be bucking the Cards’ playoff tradition in the league finals Friday. Cards had one error. Lineup: Munoz C, 3-1; O’Connell RF, 4-0; Monroe CF, 4-0; Rains 3B/P, 4-3;; Wehr P, 4-0; Ellis 1B, 4-0; Kensinger SS, 3-1; Ybarra LF, 3-3 and Bell 2B. 3-0.

Cardinals Edge Aptos 6-5, Wrap Up MBL Crown. Region IV Tourney Opens Monday Night.
SC vaulted one giant step closer to its ultimate goal a CCS baseball title. For the MBL championship, the Cards were going against an Aptos team who had beaten them twice in close games. The Cards went ahead in the first inning scoring two runs on lead off hitter Munoz’s single, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and romped home on an error on Rains ground out. Monroe walked and scored on an error on Wehr’s ground out. Wehr started and had given up only one hit and no runs before the roof fell in on the tired southpaw in the third inning, when he gave up four runs. With one in the third, he was relieved by Rains, who put out the fire, by striking out the next two batters to end the inning. The Cards came right back and scored a run to inch closer to only be down 3-4. O’Connell walked, took second on a pass ball, went to third on a pass ball and scored on Monroe’s ground out. But three base runners, who had been walked were stranded. Rains gave up three hits, no earned runs, walked two and struck out five in four and two thirds innings to get credit for the win. SC had a three run fifth inning, helped by three errors to go ahead 6-4. Freshman Carlos Ybarra played a significant role along with Rains, climbing off the deck after an accidental knockdown pitch to hammer the next delivery for a two run single. Another Freshman second baseman Jaime Bell turned in a couple of good throws from balls hit up the middle of the diamond for outs during a comeback attempt by Aptos in the seventh. Senior Larry Monroe went 2 for 3 at the plate and scored twice. Senior catcher Dave Munoz made a pair of catches of pop ups behind the plate in the first inning. One of which was a super play on a wind blown high fly toward the dugout along the first baseline. Munoz also drilled two hits and scored a run. Aptos led off the seventh with a hit, which scored after two were out on a single. The last out was made short stop Kensinger to Wehr, who went from the mound to playing first to keep his hot bat in the line up. RBI’s one each for Monroe, Rains, Wehr, Kensinger, Ellis and Ybarra. Cards had three errors. On to the CCS playoffs. Lineup was Munoz C, 4-2, walk; O’Connell RF/3B, 3-0; Monroe CF, 2-2, two runs, one RBI; Rains 3B/P, 4-0, one RBI; Wehr P/1B, 1-0, one RBI; Dave Ellis 1B/RF, 2-0, walk; Kensinger SS, 2-1, sacrifice; Ybarra LF, 2-1, two RBI; Bell 2B, 3-0.

Rains Hurls Cardinals Into Region IV Finals 4-1. In the first round of play SC defeated Valley Christian 4-1 at Salinas Municipal Stadium and will play Hollister the champions of the Mission Trail league with a 13-1 record. Hollister is the defending Region IV kingpin. Three times the Cards were doubled up because of sloppy base running and that quickly eliminated the chance for big innings. Senior Kevin Rains went the complete game striking out 13 batters and only once, beside the inning the run score did a runner get as far as third base. Rains gave up two hits, no earned runs and no walks. As is their custom in the first inning the Cards jumped right out scoring two runs, when Munoz led off with a hit and O’Connell tripled him home. Monroe plated O’Connell with a deep sacrifice fly. They added a third run in the second inning when Ybarra singled and Dave Ellis doubled him home. O’Connell was 2 for 2 and scored 2 runs plus an RBI. Rains threw a two hitter and struck out thirteen, The one run that scored was unearned. Lineup was Munoz C, 3-0; O’Connell 3B, 2-2, two triples, two runs, one walk; Monroe CF, 2-0, RBI on sacrifice fly; Rains P, 3-1, RBI, steal; Wehr 1B, 3-1; Ybarra LF, 3-1; Dave Ellis RF, 2-1, double, walk; Kensinger SS, 2-1, triple, run; Bell 2B, 1-1, two walks and Rodgers RF, 0-0.

Cardinals Fly to Region IV Baseball Crown, 6-2. It took only one pitch for senior centerfielder Larry Monroe to slam a 350 foot plus triple in the fifth inning to spark the Cards to the Region IV championship at Salinas Municipal Stadium. Monroe an All MBL and All County performer ignited the Cards to a five run fifth inning. The victory, the first Region title since 1970 for the Cards sends them to the CCS final four at San Jose Municipal Stadium. Until the fifth inning the Cards had only one hit a triple by Al Kensinger, who scored on ground out by Munoz in the third inning for a SC lead 1-0. Hollister scored two in the bottom half of the third and held the lead 2-1 going into the fifth. Freshman Carlos Ybarra opened the fifth inning with a walk, scrambled to second on Kensinger’s sacrifice bunt. The other freshman Jaime Bell walked and lead off hitter Munoz singled to load the bases. O’Connell “Mr. Hustle” singled to score Ybarra to tie the score 2-2. On the next pitch Monroe hit his blast to unload the bases. Rains grounded out sending Monroe streaking across the plate to put SC up 6-2. It was a stellar performance on the mound by senior lefthander Greg Wehr. Not only did he silence the potent Baler bats, but he did it by battling a bad head cold all week. He recorded nine strikeouts, walked five, gave up one earned run and five hits. In the seventh inning after getting an out, Wehr then walking two batters. Rains relieved and got the next two outs for a save, Lineup; Munoz C, 3-1, RBI; O’Connell RF/3B, 4-1, RBI; Monroe CF, 3-1, triple, three RBI‘s; Rains P, 2-0, RBI; Wehr P, 3-0; Dave Ellis RF, 2-0, walk; Ybarra LF, 2-0; Kensinger SS, 2-1, steal; Bell 2B, 1-0; Rodgers RF, 0-0 and West DH, 2-0.

Santa Cruz Guns For Championship Tonight. Cards Into finals After Beating El Camino 5-4. SC has played for the title twice finishing second on back-to=back occasions. Against El Camino who was this years front runner to win the crown, faced a Card team, who batted around. All nine batters went to the plate in the first inning. Munoz struck out, O’Connell singled and Monroe tripled to drive in O‘Connell. Rains singled in Monroe. Wehr walked, Ellis was out, Ybarra walked to load the bases, Kensinger singled in two runs and the ninth man hit into a force play. In the second inning Monroe got on base on an error and stole second. Rains singled him home. This ended the Card scoring.
Two major league catches by Dave Ellis and Larry Monroe kept El Camino from really breaking the game open in the fourth inning. Ellis’ catch was bordering on the right field warning track, while most of the on-lookers sat in disbelief on Monroe’s running effort. On what looked like a sure extra base hit, Monroe got a great jump on the ball and made the catch with his right arm fully extended over his body. Kensinger accounted for spearing a pair of hot line outs to squelch Colt rallies.
In the last six outings, Monroe has driven in six runs, pounded two triples and a double. Rains had a blistering .500 average going six for 12, while hitting two homers and registering five RBI. Third baseman O’Connell, who made a diving catch to get the last out of the game, only had one hit, he hit the ball solidly the other three times.
Rains went 3 for 4 had a double and drove in a run to go with his fine complete game pitching performance allow only two earned runs and striking out eight. Card had one error. Lineup; Munoz C, 4-0; O’Connell 3B, 4-1; Monroe CF, 4-1, triple, one RBI; Rains P, 4-3, double, RBI; Wehr P, 3-1; Dave Ellis RF, 2-0, sacrifice; Ybarra LF, 2-0, walk; Kensinger SS, 3-1, two RBI‘s; Bell 2B, 3-1; Rodgers RF, 0-0

From part of an article on the front page of the Sports section of the San Francisco Examiner. Headline, Santa Cruz Tops El Camino. A quick getaway is a most desirable thing in track and horse racing, but in baseball its merits are questionable. For Santa Cruz High, a good start was just enough to hold off El Camino 5-4, in the first half of last nights CCS baseball playoffs.
They jumped out to a four run lead in the first inning and added the fifth run in the second, then relied on senior right-hander Kevin Rains to keep the door closed the rest of the way. He had his difficult moments, but Rains managed to do his job. “Its never easy, even with a five run lead,” said Rains afterward. “Once you get this far, you know the other guys can come back on you. They had some good chances, especially in the fifth and seventh, but I got good fielding behind me, so we held on. We’re a funny team. At the beginning of the year, we were making a lot of errors, four or five a game, but we always had big first innings to help us out. Today we got the inning, but our fielding was much better. We survive on our hitting, so it’s nice to get good efforts on defense, too.”

Unearned Runs Topple Cards In CCS Finale. Losing to Leigh 6-2. Ridiculous as it may sound, SC saved its worst for the last. The Cardinals weren’t so much defeated by Leigh, but simply beat themselves in every imaginable way be committing seven unanswered errors which produced four unearned runs.
Leigh turned the ball over on five occasions, three times on one play, in their unimpressive showing. What hurt even more was the very unsportsman like display of Leigh tempers, as well as physical conduct from the start of the game, right down to the final out. Probably the turning point of the game came in the bottom half of the third, when Wehr struck out the leadoff hitter and got the next batter to pop out to Dave Ellis at first. There was a runner on first, following the second Card error, when the plate umpire gave the hitter a new lease on life when he should have been called out on strikes. Wehr served up a fast ball that the hitter chased, but instead of going to the dugout as the third out, the umpire changed his decision. The batter eventually walked and the momentum from then on was on Leigh’s side of the field.
Twice that inning Leigh scored. Leigh was not impressive in hitting as they had five hits in their two final four games. Three came against SC. The Cardinals were not their normal clean fielding team making six errors as the pitchers Wehr and Kensinger gave up no earned runs. Wehr started and went three innings giving up two hits, no earned runs and walked five. The senior left-hander tossed 64 pitches in three innings. Kensinger pitched three innings giving up two hits, no earned runs, walked one and struck out one. As in past games the Cards scored in the first inning getting two runs. Munoz led off with a single, Monroe got on base on an error and both runners scored on errors, but that was it for the Cards. In the second inning the Cards got two walks and a base hit, but a base runner was thrown out at the plate and they could not score. In three innings they went down in order and the other two innings four batters went to the plate. SC only had four hits. Lineup; Munoz C, 3-2, one run, one walk; O’Connell RF/SS, 4-0; Monroe CF, 4-0, one run; Rains 3B, 3-0; Wehr P/1B, 3-1; Kensinger SS/P, 3-0, Ybarra LF, 3-0; Dave Ellis 1B/RF, 3-0, stolen base, sacrifice; Bell 2B, 2-0, walk.

In a Sentinel Column more on Leigh. The fact the way Leigh won the title hurt the most. Those 12 errors, five by Leigh, coupled with the ridiculous un-sportsman like conduct by the Longhorn players cut deeply into the team and coaches personal pride. Leigh wasn’t a better team, although SC didn’t deserve to win either after committing seven unanswered errors. Leigh just happened to have the ball roll its way. And even more disgusting, the Longhorn’s didn’t show the class of a champion. The post-game awards ceremonies were marred when boos rang out, when the four SC players garnered All-tourney honors. That did nothing more to aggravate the situation.

Four Santa Cruz players, Rains, Monroe, Kensinger and O’Connell were named to the CCS All Tournament team for some consolation.

The team really matured as the season progressed. They wound up the season on a high note winning 13 out of 16 games after Spring vacation and had 8 straight wins until the CCS final.

Ken O’Connell was a big asset to this years team after missing last season, because of a knee injury requiring major surgery. Ken played where ever need by the team. He played every position except pitcher, catcher and first base and played them well. As is shown below his teammates appreciated what he did for the team.

Team vote:
Captain, best defensive player, best over all player, Mr. hustle and sportsmanship award– Ken O’Connell
MVP– Greg Wehr
Best hitter– Larry Monroe.
Most improved:– Jeff Rodgers and Jamie Bell

The top three Birds for different categories for the MBL season
Batting average Monroe 432, O’Connell 393, Bell 333 and Wehr 311.
RBI’s: Monroe 13, Kensinger 10 and Rains 8.
Stolen bases: Munoz 16 and Kensinger 8.
Walks: Monuz 14 and Rains 11.
Struck out the least: O’Connell 4, Bell and Ybarra 5 apiece.
Home runs: Monroe and Rains two each.

League stats by player, official times at bat, runs, hits, batting average, doubles, triples, runs batted in, walks and stolen bases..
AB R H AV 2b 3B RBI BB SB
Monroe 44 20 19 432 3 4 13 5 6
O’Connell 56 16 22 393 3 1 6 6 1
Wehr 45 4 14 311 1 1 6 7 0
Munoz 44 16 13 295 1 0 4 14 16
Rains 50 12 14 280 3 1 8 11 4
Kensinger 51 4 13 255 1 2 10 8 8
Ybarra 40 5 10 250 0 0 2 6 0
Dave Ellis 50 4 9 180 1 0 4 7 3
Bell 24 4 8 333 1 3 3 4 1
Russo 21 3 3 143 3 0 1 1 0
Rogers 15 0 3 200 0 0 2 3 0
Abicht 13 1 2 154 0 0 0 1 1
West 6 1 2 333 1 0 3 1 0
Lopez 1 0 0 000 0 0 0 0 0
Levine 0 0 0 000 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 460 90 132 287 15 12 62 74 40

Pitching stats for league by innings pitched, hits, earned runs, earned run average, doubles, triples home runs, walks strike outs wins and losses
IN H ER ERA 2B 3B HR BB SO WIN LOSSES
Wehr 58 55 14 1.69 4 2 1 17 39 5 1
Rains 41 37 13 2.22 7 1 1 18 22 2 3
Kensinger 28 17 17 4.25 6 2 0 5 16 4 2
Totals 127 109 44 2.43 17 5 2 40 77 11 6

The top three Birds for different categories for the complete season
Batting average: Munoz 333, Monroe 329, Rains and Kensinger 318
RBI’s: Rains 20, Monroe 18 and Kensinger 17.
Stolen bases: Munoz 23 and Kensinger 14.
Walks: Munoz 24, Rains 22 and Kensinger 20.
Struck out the least: Monroe, O’Connell and Bell 9 apiece.
Home runs: Rains 3, Monroe 2, Russo grad slam and Minoz 1

Season stats by player, official times at bat, runs, hits, batting average, doubles, triples, runs batted in, walks and stolen bases..
AB R H AV 2B 3B RBI BB SB
Munoz 81 30 27 333 1 1 8 24 23
Monroe 76 28 25 329 3 6 18 7 7
Rains 96 22 31 318 5 1 20 22 8
Kensinger 88 10 28 318 1 3 17 20 14
O’Connell 104 28 33 317 3 4 10 10 6
Ybarra 59 9 17 288 0 0 5 14 3
Wehr 81 9 23 284 1 1 11 11 1
Bell 46 6 12 261 1 3 3 8 2
Abicht 29 5 7 241 2 0 1 1 2
Dave Ellis 96 12 22 229 6 1 11 12 4
Russo 43 4 8 186 0 0 9 3 0
Rogers 35 1 6 171 0 0 2 3 0
West 19 2 4 211 1 0 4 2 0
Lopez 3 0 0 000 0 0 0 0 0
Levine 1 0 0 000 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 857 166 243 284 24 20 119 137 70

Pitching stats for the season by innings pitched, hits, earned runs, earned run average, doubles, triples home runs, walks strike outs wins and losses.
IN H ER ERA 2B 3b HR BB SO Wins Loses
Wehr 93 17 17 1.25 5 3 2 40 89 9 3
Rains 91 83 25 1.92 19 1 1 24 70 5 5
Kensinger 49 53 19 2.71 10 3 1 9 24 6 3
Abicht 4 3 0 0.00 0 0 0 4 4 1 0
Totals 237 61 61 1.80 34 7 4 77 187 21 11

The Sentinel All County team included five players all seniors, the most of any team. The were Kevin Rains, Ken O’Connell, Larry Monroe, Dave Munoz and Greg Wehr.
Kevin Rains, P/INF, 5-9, 180, senior. Rains has been coming on strong, beginning to show why people for three years have thought highly of him. He was 5-3 on the mound. He hit .285 and drove in eight runs. In the final league game and the playoff opener, he hit a home run, two round trippers in two days to get the Cards off and running.
Ken O’Connell, OF/INF, 5-8, 150, senior, was an asset wherever he was asked to play. He played second base, third base, shortstop, right field and he and Dave Ellis even coached third base. He was an inspiration to his teammates, because he always was the holler guy urging them to do their best and keeping everybody up. A .400 hitter is another indication of his value.
Larry Monroe, OF/C, 6-0, 200 senior led the team in hitting with a .413 average and knocked in 12 runs. Without Larry we probably would not have been as successful as we were. He filled in at catcher when Munoz was out.
Dave Munoz C, 5-8, 160, senior was a good fielding catcher and a very effective leadoff hitter with a .325 average, seven RBI’s sandwiched in with his 16 stolen bases, all this despite missing two games because of sickness.
Greg Wehr, P/INF, 6-2, 210, senior. A southpaw was 5-1 through the MBL playoffs and if that wasn’t enough he chipped in nine RBI’s and a .311 average at the plate and did a commendable job at first base to stay in the lineup to hit.
Co-coaches of the year were Paul Barrington and Bill Dodge, whose teams defied preseason expectations. The two teams tied for the MBL North Division title and SC defeated Aptos 6-5 in the MBL playoff game for the league Championship.

All MBL NORTH TEAM. Kevin Rains, Greg Wehr, Dave Munoz, Ken O’Connell and Larry Monroe. All seniors. Five Cardinals on a 15 man team.
Centerfielder Monroe was the Cards plate leader with a .413 league average and 12 runs batted in and earlier in the season he filled in well for catcher Munoz, when he was out.
O’Connell hit .400 and was a great asset in many positions, He played shortstop, third base, right field, second base and he and Dave Ellis coached third base. This is O’Connell’s second All MBL team this year. The other sport was basketball.
Wehr, who pitched the win against Hollister to put the Cards in the CCS final four was 4-1 in league and adding the regionals is 5-1. He also played first base to keep his bat in the lineup. He hit .311 and drove in 9 runs.
Munoz hit .325, stole 16 bases as the Cards leadoff man and played good defense.
Rains was one of two repeaters on the all league team.

ALL CCS Tournament selections were Kevin Rains, Ken O’Connell, Larry Monroe and Al Kensinger.

JV BASEBALL Harbor 8-5
The team is comprised of 15 freshmen and four sophomores. The most valuable players part way through the season were pitcher Mark Bruce and Jamie Bell the best all around player, who move up to play second base for the MBL champion varsity half way through the season. Pitchers were Mark Bruce, Dwayne Whitley and first base, Dennis Modina, Robert Agorastos and Bob Turner. Catchers: Tony Lopez, John Faylor and Mark Signor. Infielders: Eddie Camacho, Bob Martin, Len Schlegel, Dan Stevens, Greg Ronning, Troy Higgins and Gene Lavender. Outfielders: Jim Brice, Don Passerino, Rick Hand, Mitch Levine and John Munoz.

The Cards won their last game of the season beating Harbor 8-5 behind the pitching of Mark Bruce and the hitting of Dan Stevens and Dwayne Whitley, who both went 2 for 3. The Cards were down 2-5 going into the last inning. Stevens and three more players walked to score Stevens. Whitley singled to score two more runners (that is all the information of the inning), but at the end of the Cards at bat they were ahead 8-5. Bruce retired the next three batter to end the game.

GIRLS SOFTBALL Marello 38-6, Soquel 14-0, Watsonville 14-1, Harbor 1-3, Notre Dame 7-6, Aptos 12-5, Alisal 9-6, SLV 18-12. Two games missing. Season record 7-3

One hitter leads SCHS Girls to win over Marello Prep 38-6. Georgia Sandas started for the Cards and hurled four innings of no hit ball, before turning over the pitching chores in the fifth and final frame to Tammy Bogard, who gave up the lone Marello hit. Bogard and Julie Schneider paced the Cards at the plate with 4 for 5 games, which included a grand slam home run apiece. Other sticks for SC were Leta Stagnaro and Sue Dodge 4 for 6; Georgia Sandas 3 for 5; Candi Jackson 3 for 6; Evonne Sandas, Elaina Guidici and Carol Person 2 for 5;

Behind the one hit pitching of Georgia Sandas and a defense which committed only one error and made two double plays, the Cards registered a 14-0 win over Soquel. Hitters: Evonne Sandas 3 for 4; Leta Stagnaro 2 for 2; Sue Dodge 2 for 4. RBI’s Dodge 4 and Georgia Sandas 3.

SC beats Watsonville 14-1 behind the 4 hit pitching of Georgia Sandas. Top hitter Leta Stagnaro 2 for 2.

Harbor Girls Down Champion SC High in an upset 3-1 victory.

Santa Cruz Girls post 7-6 Win over Notre Dame. Sue Dodge scored the winning run in the eighth inning, when she singled, stole second, went to third on a grounder and scored on a wild pitch. Georgia Sandas was the winner.

SC beats Aptos 12-5. Winner Georgia Sandas. Hitters: Evonne Sandas 3 for 5, Sue Dodge and Joyce Hightower 2 for 5, Leta Stagnaro 2 for 4. Home runs Julie Schneider and Dodge.

Georgia Sandas wins another game. Beats Alisal 9-6. Top hitter Tami Bogard 2 for 3. SC capitalized on 13 walks.

Cards defeat SLV 18-12. SC rallied for ten runs in the fifth inning to lock up the win. Leta Stagnaro’s home run and three hits each from Tammy Bogard and Candi Jackson, plus two hits from Evonne Sandas, set the pace for the Red Birds. Winning pitcher as always was Georgia Sandas.

Season ending statistics by position, batting averages and runs scored:
PO AV R
Tami Bogard LF 441 10
Leta Stagnaro C 389 15
Sue Dodge SS 378 16
Evonne Sandas CF 351 16
Julie Schneider IB 269 10
Elaina Guidici 3B 267 9
Candi Jackson RF 261 4
Carolyn Person 2B 238 13
Tina Olimpio RF 111 5

The best at not striking out with at bats first and number of strike outs next. Stagnaro 36-0; Guidici 30- 0; Dodge 37-1; Evonne Sandas 37-3; Bogard 34-3 and Georgia Sandas 28-3.

Pitching stats. Georgia Sandas ten games, 65 innings, 53 hits, 35 runs, ERA 2.77 very good, strike outs 14, walks 51 and earned runs 13.

BOYS TRACK (only information came from the yearbook for boys and girls track)
Interest seemed high at the opening of the track season with a larger than usual turnout. Thirty participants took part in the early meets. Leading the varsity team were senior Dave Grigeric and junior Clyde Presley.

The frosh-soph team was led by Andre Wilkes, who broke the first record of the season with a 9.9 hundred yard dash. A excellent time for even a senior. His time replaced the old record set in 1946 of 10.2. Also cited for outstanding performances were Geoff Girard, Oreste ‘Rusty’ Locatelli and Steve Imonti.

Team members were Paul Signor, Mike Clifford, Jack Nitzche, Steve Harris, Mike Yambrovich, Robert Stone, Mark Mahaney, Andrew Foster, Geoff Girard, Rick Larsen, Ed Burks, Jimmy Munoz, Dave Rhonda, Chris Hummel, David Ferrara, Mike Mahaney, John Papa, Charlie Patterson, Bill Sarow, John Fenton, Warren Harding, Clyde Persley, Lee Lowery, Pat Simmons, Steve Imonti, Peter Pianavilla and Dave Gregoric.

GIRLS TRACK team tears up opponents. The team got off to a good start with many records broken. Linda Huskey hurled the discus 84’10” beating the old school record of 70’8”. Robin Calender broke he 80 yard low hurdles with a time of 13.9 seconds. The last record was 14.1 second. Nina Peticolas shattered the old mile record of 6:12.8 with a time of 6:9.2.

In the frosh-soph division, three more school records were broken. Michelle Hoga broke both the varsity and frosh-soph records in the 100 yard dash with a time of 12.5 and then did the long jump with a leap of 5’1”. Her old record was 14’3”. Linda Ayers broke the high jump record with a jump of 4”7”, beating the old record of 4’5”.

Team members were Erin Copland, Michele Hoga, Liz Crowell, Lori Medlin, Kathy Keller, Annette Mungai, Robin Calendar, Kim Pianavilla, Colleen Reedy, Linda Huskey, Julie Bogaard, Lydia Wilson, Linda Ayers, Lynette Wehr, Amy Chirman, Tanya Gregoric, Betsy Slakey, Sandy Harlan, Cindy Guzzetti, Lorraine Rice, Emmy Lou McCrary, Leah Ruby, Erin Riley, Candy Brown, Michael Powell, Claire Dolan, Gilly Stratton, Maryann Wainscoat, Kathy Mullins, Nina Peticolas and Lori DeRego.

SWIMMING BOYS AND GIRLS SWIMMING
(No information on the season)
The swim team began the season headed for the number one position. Even the frosh-soph looked able to handle themselves well. The musclemen of the crowd were Jon Hatch, Dean Stengl, Alan Spano and Rob Hatch. The swim team has always been a strong one and this year with a new coach, Jeff Beeman, looks like they would work hard and be in good position in the MBL.

Team members were Loretta Palazzo, Fritz Bensusan, Danette Sutton, Bruce Edgar, Sue Thiel, Mark Grant, Joanne Fitzgerald, Pat Lacki, Wendy Batt, Lisa Malley, Sherri Ricar, Jackie Cortez, Debbie Bensusan, Tim Rhonda, Shawn Weaver, Rob Hatch, Dean Stengl, Tom Shaffer, Jon Hatch, Alan Spano and Joe Clarey,

TENNIS LEAGUE CHAMPIONS FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR
Yearbook. Team members were Peter McMillan, Greg Saunders, Rob Kanes, Keith Johnson, Phil Kashap, John Brooke, Joe McCroskey, Bill Slakey, Greg Peterson, Erik Fieberling, Jim Hall, William Rose, Kevin Slakey, Mike McNeal, Josh Aronson, Paul Lukan, Ron Delaney, Les Stickles, Kit Kashap, Pat Dennehy, Matt Tsugawa and Harry Dong.

In sixteen league encounters, the Red Birds destroyed the competition with a combined match score of 101-11. Led by CCS runner up Eric Fieberling, the record setting Red Birds squelched Salinas 5-2 to nab their second consecutive title.

Pre season write up in Trident. All the rest of material comes from the Trident. Tennis is on the way led by senior star Eric Fieberling and eight returning varsity lettermen, who will start the season as early favorites to win the MBL title. SC will be defending their MBL championship they won last year, by trouncing the Southern division champions Salinas 6-0. Fieberling ranked in the top 30 of this years Northern California juniors will lead the Cards in the number one singles position for the fourth consecutive year. Eric will head up one of the most intimidating singles lineups in the MBL will be followed by Phil Kashap and Matt Tsugawa both juniors and senior Bill Slakey. Kashap last year handled the number two position and at the end of the year in the county frosh-soph tourney took top honors. Twugawa and Slakey combined for a 27-1 singles record in MBL play last year.
Matt advanced to the finals of the frosh-soph County tourney before falling to Kashap. Preseason scrambling for the fifth singles position has yet to produce a definite front runner. Junior Rob Kanes, senior Keith Johnson, freshman Kit Kashap and Mike McNeal all have a chance for the spot.
The doubles team of Jim Hall and Pat Dennehy seem to have a lock on the number one, doubles position with the number two tandem as yet undecided. Sophomore John Brooke a, first year player, will most likely will find himself in a varsity uniform early in the Card’s season.

This year’s JV team seems to be every bit as good as any the Cards have had. Freshman Steve Alves and Harry Dong along with junior Les Stickles have shown early promise. Freshmen Peter McMillan, Kevin Slakey, William Rose and Josh Aronson rounded out this year’s JV team.

SC won the MBL championship by defeating Southern Division winner Salinas in the league playoffs. Tsugawa and Kashap both registered impressive singles wins. Rob Kanes, the number five singles player reversed an early season set back, when he scored a straight set victory over his previously undefeated Salinas opponent. The number one doubles tandem of Jim Hall and Pat Dennehy also reversed an earlier decision, when they nabbed a thrilling three set win, which at the time was the title clinching point for the Red Birds. John Brooks and Kit Kashap, the Cards number two doubles team went down to only their only loss of the season, when they dropped a three set decision to their Salinas opponents.

Phil Kashap and Matt Tsugawa both ended up with perfect 16-0 records in league. Fieberling won all his matches until the league championship matches when he had to retire with a pulled muscle. At the time he had won four singles and a doubles match.

At the league tournament for each schools top players, Fieberling won the individual title by dropping only four games in four matches to earn the right to represent the MBL in the CCS tournament.

At CCS Eric faced some of the top ranked juniors in Northern California. The defending CCS champion, who ranked sixteenth for 16 year olds in the nation, had beaten Eric twice this year. But in the CCS semi finals, Eric turned the tables and won 7-6, 6-2 to go into the finals. In the finals Eric had split matches with his opponent previously this year. Eric was not able to pull the upset the second time and became the runner up.

Sentinel. May 30. Fieberling Santa Cruz County High School Net Champ. In the seventh annual SCHS Tennis Tournament with competitors from all the county high schools divided into varsity and junior varsity divisions. Past SC winners were Pat Swafford, 1971 and Marc Ballgae, 1972. SC’s Eric Fieberling defeated Bill Jue of Soquel in the finals. Jue posted an upset victory over Bill Slakey 6-3, 6-3. John Brooke lost in three sets 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5-3 in the tie breaker)

GOLF finished fourth in the league
(only information is in yearbook) The team is in contention for the upper part of the league. As was mentioned last year, Bryan Pini is not only the premier golfer in the MBL, but according to fiercely competitive Junior Golfers Association, the number one golfer in Northern California. Bryan is now a senior. Two other golfers to be reckoned with are Doak Gintert, the teams lone owner of a hole-in-one and junior standout Jeff Weber. To round out the match team are Mike Boldrick, Eric Forgaard and Gary George.

Other team members were Rick Davis, Nick Curran, Scott Foster, Michael Barnhart, John Beiers, Rich Baird and Mark Hansen.

GIRLS GYMNASTICS
This years squad is small in number and will only field a Novice (new) team. Some of the new team members will only work in the beginners group learning the compulsory routines that are expected to be performed by all gymnasts. The team is short on equipment and will be hindered because of it. Beginners are Kelly Brady, Claire Dolan, Kim Knox and Emmilou McCrary. Novice participants are Wendy Batt, Lisa Bertram, Sandy Harlan, Leah Ruby, Lee Ann Sherwood and Stephani Wilson. Highest point earners this far this season are Emmilou McCrary and Lee Ann Sherwood.

Leah Ruby was voted by the team as person with the best sportsmanship, perseverance and enthusiasm. Leah has all of these qualities as well as caring for the other team members and trying her hardest. She received a trophy with a foot high figure of a gymnast on it to keep for herself.

INDIVIDUALS

Terri Schneider was recognized at the Fall Sports Awards night for her leading the cross country team to a 9-1 record. Schneider placed second at the league meet for which she was honored with the schools Most Valuable Female Runner award.

Liz Crowell has a tremendous record over her three years on the tennis team with a 21-3 won loss total. Liz Crowell was named Jock of the Month for her play as the number one player on the fine Cardinal tennis team for three years. This year Liz progressed to the finals of the MBL singles tournament with a 8-2 record. Her overall record for three years are 7-0 as a sophomore; 5-1 as a junior and 8-2 as a senior.

Eric Fieberling ranked in the top 30 of this years Northern California juniors will lead the Cards in the number one singles position for the fourth consecutive year. Eric will head up one of the most intimidating singles lineups in the MBL. Fieberling won all his matches until the league championship matches, when he had to retire with a pulled muscle. At the time he had won four singles and a doubles match. At the league tournament for each schools top players, Fieberling won the individual title by dropping only four games in four matches to earn the right to represent the MBL in the CCS tournament. At CCS Eric faced some of the top ranked juniors in Northern California. The defending CCS champion, who ranked sixteenth for 16 year olds in the nation, had beaten Eric twice this year. But in the CCS semi finals, Eric turned the tables and won 7-6, 6-2 to go into the finals. In the finals Eric had split matches with his opponent previously this year. Eric was not able to pull the upset the second time and became the runner up. Pre season write up. SC will be defending their MBL championship they won by trouncing the Southern division champions Salinas 6-0.

As was mentioned last year, Bryan Pini is not only the premier golfer in the MBL, but according to fiercely competitive Junior Golfers Association, the number one golfer in Northern California. Bryan is now a senior. He was the top rebounded on the varsity basketball team and at times contributed to the scoring attack at crucial times. In an upset of Seaside, the 6-2 Pini scored four points to put the score 42-38 with four minutes to play and was the top rebounded of the game and kept the Spartans center under control.

Most Valuable Back, Larry Monroe played brilliantly easily making the ALL MBL team and leading the league in rushing. His top games were 176 yards against Soquel and 148 against SLV. Larry’s top rushing games were 176 yards against Soquel and 148 against SLV. He was limited to 58 yards in a two point loss to Aptos, but was exceptional on defense. One of his top plays was intercepting a pass on Aptos’ first offensive play to set the tone of how SC was going to give them a game. Larry scored the two touchdowns scored against the Mariners. Larry Monroe was chosen Jock of the Month for his play against Aptos. Larry was ALL MBL, All County and All CCS Tournament in baseball.

Quarterback Scott Seymour, from a comment by a teammate, as the guy who “kept the team together.” He was named the teams Most Valuable player. Against the MBL champion Monterey Scott completed seven out of 11 passes. In the Cards best game of the year against Aptos Scott threw for 162 yards in a two point loss. Seymour got hot hitting Persley for 10 and Dan Marino for 19 with only 2 seconds left on the clock, he then rifled a 19 yarder over the middle to Monroe for the TD. Scott was one of the top defenders and rebounders on the varsity basketball team.

Cross country runner Dave Gregoric placed seventh out of 75 runners at the CCS Region IV meet to advance to the CCS finals. Dave was sixth at the MBL meet and won numerous dual meets.

Ken O’Connell was Jock of the Month. Ken is leading the basketball team in assists and averaging about 11 points a game. His worth to our team can not be measured by the box score, largely because his major contribution comes from his leadership. Kenny is not only a good basketball player, but he is also a very good all around athlete. Kenny, who missed all of last season with a knee injury is well and made a big deference to this years basketball and baseball teams. Ken is a great asset to SCHS sports. Ken’s top scoring games were 19 points against Watsonville and 17 points against Soquel and Alisal.
Kenny was obviously the catalyst in the 52-45 upset of Seaside. He used his poise and basketball savvy to run the SC attack. He broke Seaside with key hoops many times in the game. His patience on offense was a big factor in the win. SC stalled at the end of the third quarter with the ball mainly in control of O’Connell, who hit a jumper with 4 seconds left to put the Cards up 38-28. O’Connell sank two free throws to end the game 52-48.
Ken was the lone Cardinal on the ALL MBL team and also was ALL MBL in baseball as the team made it all the way to the championship game of CCS.

Junior Clyde Persley has earned the Jock of the month award for his leadership qualities and astounding tenacity for the out manned football team in their last season of tough MBL play. Clyde’s efforts inspire his teammates as well as the local fans. As one of the eleven returning players, Clyde is a standout in all phases of the game, offensive and defensive back in addition to all the special teams. Clyde was also a first stringer on the varsity basketball team.

Greg Wehr was named Jock of the month of May for being a major contributor to the team, being the number one pitcher, for his versatility of playing first base while not pitching to keep his clutch hitting bat in the game. Greg plans to continue playing at Cabrillo.