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1983

DOC DIES AT 95 Doc Fehliman was 95 years young this year. He died in Redding, California after a week long battle with pneumonia. Doc was the alumni director at SCHS for the past 30 years. He is responsible for establishing one of the best and largest alumni associations in the state. The association has on file records of over 15,000 grads of this school. Information on what grads did before and after graduation as well as addresses are on file. Reunions and newsletters are just a part of what Doc did while working in the office.
Doc reported to work daily until this past November. He didn’t retire from work, he just wanted to return to Nebraska and visit the land he was raised in. He never made it.
Doc came to SCHS in 1922 where he was a teacher of science, economics, history and athletics. He was always active in athletics even after his retirement from teaching in 1952. Doc timed home football games until the mid 1970’s. The school gym is named after Doc as is the alumni building. In 1974 the alumni building was dedicated to Fehliman as a reward for his efforts to get the building and office established.
We can all learn a lesson from Doc–it does make a difference what one person does in this world. Doc made a difference in all the things he did and he shows us that we can all find enjoyment in what we are doing. We will miss his humor and dedication.
The yearbook staff proudly dedicates our Fall sports section to Michael Leimbach, due to a courageous defensive effort in a game against Soquel. Mike was left almost totally paralyzed from the neck down. Mike, we hope you accept this gesture of sympathy and support from all of us.

This year there has been a change in the make up of the SCCAL this year. Watsonville, who has been playing in the MBL, but moved to the SCCAL this year.

Coaches: Ron Mehurn, varsity football.
Ben Sawer, cross country, Karl Grubaugh, boys swimming and water polo. Carol Kreppel, girls swimming and assistant Brooke Dick. Pete Newell basketball and softball. Duane Garner, girls basketball. Edwards, volleyball. Ginger Anderson JV swimming. Don Dempwolf, soccer. Sergio Sierra, JV soccer and assistant Tony Pacheco. Gian Strunier, head track. Assistants Mike Lotter, Toren Rotstein and Bob Sharma. Bill Dodge, baseball. Ray Hunter, assistant baseball. Dennis Mullen, girls and boys tennis.

1984
FOOTBALL Practice games: Stevenson 0-12, Valley Christian 29-6, Marello 0-14, Lincoln 10-8. Practice record 2-2. League: Harbor 2-16, SLV 7-21, Soquel 7-33, Aptos 18-17 and NMC 0-26. League record 1-4, last place. Season record 3-6.

The team dedicated their season to Mike Leimbach. The highlight of the season was a come from behind 18-17 victory over Aptos for the first time in eleven years. It took the fine play of 16 seniors and a number of outstanding juniors, who played respectable football that equaled the record of last years team.

Superb Effort By SC Defense Goes For Naught Against RLS in a 12-0 loss. RLS mustered only one first down in the first half against the spirited Card defense. A blocked SC punt rolled into the end zone and was recovered by the Pirates giving them a 6-0 lead at half. At the start of the second half a Card fumble was recovered by RLS on the Cards 18. The defensive efforts of Rob Henry and Phillip Jack stopped RLS cold and the Cards regained the ball on their own 15. RLS had only gained three yards. Eventually, the inability of the Cards offense to sustain a drive pushed the weary SC defense into a corner. With six minutes to play RLS scored the final TD and went on to hold a 12-0 to the end of the game. The bright spot for the offense was junior running back Jim Courtright who gained 92 yards in 11 carries.

Santa Cruz Defense Paves Way For Offense in a 29-6 victory over Valley Christian. If a team’s offense has a difficult time moving the football, it can be advantageous if the defense provides it with the ball as close to the end zone as possible. That’s exactly what the SC defense did Saturday afternoon. SC intercepted four passes, two in the first half that set up short scoring drives, to motivate the previously stagnant Card offense. Linebacker Phillip Jack intercepted a pass and returned it for 56 yards down to the Valley four. Rob Morris, SC’s 5-11, 154 pound quarterback gained a yard on a sneak, but Valley was off side and that put the ball on the two.
On the next play Jim Courtright bulled over for the score and converted the kick for the extra point to make it 7-0 with 4:38 left in the first quarter. Valley took the ball to their own 35 and threw and interception to linebacker Wade Wallace, who ran it back to the Valley 15. Two sacks and a holding penalty move the ball back to the 34. SC was held and punted the ball into the end zone, which put the ball on Valley’s own 20. On the first play, a screen pass to their top, speedy running back, who when for a 80 yard score and the PAT was not good to make the score 7-6 SC. Randy Criswell, a 5-11, 150 pound defensive back, grabbed the short kickoff at his 20 yards line and ran it 80 yards for a score. On the PAT attempt, holder Bill Burr took the snap from center, rolled to his right and tossed a two point conversion to Walt Alexander for a 15-6 SC lead. Surprisingly, SC led despite not having completed a pass or gained a first down in the game so far. With 3:11 remaining in the half, Jack intercepted another pass and retuned it to the Warrior 31. Gaining confidence, the Cards used eight running plays to push the ball into the end zone, as Morris snuck it in to make the score 21-6. The second half belong to the Cards as well as the Warriors were held to just two first downs. SC conversely opened its running attack and controlling the ball all but seven minutes following the intermission. Using straight ahead running plays the Cards gained 132 yards on the ground. Courtright accounted for 70 of those yards in 15 carries.

Marello Rolls Over SC. Marello charged onto Memorial Field with 14 players and departed with a 14-0 win. The soggy field and rainy skies produced 12 fumbles overall and helped Marello score its first points on a safety with 3:30 left in the first half. After stopping a Marello drive on a fumble recovery by Phillip Jack on the Card 16 yard line, the Cards were forced to punt, but the snap from center sailed out of the end zone and Marello took a 2-0 lead. Two minutes later the Cards were forced to punt again from their 30. This time the ball bounced to the punter, who was forced to run, but came up short of the first down and Marello took over on the SC 32 with one minute left. Marello scored on a pass to make the score 8-0. Marello scored again on a 24 yard run for the final score of 14-0 with three minutes left in the third quarter. The Cards deepest penetration of the night was to the Marello 31. Jim Courtright and Kevin Hodges ran for 39 and 32 yards respectively.

Santa Cruz Gets The Breaks. Cards Hold On To Slip Past Lincoln Of San Jose 10-8. Led by a strong defense and a couple of timely breaks, SC upset the previously undefeated Lincoln in the final non league game. Lincoln out gained SC 267-135 yards, but turned the ball over four times compared to once for SC. Defensive back Scott Thiebout intercepted a pass to stop a scoring threat on his own 13 yard line. SC got a break that led to the only Card touchdown on the first play of the second quarter. Faced with a fourth and 9 situation on its own 25 yard line, SC punted the ball away, but Lincoln was called for a personal foul and SC got the ball back on their own 40. Three plays later, Ron Bailey cut over right tackle for a 48 yard touchdown run. Jim Courtright kicked the extra point to put SC up 7-0. Early in the fourth quarter Dan Chase intercepted a pass on the Lincoln 38 yard line. The Cards drove the ball to the Lincoln 9, but had to settle for a 26 yard field goal by Courtright to make it 10-0 SC. Lincoln scored in the last minute of the game. SC closed non league play 2-2. SC gained 130 yards on the ground, while quarterback Rob Morris completed 1 of 4 passes for 9 yards. Morris was sacked three times for a loss of 22 yards. On defense, SC came up with the big play when needed. The four Card interceptions came at key points in the game. “Our inability to maintain control of the ball almost resulted in disaster,” said coach Ron Mehuron.

Inept Start, But Harbor Live To Tell About It. SC Unable to Capitalize On Bucs’ Fumbles. Fumble. Fumble, Safety. Fumble. Harbor won 16-2. It started like this. The Pirates ran only eight offensive plays in the first 15 minutes of the game. They did everything they could to help SC score. On the first two possessions, they gave SC the ball on fumbles at their 28 and 31 yard lines, but SC could not punch it in either time. On the third time, Harbor helped by snapping the ball into the end zone on a punt attempted, where it was recovered by a Harbor player, who was caught still in the end zone by a gang of Cards to give SC a 2-0 lead. Harbor then kicked a field goal to go ahead 3-2. Harbor had four first half fumbles. The Cards recovered a fumble on the Harbor 26 and then marched to the two yard line, where they had a first down, but could not score. On a field goal try the holder dropped the snap. It was the Cards last chance to score. Harbor out gained SC only 174-147. Rushing stats were Courtright 13 carries for 71 yards; Bailey 9 for 23; Kevin Hodges 4 for 7; Whelan 2 for 4. Others had minus yards. Passing, Morris completed 6 of 17 attempts for 64 yards and had three interceptions. Receiving were Chris Francis one for 11 yards; Courtright 1 for 0; Bainum 2 for 20; Mike Francis 1 for 8 and Alexander one for 25.

Valley In win Over SC 21-7. SLV quarterback throws for two touchdowns and ran for the third to be involved in all three SLV scores. For the first half, neither team seemed to be able to do anything more than run three plays and punt. In fact SC was getting the better of the Cougars. The worst field position for the Cards was their won 43 yard line. The best position was when a SLV snap on a punt attempted, sailed over the punters head and was recovered on the SLV 11. Four plays later, Ron Bailey ran it in from the four. Jim Courtright kicked the extra point to put SC ahead 7-0 with 8:40 left in the first half. SLV came right back and scored to tie the score 7-7. The end of the story. SLV out gained SC 242-71. Rushing stats were Kevin Hodges 13 carries for 18 yards; Bailey 12 for 52; Courtright 5 for 15; Freeman 3 for 4; Keith Hodges 1 for 4 and Morris 7 for minus 17. Passing Morris was 1 of 7 attempts for minus five yards and one interception. Receiving Courtright one for minus five.

Soquel’s Offense Rolls In Win Over Cardinals 33-7. Soquel received the opening kickoff and ran it to their own 34 from where they marched down the field to first and goal at the Cards one yard line. After 17 plays and 65 yards, the sturdy Card defense held the Knights out of the end zone. SC was forced to punt out of their own end zone and Soquel came right back and scored. At half time the score was Soquel 12-0. SC came back and score half way through the third quarter with the aid of two 15 yard penalties against Soquel and a 15 yard run to the five yard line by quarterback Rob Morris. Jim Courtright bucked it in from there to tighten up the score 12-7. The SC defense started to wear down and Soquel kept scoring. “Although it might not look like it from the score, we had a lot of improvement on offense this week. We had better pass protection and were able to do some things we have had trouble with in the past. Our kids kept their heads up all through the game, even when they realized they weren‘t going to win the game,” said coach Ron Mehuron. Soquel out gained Soquel 450-147. Positive rushing stats were Bailey seven carries for 9 yards; Morris ten for 36; Courtright 8 for 22; Keith Hodges 1 for 9 and Kevin Hodges 1 for seven. Passing, Morris competed 7 of 14 attempts for two interceptions and 69 yards. Receiving were Keith Hodges 3 for 52; Mike Francis 1 for 5; Courtright 1 for 6 and Bailey 2 for 6.

Surprise! Santa Cruz Rallies In Last Quarter To Beat Aptos 18-17. As the fourth quarter began Aptos had a 17-0 lead and the SC offense was stuck in neutral and the Aptos fans where beginning to get ready to leave in the anticipation of a Aptos win. On the other side of the field, the Cards tightened up their chin straps, pulled up their pants and began to come out of their hypnotic state. When Keith Hodges skied a 60 yard punt that settled on the Aptos 1, the fans decided to sit down. After two offside penalties, the Mariners were penalized for 150 yards for the day, Aptos was forced to punt. Rob Henry broke through the Mariner line and blocked the punt. The ball bounced straight up and came down in the waiting hands of Bob Lonero in the end zone for a score to cut the lead to 17-6. With six minutes left in the game, Aptos lost control of the ball on their own 20. A host of players from both teams took turns jumping on the loose ball, only to have it squirt loose again. Finally, at the five, Noah De La Cruz picked up the ball and ran in for another TD. With three minutes left in the game, Aptos led 17-12. The Mariners recovered the Cards on-side kick at their own 48. The Mariners coughed up the ball again and Peter Riccabona recovered. The Card bench erupted in ecstasy. It was time for the offense to pull its weight. It responded. With 1:30 remaining, the Cards were at the Mariner 19. On second and 10 from the 19, quarterback Rob Morris found Chris Francis over the middle in a crossing pattern, Francis was immediately stuck in the chest and drilled to the turf, but he held on to the ball. It was first and goal from the 9. On the next play, Morris rolled to his right and end Keith Hodges ran a down-and-out pattern one yard in the end zone. As Morris let fly toward Hodges, the only sound heard was the drone of the freeway a mile away. Under pressure Hodges gathered in the ball to climax one of the wildest comebacks and SC history. “The offense pulled through after they realized we could win. It’s a great feeling for us. We deserve to celebrate. Its our first league victory,” said an elated Coach Mehuron. The Cards had 50 yards of total offense, 67 passing and minus 17 rushing. Aptos did not do much better as the combined total yards gained was 105. Passing stats were Morris completed 7 of 19 passes attempted for 42 yards and had two interceptions. Keith Hodges threw one pass for 25 yards. Receiving were Mike Francis two passes for 31 yards; Jim Courtright three for 15; Alexander one for three; Chris Francis one for 10 and Keith Hodges one for 9. Positive rushers where Courtright five rushes for one yard; Kevin Hodges one for five; Bailey five for six.

North Monterey game write up missing, but do have the stats for the 26-0 loss. North Monterey out gained the Cards 255- 83. Plus rushing only: Courtright ten carries for 42 yards and Freeman 9 for 36. Passing, Morris completed 3 of 18 attempts for 23 yards with two interceptions. Receiving were Bailey one for 4; Freeman one for 5 and Chris Francis one for 14.

FROSH/SOPH FOOTBALL won three and lost six for the season. The team had only eight sophomores and eight freshman for a 16 man squad.
Practice games: RLS 0-12., Valley Christian 7-0, Marello 14-0, Lincoln 28-0. Practice record 3-1. League:

Despite managing only 12 yards total offense RLS won 12-0.

Johnny Johnson scored on a 4 yard run with 1:19 left in the game, capping a 50 yard drive to beat Valley Christian 7-0.

Led by sophomore Johnny Johnson, who rushed more then 200 yards and had three touchdowns, SC defeated Lincoln 28-0.

Sentinel All County team: Offense: senior lineman, 6-1, 180 Mike Laine. Defense: junior end, 6-0, 189, Phillip Jack. Honorable mention: Ron Bailey, Bill Burr, Randy Criswell, Marty Corley, Jim Courtright, Kevin Dickerson, Rob Henry, Scott Thiebout.

CROSS COUNTRY
Yearbook. Record was 1-5 and was made up mainly sophomores and freshman. Sophomore, Bill Bennett led the inexperienced team and they were never discouraged and made up for their losses with spirit, coach Ben Sawer.
The boys won the frosh-soph league meet, by placing all their runners under twelfth place. Two SC runners tied for first, then a third place, fifth and eleventh to have the best score in the meet.
The girls team, led by Celeste Deck and Lynette Mungai lacked depth, but they placed high as individuals in the league and regional meets.
Other team members were Vic Panero, Geoff Rashe, Pat Sullivan, John Deck, Adrian Crawford, Craig Comstock, Eric Heer, Eric Hilgar, Lisa Luboff, Leslie Gibson, Bill Bennett, Vince Panero, David Frost, Jordan LeBoeuf, Jenny Bloom and Leticia Alvarez.

Sentinel September 20. In the first league meet at UCSC, Soquel boys beat SC 15-45. SC placers by name, place and time. Bennett, 6, 12:14; Canero, 7, 12:51; Hilger, 9, 13:23 and Sullivan, 10, 13:45.
The SC girls ran incomplete. Mungai, 3, 15:16 and Luboff, 10, 20:12.

Sentinel September 30. North Monterey boys beat SC 16-47 and won the first four places. Bennett, 5, 17:52; Hilger 9, 18:07; Panero 10, 18:34.
In the girls SC ran incomplete again as Lynette Mungai, a freshman was the only SC runner and she took second place in 22:33.
In the boys junior varsity action, NMC won 18-37.

October 1. SC boys beat Aptos 23-32. Bill Bennett covered the Aptos 2.5 mile course in 14:44 for first place. Comstock, 4, 15:24; Hilger, 5, 15:37; Panero, 6, 15:53; Sullivan 7, 16:30.
The Aptos girls won 23-33. Deck, 2, 17:50; Mungai, 4, 18:41; Luboff, 7, 23:40; Bloom 9. 26:26.

October 7. Watsonville boys beat SC 22-34 over the 2.1 mile course. Hilger, 3, 12:23; Comstock 5, 12:45; Frost, 12:55; Sullivan, 9, 13:12.
(no mention of a girls meet)

October 14. SLV boys run wild over SC 16-45. SLV took the first four places, with the winner breaking the course record. Bennett, 5, 15:13; Comstock, 7, 15:23; Hilger 9, 15:47.
SLV girls take SC 25-39. Celeste Deck broke the course record winning time 18:04. Mungai, 2, 18:45; SLV took all the rest of the ten places.

Harbor boys beat SC 20-37. Bennett, 4, 12:19; Hilger, 12:27; Panero, 7, 12:45; Sullivan, 9, 13:20.
Harbor girls beat SC 24-43. Deck, 2, (no times) Mungai, 3.

November 11. Soquel Boys, Aptos Girls SCCAL Champs at the North Monterey 3 mile course.
At Castroville, the trees buckled in the mean, cold wind. Rain fell in driving horizontal sheets. The earth turned to a muddy quagmire. Spectators dared not open umbrellas for the fear of being lifted by the elements in to the sky like helicopters. There was nowhere to run or hide.
Boys scoring: Soquel 42, NMC 45, Harbor 71, Watsonville 75, Aptos 139 and SC 153. SC had no runners in the top ten.
Girls scoring: Aptos 36, Soquel 43, Harbor 70, NMC 73 and SLV 125. SC did not have enough team members (five) to have a team score. But Celeste Deck placed eighth and Lynette Mungai ninth.
Boys frosh-soph scoring: SC 22, SLV 54, Soquel 63 and NMC 73. SC took the first three places and four out of the first five. Bill Bennett and Panero tied for first; Craig Comstock was third and a Panero was fifth. (No notice of which Panero brother, Vic or Vince, who tied for first or came in fifth.

November 17. At the CCS Region IV cross country championship at Crystal Springs Reservoir in Belmont on a muddy 2.9 mile course, Harbors lithe freshman Kelly Illnicki, won her eleventh race of the season and won girls division in 18:52. Other top SCCAL events:
*Aptos girls defended their Region IV championship
*North Monterey won its second boys title
*Soquel finished second in the girls division and third in the boys division.
*All four teams qualify for the CCS finals.
*(All of this shows the type of competition the young Cards had to compete against.)
For SC, sophomore Bill Bennett finished seventy-second in 18:52. On the girls side, freshman Lynette Mungai placed seventeenth in 12:32 and sophomore Celeste Deck placed nineteenth in 21:47.
There were 120 runners in the boys race and 82 in the girls race.

November 26. (SC had no runner at the CCS championship meet) Harbor freshman Ilnicki finished fifth and qualified to compete in the NorCal finals were she also took fifth place. Only three other girls from the SCCAL has ever advanced to the NorCal’s. One of them was the Cards Terry Schneider.

GIRLS’ TENNIS SCCAL CO-CHAMPIONS
Yearbook. This year was a good year for the girls tennis team, though they did not have a home court to play on. Coached by Mr. Mullen the girls were co-champions with Aptos. Some of the singles players that really stood out this year were Jenny Newman, Gloria Zwerling, Dee Nitzberg, and Sheri Wells. Some of the good doubles teams were Mara Meyberg and Kathy O’Brien, Liz Bertrad and Jennifer Mullen, Stephanie Kwan and Marie Kilmartin. The returning seniors were Dee Nitzberg, Sheri Wells, Kathy O’Brien and Marie Kilmartin.

WATER POLO
Yearbook. Eleven of the varsity team were suspended, so the frosh-soph team carried on and had a 4-4 record. Alex Corotto was named to the All League team. Brit Hoberg was named Most Valuable player. Other standouts were John Houghton and Joel Moreno. The coach was Karl Grubaugh for the second season. Other team members were M. Berger, C Shumate, B. Tunheim, J Melton, R. Camacho, M. Getty, J. Allison, J. McPhearson, C. Smith, R. DeGenero, D. Morsse, D. Meyburg, I Cammer, D. Mellon, S. Tunhiem and B. Hackbarth.

Sentinel. Sept. 18. SC Poloists Lose to Sequoia 17-12. SC led 4-2 after the first period, but Sequoia outscored Sc 13-5 during the next two quarters to lead 15-9. “We backed of after getting the lead and they took advantage of it,” said Coach Karl Grubaugh. Todd Hoberg led SC with four goals, followed by McPherson 3, Smith 2, Hackbarth, Tunheim and Moyce one apiece. Scoring by quarters with SC listed first: 4-2, 2-8, 3-5, 3-2.
SC won the frosh-soph match 14-2 to even its record at 1-1.

Sept. 22. SC won by forfeit 5-0 over Soquel, which only had five players. SC is 2-1 overall. SC won the frosh-soph match 11-9.

Sentinel, Sept. 30. Eleven Santa Cruz Water Polo Players suspended for the remainder of the season by the schools administration after they were discovered last Friday drinking alcoholic beverages in the locker room at Salinas high water polo tournament. The suspensions leave SC with only two eligible varsity players. SC will forfeit the remainder of its varsity schedule, rather than elevate players from the frosh-soph team to fill the roster. Coach Karl Grubaugh, “It’s not fair to the frosh-soph kids to force them to play varsity ball. They would get absolutely destroyed. Their skills wouldn’t improve, they wouldn’t be taught anything by doing it and they would be taken advantage of by the opposition. They’re better off at the frosh-soph level.

(Evidently SC did play a varsity schedule. No mention of the matter in material available other then the league tournament below.)

Nov. 9. Bucs Top Seed In Tournament. League standings: Harbor 8-2, Aptos 6-2, Watsonville and Soquel 3-5, SC 1-7.

SCCAL Tournament. Game One, Soquel 12, SC 6. SC scoring unavailable. Game three, Watsonville 12, SC 2. Scorers: Hoberg and Curotto one each. SC eliminated.

GIRLS SWIMMING UNDEFEATED AND LEAGUE CHAMPS FOR THE THIRD YEAR IN A ROW. This years team was full of talent. Returnees were Lani Lau, Christina Rafealli, Melissa Janke, Amy Bogard, Susie Wickum, Janice Rosebrough, Heidi McPherson and Julie McPherson. Coaches Carol Kreppel and Brooke Dick.

Diving team were Gini Hartley, Renee Alvado, Cathy Rodoni, Molly Courtwright and Jennifer Houser.

JV’s placed fourth in league. JV talents were Portia Libby, Vickie Corley, Monica Limas, Molly May and Jackie Harvey. Other team members were Nanette Carlson, Shelly LeBer, Holly Henderson, Jenny Walters, Kelly Robinett, Vickie Corley, Monica Limas, Christine Torres, Carrie Cunha, Paige Baldhosky, Theresa Love, Cynthia Zwerling, Molly May, Melissa Jahnke, Heidi Whiting, Melanee Miles, Julie Wamsley, Deanne Bahr, Amy Houser, ZoeZachmeir, Joel Eastman, and Susan Gunderson. Coach Ginger Anderson,

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Practice matches: Wilcox, won; Leland, loss;
League: Watsonville, two wins; Aptos, won, ?; Harbor, two losses; Soquel, loss, win; North Monterey, loss, win: Marello ?. ( record probably 8-4. Team came on in the second half)

Sentinel September 22. SC won its season opener in three games over Wilcox, 16-14, 10-15, 15-10. In junior varsity action SC won 15-9, 15-10.

Sentinel September 23. SC fell to Leland 12-15, 15-3, 15-8 for a 1-1 record.
JV’s, SC won 15-7, 6-15, 15-9 for a perfect 2-0 record.

September 25. At the Gilroy tournament, the SC junior varsity team placed third in their pool. Having beaten RLS twice, SC named Angie Work as their MVP.

September 28. In the league opener, SC downed Watsonville 15-11, 15-6. SC is now 2-1. SC was led by Joanna Wilson, who coach Sam Edwards said did an excellent job serving and setting the ball. JV action, SC defeated Watsonville 15-6, 11-15, 15-13.

September 30. SC an up and coming team in the league, disposed of Aptos in two games, 15-10, 15-4. JV won 15-8, 15-3.

October 3. Harbor Tops SC In Key Match 15-7, 15-13. SC led in the second game 13-11, but then Harbor scored four straight points to came back. SC is 2-1 in league. Coach Sam Edwards was not happy with the Cards play in the first game, “We weren’t ready to play.” SC was led by hitter-blocker Denise Houk.

October 12. Soquel, 3-1 kept pace with the leaders with a 8-15, 15-6, 15-13 win over SC, 2-2.

October 19. NMC Nips Santa Cruz 11-15, 15-7, 15-11 in a crucial match. SC is now 2-3 in league was down 11-7 in the third game and then tied it at 11-11. SC was led by the hitting and setting of Amy Ball. Coach Edwards, “Our concentration fell apart in the third game. We played a little too conservatively in the last two games. Possibly a little more conditioning would be in order.”

October 21. SC defeated Watsonville 15-1, 15-10. Jana Burr’s play on the back row was praised by coach Edwards.

October 28. Harbor defeated SC, but for the first time this season in a league match, the Pirates had to go three games. Harbor lost the first game, 15-10, but came back 15-6, 15-13. It was an exceptional match,” said the Harbor coach, whose team is now 8-0 in league and 17-3 overall.

SC beat second place Soquel 15-1, 15-13 in a big upset.

November 11. SC held off North Monterey 9-15, 15-11, 15-9 to nab third place. SC JV’s defeated NMC. Harbor 12-0 and Soquel 9-3 both advance to the CCS playoffs.

BOYS VARSITY BASKETBALL Practice games: Six games missing all together. Baymonte 58-56, Dads Club Tournament: ?
Carmel Tournament: Monterey 42-57, Salinas 43-60, Gustine 63-44 for seventh place. Monterey 43-58, Palma 44-45. Practice record ?
League: SLV 43-42, 45-55; Soquel 48-63, 51-61; Watsonville 43-38, 51-40; North Monterey loss, 30-36; Harbor 45-43, 53-74; Marello 60-59, 81-59; Aptos 51-67, 30-41. League record 6-8 Season record 10-16 from the Sentinel.

Sentinel preseason write up November 24. After posting his best record at SC last season, Coach Newell faces perhaps his biggest rebuilding challenge this year. “We don’t have an awful lot of varsity experience, but we have a lot of time to get our baptism in order to prepare for league play,” said Newell, who lost six seniors a lot of leadership with them. After going 18-8 overall and 8-4 in league last year, Newell will carry 16 players on his roster this year, the largest group ever at SC. “It will make me a better coach in that I have to be much more organized. I have to make sure everybody gets to learn and a good workout,” Newell said. Once again, fans can expect more of the SC brand of basketball. Man-to-man half court defense, perimeter ball pressure, meticulous offensive execution and a fast break if offered. Jnnior forward Mike Poll, at 6-3 is the tallest Card and the lone returning starter. Newell is looking to Poll to fill the role of scorer for SC. “He knows where the basket is and what to do with the ball when he get it.” Senior center Neil Whitesell and quick forward Mike Castillo, who is getting a strong challenge from senior Chris Francis will fill out the front court. Starting guards should be senior point man 6-3 senior Dan Dalbey and junior Kevin Grindy. “I really feel that our team will improve throughout December as they gain experience and the opportunity to play with each other,” said Newell.

Six returning players from last season are senior Neil Whitesell a third year varsity player. Junior center/forward Mark Poll at 6-5 was a starter last year. Senior Dan Dalbey saw considerable playing time last year. Others with some playing time last year are Shaw, Kevin Grindy, Smith, Seniors Mike Castillo, Chris Francis. New comers are Eddie Marcum, Joel Domhoff, Robinson, Wade Wallace

Santa Cruz opened their season with a nail biting win over Baymonte 58-56. There were six lead changes and four of them came in the fourth quarter in their game at Bethany Bible College, before SC won at the buzzer on an off balance layup by center Neil Whitesell. Baymonte tied the score 56-56 with less than 30 seconds left to set up the dramatic ending for the Cards. When starters Mike Poll and Dan Dalbey got into early foul trouble, the Cards had to go their bench. No problem, Coach Newell felt, “Our bench was very instrumental in staying close in the first half. Neil Whitesell did a good job anchoring the team coming up with some key rebounds and points. The Cards used ten players. Whitesell led the Cards with 18 points followed by Poll who added 10. The game was close throughout, with the exception of the opening three minuets, when SC led 7-0 and in the middle of the second quarter, when Baymonte took a 27-17 lead the largest lead by either team. Baymonte led at half time 33-30 and held the lead through the end of the third quarter 47-44. SC won the last quarter 14-9. Scoring: Castillo, 4, Poll 10, Whitesell 18, Dalbey 4, Grindy 6, Francis 6, Robinson 6, Marcum 2, Wallace 2, Joel Domhoff 0 and Smith 0.

Dads Club Tournament: missing

Dec. 16. Monterey defeats SC 57-42 in he first round of the Carmel Tournament. Dan Dalbey scored 22 points, but that was pretty much the high point of the night for the Cards, which fell to its fifth loss against two wins. SC trailed 12-9 after the first quarter and by halftime, Monterey had increased its lead to 31-21. SC did not threaten the rest of the way and Monterey led 47-35 entering the final eight minutes of play. Mike Poll, who brought a 14.3 scoring average into the game was limited to eight points. No other Card scored more than four points.

In the second game of the Carmel tournament SC defeated Gustine 63-44. SC outscored Gustine in the third quarter 16-6 to take a 48-34 lead going into the fourth quarter. SC out rebounded Gustine 34-18. Mike Poll led the Cards with 9 of 13 shooting for 18 points and nine rebounds. Wade Wallace and Dan Dalbey scored 13 and 11 points respectively. Point guard Rod Whitley handed out five assists and scored eight points. “The third quarter turned things around for us. We’re executing better on offense and we’re playing better half court defense
and we’re improving,” said Newell.

Dec. 18. Salinas beats SC 60-43 to take fifth place in the Carmel tournament. SC was down 36-40 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but in the final eight minutes Salinas’ 6-7 center scored 13 points to blow away the Cards. The difference in the game was at the free throw line were Salinas hit 14 of 22 and SC 5 of 7. “We are improving, despite two losses down here. I believe we’re a better team than we were a week ago. I expect us to continue to improve in the next two weeks and be prepared for league. We didn‘t play very good defense and we didn‘t take advantage of their defense to get the ball inside,” Coach Newell. Neil Whitesell was the only Card in double figures with 11.

Dec. 21. For the second time in five days, SC lost to Monterey by 15 points 58-43 to make their record 3-7. The Cards hit only 31 percent of their shots, 18 of 57 attempts. That, however wasn’t the biggest problem. The Cards made 25 ball control errors, while Monterey had only five. That was the biggest difference in the game. SC held a 12-10 lead going into the second quarter, then Monterey outscored the Cards 22-13. Mike Poll led the scoring with 16 points, while Dan Dalbey chipped in 13 rebounds.

Dec. 30. Palma Nips Santa Cruz; On Shot with 0:02 Seconds left 45-44. With 30 seconds left, Palma down by one point, called time to set up the final shot. The Card defense nearly pushed the Palma offense out of the gym with their aggressive defense. The Chieftains spread wide to give the point guard room to drive. He took the ball to the paint with just seconds left and hit a jumper one step inside the foul line as the buzzer went off for the victory. The Chieftains should not have been in position to win the game, but poor shooting by SC from the foul line, 2 for 8 in the final period enabled Palma to stay close. For the first time this year, in 11 games, the Cards have been involved in a close contest that tested their nerves. “I was pleased with our overall team defense in the final 30 seconds. Overall I thought we controlled the tempo, boarded decently and ran the offense well. They came out full throttle and we were at about half speed,” said Newell. SC was on top 21-20 at halftime, but when they took the court afterward, they seemed to have left something in the locker room. Palma led 33-30 going into the last period. Neil Whitesell brought the home town crowd to its feet with a rousing breakaway slam dunk. Mike Poll, who had a game high 15 points, drove to the hoop moments later and the Cards had regained the lead at 36-35 with 5:46 left. Down the stretch no more than one point separated the teams as the lead changed hands several times. Poll gave the Cards their final lead with 46 seconds left with another driving lay up.

Jan. 4. Santa Cruz defeats SLV 43-42 in the league opener. While SC kicked off league play in a big way, SLV was disconsolate. SLV felt they had at least three opportunities in the last 30 second to win the game. SC led 40-35 with over two minutes to play, but SLV rallied for five straight points to tie the game. With 52 seconds left, Dan Dalbey gave hit a free throw and Mike Poll added two more with 12 seconds on the clock. SLV scored an uncontested bucket at the buzzer to provide the final margin. Poll scored 12 points, Dalbey and Neil Whitesell each had 10.

Jan. 8. Soquel downs SC 63-48. Soquel was down early 2-8, but came back to lead 24-18 at halftime, before outscoring SC 18-9 in the third quarter. Dave Dalbey led SC in scoring with 12 points followed by Mike Poll with 10.

Jan. 11. SC takes Watsonville, who has been playing in the MBL until this year, but moved to the SCCAL, by the score of 43-36. SC jumped to a 15-4 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Cards led 23-13 at halftime and 30-27 at the end of three quarters. Mike Poll scored a game high 20 points and had nine rebounds. Chris Francis also had nine rebounds. Neil Whitesell scored 14 points before leaving the game late in the third quarter with SC ahead 30-27. He and teammate Kevin Grindy collided while going for a pass and both suffered deep head cuts and both went to the hospital and were released. Junior guard Foti Mellis took over. “I thought Foti was instrumental in our victory. His defense was outstanding as he harassed the two perimeter players and quarterbacked our offense throughout the fourth quarter,” Coach Newell. Neither team shot well from the floor. SC was 15 for 36 for 29 percent.

Jan. 18. SC wins one point game against Marello 60-59. Chris Francis hit a pair of free throws with nine seconds left to play to give SC a three point lead and seal the win at the Civic Auditorium. SC led the whole way and by as many as 12 points in the third quarter, before Marello started to rally. The Panthers got within 44-39 by the end of the third quarter and within one early in the fourth quarter. But that was as close as the Cards ‘Enforcers’, forwards Mike Poll and Dan Dalbey, plus center Neil Whitesell would let them get. The Marello coach, “those guys are three studs in there. They play tough in there and they made it hard for us to get the ball inside. They established their dominance on the boards from the start.” Dalbey finished with a team high 20 points, followed by Whitesell with 14 and Poll 10.

Jan. 22. Cards Run Out Of Gas Against Aptos to lose 51-67. Like a race car driver foregoing his final pit stop to stay within striking distance of the leader, SC came into the final turn, the fourth quarter with the fuel gauge on ‘E’. Aptos held a mere two point lead 40-38 going into the final period at Fehliman Gym. SC kept the game close for most of the evening, but the Mariners continually thwarted the Card rallies, forcing turnovers at crucial times with their three quarter court zone press. The score was tied 21-21 with 1:09 left in the first half, when the Cards committed three turnovers that Aptos converted to lead 28-21 at intermission. “We had three basic problems tonight. The turnovers for one. Then we went into a one pass offense in which Aptos would rebound the missed shot. And finally they were getting two or three shots on their offensive end of the court. Plus, we were real tired in the last quarter,” Coach Newell. Mike Poll led SC in scoring with 12 points and Dan Dalbey grabbed seven rebounds. Aptos out rebounded SC 35-29. SC shot 32 percent on 18 of 56 shots. SC came out in a box-and-one against Aptos’ top shooter, but quickly abandoned it when they realized they were getting beat on the boards. He was held to six points in the first half, but scored 20 for the game.

Jan. 25. It was a long wait, but SLV finally got the best of SC after losing seven straight games to the Cards, raced past the Cards in the second half to post a 55-45 victory. SC scored the first four points in the second half to break a 23-23 deadlock, but after that SLV’s defensive pressure slowed the Card offense to a trickle and the Cougars surged to a ten point lead with a 14-4 spurt to end the third quarter. In the final period, the Cougars accurate foul shooting maintained that bulge. SC started slow and trailed 6-11 after one period. In the second quarter. 6-4 center Neil Whitesell lit up the scoreboard with nine of his game high 17 point, allowing the Cards to pull even at halftime. Chris Francis scored eight points and Mike Castillo and Mike Poll add six each. Both teams have 4-4 league records.

Soquel beats SC for the second time 61-51. Soquel broke open a close game midway through the fourth quarter. SC once again faltered in the fourth quarter and was beaten handily. Soquel pushed to a ten point lead in the second period, but saw that lead disappear as they led by a point 25-24 at half. Mike Poll and Dan Dalbey led the Card scoring with 14 and 13 points respectively.

Feb. 1. SC takes Watsonville 51-40. SC must have put in some extra practice at the free throw line this week. If they didn’t, then they sure got it at this game. Leading 29-26 going into the fourth quarter, SC went into its slow down, deliberate offense and Watsonville had to go after them. The Cats started fouling trying to get to the ball and SC made their foul shots. In the fourth quarter, SC connected on 12 of 15 free throws. For the game SC scored 21 from the line. SC held a 31-19 rebounding edge. SC was led by Dan Dalbey and Mike Poll with 17 points apiece.

Feb. 5 North County 36-30 victory over SC was only their second league win. It was a low scoring game. It was also a low night for the Cards. North County led 24-15 at the end of the first half. They scored only two points in the third quarter to make the score 26-25 as the Cards scored ten in the quarter. SC scored five points in the fourth quarter. North County point guard sank 6 of 7 foul shots in the last two minutes and the game was history.

Feb. 5. Harbor Closes In On Championship running over SC 74-53. Harbor jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but then SC ran off a 16-3 string and led 16-11 at the close of the first quarter. An effective and sagging SC zone, shut off Harbors inside game and made the Pirates rely on their outside shooting. But such is life in the fast lane and the Pirates decided to enjoy it. After tying the score 21-21, they ran off eight more unanswered points to lead at half 35-25. SC controlled the tempo of the game in the first quarter and then Harbor ran away. Harbor’s hell-bent-for-leather philosophy forced SC into committing far too many costly fouls and the Cards lack of any inside offensive threat kept them away from the line. Harbor had 18 free throws to SC’s 5. Neil Whitesell got his 16 points inside and also garnered seven rebounds, but center Mike Poll was never a factor and fouled out at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Harbor is 11-1 in league and 21-4 overall.

Feb. 8. SC 81, Marello 59. SC found its missing basketball verve after two successive dispirited losses. They jumped to a 19-8 first quarter margin and were never headed. Marello scored only eight points in each of the first three quarters and trailed by as much as 68-28 early in the fourth quarter, before adding a flurry of points, when the game had reached the meaningless stage. Dan Dalbey led SC’s scoring with 17, while Neil Whitesell camped out in his favorite spot under the basket to add 14. Mike Poll finished with 15 points, while playing only two quarters.

Feb. 12. Mariners Escape SC Again, this time in a slow down 41-30 game. Sometimes one team just seems to bring out the worst in another. For Aptos, playing rival SC to often is an exercise in frustration. While Aptos is usually able to hold off pesky SC in the end, the Cards are always able to put a good scare into the Mariners before the smoke has cleared. SC needed a victory to keep its season alive to earn a berth in the SCCAL playoffs. True to form, the Cards were in the game until the final minutes and only clutch free throw shooting by the Mariners allowed Aptos to win.
“We were in the game until the last minute and a half. We held Aptos to just 10 field goals and lost the game,” Coach Newell. Aptos led only 27-24 going into the fourth quarter, before Aptos started going to the free throw line with increasing regularity and with success. The second leading league scorer, Bryan Holt finished the game going 3 for 16 on field goals after scoring 64 in his previous game against North Monterey. Aptos’ run-and-gun offense allowed the slow and deliberate Cards to dictate the tempo of the game, but SC sank only 12 of 49 shots. SC did out rebound taller Aptos 36-30. The difference in the game was at the free throw line where Aptos converted on 21 of 31 attempts, while SC went 6 for 11.
Poor play or not, SC was in the thick of things and appeared to have the momentum early in the third quarter following a rebound basket by Neil Whitesell tied up the game 19-19. Soon after, following a missed shot, forward Mike Poll got into a tangle under the basket with a Mariner defender and was whistled for a foul. Poll did not hide his emotional denial and quickly was assessed two technical fouls. Aptos canned both free throws and never trailed again.
“I don’t know if we sagged after that, but it sure seemed to pick up Aptos,” said Newell. Entering the fourth quarter, Aptos led by three points. Two free throws and a long range bomb put the Mariners ahead 31-24 and for all intents and purposes the game was over. While SC scored six points, Aptos racked up 14, eight coming from the free throw line. Poll one of two Cards who fouled out, led SC in scoring with nine points and Whitesell chipped in eight. SC closes the season 6-8 in league and 10-16 overall. Aptos is 18-8 overall.

From the Trident. The boys varsity basketball team started the season slowly but came on strong during league play. Seniors Neil Whitesell, Dan Dalbey and junior Mike Poll were among the county leaders in scoring and rebounding. Seniors Mike Castillo and Chris Francis played solid basketball at both ends of the court. Juniors Kevin Grindy, Foti Mellis and Rod Whitley shared playing time at the guard position. Highlights of the season included a victory over fourteenth ranked Carmel on their court and a one point victory over SLV to begin league play. Going into the last week of league season the team was tied with SLV for the fourth place and the leagues final playoff spot.

Sentinel Final SCCAL Top 20 stats of Feb. 15, which left SC with a 10-16 record.

Individual scoring by place, name, games played, total points, high game and average per game.
PL NAME GP TP HI AV
12 Poll 26 341 22 13.1
15 Whitesell 19 206 18 10.8
17 Dalbey 25 264 22 10.6
9 SC team 26 1287 81 49.5

Individual rebounding
PL NAME GP TR HI AV
9 Whitesell 19 157 16 7.9
18 Poll 26 169 13 6.5
19 Dalbey 23 142 13 6.1 (two games missing not in final 20 in last stats)

SC was second in team defense giving up a 54.4 points per game average.

Mike Poll was the lone Cardinal to make ALL SCCAL ten man team. Neil Whitesell was named to the seven man ALL DEFENSIVE team. Honorable mention were Mike Castillo, Dan Dalbey and Neil Whitesell.

GIRLS VARSITY BASKETBALL SCCAL CHAMPIONS
Practice games: Cardlette Invitational Tournament: Mitty 35-57, Silver Creek 63-46, Piedmont Hills 43-35 for consolation title. Pacific Grove 64-38, Homestead 55-41, Silver Creek 50-44, Seaside 46-43, California High 65-34. Practice record: 7-1
League: Watsonville 53-38, 66-32; Harbor 45-43, 44-31; Aptos 57-34, 71-35; SLV 57-34, 50-36, Soquel 53-48, won; Marello 69-22, 102-19; North Monterey 60-39, 63-57. League record 14-0 league champions. SCCAL playoff final: North Monterey 49-43. Record at this point 23-2 from the Sentinel.
CCS Division II South in semifinals: Gilroy 58-43. Finals Seaside 38-42. Overall record according to the Sentinel 25-3. SC won 22 straight games at one point.

Yearbook. The hard to beat Cards were led by the dominate and powerful play of center Caroline Marshall, who was named SCCAL Most Valuable Player. She had a game where she scored over 50 points. Although key players such as Fon Brown, Joanna Wilson, Caroline Marshall, Joyce Mungari and Shannon Kinney, who are the starters stand out in play, first year coach Duane Garner stresses team play.

Sentinel preseason write up on November 24. Aptos’ Reign Over League Should Be Put To The Test. On paper SC has the strongest team in the league. With three returning starters from last years co-championship team, SC is a good bet to take the title outright this season. Senior 5-11 center Caroline Marshal, should be the most dominating center in the league. Point guard 5-4 Fon Brown and forward-guard 5-6 Johanna Wilson, give SC experience. Brown has started for the varsity since her sophomore year and Wilson has seen extensive playing time as she enters her third season on the varsity. “We have a good nucleus here. But they have not shown much spirit and that has been a big concern of mine. I’m looking for leadership. Someone who will step up out in front of the rest,” new Coach Duane Garner. “Physically we’re fine. But mentally can we handle it. I just hope they understand that the team comes first. The team can accomplish more than the individual. If the team is successful, then we all successful.” Junior Shannon Kinney, a 5-8 forward will add strength to the front line. “We don’t want trouble if Marshall doesn’t get the rebound,” Garner.

Sentinel. Dec. 14. Santa Cruz thrashed In Tournament Opener. Mitty took advantage of a sub par performance by center Caroline Marshall and rolled to an easy 57-35 win in the prestigious Santa Cruz High Cardinal Classic Girls Basketball tournament. Marshall came into the contest averaging 19 points a game and 11 rebounds, but never got untracked against Mitty’s tough defense. Marshall finished the game with a team high 16 points, but most of them came late, when the game had already been decided. One of the bright spots for the Cards was the play of forward Shannon Kinney, who pulled down a game high 18 rebounds and played outstanding defense.

Sentinel. Dec. 16. Santa Cruz Flies Past Silver Creek 63-46 in the consolation round. SC scored the first six points and never looked back, at one point taking a 29 point lead. Silver Creek scored 16 of their points in the final quarter after the game was long decided. Caroline Marshall scored 23 points despite play only half the game. SC led 11-4 in the first quarter, then coach Garner sent Marshall into the game and SC led 35-22 at halftime. SC outscored Silver Creek 22-8 in the third quarter to put the game away.

Dec. 18. Los Gatos Breaks Loose To Win Cardlette Championship. Santa Cruz Nets Consolation Championship. SC won the consolation title, when it exploded with 22 fourth quarter points and ran away with a 43-35 win over Piedmont Hills, which ranked fifth in the latest CCS poll. SC looked sloppy and sluggish through the first three quarters. SC should have had the game under control much sooner. Piedmont Hills didn’t score until the final minute of the first period. SC’s inability to convert turnovers into baskets kept the score close. The Cards were outscored 8-2 in the final minutes of the third quarter for a Piedmont Hills 25-21 lead. SC scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to erase the deficit. Marshall, the games leading scorer with 17 points, started the rally when she popped in an eight foot jumper off a pass from Joanna Wilson. Wilson dished out another assist on the Cards next possession, as she slipped the ball into Rhonda Lyon, who hit a 14 footer to tie the score. Fon Brown, who finished with ten points, stole and errant pass and drove to the hoop to score and put SC ahead. Lyon dropped in another mid range jumper off an assist from Wilson to put SC in front to stay.
Caroline Marshall was selected for the All Tournament team.

Dec. 21. SC 64, Pacific Grove 38. SC upped their record to 6-2. SC led 23-4 at the end of the first quarter, 31-14 at halftime and 55-30 at the end of three quarters. Fon Brown paced SC with 15 points, Shannon Kinney 14 and Caroline Marshall 12.

Dec. 23. Experience Pays Off For Santa Cruz. The Cards had it and were able to withstand a third quarter charge by Homestead and hung on for a 55-41 victory. Led by forward Shannon Kinney and center Caroline Marshall, SC jumped to a 19-10 lead by the end of the first period. In that span Kinney scored eight points and Marshall seven as the shorter Cards took advantage of their team speed. “We were a little quicker and that allowed us to score. In the open court we were able to convert on some transition baskets, but when we had to set up we had problems,” coach Garner. Marshall led SC with 23 points and 13 rebounds and Kinney had 19 points and ten rebounds.

Dec. 28. SC 50, Silver Creek 44. Led by high rolling Caroline Marshall’s 21 points and season high 21 rebounds, SC had no trouble beating Silver Creek for the second time this season. SC is now 8-2 for the season. SC got off to a slow start, scoring only ten points in the first quarter, a fact coach Garner attributes to the recent Christmas break. Silver Creek had some problems with the Card collapsing 2-3 zone. Joanna Wilson was the only other Card to score in double figures with ten points.

Dec. 29. Santa Cruz Girls ‘Steal’ Another Win. It took a thief as the Cards hounded and harassed the visiting California Grizzles with relentless full court pressure. Seventeen steals aided the Cards as they coasted to a 65-34 victory. SC nearly shut out California in the second quarter, holding them to two points, as the Cards battled to a 19-12 halftime lead. SC actually had to battle back after trailing 10-8 entering the second quarter. SC took advantage of miscues and outscored their opponents 23-4 in the third quarter. “Everyone played well tonight,” said coach Duane Garner of his Cardinals, now 9-2 on the season. Point guard Fon Brown scored 14 points and Caroline Marshall had 12. “Joanna Wilson has had three great games in a row. She’s been playing especially good defense. We recently switched her from forward to guard, so she can play against people her own size,” Garner said. “That has helped open her game,” added assistant Barry Tressler. Wilson scored seven points on the night. SC won the rebound battle 32-30. Marshall had 11 and Shannon Kinney had eight rebounds.

Jan. 4. SC 57, SLV 34. SC raised its overall record to 10-2. SC dictated the way they wanted to play as they came out with intensity and an aggressive defense in the first half and ran out to a 14-4 lead by the end of the first quarter, then expanded it to 34-13 at halftime.

Jan. 11. SC 53, Watsonville 38. Watsonville was simply overmatched by SC’s superior quickness. Watsonville Coach Norm Haney, “When they put on their press, they pressed us right out of our offense. SC has to be the strongest team we have faced and that includes North Monterey with a 3-0 league record the same as SC, who they play next.” SC led 28-15 at halftime. SC outscored Watsonville 17-4 in the third quarter to go up 46-19. SC cleared the bench for the final quarter. Caroline Marshall had a game high 15 points. Shannon Kinney and Fon Brown were also in double figures with ten point each.

Jan. 13. Santa Cruz Blitzes North Monterey. Marshall, Third-Quarter Outburst Spark Cards. Caroline Marshal scored 16 of her points in the third quarter to led the surge of 25 points in the period as SC buried the Condors 60-39. The outcome left SC unbeaten and alone atop the SCCAL with a perfect 4-0 record. Coach Duane Garner said his team was ready to play against the expected top contender to the league crown. “We knew what we had to do coming in. I’m just surprised at the final score.” North Monterey took and early 5-3 lead, but broke down as soon as SC went into its pressing defense. “We had to press so that they couldn’t get down court, we didn’t want them to set up,” said Garner. The strategy worked well as the Condors spent most of the night trying to break the press without success. SC took a 27-18 lead into halftime. In the third period, SC came out in a fury, scoring 17 points in the first three minutes of the period. Other scorers for SC were Fon Brown 9, Joanna Wilson with eight. Garner was also pleased with the play of Shannon Kinney. “Shannon did a great job, she was all over the place. It was her second game nice game in a row.” In the SC scoring surge, most of the points came on turnovers deep in the Condor end of the court. Marshall was often open for easy layup baskets. “We’re not shooting well from the outside. Unless we start hitting from outside, we can’t open it up for Caroline.”

Jan. 18. SC 69, Marello 22. Holding Marshall scoreless was the highlight of the game for Marello, getting beaten on fast breaks was the low light. Beneficiary of the fast breaks were guards Fon Brown, Joanna Wilson and Diana Macken, who scored 13, 17 and 14 points respectively.

Jan. 15. Cards Score Seven Points In Last Two Minutes to defeat Harbor 45-43. SC scored seven points in the final 1:17 to overcome a 38-41 deficit. Joyce Mungari sank a free throw to tie the score at 41-41 with 1:12 left. Caroline Marshall intercepted the inbounds pass and put the ball into the hoop to give SC its first lead, 43-41, since early in the first quarter. Fon Brown added to the lead by sinking two free throws with 47 seconds left in the game. With 14 seconds left in the game Harbor scored to make the final score 45-43 as the time ran out. SC kept its hold on first place. SC coach Duane Garner was surprised at the way Harbor played. “They were a lot more physical than we expected them to be. We were not up to par, but the North County game two days ago took a lot out of us and we had a slight mental let down, but we thought we were ready to play.”
SC started the game by scoring the first four points, then Harbor responded with eight unanswered points and the quarter ended with Harbor ahead 10-6. The key to Harbors success was the way their center played Caroline Marshall, the top player in the league, by denying her the ball all over the court and shot the ball right over her. Garner agreed, but noted, “Caroline came through for us. She got the big hoop and the big rebound, referring to the steal and basket that gave the Cardinals the lead late in the game and the rebound of a last second Harbor shot to seal up the game. Top players for the Cards were Brown, Marshall and Shannon Kinney.

Jan. 20. It’s Santa Cruz–Again. Cardinals Down Mariners With Ease 57-34. SC did their first half scoring in spurts. SC opened the game with 12 unanswered points, hit four straight at the tail end of the first quarter and then scored five of the first seven points in the second. SC closed the half with ten more unanswered points to take a 32-13 advantage to intermission. For SC’s basic stuff is the press on defense and extensive use of the fast break on offense. It also includes outside shooting by guard Fon Brown and heavy work inside by Caroline Marshall. SC received both as Brown scored 15 points and Marshall pulled down 23 rebounds to go with her 18 points. Shannon Kinney had 13 points and Joanne Wilson 12.

Jan. 25. Santa Cruz Makes Short Work Of SLV. Cards Still Unbeaten In SCCAL. It didn’t take long for SC to take control. Center Caroline Marshall won the opening jump ball, taping it to Joanna Wilson, who passed off to Fon Brown, who dribbled down court and fed the ball to Marshall for an easy basket. From that point on was all down hill for SC as it coasted to a 50-36 win. The SC press came up with 25 steals. There were 51 fouls called in the game. SC had 23 and SLV 28. Shannon Kinney led the scoring with 18 points, Marshall had 17 points and a game high 12 rebounds. There was no letdown in enthusiasm for SC, when Garner went to the bench to rest his starters. All the Cards got a turn and didn’t let the opportunity slip away. Each seemed to enjoy the pressing defense that is the trade mark of SC this season. SC is 8-0 in league and 18-2 overall.

Jan. 27. ‘Gunfight At OK Corral’ Marshall Restores Order For Santa Cruz. When the dust cleared, one person stood taller than the rest of the combatants, the Marshall. Final score SC 53, Soquel 48. The Marshall had restored law and order in the world of the SCCAL girls basketball. Caroline Marshall, that is, the steadying hand in the Card arsenal. Her 27 points, including eight of the last 12 and 16 rebounds foiled an upset attempt by an un-intimidated Soquel squad. It looked like another SC runaway victory early in the second quarter, as they took a commanding 19-8 lead. But Soquel came back and tied the score at 24 with 2:20 left in the half. SC came out after intermission and regained the lead they had lost earlier. SC led by ten, 43-33 with a few seconds left in the third quarter. The vaunted SC full court press didn’t appear to bother Soquel as they made their second advance on the vulnerable Cards. “The press was virtually ineffective tonight. That’s the first time that has happened since we lost to Mitty. We had to get out of it for a while, but did return to it later in the game,” said Coach Garner. With 2:47 left in the contest, Soquel went ahead for the first time in the game 46-45. With 2:18 left the same player scored again to expand the lead to 48-45. But that was the end of Soquel’s scoring. Marshall than began to assert herself. At the two minute mark, Marshall grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back up and in. Shannon Kinney, who scored nine points in the night, stole the ball with 1:56 left and then scored the go ahead points. Soquel suddenly lost its shooting touch and Marshall made two more layups to clinch another victory for the Cards.

Feb. 1. SC 66, Watsonville 32. SC led 31-20 at halftime and then exploded in the third quarter for 23 points while holding Watsonville to only four to break the game wide open. Caroline Marshall led all scorers with 24 points. Joanna Wilson had 13 points, Shannon Kinney added 12 and point guard Fon Brown had ten points and set a new team individual record with seven steals.

Feb. 3. Santa Cruz Eases Up, Then Holds On. “We relaxed at intermission and it cost us.” was Coach Garners summation of his teams 34-17 halftime lead. A lapse of concentration by the Cards against a big North Monterey team, made a close game out of what had the ingredients of a runaway. Regardless, the Cards are still unbeaten in league and won the game 63-57. Once again Caroline Marshall provided the offensive firepower pouring in 26 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. On defense, the press proved effective and enabled SC to jump out to an early lead. In the second half the Condors beat the press, beat the Cards on the boards and fast broke to close to 36-31 midway through the third quarter. But three Marshall baskets allowed the Cards some breathing room as the quarter ended 47-39. SC went to a 18 point lead midway through the fourth quarter. At that point Garner sent in the reserves against the Condor starters and there were some tense moments as the Condors pulled within four points at 61-57 with 30 seconds to play. North Monterey out rebounded the Cards 38-31.

Feb. 5. No Rally Needed By SC Girls This Time. The last time SC and Harbor played the Cards trailed going into the final two minutes and had to rally to pull out a 45-43 win to maintain their hold on first place in the SCCAL. SC point guard Fon Brown vowed there would be no need for a rally this time. There wasn’t. SC with its full court press doing the dirty work, pulled away from Harbor in the third quarter en-rout to a 44-31 win. “Our press did it for us,” said coach Garner, whose team forced Harbor into 26 turnovers. “We played good defense, that’s what happened out there.” The Cards led 21-15 at halftime and then with the aid of their full court press, ran off eight unanswered points midway through the third quarter, which gave them a 34-21lead entering the final quarter. SC had the game wrapped up midway through the final quarter with a 42-27lead. Guards Joanna Wilson and Brown each had five steals and ever aggressive Joyce Mungari had four. In all ,SC stole the ball 18 times. The win clinched at least a share of the SCCAL title with a 12-0 record, 21-2 overall, with two games remaining to go. North Monterey is second at 10-2. Caroline Marshall led the victory march scoring 19 points and 13 rebounds. Shannon Kinney contributed 13 points and nine rebounds and Brown had ten points.

Feb. 8. SC 102, Marello 19. Marello felt their was no need for SC to press the whole game and win by 83 points. In the teams first meeting, Marello shut down Caroline Marshall with no points. According to Coach Duane Garner his girls wanted to show Marello that they could not do it again. Also it was the championship game as SC clinched the SCCAL championship with its thirteenth straight league win. SC is 23-2 overall. Marshall was fired up enough to score 37 points.

Feb. 10. Reclaiming The Record. Marshall Scores 41 To Break The League Record–Again as SC defeats Aptos 71-35. Marshall scored 37 against Marello in her last game, to set a league standard, but the record fell an hour and a half later when North Monterey’s top scorer went for 40 over Aptos. Marshall went into the fourth quarter with 21 points, having scored eight in each of the first two quarters and five in the third. With four minutes to go, she had 29 points, still 12 from the record. But with her teammates feeding her the ball at every opportunity and Marshall driving the length of the floor at every opportunity, the 5-11senior center put on a rush at the end and notched her thirty-ninth point with 1:30 to play. She didn’t get another shot off until 20 seconds to play, sinking a short range shot for a apparent record, but it was disallowed, because she was fouled before the shot. Marshall at the line in a one and one bonus situation, missed the first shot and Aptos grabbed the rebound, but Aptos mishandled the ball and Marshall scooped it up in the lane and dropped it off the backboard for her forty-first point. It gave her 20 points for the quarter. The rest of the Cards scored two points.
“They did that on their own. All I did was leave her in there. We had nine players here tonight, so when I pulled the starters, I had to leave one of them in there. I knew if I took Caroline out I would have to fight my way out of here,” said coach Garner. SC controlled the game from the start, utilizing a full court press to keep the Mariners off balance. For the first three minutes of the game, the ball stayed in the Aptos; end of the court as very Mariner in bound pass was either deflected or picked off by the scrambling Cards. SC pressured the Mariners so well in the first quarter that Aptos had the ball in the Card end of the court for only one of the first eight minutes. SC led 34-21 at halftime and then exploded in the second half. SC’s defense held Aptos to only four points in the third quarter and took a 49-25 lead into the final quarter. Only Marshall scored in double figures for SC.

Feb. 19. Cardinal Girls Survive Off Night, Clip Condors. Late Surge Beats NMC 49-43 in the championship game of the SCCAL playoffs. It was the third time the two teams have played this season and the third time SC has won. The margin was also six points, when the pair met three weeks ago in Castroville. The timing was off for SC, who sputtered and stalled a number of times, but after a halftime tune up by Coach Duane Garner the Cards turned into the team that dominated the league all season, getting in gear and pulling away from North Monterey in the second half. “We weren’t expecting to be playing a half court game,” Garner said. The frisky full court pressure by SC was often stymied by the Condors, resulting in less lay-ups off the press and force the Cards to set up their offense. “When we did get a lay-up, be blew them,” said Garner.
North Monterey utilized a diamond and one defense, with its best big defender shadowing, SCCAL Player of the Year, Caroline Marshall. “Their defense threw Caroline’s rhythm off. She was having some trouble getting into the flow of the offense,” Most of Marshall’s 13 first half points came on fast break lay-ups. North Monterey made its move in the second quarter, taking a 12-8 lead with 5:11 left in the half. Fon Brown made her presence felt with two steals and then initiated fast breaks within a one minute span. Brown missed the lay-ups, but Marshall trailing the play converted both misses into four points. The Cards went into the locker room at halftime with a 20-19 lead.
The third quarter belonged to SC as it outscored the Condors 17-7. Brown hit a 10 foot jumper at 4:20 of the period to give SC a 27-21 lead. It was Shannon Kinney, who came through with the big buckets to help pull away from the suddenly grounded Condors. She scored nine of her 17 points in the third quarter, including five clutch free throws. A Kinney three point play with 3:55 left in the period gave SC a 32-21 lead. Two free throws gave SC its largest lead in the game 37-23. From the end of the first half and to near the end of the third period SC outscored the Condors 19-4.
“I thought Shannon Kinney played her best game of the year. She spent much of the night scrambling on the floor for loose balls. She was tough on both ends of the court,” Garner said. A minute into the final quarter, Brown struck again with another steal, but this time made the lay-up. Another 13 point lead was gained on a Joyce Mungari’s field goal late in the game for a 47-34 led. The only tense moment for SC occurred, when Brown fouled out with 3:35 to play. From there, SC slowed things down a little to assure the win and the playoff title. SC out rebound the Condors 41-34 with Marshall leading the way with 19 rebounds and 19 points scored. SC shot 30 percent from the field, 19 of 64.

Feb. 26. Close Call Almost. Cardinal Girls In South Final. SC was well on its way to an easy 58-43 CCS Division II South playoff semifinals win over Gilroy, when disaster struck. Well, almost struck. Leading 33-18 midway through the third quarter at Cabrillo College, the MBL runner up Gilroy Mustangs stampeded. With Caroline Marshall the SCCAL Most Valuable Player, saddled to the bench with foul trouble, the gates flew open. Gilroy score ten straight points in the next two minutes, while Joanna Wilson’s transition lay up was all SC could manage and Gilroy cut the lead to six points. SC arrived at the pit of its frustration with 47 seconds on the clock in the third quarter, when the torrid Mustang defense forced a 30 second violation. “Of course I was worried,” said Coach Garner, reflecting on that moment. “We hadn’t done many things right up to that point. They got fired up.” Moment later Gilroy closed the score to four points. “Caroline is a big part of our team. We dipped mentally when she went out.” SC did not choke. They clawed down Gilroy and their throng of vocal followers. Shannon Kinney, whose snickers arrived at the gym after she did, but still scored 17 points after missing part of the first quarter, followed in a missed shot and was fouled. Kinney completed the three point play, but a Gilroy basket just before the third period buzzer, cut the lead to 38-35. A Kinney bucket and two free throws by Wilson lengthened the lead to nine points early in the fourth quarter and the Cards getting only limited playing time from Marshall, had regained the upper hand.
When Marshall returned to the court on a full time basis, SC ran away from the tamed Mustangs, outscoring them 14-3 to lead by 20 points with 2:33 to play. Marshall finished with 22 points, 12 in the final five minutes, when SC abruptly halted the Mustang season. Fon Brown, connected on five long jump shots, added 12 points.
Wilson had seven assists, eight points and a half dozen steals. “Wilson is the kind of player whose stats aren’t big, but every coach needs to have,” Garner said. Diane Macken typified the effort SC showed on the defensive end. Ball hawking, trapping and controlling the defensive boards, the Cards defense withstood Gilroy’s challenge. “Macken was all over the court. It was her best game of the year,” Garner said. It was SC’s twenty-fifth win of the season with only two losses.

March 1. CCS Playoffs. Santa Cruz, Seaside to Meet For South Title. Santa Cruz, the SCCAL champion has been hit hard by the flu bug in the last two weeks, which may alter Coach Duane Garners style of play. “I know we’re not going to be able to press the whole game because of the condition of our players,” said Garner. “We’ll have to cut back on the press, but we’re still going to look for the fast break opportunities.” The only two players who haven’t been sick the last two weeks are Shannon Kinney and Joanna Wilson. Fon Brown is one player, who is still sick and may lose playing time. Garner said, “some one is going to step in and take care of the basketball in her place.” The game will match SC’s experienced, playoff hardened players against Seaside’s youth and talent.
Seaside is most concerned about Brown and Marshall, but wont ignore the other players, who are primarily Kinney, Wilson, Joyce Mungari, Diana Macken and Trish Wright. “I’m confident we can win CCS. I’ve seen the other teams. Even if we lose tonight, I still feel we’re the best team in CCS,” Garner said. Of Seaside’s first seven players, only two are seniors. But the team has developed and won the MBL with a 11-1 record and was 18-8 overall. Seaside coach Wright said, “We have a balanced team. We have a team concept and we get the ball to where it is needed. We’ve improved quite a bit. We’re more disciplined and more mature than we were early in the season.” North Monterey beat Seaside by 21 points in the early season, but lost them this last week in the playoffs 65-30. SC beat Seaside in the early season 46-43.

March 2. It’s All Over For Santa Cruz. In a sense, the game came down to one lonely point. A horrid first quarter for SC, which found the Cards scoring just one point, an as it turned out, that proved too much to overcome. The final score of the CCS Division II South Girls championship game showed Seaside defeating SC 42-38. It was a rocky beginning for SC as Seaside came out on the court to the tune of “Lets Get Physical.” SC apparently, hadn’t heard that particular song. It’s unfamiliarity cost it dearly, sending the SCCAL champs home from the Hartnell College gym with nowhere left to go this season. SC trailed 8-1at the end of the first quarter. “I thought we had a bunch of masons out there. If the girls had known it was going to be that physical…we just don’t play that physical,” said coach Garner.
Seaside needed to play that way to gain its revenge for losing to SC 46-43 early in the season. Seaside scored just four baskets in the first quarter. And Seaside’s shooting was frigid for the remainder of the game, too. Seaside made 17 of 59 field goal attempts for 29 percent. SC got off only 36 shots and made 12 for 33 percent. “They were big and they hurt us inside,” said Garner, who said All SCCAL player Shannon Kinney, a key rebounded and scorer, hurt her shoulder in the first quarter and played in pain the rest of the game.”
After a desultory first quarter, the Cards roared back, scoring nine unanswered points, with Marshall’s soft shot from in front of the basket giving SC a 9-8 lead early in the second quarter. SC went up 11-10 after that, but it was to be its final lead of the night. “We have no excuses. We kept thinking, I just got pushed and then poof they were gone on a fast break. But in the second half we played like Santa Cruz,” Garner said. Seaside led 20-16 at halftime and Seaside widened the lead to 11 points, 32-21 with 1:25 to go in the third quarter.
“We kept hustling,” said Garner, who admitted his team was “close” to getting blown out. The margin was nine points at the end of the third quarter and went back to eight with 5:43 left in the game, before Kinney’s jumper cut Seaside’s lead to six points. Marshall, who led all scorers with 21 points and led rebounding with 13, then was fouled in the act of shooting. She missed both free throw. A few seconds later she was fouled again and missed her free throws.
With Seaside’s aggressiveness starting to cost them as two starters fouled out midway in the final quarter. The Cards were still not out of it. Marshall hit a jump shot from the top of the key with 3:40 left to make it 36-32. A pair of free throws brought SC within 36-34 with 2:34 left and it looked like the tide was ready to turn SC’s way. Seaside canned a jumper and SC was called for walking. Diana Macken streaked for the basket, only to have her lay-up knocked away from behind. With 1:10 left, Seaside hit a free throw to make it 39-34. Marshal broke away for a lay-up on an assist from Brown, but it was too little to late. Seaside hit three free throws in the last 30 seconds and Seaside was on its way to the CCS finals.
“We couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn,” said Garner, speaking of the Cards shooting. “Instead of having to climb back late, we would’ve been right there.” Only four SC players scored in the game and two of those, Joanna Wilson and Macken, had but three points each. The Seaside coach, said he was concerned when his two starters fouled out and had a third who played the last quarter with four fouls. His game plan was to let Marshall get her points, while shutting out everyone else.

Sentinel SCCAL Top 20 stats of Feb. 15. The CCS games are not included
Individual scoring by place, name, games played, total points, high game and average per game.
Individual scoring
PL NAME GP TP HI AV
2 Marshall 25 484 41 19.4
11 Brown 25 257 16 10.3
14 Kinney 25 248 19 9.9
1 SC team 25 1438 102 57.5

Individual rebounding
PL NAME GP TR HI AV
1 Marshall 25 345 24 13.8
15 Kinney 25 183 19 7.3

SC also had the best defense giving up only 975 points, with a low game of 19 and an average of just 39 points a game against.

SC led the league in both offense and defense.

Feb. 15. ALL SCCAL selections: Most Valuable Player Caroline Marshall. Four of the 12 ALL SCCAL players were Cardinals. Seniors: Fon Brown G, Caroline Marshall C and Joanna Wilson G and junior Shannon Kinney F. ALL DEFENSIVE team Joyce Mungari.

Marshall top SCCAL Girls Player. Caroline Marshall broke Aptos’ four year stranglehold of the SCCAL Player of the Year award with her selection by the league coaches. Marshall a 5-11 senior center led the SCCAL in scoring 19.4 per game and rebounding 13.3 per game for the league champion Cardinals, who were undefeated in 14 league games and finished with a regular season 23-2 record. “Caroline is a big part of our success, there’s no other way around it,” said SC coach Duane Garner, who was the recipient of the league’s Coach of the Year honor. “I’m pretty sure all the other coaches would like to have Caroline. She has no physical weakness. If she has any, there mental. She can do it all. Other teams have big people, but their big people can’t do the same things that Caroline can do,” Garner said, noting that Marshall plays up front on the press, can take the ball down court on the fast break, can go to the boards and shot 52 percent from the field. She can do it all, She’s almost as quick as my guards.”
The Cardinals dominated the 12 player team with four selections. The other three are Fon Brown, a 5-4 senior guard; Joanna Wilson a 5-6 senior guard and Shannon Kinney a 5-8 junior forward. (the most any other team had were two)
There were eight players chosen on the leagues All Defensive team. Joyce Mungari was chosen for the Cardinals.

WRESTLING
The wrestling team, even though they have only 11 team members beat Harbor in their first dual meet of the year. Their second dual meet was with North Monterey County. They lost by a few points against the 30 to 40 member team. They have wrestled in several tournaments. They include the Alisal tourney, the Aptos takedown tourney, the Westmont, and the Branham tournaments. There was a special tournament for novice wrestlers also. One of the bigger tournaments included the Coast Classic Tourney at Cabrillo College. Teams as far away as Oregon and Hawaii were there. The key wrestlers in the Classic include Martin Corona and Billy Burr.

Feb. 9. SLV 42, SC 30. SLV moved into a second place tie with SC by virtue of the win. Both squads are now 3-2 in league meets. At 119 pounds, Bill Burr was pinned. The most exciting match was when a SLV wrestler was down 14-7 on points and came back to pin Marty Corley. Gary Young was pinned in the heavyweight division. North Monterey is leading the league. (This match was turned in by SLV, hence no winners mentioned for SC)

Trident Feb.15. Against Soquel, team captain Martin Corona got the first five points on the board for SC winning a grueling down to the wire match. That seemed to set off the whole team, for they got seven consecutive pins to win the match 52-24. Half of Soquel’s points came on forfeited matches where SC didn’t have a wrestler.

BOYS VARSITY SOCCER Practice games: Alisal 4-4, Santa Clara 2-2, Monterey 7-1, RLS 4-0, Milpitas 4-1, Cupertino 1-5, Overfelt 1-6. Practice record 3-2-2. League: Harbor 4-4, 3-0; Aptos 6-0, 8-1; Marello 6-0, 7-1; North Monterey 19-1, 7-0; Watsonville 1-2, 1-2; Soquel 3-2, 3-1; SLV 13-0, 10-2. League record 11-2-1 for second place. In CCS play beat Gunderson in a shoot out 9-8, but lost to Monta Vista of Mountain View 2-5 in the next round. Season record 15-5-3.

Sentinel Dec. 4. SC 2, Santa Clara 2. SC comes away with its second tie game in a row. Bill Thompson score an unassisted goal two minutes into the game. Santa Clara tied it up in the twenty-fifth minute. Seven minutes into the second half, Santa Clara went ahead 2-1. Midway through the half Jose Sierra tied the game with a header off a header pass from Vince Parrish. SC dominated play. We played three quarters of the game in their half of the field. We controlled the ball offensively,” said coach Don Dempewolfe. He singled out the play of forward Sierra and sweeper Raul Oliva.

Dec. 7. SC Explodes Past “Dores. Led by forwards Jose Sierra and Bill Thompson, the Cards exploded offensively to bury the visiting Monterey Toreadors. Sierra scored three goals and Thompson added two, Vince Parish and Raul Oliva each scored once. “There isn’t much to say, except we completely dominated it. The whole team played an exceptional game. The key to the game was the Cards defense, which kept Monterey from mounting any serious offensive pressure,” Dempewolf.

Sentinel Dec. 11. SC scored twice in the each half to beat Milpitas 4-1 in the first round of the Overfelt Soccer Tournament.

Dec. 13. Santa Cruz In shutout of RLS 4-0. Slopping around in the mud, SC came up with three second half goals to win. Bill Thompson has scored in all six SC games. SC is now 4-0-2. Goal keeper Nicholas Markel touched the ball only four times in the game, making two good saves. “We played in a bottomless pit, There wasn’t much action. You take what you can get,” Dempewolfe. Dave Adams score the first goal to put SC up 1-0 at halftime.

Dec. 15. Santa Cruz, Harbor Battle To Muddy Tie. “The game should never been played,” said coach Dempewolf, who did not feel either team had the opportunity to excel on the slippery surface. SC led 2-1 at halftime on the strength of goals by Bill Thompson and Vince Parrish and when Jose Sierra scored first in the second half, Harbor had its back to the wall, behind 3-1. The game was quite rough. Four yellow cards were distributed, two to each them. Harbor came back and tied the score. David Adams scored to put SC ahead 4-3, then Harbor headed in a corner kick with one minute to play to tie.

Dec. 18. Cardinals On Firm Ground, Walk Over Mariners, 6-0. “On a firm fields, I thing we’ll be able to play with anyone. Anybody in the county, on this side of the hill and maybe even over the hill. I think the reason our kids were up was of what happened against Harbor. Today they got it together and really came forth with a super game. We seemed to build momentum as the game went on,” Dempewolfe. Raul Oliva, broke the scoreless tie with a score 17 minutes into the game on a 30 yard kick. Bill Thompson scored with five minutes left in the half. Eight minutes into the second half Jose Sierra scored the third goal.

Dec. 19. At the Overfelt Tournament, SC lost for the first time in nine games, 5-1 to Cupertino.

Dec. 20. SC lost to Overfelt, 6-1, in the third place game of the Overfelt Tournament. Overfelt led 3-1 at halftime. The loss was the second in a row for SC, who is 5-2-3 overall.

Jan. 5. SC 6, Marello 0. Even though SC spent most of the first half in Marello’s half of the field the Cards could only score once in the first half. Raul Oliva led SC with three goals. “He had an outstanding game. He’s probably one of the best players in the league. He’s a pretty versatile and agile player. He can play any position on the team, even goalie. Oliva started the game at sweeper, a defensive position and then move to halfback in the second to score his three goals. Bill Thompson, Carlos Eusse and Vince Parrish each scored a goal.

Jan. 8. SC 19, North Monterey 1. Dave Adams score SC’s first four goals in the first 17 minutes and had a total of five goals for the game, SC blitzed NMC. SC is now 3-0-1 in league. Carlos Eusse, Vince Parish, Raul Oliva, Bob Adams, Bill Thompson and Jim Courtwright all had two goals. “We played our best game of the season. We unveiled new uniforms today and maybe the guys wanted to break them in right,” Dempewolf.

Jan. 12. Watsonville Slips By Santa Cruz In Soccer 2-1. “We were just up for it. We were building for it the last few days. Overall I think we can look back and say we played a good game. They took advantage of a couple of our mistakes and that was the difference. It was a hard fought game. I don’t think you could fine two more evenly matched teams than SC and Watsonville. Both teams played well and it was a good game. SC was led defensively by Oliva and Ethan Alpert; offensively by Vince Parrish, Bill Thompson, David Adams and Jorge Sierra,” Dempewolf. Watsonville scored their two goals six and 12 minutes into the second half. Raul Oliva scored with two minutes left in the game. Watsonville is 5-0 and SC 3-1-1 in league.

Jan. 15. SC 3, Soquel 2. The final score would lead one to believe it was a close game. Not so. SC dominated every phase of the game in the first 60 minutes. Soquel coach, “They really looked sharp. I was impressed with SC, the way they passed the ball.” Bill Thompson, Bobby Adams and Vince Parrish scored the three SC goals, which led to a 2-0 halftime lead and then scored again in the first part of the second half to go ahead 3-0. The SC goalie saved a tie with a nice save. SC is now 5-1 in league and 7-4-3 overall.

Jan. 19. Santa Cruz Scoring Machine In High Gear in 13-0 victory over SLV. SC scored three quick goals in the first seven minutes and never looked back. Two minutes into the game, Vince Parrish scored the first of his two goals, which was quickly followed by Jose Sierra’s first of a pair at the five minute mark. At the seven minute mark, SC led 3-0 on Bill Thompson first of four goals. Goalie Nichols Markel handled the ball five times in the game. “It was the best passing game of the year. Most of the goals were set up, for us, they weren’t garbage goals. Everyone got into the act,” Dempewolfe. In all, seven Cards scored. SC is in second place at 5-1-1 just a half game ahead of Soquel.

Sentinel Jan. 22. SC 3, Harbor 0. SC’s version of the Magnificent Seven: Fullbacks Jim Courtright, Ethan Alpert, Onesimo Garcia and Raul Oliva and halfbacks Bob Adams, Dave Adams and Jorge Sierra. “These guys controlled the whole game. They really took it to them. When, you shut out a team as strong as Harbor, you’ve had a good day . We controlled the ball at midfield. They didn’t have a lot of chances to score,” said coach Dempewolf. Jose Sierra scored the only goal of the first half. Dempewolf said, “We were aware Harbor is a good comeback team. At halftime the players decided that the weren’t going to let Harbor come back. Our kids were really mentally and physically into it today.” Bill Thompson gave SC a 2-0 lead 13 minutes into the second half. Seven minutes later Dave Adams boomed home a 30 yard goal to complete the scoring. “Bill played an outstanding game. Aside from his scoring, it was one of his best overall games. He played excellently on defense and usually you don’t’ get a lot of defense for a wing,” Dempewolf said.

Jan. 26. SC 8, Aptos 1. SC scored just over a minute into the contest and were never headed, leading 3-0 a halftime and added five more in the second half. Vince Parish led the scoring with three goals, followed by Bill Thompson and Jose Sierra with two apiece. SC in now 7-1-1 in league. Soquel surprise Watsonville to tie them 1-1.

Jan. 27. Santa Cruz Breaks Loose in 7-1 win over Marello. Coach Dempewolf “I don’t feel good about the way we have been playing, even though his team is 11-3-3 overall. We are scoring a lot of goals, but we are playing rough. We may be a little tired. You may get a little flat this time of the year.” So the coach gave his team a long weekend off in hopes it will be ready for the biggest week of the season going against Watsonville, which is 8-0-1 in league to SC’s 8-1-1. Brothers Jose and Jorge Sierra led the Cards in scoring. The senior Jose scoring three and sophomore Jorge adding two.

Feb. 1. Cardinals, Wildcats Ready For Showdown. SC warmed up for its pivotal game with Watsonville by drubbing North Monterey 7-0. Watsonville is now 10-0-1 and SC 9-1-1 and Soquel is 8-2-1. Bill Thompson and Vince Parrish chipped in three goals apiece as SC scored six goals in the first half. Jose Sierra had a score and added four assists. Top players, who were cited: Sierra for his passing and the defensive play of Raul Oliva, Ethan Alpert and Bobby Adams.

Feb. 5. Watsonville Cinches Tie For League Title. In the two times the teams met, the score came out the same, 2-1 Watsonville. Watsonville is 11-0-1 and SC and Soquel are 9-2-1. The game was filled with action with both teams playing aggressive soccer on every inch of Geiser Field. An exciting first half yielded no points, but SC did have a goal taken away on an offside call with 18:15 left in the first half. All the scoring was lumped into five furious minutes in the middle of the second half. Watsonville scored with 18:18 left in the game. SC came right back with 17:04 left in the game. Bill Thompson, in a crowd in front of the goal, took a pass from the corner and booted it through the goal to tie the score. At 13:44 left Watsonville scored the last goal. Both Watsonville scores came on breakaways.

Feb. 9. Santa Cruz Edges Soquel 2-1. The score was 2-1 in favor of SC for 25 minutes into the second half, in a match SC won 3-1. It seemed like 25 years to Coach Dempewolf. A CCS playoff spot was on the line. He was calm, save for an occasional instruction to his team, but the grass beneath his feet was being converted to mud as the drama unfolded on the field. “We were completely out of our game the second half, Dempewolf said. “They put good pressure on us early, but we hurt ourselves.” Ten minutes into the second half, SC was ahead 2-0. Soquel scored as a shot that bounced off goalie Nick Markel and to a Knight who kicked the rebound into the net to pull to within one goal, 2-1. The anxiety set in. After a number shots on goal by both sides, including a couple of penalty kicks and some heart pounding action in from of both goals, SC left wing Bill Thompson got possession of the ball on a breakaway. There were five minutes left in the game. Thompson received a pass from Jose Sierra, who had control of a loose ball at midfield. Thompson broke for the goal with only the ball and the Soquel keeper to beat. Thompson saw a gap in the right corner of the net and booted the ball into the net for a 3-1 Card lead.

Feb. 12. SC 10, SLV 2. SC won for the fifteenth time this season, behind Jose Sierra’s four goals. With only 11 players at the game, SC had no substitutes and didn’t need any. Bill Thompson and Bobby Adams, had two goals apiece and Vince Parrish and Raul Avila added one each.

Feb. 15. Sudden Victory. Garcia’s Shootout Goal Keeps Santa Cruz Alive. In the first round of the CCS playoffs against Gunderson of San Jose at West Valley College, a game that lasted 100 minutes with two five minute overtime periods, which did not break the 4-4 tie. Then in the five kick shoot out, both teams hit on four shots. Finally, on the first shot of the sudden death shootout, SC won. Goalie Nicholas Markel blocked the first shot taken by Gunderson. Then Onesimo Garcia booted one home for the victory. SC was down 3-0 at halftime, but came back strong in the second half. Early in the second half, at the five minute mark, Bill Thompson scored SC’s first goal. Two minutes later, Raul Oliva scored another. Thompson scored once more at 14 minutes and then tied it up with six minutes remaining in regulation play on another score. Coach Dempewolf was not surprised by the Cards strong second half showing. “The kids were not playing badly in the first half. We played on a very wide field and the kids weren’t used to playing on one so wide. We blitzed them in the second half as they did to us in the first half. Our guys in the second half were determined they were not going to lose. They could have quit at halftime, but they didn’t. They came back and proved to me, they’re a championship caliber team.”

Feb. 17. Cards Bumped From CCS Soccer. Of the 26 teams (all teams in the section in same tournament) in the CCS Championship Tournament, Monta Vista high of Cupertino was the number one seed and SC found out why at San Jose Municipal Stadium in a 5-2 loss. “They’re the best shooting, ball handling and quickest team we have faced this season. They out-hustled, out-passed, out-defensed and they just out played us,” Coach Dempwolf. Monta Vista scored three times in the first 15 minutes. After that SC got a little up set and started to play. We started to pass the ball instead of playing helter-skelter. We started to play our game again and made a strong showing in the second half,” Coach. Monta Vista went 4-0, before SC finally scored twice to cut the it to 4-2. Monta Vista scored its last goal with three minutes to go after SC pulled up all its defenders to try and get a rally going.

All of the following from Coach Dempewolf, “The Cards finished a strong second in the SCCAL and advanced to the SCCAL play offs for the fourth consecutive time, losing to the eventual CCS co-champion Monta Vista of Cupertino. The high scoring Cards set many new SCCAL and school scoring records as well as establishing many personal bests. We shattered the old league record of 54 goals by scoring and outstanding 91 for the league season. The school scoring records was raised from a respectable 69 to the new, perhaps untouchable total of 125.

The assault on the scoring records was led by Bill Thompson, a sophomore, who set a new SC record of 34 goals for the season. Billy was also the co-champion scorer for the SCCAL with 22 goals, also a record. Jose Sierra also had a great year by scoring 22 goals and dishing out 25 assists. Jose also played a key role as a team leader, playing while injured and showing much improvement in his self control.

Vince Parish had his best year in the scoring department, scoring a career high of 20 goals for the year. Raul Oliva had another banner year playing some great defense as well as scoring 14 goals for the year.

These big shooters were backed up by some great defense and solid passing from mid fielders Bob Adams, David Adams, Jorge Sierra, Carlos Eusse, Keeper Nicholas Markel, fullbacks Ethan Alpert, Jim Courtright, Onesimo Garcia and Karl Jacobson.
Other team members were Brian Wipkie, Ginger Brown, Demetrius Tauriac and Karl Jacobson.

These Cards were the best balanced team in SC soccer history. The season records show this clearly. With only five “regulars” graduating we are naturally looking forward to next season with thoughts of regaining the SCCAL title once more.

Some Records set by this years Cards:
Most goals in a season — SC 125
Most goals in a season — SCCAL 91
Most goals in one game — SC and SCCAL 19
Most wins in one season — SC 15
Best won-loss record in a season — SC .750 win percentage
Won the schools 100th soccer game at Soquel
Were not shut out by an opponent during the season.”

The team outscored their practice opponents 23 to 19, their league opponents 91 to 16, lost 11 to 13 in CCS for a total SC score of 125 to the opponents 48. This plus the fifteen wins set a school record for goals scored and most wins in a season, plus for the best won and loss record.

Stats for players:
Single game high score by a player — David Adams 5
Pre-season total scoring — Bill Thompson 8
League season total scoring — Bill Thompson 22
Post season total scoring — Bill Thompson 4
Overall season scoring — Bill Thompson 34
Assists for season — Jose Sierra 25

Stats for the team:
Highest game score — North Monterey 19-1
Shut outs — 6
Consecutive wins — 6
Consecutive losses — 2

Individual Scoring
PR LEA CCS TOTAL
Bill Thompson 8 22 4 34
Jose Sierra 6 16 0 22
Vince Parish 3 16 1 20
Raul Oliva 1 10 3 14
David Adams 4 9 0 13
Jorge Sierra 1 6 1 8
Bob Adams 0 6 1 7
Carlos Eusse 0 3 0 3
Jim Courtright 0 2 0 2
Onesimo Garcia 0 1 1 2
Totals 23 91 11 125

Feb. 24. ALL SCCAL selections were Raul Oliva, Defensive MVP, Jose Sierra, runner up for Offensive MVP with a total of 22 goals. Other league first team members were Vince Parish and Bill Thompson, who was the scoring leader in the SCCAL with 22 league goals and he had 34 goals for the season. Honorable mention were Bob Adams, Ethan Alpert, Onesimo Garcia, David Adams and Jorge Sierra.
Raul Oliva, the top defensive player in the league, played for a team primarily known as an explosive offensive team. SC scored 97 goals and averaged 6.9 a game, were stingy on the opposite end of the field allowing only 14 goals during league play. “It was a phenomenal year,” said Dempewolf, whose team finished second in league with a 11-2-1 record, with both losses coming from Watsonville, who just moved back to the SCCAL this year. “We can’t expect to score that many points again. It just doesn’t happen. It was unreal.”
ALL SCCAL: seniors: three year starters, wing Vince Parrish, forward Jose Sierra and defender Raul Oliva. Super Sophomore Bill Thompson, according to Coach Dempewolfe is one of those guys who is quiet, but he gets the job done. He’s not spectacular, but he is steady and very dedicated. He was only scoreless in three of the 14 league games, set a new SC school record with 34 goals overall this season, shattering the old record of 26 set by Nick Dadigan in 1981. Thompson also dished off 15 assists in league, while Parrish and Sierra each scored 16 goals. Oliva scored ten goals, while playing top defense.

FROSH-SOPH SOCCER LEAGUE CHAMPIONS FOR THE THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR
Practice games: Alisal 2-3, RLS 0-2, Santa Clara 2-0, Monterey 7-1. Practice record 2-2. League: Harbor 3-1, 3-0; Aptos 1-1, 3-2; North Monterey 6-0, 3-0; Watsonville 1-1, 2-0; Soquel 2-0, 4-1; SLV 7-3, 2-2. League record 9-0-3 for third year as league champions. Season record 11-2-3. The won/loss percentage of .846 is the best in SC frosh-soph history. They are the first SC soccer team to go unbeaten in league play and the first win three consecutive league championships.

Coach Dempewolf, “ The Frosh-Soph team had the best won-loss record in Frosh-Soph history with a winning percentage of .846. They were the first SC team ever to go unbeaten through league play and the first SC team to win three consecutive league championships. The Cards played a control game with good passing and solid defense. Credit for the success of the team goes to former Card Sergio Sierra and volunteer assistant Tony Pacheco. Well done Cards.”

The team out scored their practice opponents 11 to 6, their league opponents 37 to 11 for a total goals for 48 and against 17.

Stats for players:
Single game high score by a player — Eric Rosebraugh 3
Pre-season total scoring — Rosebraugh 5
League season total scoring — Pat Sullivan 8
Overall season scoring — Rosebraugh 12

Stats for the team:
Highest game — Monterey 7-1
Shut Outs — 6
Consecutive wins — 7
Consecutive losses — 2

Individual scoring
PR LEA TOTAL
Eric Rosebraugh 5 7 12
Pat Sullivan 1 8 9
Miguel Valencia 2 7 9
Brian McMullen 2 7 9
Brandon Smith 1 1 2
Robert Camacho 0 2 2
Keith Wipke 0 2 2
Jim Ulwelling 0 1 1
Tony Pacheco 0 1 1
Brian Kimura 0 1 1
Totals 11 37 48

Other team members were Kurt Hodges, Brian Camera, Matt Moore, Dan Stanford, Tim Lara, Roland Von Der Munl, Roland Frank, Brian Rothafel, Tracy Scala, Sean Davis and Luis Marquez. Head Coach Sergio Sierra and assistant Tony Pacheco.

BASEBALL Practice games: North Salinas 6-1, Hill 5-2, Alisal 9-1, Hollister 6-0, Los Gatos 3-14, Saratoga 4-5, Lynbrook 8-6, Fremont 6-4. San Jose Lions Tournament: Piedmont Hills 10-12, Cupertino 6-4, Mt. Pleasant 4-8. Practice record 7-4. League: SLV 2-3, 10-4; Watsonville 9-12, 1-4; Harbor 5-4, 2-3; Aptos 1-4, 5-2; Soquel 7-3, 6-3; Marello 9-2, 7-2; North Monterey 7-3, 9-0. League record 9-5. CCS playoff game Los Gatos 8-9. Season record 16-10.

Returning two year starters are junior Kevin Grindy and senior Randy Criswell. Other starters back are seniors Scott Thiebout and Mitch Wright and junior Bob Adams. Returning letterman Bill Burr and Doug Larkin. Senior Medo Mendez is back after a year off. Up from the JV team are junior brothers Kevin and Keith Hodges, Bill Burr, Sean Hawkins and Brad Young. Sophomores Bytheal Ratliff, who played some with the varsity last year, Don Keathley and David Adams. New to the team this year are senior Bob Pinkham and sophomore Johnny Johnson.

Last season was a successful one with a league championship. This years team has a lot of experience and a lot of undecided positions. “We look at our team as a continual trial. We don’t expect the same starting team to end the season as the first lineup. Every game could be a different lineup.”

It might have been the first game of the season, but SC wasn’t playing like it as they beat North Salinas 6-1. The Cards got good pitching, banged out 10 hits and didn’t commit an error. “The whole team showed a lot of confidence, They made some good plays. It was a good performance for the first game of the season.” Kevin Grindy opened the game on the mound and went three innings to get the win. With SC leading 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth with no outs and two men on base, sophomore Bytheal Ratliff came on in relief to earn the save by retiring the next three batters and then finishing the game. The Cards scored single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings and then took the pressure off, by scoring three in the top of the seventh. Wright and Grindy had doubles. Bob Adams had two stolen bases and Wright, Mendez, Criswell and Thiebout each had one. Cards had two errors. Lineup: Kevin Hodges 1B, 4-2, run; Wright 2B, 3-1, sacrifice, double; Mendez CF/P, 1-0, two walks; Criswell SS, 4-2; Thiebout RF, 4-2, two runs; Adams C, 4-2, run; Grindy P/3B, 2-1, run, sacrifice, walk; Keith Hodges 3B/P, 2-0, sacrifice; Pinkham CF/LF, 4-0; Johnson CF, 1-0, run; Burr LF, 0-0 and Ratliff P, 1-0. Pitching stats by innings pitched, hits, earned runs, walks and strike outs. For innings pitched the decimal point and then the number .1 means one third of an inning, .2 means two thirds of an inning.
INN H ER BB SO
Grindy 3 1 0 2 2
Mendez 1 2 1 0 1
Keith Hodge 1.1 2 0 1 0
Ratliff 1.2 0 0 1 0

So Far Cardinals are ‘looking good’. Led by the pitching of Kevin Grindy and Medo Mendez the Cards down Andrew Hill 5-2. They limited Hill who had a 3-0 record coming into the game to just three hits and two walks. Grindy struck out three and Mendez fanned four. The Cards play was a pleasant surprise to the coach. “They’re surpassing our expectations for this time of the season.” In the second inning, Criswell singled was sacrificed to second by Thiebout and the ball was thrown away as Criswell scored and Thiebout went to third. Bob Adam’s sacrifice fly scored Thiebout. In the third, Burr singled was sacrificed to second by Kevin Hodges and scored on Mendez’s single, who went to second on the throw home. Mendez scored on Criswell’s single. Grindy scored in the seventh. Lineup: Kevin Hodges LF, 3-0, sacrifice; Wright 2B, 3-0; Mendez CF/P, 3-1, run; Criswell SS, 3-2, run; Thiebout RF, 2-0, sacrifice, run; Adams C, 2-0; Grindy P/3B, 1-0, run, two walks; Keith Hodges 3B, 3-0; Burr DH, 3-2, run and Ratliff P, defense only.
INN H ER BB SO
Grindy 3 1 1 4 3
Mendez 4 2 1 0 4

SC 9, Alisal 1. SC scored three runs in the fourth inning, then exploded for six more in the seventh. Bobby Adams knocked in three of the runs in the seventh with a bases loaded double down the right field line. He went 2 for 4 and drove in another run in the fourth. Grindy started on the mound and went three innings, pitching to one batter over the minimum. Mendez pitched the next three innings striking out five in a row and had a total of six. This is the best Mendez has looked so far.” Ratliff pitched the seventh and gave up an unearned run. Wright led the hitters going 3 for 4. Cards had two errors. Lineup: Kevin Hodges LF/1B, 3-0, steal, run; Wright 2B, 4-3, steal, RBI; Mendez CF/P, 4-1, run; Criswell SS,4-2, two runs, RBI; Thiebout RF, 4-1, run; Adams C, 4-2, steal; Grindy P/3B, 3-1, run, walk; Ratliff 1B/P, 3-1, double; Keith Hodges 3B, DH for; Burr DH, 2-0, walk, RBI; David Adams PH, 1-0 and Pinkham PR/LF/RF, 0-0, stolen base.
INN H ER BB SO
Grindy 3 2 0 0 1
Mendez 3 2 0 1 6
Ratliff 1 1 0 0 2

Cards roll past Hollister 6-0. Medo Mendez struggled, but hurled a shutout. While Mendez allowed only six hits and struck out eight, Hollister left eleven men on base. Twice the Haybalers loaded the bases and twice Mendez pitched out of the jam. He finished by striking out the side in the final inning. “He got tired and finally loosened up and threw well. A lot of guys freeze up with runners on base and bad things happen.” Not Mendez however. The Cards scored four times in the first inning. Wright led off with a single, was sacrificed to second by Mendez and then went to third on Adams single. Criswell drove in Wright and Thiebout tripled in Adams and Grindy, who had gotten on via a force out. Thiebout got his third RBI in the fifth singling un Grindy. In the sixth Keith Hodges singled, was sacrificed by Wright and scored on Mendez’ single. Thiebout paced the Card hitting going 3 for 4 with three RBI’s. In their previous game Hollister had beaten Santa Theresa a traditional power in San Jose. But the Haybalers couldn’t punch any runs through the Cards defense. “It is an indication of a good defense, when they have base runners on and you’re able to make the plays.” Cards had two errors. Lineup: Wright 2B, 3-1, run; Mendez P, 3-1, run; Adams C, 4-1, run, RBI; Criswell SS, 4-1; Grindy 3B, 4-1, two runs; Thiebout RF, 4-3, run; Ratliff 1B, 1-0, three walks; Kevin Hodges LF, 2-0, walk; Keith Hodges DH, 2-2, run, walk; Pinkham CF, DH for and Burr PH, 1-0.

Cards Thumped In First Defeat 14-3 to Los Gatos. The loud thud heard in the vicinity of Harvey West Park Wednesday night was the previously unbeaten SCHS baseball team coming down to earth in a hurry. “We’ve been playing well, but it was just one of those games.” The Cards had no one to blame, but themselves as they committed seven errors and gave up 11 walks. Los Gatos scored three runs in the first inning. But the Cards came right back in the bottom half of the first inning. Wright led off with a single and stole second. Mendez drove him home and when his hit was missed played went all the way to third. He scored on Bob Adam’s infield out. The Cards played their squad and little used reserve Doug Larkin walked , advanced on another walk, took third on a fielders choice and scored on a wild pitch for the Cards last run. Mendez and Bobby Adams had RBI’s, Lineup: Wright 2B, 3-1, run; Mendez P, 2-1, walk, run; Adams C, 2-0, run, RBI; Criswell SS, 3-1; Grindy P, 1-0; Thiebout RF/3B, 3-0; Ratliff 1B, 2-0; Keith Hodges 3B/P, 2-0; Burr DH, 1-0, walk; Pinkham LF, 1-0; David Adams PH, 1-0; Hawkins PH, 1-1; Keathley C, 2-0; Kevin Hodges P, 1-0, walk; Young CF 0-0, walk and Larkin RF, 1-0.
INN H ER BB SO
Grindy 3 5 3 2 2
Kevin Hodge 2 4 5 5 2
Keith Hodge 2 2 1 4 0

Sometimes It’s Not Better To Give Than Receive. The Cardinals learned the hard way that you don’t win baseball games by giving away a bunch of runs. They spotted Saratoga five runs, all unearned in the first four innings, when the Cards made four errors to lose 5-4. “We just gave it to them. We played poorly. We just couldn’t handle the ball. We couldn’t catch it and we couldn’t throw it, either one.” Grindy did not give up any earned runs, while allowing five hits, walking one and striking out eight. Three in a row in the fifth. Grindy put Saratoga down in order the last three innings. Grindy pitched his best game of the season in his first complete game of the season. In the seventh, SC loaded the bases on three walks, then designated hitter Bill Burr did his job driving in two runs. Keith Hodges walked to load the bases and put the winning run at second base, but a fly ball ended the game. Lineup: Wright 2B, 4-2, two steals, walk; Grindy P, 3-0, steal, hit by pitch; Adams C, 2-0; Criswell SS, 3-0, sacrifice; Thiebout RF, 1-0, three walks, two runs; Ratliff 1B, 2-0, two walks; Kevin Hodges LF/CF, 4-1; Burr DH, 4-1; Pinkham CF, defense; Keith Hodges 3B, 2-0, two walks, run and Keathley C, 1-1, run, walk.

Cards Rally For Win. Errors continued to plague SC, but thanks to solid pitching and a timely four run rally in the sixth inning, the Cards were able to come from behind for and 8-6 non league victory over Lynbrook. “Our defense was no better as we made five errors.” The Cards have committed 16 errors over their last three games, “We were even dropping pop ups.” But SC was also smashing line drives at the plate to raised its overall record to 5-2. Cardinal pitchers Grindy, who started and went four innings and Mendez who went the last three for the win each gave up only one earned run between them and the hitters backed them up with a winning rally. Burr and Mendez walked to set the stage in the sixth with two out. Grindy followed with a two run double to tie the game. Then scored on Bob Adams single. Adams stole second and scored on a throwing error. The Cards scored three in the second inning. Don Keathley led off hitting a ground ball that was thrown away to put him on second. Criswell walked, Ratliff bunted them up a base and Kevin Hodges drove them in. Wright drove in Hodges. In the third Grindy led off with a walk was sacrificed to second by Adams and scored on Thiebouts single. Lineup: Wright DH, 3-2, steal, hit by pitch; Pinkham LF, defense only;
Grindy P/SS, 3-1, walk, two runs; Adams 3B, 3-1, run, sacrifice; Thiebout RF, 4-1; Keathley C, 2-0, hit by pitch, run, walk; Criswell SS,CF, 3-0, two walks, run; Ratliff 1b, 3-0, sacrifice; Keith Hodges 2B, 2-0; Kevin Hodges CF, 2-1, run and Mendez P, 1-0, walk, run.
“ INN H ER BB SO
Grindy 4 5 1 0 1
Mendez 3 4 1 1 4

SC 6, Fremont of Sunnyvale 4. SC scored five runs in the first two innings and then held on to up their record to 6-2. “We’re back on track, The defense made the plays today. They had guys on base all the time, but the defense came through. They threw a few guys out and made some good plays.” Cards had only one error. SC took a three run lead in the first inning as Wright walked, Mendez singled, Bob Adams was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Grindy drove in Wright. Thiebout’s sacrifice fly drove in Mendez and Adams scored on an error. Two more runs crossed the plate in the second inning. Ratliff walked, Wright singled and Mendez doubled in Ratliff. Wright scored on Adams ground out. Fremont closed to within 5-4 in the top of the sixth with the bases loaded with two outs, when Mendez took the mound and calmly earned his third save of the season, striking out the first batter he faced. Due to the Cards one error, Mendez had to face an extra batter. Mendez also had a good day at the plate going 3 for 4 with two doubles, a RBI and a stolen base. Lineup: Wright 2B, 1-1, two runs, steal, two walks; Mendez 1B/P, 4-3; Bob Adams C/LF, 2-0, run, hit by pitch twice; Grindy 3B, 4-1; Thiebout RF, 2-2; Criswell SS, 2-0, sacrifice; Burr DH, 3-0; Pinkham CF, defense; Keathley C, 3-1; Ratliff 1B, 2-1, walk, run; David Adams PR/LF, 0-0, steal, run. Morris PH, 1-0, Kevin Hodges P, 0-0 and Keith Hodges 2B, 1-0.
INN H ER BB SO
Ratliff 4 6 3 3 2 winner
Kevin Hodges 1.2 1 1 3 1
Mendez 1.1 1 0 0 2 save

SLV took SC in a cliffhanger 3-2 in the league opener. The Cards scored two runs in the first inning, when Bob Adams walked, Criswell singled him to third and Mendez singled him home. On an attempted double play, on Grindy’s grounder, Criswell scored. The only other Cardinal hit came in the second inning. They did have a scoring opportunity in the sixth on a walk and an error, but could not get the tying run. Grindy went all the way on the mound giving up nine hits, three earned runs, walked one and struck out five. The Cards played errorless ball. Lineup: Bob Adams LF, 3-0, walk, run; Criswell SS, 3-1, run; Mendez CF, 1-1; Grindy P, 3-0; Thieboout RF, 3-0; Morris 3B, 2-0, walk; Keith Hodges 2B, 2-0; Keathley C, 3-0; Ratliff 1B, 3-1; Pinkham CF, 1-0; Kevin Hodges CF, 0-0; Burr PH, 1-0 and Wright PH, 1-0.

Watsonville 12, SC 9. It was a bad night for the Cardinals. Not only did the defending champs lose their second game in a row, but they committed nine errors, which led to 10 unearned runs. Also those 10 runs were scored after two were out. “It could not have been any worse. We threw the ball away at first, we kicked it and they got three hits because our outfielders fell down trying to catch the ball.” Those fly balls weren’t counted as errors but hits. In the second inning the Cards scored six times to tie the score. The Cards batted ten men in the inning getting five hits and three walks. “We thought we had turned things around, but then the errors continued.” Grindy, Kevin Hodges and Keathley each had two RBI’s, Adams and Burr each had one. Kevin Hodges doubled. Morris and Adams stole bases. Lineup: Keith Hodges 2B, hit by pitch; Criswell SS, 4-1, run; Adams LF/C, 4-2, walk; Grindy 2B/CF, 3-3, two runs; Thiebout RF, 3-1, run, walk; Morris 3B, 2-0, run, walk; Kevin Hodges 1B/P, 4-1, run, walk; Keathley C, 1-1; Ratliff P/1B, 3-0, sacrifice; Burr 3B/LF, 2-0, walk; Wright PH, 1-0; Pinkham LF, 0-0, walk, run and Larkin CF, 0-0.
INN H ER BB SO
Ratliff 4 8 0 2 3
Kevin Hodges 3 5 2 1 5

SC 5, Harbor 4. SC sailed into the bottom of the seventh inning with a 5-0 lead, but then the waters got rough for the Cards, who survived a four run rally by the Pirates. With the tying run on first, Mendez induced a come backer to himself to end the game. Mendez had a complete game win giving up six hits, no earned runs, walked three and struck out two. Mendez aided his own cause by picking three runners off base. The Cards winning run came on a walk to Ratliff, sacrifice by Wright and a single by Adams. Mendez had two RBI’s and Adams one. Thiebout stole two bases and Mendez and Grindy one each. The Card tightened up their defense and only committed two errors. Lineup: Wright 2B, 3-0, sacrifice; Adams C, 4-3, two runs; Mendez P, 4-2, run; Grindy SS, 2-0, run walk; Thiebout RF, 2-0, walk; Kevin Hodges CF, 3-0; Keathley DH, 2-0, walk; Pinkham LF, defense; Morris 3B, 3-0 and Ratliff 1B, 2-0, run, walk.

Aptos 4, SC 1. Aptos won for the sixth time in their last seven games. The Aptos runs were spread over four inning. In Grindy’s fine complete game effort, six Card errors caused him to spend a lot of extra energy, but he still had good numbers to win most any game. He allowed five hits, two earned runs, walked one and struck out three. The lone Card run came in the third inning, When Kevin Hodges singled and went to second on Ratliff‘s ground out. Mitch Wright drove him in with a RBI single. Lineup: Wright 2B, 3-1; Adams C, 3-0, two runs; Mendez CF, 3-1; ; Grindy P, 3-0; Thiebout RF, 3-1; Morris SS, 3-1; Kevin Hodges RF, 3-1, run; Burr 3B. 3-1 and Ratliff 1B, 3-0.

Cards Mendez Speaks Softly And Carries A Big Curve as Cards defeat Soquel 7-3. When Medo Mendez takes the mound for the Cardinals, he doesn’t shoot fear into the hearts of the opposition. Mendez in no intimidator at 5 feet, 8 inches, the senior lefthander quietly goes about his business. What is his business? Lowering the batting averages of his opponents. Mendez put in a little overtime at Harvey West Park were he tossed nine innings of five hit ball and giving up only one earned run, walked two and struck out eleven. He had five innings of three up and three down. To cap the memorable evening, Mendez knocked in three runs, including the game winner in the top of the ninth. Mendez mixed a sharp curve with a controlled fastball to frustrate the Knights. “I felt pretty good,” said a low keyed Mendez, who expresses himself through his play on the field because, “I don’t like to talk.” But he’s a good listener, as evidenced by his performance. “I was relaxed. I didn’t try to overpower anybody,” explained Mendez, “I usually overthrow. The coaches told me to throw nice and relaxed.” That mild approach enabled his curveball to dance towards the plate belt high, then pirouette into a nose dive and avoid any unnecessary contact with the bat. Mendez was tested twice, once in each of the third and eighth innings and he passed each time. In the third inning it looked like Mendez would be taking an early exit after Soquel had scored three runs and had runners on first and second and no outs. He picked off the runner at second and struck out the next two batters. He held two of the toughest outs in the league to a combined 0 for 6. “Not bad for one game,” Mendez said to himself with a chuckle, as if the evenings accomplishments had finally sunk in. Then he walked away, dragging the Soquel batting averages behind him. Wright led off the third with a single, stole second and was driven in by Mendez. In the fourth Criswell led off with a walk was singled to second by Wright and they were moved up on a sacrifice by Bob Adams. Mendez drove in Criswell on a ground ball and Grindy drove in Wright to tie the score. The Cards built up a cushion in the top of the ninth, when Criswell got on by an error. Wright sacrificed him to second. Adams singled him to third and Mendez drove him home. Thiebout drove in Wright and Mendez scored on an error to make the score 7-3. Mendez put down the side in order to end the game. Four Cards stole bases: Wright, Adams, Grindy and Kevin Hodges. The Cards had four errors. Lineup: Wright 2B, 4-3, two runs, sacrifice; Adams C, 4-2, run, sacrifice ; Mendez P, 4-2, run; Grindy SS 5-2; Thiebout RF, 4-1, run, walk; Morris 3B, 4-0; Kevin Hodges LF, 5-1; Burr DH. 5-0; Ratliff 1B, defense and Criswell SS, 2-0, two runs, walk.

SC 9, Marello 2. SC scored two runs in the first inning and four more in the second to blow past Marello at Harvey West. Kevin Grindy hurled the whole game for SC giving up six hits, two earned runs, three walks and struck out six. The Cards defense was sharp committing no errors for the first time all season. At the beginning of the season, the defense was thought to be a strong point for the team. “We think we should be doing better on defense than we are.” In the first inning Bob Adams singled, stole second and scored on Mendez’ single. Thiebout tripled in Mendez. In the second Burr and Criswell walked and Burr scored on Wrights single. Criswell scored on Adams sacrifice fly. Wright scored on an error. Wright drove in two runs in the fifth. RBI’s were Wright three, Adams, Mendez and Thiebout one each. Stolen bases were Adams four, Wright, Mendez and Kevin Hodges one each. Lineup: Wright 2B, 3-2, run, walk; Adams C, 3-2, three runs, sacrifice ; Mendez CF, 3-2, run, walk; Grindy P, 4-0 ; Thiebout RF, 3-1, run, walk; Morris 3B, 4-0; Kevin Hodges LF, 3-1; Burr DH, 1-0, two runs, two walks; Ratliff 1B, defense; Criswell SS, 1-0, run, two walks; Keith Hodges PH, 1-0; Pinkham RF, 0-0 and Larkin LF, 0-0.

Piedmont Hills comes from behind to beat SC 12-10 in eight innings in the opening round of the San Jose Lions Tournament. SC held 8-1 and 10-2 leads and started substituting. Piedmont Hills scored four unearned runs in the top of the seventh to tie the game and then won it with a pair of runs in the eighth. Grindy drove in four runs, Mendez, Thiebout and Morris drove in two apiece. The Cards had only two errors. Lineup: Wright DH, 5-2, two runs, steal; Adams RF, 1-0; run, walk; Mendez 1B, 3-2, two walks, double; Grindy SS, 4-2, steal, walk, two runs; Thiebout LF, 2-1, walk; Morris 3b, 5-1; Criswell 2B/CF, 4-0, hit by pitch; Keathley C, 3-0, run, walk; Ratliff P, 2-0, run; Keith Hodges 2B/P, DH for; David Adams P, DH for; Pinkham LF/RF, 2-0, sacrifice; Kevin Hodges P, 2-0, steal and Larkin LF, 0-0.
INN H ER BB SO
Ratliff 3 3 1 4 0
Kevin Hodges 2.1 5 4 3 2
Keith Hodges 1.1 2 0 1 2
David Adams 1.1 3 2 0 0

Cards Win On Pitching Gem By Mendez, who throws no hitter in a win against North Monterey 7-3 as he survives shaky first inning. It was cold and windy at Castroville. The weather conditions were not conducive to baseball. So tell Medo Mendez that. All he did in weather more suited to flying kites was throw his first no hitter and the first by a Cardinal in 12 years. For the record, the last SC no hitter was in 1972 by Pat O’Brien, in the seventh no hitter since 1957.
By looking at things in the first inning, Mendez didn’t have much of a chance of becoming the eighth. The Condors had a runner on third with two outs, when Mendez walked four in a row to force in a pair of runs. A subsequent error made it 3-0. “He looked good warming up and he started out all right, but then something happened and I don’t know what it was. Those things just happen.” Once Mendez got past the first inning, it was like he had earned a new lease on life. He retired 18 of the final 19 batters he faced, allowing only one runner to reach base in the final six innings, a walk in the fourth inning.
In the first inning, Menez made 39 pitches, in the last six he made 63. “After that first inning, he did pretty good. You can’t do much better. I didn’t even realize he had a no hitter until someone told me after the game,” the coach added with a laugh. Mendez’ no hitter puts him in some pretty exclusive company with Cardinals of the past, like Ken Negro, who in 1958, became the first pitcher for the present coaches led team, to throw one. Al McCommon joined the list in 1961 and Dave Netto in 1963. The only Cardinal to hurl two no hitters in this era was Kris Sorensen, who got his two in 1969. In 1971, Preston Dyson wrote his name into the SC history book, one year before O’Brien’s gem.
Then came Mendez, twelve years later. Only one ball made it to the outfield off Mendez, but it was nothing more than a harmless fly ball. Another ball not so harmless was speared by second baseman Mitch Wright, who made a diving catch going to his left. The Cards got all the runs they needed in the third inning with a five run explosion. They batted around scoring five runs on four hits. The scored two more in the sixth. RBI’s were two for Thiebout and Criswell and one each for Mendez and Kevin Hodges. The Cards committed only one error, but it could have been higher had it not been for the defensive work of sophomore first baseman Bytheal Ratliff, who spent most of the day playing in the dirt. “He made some good pickups. He was busy all day.” So was Mendez. Lineup: Wright 2B, 5-2, two runs, two steals, two runs; Adams C, 3-1, run, walk; Mendez P, 3-0, run, walk; Grindy SS, 4-2; Thiebout DH, 3-2, run; Pinkham LF, DH for; Kevin Hodges RF, 3-1, run, walk, steal; Criswell CF, 4-1; Morris 3B, 3-0, hit by pitch; Ratliff 1B, 4-0, run.

SC 10, SLV 4. Going into the sixth inning, it looked as if SLV was going to repeat its season opening upset of SC as they were ahead 4-3 going into the sixth inning when the Cards scored six runs. Six Cards drove in runs led by Randy Criswell, who doubled in two to put the Cards ahead. Others with one were Adams, Mendez, Grindy, Morris and Burr with a squeeze. Grindy worked out of early jams went five innings.
Mendez fresh off his no hitter Tuesday showed no affects from that effort threw two innings giving up one hit for the win. Cards had one error. Lineup: Wright 2B, 4-0, run, walk; Adams C, 5-2, two runs, steal; Mendez CF/P, 2-1, two walks; Grindy P/SS, 3-1, walk; Thiebout DH, 3-2, run; Pinkham LF, DH for; Kevin Hodges RF, 3-0, run, sacrifice, steal; Criswell SS/CF, 2-2, two runs, double, walk; Morris 3B, 1-0, run two walks, sacrifice; Ratliff 1B. 2-0 and Burr CF, 1-0, run, sacrifice.
INN H ER BB SO
Grindy 5 5 0 2 7
Mendez 2 1 0 1 0 winner

Error Ridden Cards Win 6-4 over Cupertino in San Jose tournament. Randy Criswell drove in the winning run for the third straight game with a two run triple on a full count in the eighth inning. “Up until the fifth inning the defenses was great, but then the bottom fell out and the Cards committed seven errors.” Starter Grindy hurled seven innings giving up four hits, no earned runs, hit one batter and struck out seven. Medo Mendez pitched the eighth inning giving up one hit, no runs and struck out one for the win. Mendez went 4 for 4 and had two RBI’s for another fine day at the ball yard. Lineup: Wright 2b, 1-1, run, steal, sacrifice, walk; Kevin Hodges RF, 3-1, two runs, triple, RBI, steal, walk; Mendez CF/P, 4-4, run, double; Grindy P, 4-1, RBI; Thiebout DH, 3-1, run, steal, walk; Pinkham LF, defense; Criswell SS, 4-1, steal; Morris 3b, 1-0, hit by pitch; Ratliff 1B, 3-0; Keathley C, 2-0, run, walk; Keith Hodges 2B, 1-0 and Burr 3B, 2-0.

In the last game of the San Jose Lions Tournament at San Jose Municipal Stadium Mt. Pleasant broke a 4-4 tie with four runs in the top of the eighth to win 8-4. The last run by Mt, Pleasant in the top of the seventh was unearned. SC tied the score 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh with two runs. Morris singled, Keith Hodges walked, Ratliff singled to score Morris and Bob Adams singled to score Hodges. RBI’s: Thiebout, Burr, Ratliff and David Adams. Steals were Grindy, Mendez, Morris and Keith Hodges. Cards had three errors. Lineup: Kevin Hodges RF, 5-0; Grindy SS, 5-1; Mendez P/CF, 5-4, two runs, double; Thiebout DH, 4-1, walk; Pinkham LF, defense; Burr CF/LF, RF, 5-1; Morris 3B, 3-1, rum, two walks; Keith Hodges 2B/P, 1-0, run, three walks; Ratliff 1B/P, 3-1, walk; Young C, 3-0, walk; David Adams PH, 1-1; Kingdom 3B, 0-0 and Larkin LF, 0-0.
INN H ER BB SO
Mendez 6 8 3 2 3
Keith Hodges 1.1 3 3 1 1 loss
Ratliff .2 0 0 0 2

Watsonville 4, SC 1. The score was tied 1-1 in the bottom of the third, when Watsonville scored three times after two were out. A double just inside the leftfield foul line and ball just out of reach of Grindy at short combined to score three runs. “It’s like they say, ‘a game of inches.’ SC took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Wright, who doubled scored on an error. But after that, SC had only four base runners, just one of whom made it into scoring position. Mendez started and went the first four innings giving up one earned run out of the four scored. He gave up five hits, walked two and struck out five. Grindy went the next two innings giving up one hit, no runs, one walk and three strike outs. The Cards had catchers interference, which allowed the third inning to happen, but no errors. Lineup: Wright 3-2, double, run; Adams C, 3-1; Mendez P/CF, 3-0; Criswell SS/CF, 3-0; Thiebout DH, 3-1; Pinkham LF, defense; Grindy SS/P, 3-0; Kevin Hodges RF, 3-0; Morris 3B, 1-0; Ratliff 1B, 2-0; Keathley C, 0-0 and Burr 3B, 2-0.

Harbor scored a run in the top of the seventh, then held off a late SC rally in the bottom of the inning to win 3-2. Both starting pitchers pitched well, which ultimately was decided by errors. All three of Harbor’s runs came with two out. The two runs scored in the third inning were unearned. SC got on the scoreboard with a solo run in the fourth, when Mendez’ fly ball was dropped. A bad pick off throw to first allowed him to go to third and Mendez scored on Randy Criswell’s ground out. Down 3-1 Scott Thiebout singled and was forced at second on Grindy’s ground out. He was singled to third by Kevin Hodges and scored on Bill Burr’s ground out. Mendez pitched a complete game well enough to win. He gave up seven hits, one earned run, hit one batter and struck out four. Cards had two errors. Lineup: Wright 2B, 2-0, walk; Adams C, 3-1; Mendez P, 3-2, run; Criswell SS, 3-0; Thiebout DH, 3-1; Pinkham LF, defense; Grindy 3B, 3-0, run; Kevin Hodges RF, 3-1; Burr CF, 3-0, RBI and Ratliff 1B, 2-1.

Grindy’s One Hitter leads Santa Cruz Past Potent Aptos 5-2. Considering that there were 11 errors in the game, six by SC and five by Aptos, mistakes were one thing the game produced in abundance. What it didn’t produce for the vaunted Aptos attack was any hitting as Grindy used his tantalizing, sweeping curve to limit the Mariner batters to one tainted base hit in the fourth inning. A difficult hop bounded off an infielder, which was a tough ball to handle was scored as a hit.
Grindy knew the secret to keeping the Mariner’s bats silent, the graceful arc of his curve. “If I can get my curve ball in I know I’ll have a good game. I had the good curve working in my favor the whole game.” In the bottom half of the first, Wright reached base on an error, stole second and scored on an error on Criswell’s ground ball. In the second, Kevin Hodges walked, went to third on Morris’ single and score on Ratliff’s single. Aptos scored two in the fifth on errors and no hits to make it 2-2. The Cards came right back, when Bob Adams singled, stole second and scored on Thiebout’s single. The Cards padded its lead in the sixth on a walk to Kevin Hodges, singles by Morris and Ratliff and a run scoring sacrifice fly by Wright.
Grindy has pitched this season in relatively tough luck, despite one of the better earned run averages in the league, 1.35 coming into the game. Grindy has just a 6-4 season won-loss mark. “This time he got a couple of runs,” said the obviously pleased coach. Grindy’s line was one hit, no earned runs, two walks and three strike outs. Lineup: Wright 2B, 4-0, run, steal, sacrifice fly for RBI; Adams C, 4-1; Mendez CF, 2-1, run, intentional walk; Criswell SS, 3-0, RBI; Thiebout DH, 3-1; Pinkham LF, defense; Grindy P, 3-0; Kevin Hodges RF, 1-0, run, two walks, two runs; Morris 3B, 3-2, run and Ratliff 1B, 3-2, RBI.

Santa Cruz Knocks Off Soquel 6-3 To Stay In Playoff Race. Soquel led 3-0 going into the bottom of the fifth inning. SC rallied for five runs, benefiting from four Soquel errors and two walks in the inning. Soquel had three runners picked of by the Cards winning pitcher Medo Mendez in the course of the game.
Santa Cruz’ victory tightened up the league standings considerably. Aptos is alone in first place at 9-3 followed by Soquel 8-4, SC 7-5 and Harbor 6-5 with two games left in the season. The top two finishers in the SCCAL receive automatic bids to the post season CCS championship tournament. The third place team has a chance for an at large bid.
Mendez who entered the game with the SCCAL’s top earned run average by a starting pitcher at 1.13 in 62 innings this season, appeared to struggle early and Soquel was quick to take advantage. “I was having a little trouble. I was overthrowing and they were hitting me,” said Mendez. Soquel’s pitcher had his first loss of the season after 8 wins.
In the bottom of the fifth Kevin Hodges led off with a single followed by another single by Morris. Ratliff walked to load the bases with no outs. Wright singled in Hodges. Adams walked to force in Morris. Ratliff scored on Mendez’ force out ground ball. Wright and Mendez scored on errors. Kevin Hodges led off the sixth with a double and scored on Ratliff’s single to finish the scoring.
“That scoring allowed me to throw easy again. I was able to relax,” said Mendez. Two Knight runners reached base in the seventh, but they did not stay there long as Mendez pick both off first base with ease. Mendez has picked off five Knight runners this year. Mendez gave up eight hits, two earned runs, walked three and struck out two. Cards had three errors. Lineup: Wright 2B, 3-2, run, walk, RBI; Adams C, 2-0, sacrifice, walk, RBI; Mendez P, 3-1, run, steal, walk, two RBI’s; Criswell CF, 4-0: Thiebout DH, 3-0; Pinkham LF, defense; Grindy SS, 3-0; Kevin Hodges RF, 3-3, two runs, double; Morris 3B, 3-1, run and Ratliff 1b, 2-2, run, walk.

SC 7, Marello 2. Led by the two hit hurling of junior right-hander Kevin Grindy, both infield hits and a 15 hit attack, SC rolled over Marello last night at Harvey West. The Marello coach, “Grindy threw a lot of change up curves. He doesn’t throw real hard. He just throws it where he wants with a lot of curves and other junk.” Grindy’s line was two hits, no earned runs, two walks and five strike outs. In the second inning Kevin Hodges led off with a walk, Criswell singled and Morris bunted to sacrifice, but beat it out for a base hit to load the bases. Wright grounded out to score Hodges. Adams singled in Criswell and Morris. In the third, Grindy singled and was sacrificed to second by Thiebout. Criswell singled him home. Grindy doubled and scored on Kevin Hodges single in the fifth. In the sixth, Ratliff singled and Wright bunted for a base hit. Adams bunted for a base hit to load the bases. A balk scored Ratliff and Mendez’ ground out scored Wright to end the scoring.
Cards had six errors. Lineup: Wright 2B, 4-1, run, RBI; Adams C, 4-3, RBI; Mendez CF, 4-0, RBI; Grindy P, 4-2, two runs; Thiebout DH, 2-1 sacrifice; Pinkham LF, defense; Kevin Hodges RF, 3-1, run, walk, RBI; Criswell SS, 4-3, run, two RBI’s; Morris 3B, 3-1, run, sacrifice; Ratliff 1B, 3-1, run; Burr DH, 2-1; Keathley C, 0-0 and David Adams RF, 0-0.

SC 9, North Monterey 0. The Cards banged out 12 base hits, three each by Mendez and third baseman Rob Morris. The Cards did not score until the fifth inning when they put across five runs and they added four more in the sixth.
The Cards won their fourth straight league game to finish third in the SCCAL standings. Now SC must wait to hear from the CCS on Sunday as to whether it will receive one of the eight at large bids in the CCS tournament. Eight of the 12 CCS leagues are to have its third place team make the tourney and with their 16-9 overall record the Cardinals feel strong about their chances.
Medo Mendez pitched his second complete game shutout of the season. He retired the side in order for five innings and ended up pitching to just three batters over the minimum. He did not have a no hitter this time against NMC, but he pitched a much cleaner game allowing three hits, no runs, walked two and struck out seven. The Cards had one error and Mendez picked the runner off at first base. A double play cleaned the bases in the next inning. Mendez lowered his earned run average to 1.11 in 76 season innings this season.
RBI’s were Morris two and one each for Mendez, Grindy, Criswell, Thiebout and Burr. Steals by Mendez, Criswell, Thiebout and Kevin Hodges. Sacrifices by Grindy and Thiebout. Lineup: Wright 2B, 4-0, walk; Bob Adams C, 3-0, two runs; Mendez P, 4-3, two runs; Grindy SS, 3-2, run; Criswell CF, 4-2, two runs; Thiebout DH, 2-0, sacrifice fly, hit by pitch; Pinkham LF, defense; Kevin Hodges RF, 2-0, run, walk; Morris 3B, 4-3; Ratliff 1b, 4-1 and Burr RF, 1-1.

Trio From SCCAL In CCS Tourney. The Cardinals who finished third in the league with a 16-9 overall record, will join SCCAL champion Aptos with a 17-9-1 record and Soquel league runner up with a 22-6 record. The Cards play Los Gatos champion of the West Valley Athletic league and the section number one ranked team at San Jose Municipal Stadium.

Santa Cruz Defense Folds. When a baseball team makes nine errors in the first four innings of a game and allows seven unearned runs, it has no right to expect to win. Against the number one ranked Los Gatos Wildcats in the first round of the CCS playoffs, the Cardinals were that team, and nearly came out smelling like a rose.
SC down at the end of four innings 9-1 and in danger of setting some kind of record for defensive incompetence at San Jose Municipal Stadium. But in the bottom of the seventh, SC actually was in position to win the game. It’s number three hitter, Medo Mendez, at the plate with the bases loaded, the score 9-8 and four runs in for the Cards in the frame, Mendez grounded out. He had started the inning with a walk. “We couldn’t have asked for a better guy at the plate.” After all Mendez has been one of the leagues leading hitters. The only reason SC got back into the game was the horrendous Los Gatos defense, which committed seven errors for a total of 16 by the two teams.
The coach was complimentary about the Cards’ never say die attitude, on which netted the team seven runs in the final three innings. Defense, however was a sore point. “The first half of the game was a real letdown. It was like we weren’t even out there.” He wanted no part of the argument or alibi that after all Los Gatos was the sections number one ranked team. “The outfielders had a hard time stopping the ball that far out. You have to play the game. You can’t make excuses. You have to be ready to play from the beginning.”
“One thing I’ll say about these kids is they never thought they were out of a ballgame, no matter the score.” said Ray Hunter, long time assistant coach. “They stayed with it the whole game.” Kevin Grindy started and went four innings and pitched well, but the nine errors his teammates committed led to seven of the runs scored against him. Medo Mendez pitched the last three innings with no errors behind him shut down the Cats. Cards with RBI’s: Wright, Adams, Grindy, Kevin Hodges and Morris. Lineup: Wright 2B, 4-1, run, walk; Adams C, 5-1, two runs; Mendez CF/P, 3-0, run, two walks; Grindy P/SS, 3-2, run, walk; Criswell SS/CF, 2-0, run two walks; Kevin Hodges RF, 3-0, sacrifice; Morris 3B, 4-0, run; Ratliff 1b, 3-0, walk; Burr DH, 4-0, run; Pinkham LF, defense and David Adams 1-1, run.
INN H ER BB SO
Grindy 4 5 2 3 2
Mendez 3 2 0 3 1

By team vote:
Medo Mendez, most valuable player, best hitter, best defensive player, best overall and co-captain along with Randy Criswell.
Mr. Hustle, Keith Hodges.
Most improved, Bob Pinkham
Cardinal Club sportsmanship award, Doug Larkin.

BEST BIRDS For the season
Average–Mendez 435, Thiebout 350, Wright 337 and Bobby Adams 312
Total bases–Mendez 42, Thiebout and Grindy 32
RBI–Mendez, Thiebout and Grindy all 22
Steals–Wright 13, Bobby Adams 11 and Grindy 10
Walks– Ratliff 13 and Grindy 12
Struck out the least– Mendez 2, Grindy 5 and Wright 6

LEAGUE hitting stats by at bats, runs, hits, batting average and runs batted in.
AB R H AV RBI
Mendez 39 10 17 435 14
Adams,Bob 48 13 17 354 6
Wright 46 10 13 282 6
Thiebout 39 4 11 282 7
Criswell 37 10 10 270 9
Grindy 46 8 12 260 6
Ratliff 33 4 8 242 1
Hodges,Kev 39 10 9 230 4
Morris 36 5 8 222 3
Burr 22 3 3 136 4
Keathley 6 1 1 166 2
Pinkham 1 2 0 000 0
Hodges,Kei 0 0 0 000 0
Larkin 0 0 0 000 0
Adams,D 0 0 0 000 0
Totals 392 80 109 278 62

LEAGUE pitching stats by innings pitched, hits allowed, runs allowed, earned runs, earned run average per game, doubles, triples, home runs, strike outs, base on balls, wins, losses and saves.
INN H R ER ERA SO BB W L SAVE
Mendez 50 20 35 8 1.11 33 20 5 2 1
Grindy 41 17 27 7 1.19 33 10 4 2 0
Ratliff 4 10 8 0 0.00 3 2 0 1 0
Kev Hodges 3 2 5 2 4.70 5 1 0 0 0
Totals 98 49 75 17 1.21 74 23 9 5 1

SEASON hitting stats by at bats, runs, hits, batting average, doubles, triples, stolen bases; sacrifices, base on balls and runs batted in.
AB R H AV 2B 3B SB SAC BB RBI
Mendez 77 27 37 480 4 1 7 1 1 22
Thiebout 77 16 27 350 1 2 4 4 10 22
Wright 83 20 28 337 3 0 13 5 11 10
B Adams 80 21 25 312 2 0 11 5 6 17
Grindy 93 22 27 290 3 1 10 3 12 22
Criswell 73 15 19 260 2 0 5 2 6 16
Burr 58 15 13 224 0 0 0 1 11 12
Kev Hodges 76 16 17 223 1 3 8 5 10 12
Ratliff 66 6 14 212 1 0 1 3 13 5
Morris 52 8 11 211 0 0 3 3 6 8
Pinkham 19 6 1 058 0 0 3 1 4 3
Kei Hodges 25 7 6 240 0 0 4 0 8 2
Keathley 26 7 6 230 0 0 0 0 8 4
D Adams 7 3 2 285 0 0 2 1 2 1
Young 6 0 1 166 0 0 0 1 3 1
Larkin 6 2 0 000 0 0 0 0 3 0
Totals 824 191 234 284 17 7 71 35 114 157

SEASON pitching stats by innings pitched, hits allowed, runs allowed, earned runs, earned run average per game, doubles, triples, home runs, strike outs, base on balls, wins, losses and saves.
INN H R ER ERA 2B 3B HR SO BB W L SAVE
Mendez 79 28 63 12 1.06 5 1 2 62 31 7 2 5
Grindy 75 45 56 12 1.12 6 2 0 59 19 8 5 0
Ratliff 23 23 29 10 3.00 1 0 0 12 14 1 1 1
Kei Hodges 12 15 15 10 5.82 2 0 1 7 15 0 2 0
Kev Hodges 17 23 22 17 7.00 2 0 1 13 22 0 0 0
D Adams 3 4 5 4 9.33 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0
Totals 209 138 190 65 2.18 16 4 5 165 103 16 10 6

ALL LEAGUE and ALL COUNTY selections were Medo Mendez senior P/OF and Kevin Grindy senior P/SS. Mitch Wright second base, honorable mention.

JV BASEBALL
Team members were Curt Rayer, R. Mondo, M. Trummer, Brian Kingdom, Scott Wilkinson, Kurt Hodges, Jesus Escobar, Rich Fernandez, Trevor McPherson, Eric Rosebraugh, James Locks, Sean Harrell, Scott Roberson, Levi Barnes, James McDuffie, Mike Strange and James Holliday. Coaches Steve Pacheco, Mike DiTano, Rich Castillo.

GIRLS VARSITY SOFTBALL
Practice games: Carmel 9-8, Live Oak 6-9, Monterey 3-1, 13-4, 19-2; North Salinas 2-6. Gilroy Tournament: Gilroy 11-7. In the championship bracket: Live Oak 7-5, Leland 6-3, Monta Vista 4-12 for second place. Practice record 7-3. League: SLV 2-3, 2-5; Watsonville 16-7, 1-4; Harbor 3-2, 12-6; North Monterey 12-1, 9-0; Soquel 3-1, 1-3. Regular league play 8-4, tied for second place with Soquel. In playoff to go to CCS Soquel won 2-1.
Overall record 15-8.

Yearbook. Started the season with high hopes for a high finish in the SCCAL. Returning starters Fon Brown 3B, Diana Macken CF, Renee Alvado RF, will lead the group talented players that include varsity experienced Joyce Mungai 2B, Ann Hill 1B and Jana Burr C/SS. Up from the JV team are Shauna Schaeffer, Kelly Netto C, Karya Tidd 1B, Dina Avila 2B, Amy Ball SS, Lauren Freeman SS, Kris Celayeta LF/1B, Ronda Lyon CF and Diane Towner 3B. New to the team were Angie Work, Lisa Panelli, K. Tidd, J Mungari and K, Neeley. Coach Pete Newell.

Sentinel preseason write up on February 27. New coach this year, Pete Newell, inherits a team with a winning tradition, some solid returnees and a strong crop of underclassmen players. For Newell it like coming home. Newell was the first coach of SC’s first softball team in the mid-70’s, before stepping down to be replaced by the then JV coach Vic Miguel, who resigned before this season.
Returning is All SCCAL, three year varsity player Fon Brown, who is one of the leagues top hitters. In the outfield are Kris Celayeta in left, fleet footed Diana Macken in center and Renee Alvado in right. Shauna Schaeffer, up from the JV’s will be SC’s number one pitcher. A standout hitter is likely to be junior Ann Hill at first base and will hit fourth behind Brown. Three year starter Jan Burr is a jack of all trades, who can fill in where ever needed. “I know the girls we have can play softball. They can run, hit and throw. What I don’t know is how good the players are on the other teams in the league,” said Newell. The winning tradition is still there. Two seasons ago SC was the league champions. Last year it was second. “They’ve been well coached. Vic did a good job with the girls. Plus they’re used to winning,” Newell said.

February 29. SC 9, Carmel 8. SC came back with two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to edge out Carmel. In the bottom of the seventh Angie Work lead off and was hit by a pitch, Diane Towner followed with a single and took second on a throw to the plate, putting runners on second and third. Shauna Schaeffer hit into a fielders choice on an out at the plate with Work being thrown out. Then three straight walks to Karyn Tidd, Kris Celayeta and Jana Burr brought in two runs to win the game. “We came back four times during the course of the game. We’re very pleased to begin the season on a positive note,” said Coach Pete Newell. The basketball team is still playing, so players are missing. Celayeta led the Cards at the plate, going 3 for 3. Renee Alvado was 3 for 4.

March 2. Live Oak 9, SC 6. SC scored six runs without the benefit of a base hit to take an early lead. But Live Oak scored in every inning, finally going ahead in the sixth inning. SC committed seven errors. Pitcher Shauna Schaeffer walked eight, but gave up just four hits, while taking the loss. SC had the bases loaded in the second and seventh innings without scoring. SC will add five players from the basketball team, whose season just ended.

March 7. SC 3, Monterey 1. SC came up with their best defensive performance of the season to back the two hit pitching of Junior Shauna Schaeffer. SC is now 2-1. Coach Newell, “We played much better on defensively than we did the first two games. Fon Brown played an outstanding game at third base.” SC made only one error. Schaeffer struck out six and walked six in going the distance, despite a case of the flu. Schaeffer was able to work through having runners on third base four times and got out of the inning un-scored upon. SC scored solo runs in the first, second and fifth innings. Fon Brown scored on an error in the first. Rhonda Lyon scored on Diana Mackens single in the second and Macken scored in the fifth on a wild pitch.

March 11. In a doubleheader against Monterey, SC won the first game 13-4 and the second game 19-2. SC banged out 20 hits and scored 32 runs in the two games. “As the day progressed, we hit the ball better. Overall our defense was good and we ran the bases aggressively,” said Coach Newell. In the first game, SC scored in each of the first five innings. The biggest inning was in the third inning, when SC scored five runs on four hits. The key hit in the inning was a two run double by Fon Brown. Dina Avila had two hits in the game and Shauna Schaeffer threw a four hitter, striking out three and walking three.
In the second game, the SC bats really came alive, as SC batted around in both the first and sixth innings. Diana Macken did the major damage going 3 for 6 with a double. Joyce Mungari and Amy Ball each had three RBI’s. SC is 4-1.

March 16. SC Wastes Chances. Unable to take full advantage of scoring opportunities SC lost 6-2 to North Salinas. SC is now 4-2 on the season. SC scored single runs in the bottom of the first and sixth innings, but left the bases loaded in each inning. Fon Brown went two for four. Ann Hill pitched the complete game in her first start of the season. North Salinas scored all of its runs in the first three innings, then Hill shut them out over the last four.

March 18. SC 11, Gilroy 7. SC advances to the championship flight of the Gilroy tournament with a win that wasn’t as close as the score would indicate. SC led 10-1 after four innings and despite a six run rally in the fifth inning by Gilroy, SC prevailed in a six inning game, which was halted due to a two hour time limit rule in the tournament. Shauna Schaeffer had a no-hitter going through four innings, before Gilroy scored six unearned runs, thanks to a pair of SC errors. Diana Macken had five hits, including a triple and a double to go 5 for 5. Fon Brown had two hits, including a triple and single, to go 2 for 4. Each had 4 RBI’s.

March 21. SLV Scratches For Win Over Cards In League Opener 3-2. SLV scratched and clawed for three runs on three hits and four walks, while its pitcher yielded two runs and scattered five hits and allowed only one walk. SC opened the game with back-to-back singles by Diana Macken and Kris Celayeta, who ended up on third and second with no outs, but didn’t score. Number three hitter Fon Brown and cleanup hitter Ann Hill both struck out against the top pitcher in the league. SLV never trailed, led 3-1 going into the top of the seventh inning, when SC rallied to pull within 3-2. SC had the tying run at third and the winning run at second with two outs, but the pitcher got the next batter with a rise ball on a full count to end the game. SC had seven runners in scoring position. Schaeffer pitched well allowing only three hits and four walks.

March 24. SC 16, Watsonville 7. Watsonville committed 16 errors, which helped fuel an eight run first inning for SC. SC had six errors and its pitchers allowed 12 walks, while allowing only three hits. Joyce Mungari was 3 for 4 with three RBI’s. Ann Hill, Amy Ball and Diana Macken all drove in two runs.

March 25. Cardinals Second In Gilroy Tourney. The SC team wasn’t all that happy with itself after losing its SCCAL season opener to defending league champion SLV. It was a game the Cards felt they should have won.
But after an impressive showing Saturday (all three games were held on Saturday) in the Gilroy High Invitational, the Cards must be feeling better. At least more positive. “I think the girls came away from the tournament with more respect for their own game,” said coach Newell, whose Cards made it to the tournament finals, before being stopped, cold by Monta Vista of Cupertino, which is unbeaten and ranked number one in CCS. SC lost 12-4, but the one sided finish was not an indication of how SC played during the day.
In the first round of the championship bracket, SC score five time in the bottom of the second inning to pretty much take care of Live Oak of Morgan Hill, until Live Oak rallied back to tie 5-5 in the fourth inning. SC came up with two runs in the bottom of the fourth and hurler Schaeffer shut out Live Oak the rest of the way for a 7-5 victory.
In the semifinals, the second game, against Leland of San Jose, a four run outburst in the first inning sent SC on its way to leading 6-3 in the fifth. Ann Hill ripped, what Newell could only describe as “prodigious” a three run homer to put the game on ice.
Schaeffer pitched all three games for SC, striking out nine against Leland. Hill was the RBI leader of the day with four, all against Leland. Amy Ball, Diana Macken and Rhonda Lyon each drove in three runs on the day. “Fon Brown and Macken held together the defense,” Newell said, with solid play in all three games.”

March 28. Two Out Rally In Bottom Of Seventh Powers Santa Cruz to a 3-2 win over Harbor.. With one out in the seventh, the score tied 2-2, Diana Macken reached first on an error, stole second and went to third on Kris Celayeta’s single, who then went to second on the throw to home. Fon Brown was intentionally walked, to load the bases. Ann Hill bounced into a force out at the plate. Amy Ball with two strikes on her, smacked a line drive to deep left field to drive in Celayeta with the winning run. SC scored a run in the first inning and then again in the fifth. Shauna Shaeffer pitched the complete distance striking out seven, walking six and allowing only five hits. Coach Newell said, “We’re still inconsistent and didn’t swing the bat very well. Our defense is fine, we just have to be more consistent with our hitting.”

April 1. SC 11, Aptos 0. Shauna Schaeffer struck out five, walked only two and faced only two batters over the minimum of 21 for the game. She was backed by errorless defense, a first for SC this year. Fon Brown led the Cards offensively with three hits, including a two run homer in the fifth inning and four RBI’s. Lauren Freeman and Amy Ball each had two hits. SC had ten hits in the game. SC scored five runs in the first inning on three hits, a pair of errors and two walks. The big blow was a two run single by Joyce Mungari that capped the rally. SC added two in the second, one in the fourth and three more in the fifth, running away with the game.

April 4. Santa Cruz Pitcher Winning Games And Gaining Respect. Shauna Schaeffer has not been considered to be a top pitcher in the area, but she has 11 wins, while the next best pitching winner in the area has 7 wins.
SC beat Soquel 3-1. Schaeffer was in trouble only once, in the first inning, when she walked the bases loaded, but she got out of the jam by striking out the third out on a full count pitch. Schaeffer said of her predicament, “I wasn’t worried. I take these situations as more of a challenge and see how I can get out of it. I look at it in more of a positive way than a negative one. After that, it was just a matter of getting my rhythm.” Schaeffer set down the next six hitters, before Soquel got its first hit in the fourth inning. She finished with a three hitter, walked five and struck out seven. SC took a 1-0 lead in the second inning, when Dina Macken poked an RBI single to center. SC made it 3-0 in the fourth on bases loaded walks to Kelly Netto and Macken. Soquel scored an unearned run in the sixth inning. Jana Burr had two of SC’s five hits. SC was also the recipient of nine walks.

April 15. SLV Girls Tighten Hold On First Place. SLV remained unbeaten in league play with a 5-2 win, to give SC its first SCCAL loss. It didn’t help SC that pitcher Shauna Schaeffer, centerfield Diana Macken and catcher Jana Burr, were out of state on spring vacation. Karyn Todd started for SC and had trouble finding the strike zone. Dina Avila came in to pitch in the third inning and frustrated the Cougar batters by throwing floater after floater and gave up two runs the rest of the way, while retiring the next 11 Cougars in a row. Fon Brown and Rhonda Lyon, who had two hits in the game both singled in the fourth inning, but could not score. In the fifth inning Avila singled home Brown for the Cards only run.

April 25. Comedy Of Errors? No, Not This Time. Cats Keep Poise, Beat Cards. Four weeks ago, SC defeated the Cats 16-7, when Watsonville committed 16 errors. Watsonville made only one error and beat SC 4-1. After SC scored a run in the first inning, Watsonville went on top 2-1 in the second. SC loaded the bases in the bottom of the second, but could not score. SC was walked eight times, but were not able to capitalize.

April 29. SC 12, Harbor 6. Harbor held a 6-1 lead going into the top of the fifth inning. Then the roof fell in. SC took advantage of five walks, two errors and only one base hit, to score six runs. Then added five more runs in the sixth to cap a runaway.

May 2. SC 9, Aptos 1. SC led only 3-1 after five innings, but then put things out of reach with three runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings. Shauna Schaeffer limited Aptos to one hit an infield single. She struck out five and walked six. Later on, Aptos the home team and the games official scorer, changed it to an error, to give Schaeffer a no hitter. “Shauna has the incredible knack for making the big pitch with runners on base,” said Newell of his sophomore, who has given up only one earned run in her last 26 innings. “Shauna is getting even stronger as the season progresses.”

May 4. Santa Cruz Closes In On Playoff Beth. SC solidified its hold on second place in the SCAL with a 12-1 victory over North Monterey. “We’re beginning to play ball the way we did just prior to Easter Break,” said Newell, whose team won seven of eight games during that span. With the win SC is 14-6 overall, behind the two hit pitching of Shauna Schaeffer, who struck out ten and walked three. The following four players had two hits: Diana Macken, Kris Celayeta, Jana Burr and Renee Alvado. Celayeta and Alvado each had two RBI’s.

May 6. Soquel, SC Tied For Playoff Spot With One Game Left. For SC, a playoff spot was there for the taking, but some shoddy defensive play by the Cards in the first inning and the right arm of the Soquel pitcher kept SC from clinching a CCS playoff berth. “We beat ourselves today,” said Coach Newell of Soquel’s 3-1 win. Both schools are tied for second place at 7-2 with one more game to play. SC got five runners on base with three hits and two walks. Shauna Schaeffer pitched well enough to win. She yielded five hits, but some untimely miscues by her fielders hurt. SC rallied for a run in the second inning, when Renee Alvado lined a triple to the fence in right center and scored, when the first baseman dropped a throw when Rhonda Lyon hit a ground ball. In the sixth, Fon Brown tripled into the right field corner, but died there.

Sentinel May 13. SC 9, North Monterey 0.
Schaeffer, who no-hit Aptos on May 1, pitched her second no-hitter of the season. She struck out 8 and walked 3. The chance for a perfect game was over early, since Schaeffer walked the first batter of the game. SC scored all the runs it needed in the top of the first inning, thanks to three NMC errors. The Cards played errorless ball. SC scored three time in the fourth, the big blow was a two run single by catcher Kelly Netto. SC finished up its scoring with three more runs in the sixth. The key hit was a two run single by Renee Alvado.

May 14. Soquel Beats SC To Gain CCS Berth in a playoff game to qualify for CCS. The Soquel center fielder threw out the potential tying run at the plate with two out in the bottom of the seventh, to give Soquel a 2-1 win. Both team ended the SCCAL season with 8-4 records, which necessitated this play off game to see which team would be going to the CCS playoffs. The showdown was fitting for a playoff game, which went down to the final out. SC had runners on second and third with two outs and Lauren Freeman, a freshman at the plate. The count went 2-0 and then Freeman lined a hit to centerfield to score Burr, but the centerfielder playing shallow, bobbled the ball and Coach Pete Newell, the third base coach, waved Dina Avila home. The throw was right on the money and Avila was out by four feet. Coach Newell was anticipating a off line throw to the plate, but it was true this time. Newell, didn’t feel that was the key play to the game for SC. He pointed to the fourth inning, when the Soquel catcher caught a Card runner napping off third base for the second out. The next batter grounded to deep shortstop the would have scored the runner from third. It was one of four SC runners thrown out.
In the first and third innings, fleet footed Diana Macken was thrown out stealing second base. Prior to that, Macken had not been caught stealing the whole season. Soquel scored both their runs in the second inning, when Soquel got three of their four hits in the game. Shauna Schaeffer, no hit Soquel the rest of the way. She finished with five walks and six strikeouts. Newell said, “Both pitchers pitched an outstanding game, It’s a hard one to lose.” All three runs were unearned.

Trident May 31. SC came oh so close to a CCS playoff berth, finishing the SCCAL season with a 8-4 record, which put them in a tie for second place. Losing to Soquel 2-1in the tie breaker game for second put and end to SC’s season. There are only two seniors, Fran Brown at 3B and Joyce Mungari at 2B. Pete Newell came back to coach the team this year.

Sentinel ALL COUNTY players were Fon Brown at third base and Diana Macken in the outfield. The best way to get the ball by Fon Brown was to hit it over her head, because it wasn’t easy to hit it by her. She combined excellent reflexes with the most powerful swing in the county and it added up to an all star season. Brown hit .321 with 26 RBI’s, the later figure tops in the county. There is no better outfielder in the county than Macken, a qazelle who covers a lot of ground on defense and who is the catalyst of the SC offense. To walk Macken is like giving up a triple, she’ll steal the next two bases without even breathing hard. She doesn’t just get on base by walks, as indicated by her batting average. She has been thrown out on the bases only twice this season.

May 17. ALL SCCAL 16 player team. Senior, third baseman Fon Brown with a .535 batting average; junior, pitcher Shauna Schaeffer with a 8-2 pitching record and sophomore, outfielder Renee Alvado with a .475 batting average. Honorable mention Kris Celayeta and Diana Macken.

BOYS/GIRLS TRACK
Yearbook. The team has only 22 members, but have fared very well in the meets, due to individual talent. Despite the smallness, the team participates (covers) all but two events. Each team member is doing at least three events. The boys have come very close to victories over Harbor and Aptos. Seniors Chris Francis, Mike Francis and Dan Chase have consistently scored high in the three jumping events. In the pole vault, Adrian Crawford and Pat Sullivan mange to place every meet against tough competition. Jim Courtright, who is the only SC athlete to compete the discus and shot put, has always scored in every meet. In the distance events, juniors Eric Hilgar, Philip Jack and Mike Perry with sophomores Brandy Smith, Bill Bennett, Vince Panero and Roland Von der Muhl all score a large amount of points.

The girls team only has eight on the team, but all the girls place in everything they compete in and take first in most of their events. In the jumping events, Lynette Mungai and Mary Jo Morton take first consistently in the long jump, triple jump and high jump. In the shot and discus, Anessa Ratliff and Givi McLean always score at least third. Running long distances, Amy Houser, Lynette Mungai and Cynthia Zwerling rack up a bundle of points each meet. Sprinting, Kristi Tinetti, Cassandra Venvala, Giovi McLean and Anessa Ratliff, become better and better each week, along with taking first and second many times in all the sprinting events. The teams are always looking for more members.

Trident May 31. SC did well not only in the SCCAL, but in CCS Region IV despite its small size. Although the SC track team had only 23 members, fourteen received medals at the SCCAL meet and six went on to the Region IV meet. Two athletes Chris Francis and Eric Hilgar qualified for the CCS finals at San Jose City College. Two school records fell this season: one to Mary Jo Morton, who high jumped five feet and Chris Francis shattered the old high jump mark by two inches with a jump of six feet five inches.

Sentinel May 6. At the SCCAL meet, North Monterey won the boys competition with 158 points, followed by Soquel with 105 and Harbor for third with 58. SC’s Chris Francis cleared the high jump for a school record of 6-5.

In the first meet of the year the Cards defeated Pacific Grove 74-43.

Team members are listed with boys and girls together as it shows in the yearbook. No first names. Chase, Panero, Hilger, Jack, Zumot, Chris Francis, Perry, Lonero, Houser, Mungai, Tinetti, McLean, LeBoeuf, Zwerling, Mike Francis and Bill Bennett.
The new set of coaches this year is led by head coach, Gian Strinier; Mike Lotter, sprints and middle distance runners; Toren Rotstein, middle and long distance runners and Bob Sharma, field events.

Sentinel area track times for the top ten places as of May 3 for SC athletes, by event, place, name and time or distance.
Boys
100 meters
PL NAME TIME/DISTANCE
9 Chase 11.7
200 meters
7 Chase 23.7

800 meters
9 Hilger 2:04.8

Triple Jump
9 Mike Francis 40-0

Pole Vault
10 Sullivan 10-0

High Jump
2 Chris Francis 6-2
4 Mike Frances 6-0

Girls
Mile
7 Mungai 5:55.9
Two Mile
2 Mungai 13:05
Long Jump
7 Mungai 14-10

High Jump
1 Morton 5-0

BOYS SWIMMING
Yearbook. SC opened the season with a bang and topped perennial power Salinas in their first meet of the year. The Cards then placed second to Aptos in the inaugural SCHS Sprint Invitational. Long time coach Terry Eckhardt accepted a position at North Monterey High and was replaced by Karl Grubaugh. The boiler to heat the pool broke down and the Cards had to find other places to practice. The locations and times changes turned practices into a veritable soap opera.
A crop of new and very talented freshman helped to brighten up the picture for the feature of swimming at SC. Bill Hackbarth and Jon Melton both trained at the Santa Clara Swim Club and entertain Olympian goals for the future. Freshman Chris Shumate and sophomores Jim Murphy and Britt Hoberg quickly proved their abilities and made the jump from JV to varsity swimming look simple.
SC has its share of older upperclassmen spending time in the pool as well. Seniors Eric Mitchell, Greg Moyce, Bodi Tunheim and Dave Houghton. Juniors Robert DeGennaro, Cary Smith and Rob Henry helped make this years team one of the most talent laden in several campaigns. Other swimmers were M. Randall, R, Comacho, J. Moreno and M. Frick.

Trident May 31. Despite a commanding victory over Harbor earlier in the season, the Cards fell victim to Harbor’s team depth and diving superiority in the SCCAL championship meet at Cabrillo. Harbor despite winning only two of the ten events and SC winning seven, Harbor’s depth allowed them to win the meet for the second consecutive year. SC, though undefeated throughout the entire season, including a 96-76 win over Harbor in which they won eight of the eleven events, just couldn’t catch up to the Pirates, who went into the meet with a 63 point cushion thanks to their diving victory the previous day. Despite the loss, SC had some excellent performances. Three swimmers Greg Moyce, John Melton and Bill Hackbarth, each won two events. Moyce won the 100 free in 51.41 and the 50 free in 23.15. Melton won the 500 free in a league record time of 4:49.72 and the 200 free in 1:50.67. Hackbarth won the 100 backstroke in a record breaking time of 57.54 and the 200 individual medley in 2:06.79. Not a bad day for these swimmers.

At the CCS meet at Stanford, SC gained vengeance on Harbor by placing twentieth to Harbors twenty-sixth plsce. Melton and Hackbarth both set school records. Hackbarth in the 100 backstroke in 56.05 for eleventh place and Melton finished tenth in the 500 free in 4:44.80. But earlier in the preliminaries he set the school record of 4:43.50. The combination of Hackbarth, Melton, Rob Henry and Greg Moyce set the third school record in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:21.31 for a thirteenth place. Eric Mitchell also swam exceptionally well.

TENNIS SCCAL CHMPIONS FOR NINTH TIME IN TEN YEARS

Practice matches: North Salinas 7-0, Los Altos 0-7, Los Gatos 5-2, RLS 3-4, Cupertino 4-3, Leland 5-2, Carmel 4-3. Practice record 5-2. League: SLV 7-0, 7-0; Soquel 6-1, 6-1; Watsonville 7-0, 7-0; Harbor 7-0, 6-1; Aptos 6-1, 7-0. League record 10-0 for title. CCS playoff: St. Francis of Mt. View 2-5. Overall record according to the Sentinel 16-3.

Sentinel May 3. Santa Cruz Champions Again. Cardinals Clinch Ninth Title Last Ten Years.
SC had reason to celebrate after beating Harbor 6-1 to clinch the SCCAL title. “I don’t like them jumping around in front of the other team. After all nobody likes a bully,” said Coach Dennis Mullen. However, the Cardinals have been bullish on the rest of the SCCAL.
This is the seventh championship in the eight year history of the league and the third in a row and with a victory in its final match can improve its all-time SCCAL record to 70-3, Mullen said. Dating back to 1975 and 1976 championship seasons, the last two years the Santa Cruz area teams played in the MBL, Mullen said SC has won nine in ten years. The only team to break the string was Aptos in 1981 and Aptos was also co-champions in 1980.
Number one player Eddie Marcum got the Cards off to a good start, battling to a 9-7 tie-breaker in the first set, then winning the second set 6-2. Andrew Kashap rolled to victory in the number three spot. Harbor was 6-2 going into the match, but dropped into a second place tie with Soquel at 6-3 records. SC has earned a berth into the CCS team tournament of 16 teams.

May 6 Another Perfect Season For Santa Cruz Netters. By defeating Aptos 7-0, the Cards finished with a 10-0 league record, the seventh title since 1976, a Mullen team has gone undefeated in the SCCAL. In the number one doubles, Steve Carniglia and David Mellon were 6-4, 7-6 (7-1) in the tie breaker. At number two, Tim Berger and Jim Ulwelling won to reverse the first meeting results. SC is 16-2 overall.

May 10. Santa Cruz Bows Out Of CCS In First Round. The Cards 5-2 loss to St. Francis of Mt. View was not indicative of the Cards success. SC posted a 16-3 record for the season to go along with their undefeated 10-0 SCCAL record. This is the seventh time SC has gone unbeaten in league play. What makes this years record even more impressive is that the losses were to three of the top four ranked teams in CCS. Number two Los Altos, three St. Francis and four Robert Louis Stevenson. In the first round, three teams the Cards beat in preseason, Los Gatos, Carmel and Leland all won their CCS matches. Coach Mullen, “There were a lot of teams we could have beaten, but it was just luck of the draw that we drew St. Francis.
Number one, Eddie Marcum lost 2-6, 2-6. SCCAL singles champion Andrew Kashap lost 4-6, 2-6. St. Francis swept all five singles matches. SC’s points came in the doubles. Steve Carniglia and Dave Mellon won the number one match and Tim Berger and Jim Ulwelling took the second match in straight sets.
Paul Brooke played the most exciting of the singles matches, before losing at number four 7-5. 7-6 (7-3) in the tie breaker. Brooke made history at SC, as Mullen’s only player to complete four years of varsity singles play without losing a league match, 31-0. Mullen has coached the team since 1970.
This years seniors are Jeff Newman, Andrew Kashap, Paul Brooke and Tim Berger have all lettered for four years, except for Berger who is in his second year on varsity. After playing singles for four years, Newman was 32-2 and Kashap 31-3. Berger, who played doubles for two years had a match record of 14-1.

Sentinel March 1. Cardinals Open With Easy Win defeating North Salinas 7-0. On the newly resurfaced SC tennis courts SC started its quest for an undefeated season. Number one singles player, sophomore Ed Marcum, led the sweep with a 6-3, 6-1 win. Number four player Andrew Kashap had the easiest time with a 12 game shutout. SC lost only one set in the seven matches, five singles and two doubles. In the two doubles, Tim Berger and Ben Lezin recovered from a second set loss to win the final set 6-2.
The new $90,000 courts were a joint project between the school, city and private donors.

March 5. Santa Cruz Player Shines. Ed Marcum, a sophomore won the under 16 competition in the West Lane Open, sanctioned by the Northern California Tennis Association. Marcum won his first match 6-2, 6-0. In the semifinals he won 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

March 7. Cardinals Loss ‘Real’ Tough. SC lost big to Los Altos 7-0, who has two ranked players. “Reality is not always fun. We found out some tennis reality, these guys were extremely tough. Ed Marcum lost 6-4, 6-0, but went against the second ranked Age Division 18 of Northern California.

March 9. Santa Cruz Tops Tough Los Gatos In Tight Match. Winning four, three set matches, SC downed Los Gatos 5-2. “We expected it to be close, which it was. Those guys were really good. They usually win their league,” said coach Mullen. SC is now 3-1 overall. It was the first of four times the teams have played that SC has came out on top. Number one and two SC players, Ed Marcum and Jeff Newman came away with straight set victories. In the most exciting match of the year, Walt Alexander at number three singles was edged in three sets, 7-6, 4-6, 5-7. Andrew Kashap won 5-7, 6-1, 7-5 and Paul Brooke won 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. At number two doubles, Tim Berger and Ben Lezin won 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.

March 13. Good Start, Bad Finish. SC won three of the first four singles matches against RLS, but nothing the rest of the way to lose 3-4. “I think we were all disappointed that we didn’t win. We all thought we had a chance to win it,” coach Mullen. The loss was no fault of sophomore, Ed Macum, who rallied from 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 to win the number one singles over a twenty-third ranked 17-age division senior, who beat Marcum last year. With the loss, SC is 3-2 on the season. “As soon as our confidence level gets a little better, we’ll do a lot better. We just need a little more confidence,” coach Mullen.

March 22. Two hard fought individual match victories by SC paved the way to a 4-3 victory over Cupertino. In number one singles, Eddie Marcum took the first set by winning a tie-breaker, 6-3. He lost the second set, but came back with 7-6, 7-6 victories. The deciding match of the day was in number two doubles where David Mellon and Tim Berger posted a come-from-behind 1-6, 7-6, (7-4), 6-4 victory. “That was a crucial match. They went out knowing they had to win. The pressure was on them and they came through,” Coach Mullen. SC is 4-2 in practice matches and will host SLV in the SCCAL opener.

March 25. Santa Cruz Whitewashes The Valley In Net Opener 7-0. Number one and two singles players, Ed Marcum and Jeff Newman were 6-0, 6-0 winners. SC is 5-2 overall.

March 28. Knights Fall Prey To Streaking Cards 6-1. Soquel coach, “SC is in a different league than everyone else. They will be tough to beat this year.” Three SC players were missing. Walt Alexander number four singles and Doug Fisher in doubles are out for the season, because of skiing accidents. Paul Brooke was out sick. “I’m really pleased that we played so well considering three players were out. I thought our whole team played well,” coach Mullen. Eddie Marcum won the singles match 6-1, 6-1.

April 1. Santa Cruz Down, But Still Potent. Despite the loss of three of its top nine players, SC shut out Watsonville 7-0 to remain undefeated in league. SC is now 3-0 in league and 7-2 overall. The team has only lost 12 games in sweeping to the seven straight set match victories. Number one man, Sophomore Ed Marcum romped over his Watsonville opponent 6-0, 6-0. Jeff Newman, Andrew Kashup, Ben Lezin and Jim Ulwelling each posted singles victories. In number one doubles, Steve Carniglia and David Mellon joined forces to win 6-1, 6-1. Tim Berger and Ken Atkinson, up from the JV’s won the number 2 doubles 6-2, 6-1. The Cards weakened by the loss of three top players, proved that the teams depth can keep the team quite competitive, when they play Harbor with a 8-1 record. The slopes of Tahoe proved to be a major enemy to the team when Doug Fischer and Walt Alexander received broken bones skiing. The third victim, Paul Brooke is out with a vicious case of the flu.

April 4. Cards Roll To Another Shutout. SC left little doubt as to which is the best team in the SCCAL by blanking Harbor 7-0 in a battle of the unbeaten. SC won six of the seven matches in straight sets. The number five singles was the only match, to go the limit, was won by Ben Lezin, who rallied from a first set loss for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 win. In number one singles, Ed Marcum won 6-3, 6-1. SC is now 8-2 overall.

April 5. Card Singles Sharp. Sweeping all five singles matches posted a 5-2 victory over Leland of San Jose. Ed Marcum led the attack with 6-3, 6-2 victories in number one singles. The rest of the Card singles players won in straight sets. They are Jeff Newman, Andrew Kashap, Paul Brooke and Ben Lezin. SC is now 9-2.

April 8. Card Too Strong For Mariners. Sweeping the singles competition SC crushed Aptos 6-1. In the past, SC and Aptos had a strong rivalry going. This season, SC is too strong. “It hasn’t been like in the past,” coach Mullen, whose Cards are 5-0 in league and 10-2 overall. “We’ve been playing really well lately, especially our first four singles players,” Mullen. Singles winners were Ed Marcum, Jeff Newman, Andrew Kashap, Paul Brooke and Ben Lezin, who was the only one to go three sets for the victory.

April 11. SC 7, SLV 0. This match was over almost as soon as it started. SC lost only two games all afternoon. Ed Marcum won 6-1, 6-0. SC is 6-0 in league.

April 13. Kashap Helps Cardinals Win. Senior Andrew Kashap has played some exciting tennis matches in his four year SC career, but according to coach Mullen, none of them bigger than the one he played against Carmel to give the Cards a 4-3 win an up the Cards record to 12-2. With darkness descending and the match tied 3-3, Kashap fought his way to a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory. “That was it. It was pitch black when he finished,” Mullen. Other singles winners were Marcum and Newman and doubles pair Tim Berger and Jim Ulwelling.

April 15. The Opponents Change, But The Results Still The Same. In the SCCAL it is SC 7, Opponent 0. SC 6, Soquel 1. “I thought we played all of the first sets really well,” coach Mullen, whose Cards all posted straight set victories. In the second sets, I thought Soquel played better.” The players have a lot of pride and they don’t want to lose. But they will tend to lose some concentration there. What keeps them going is pride and wanting to do the best they can. Marcum, Newman, Kashap, Brooke and Lezin in singles all won. Mullen was pleased with the play of Lezin in number five singles. In number two doubles Berger and Ulwelling have improved.”

April 22. Locals Net Wins. A pair of SC players ended up dominating the Northern California Tennis Associations tournament at Carmel Valley Racquet Club. Jeff Newman won the boys age-eighteen division. In the doubles, Newman and Kashap defeated a pair form Orinda 5-7, 6-0, 7-6. Kashap was awarded the tournaments Sportsmanship Award.

April 26. SC 7, Watsonville 0. SC won all seven matches in straight sets. Only twice in 14 sets did Watsonville win more than two games. Both Marcum and Kashap won their matches 6-0, 6-0.

Andrew Kahap won the SCCAL singles title.

GOLF Matches: Aptos 8-27, SLV 18-17
In its second year of revival, the team has a new coach Bob Gallagher. The team has good balance throughout the lineup. The squad has five returning starters led by senior Mark Failor, who is once again the number one man. The rest of the lineup is brother Scott Failer a sophomore. Senior Mike Bennett, Junior Curt Leonard, sophomores Ben Wolfe and soccer phenom Bill Thompson and freshman Mike Kingsbury and Kevin Kaiser. The preseason record was 1-3 with a win over Soquel. The highlight of the match was Mark Failor’s third hole-in-one.

Aptos won the league season opener 27-8, then the Cards came back to beat SLV 18-17 to even their league record at 1-1.

Trident May 31. SC capped off a tremendous season with a 17-10 win over Watsonville to take sole possession of third place in the SCCAL with a 5-5 record. Prior to this the Cards took revenge of an earlier loss against Soquel with a 15 ½ to 11 ½ win. Other victories were two wins against SLV and a close win against Watsonville in the first round in a one point victory. SC lost twice to powerhouses Harbor and Aptos. The team in only their second year, proved to themselves and everyone else that they were to be reckoned with.

INDIVIDUALS

Raul Oliva was ALL SCCAL selection as soccer Defensive MVP. Raul also scored 10 goals in league and 14 for the season.

Jose Sierra was runner up for soccer’s Offensive MVP. He tied with Vince Parish for second place in league scoring with 16 goals

Vince Parish was selected ALL SCCAL in soccer and tied with Jose Sierra for second place in SCCAL play with 16 goals.

Mike Poll, Dan Dalbey and Neil Whitesell combined.
The three front line basketball players, forwards Mike Poll and Dan Dalbey, plus center Neil Whitesell were a tough combination to beat. Marello got within one point early in the fourth quarter, but that was as close as the Cards ‘Enforcers’ would let them get. The Marello coach commented, “those guys are three studs in there. They play tough in there and they made it hard for us to get the ball inside. They established their dominance on the boards from the start.” Dalbey finished with a team high 20 points, followed by Whitesell with 14 and Poll 10. From the Trident. Seniors Neil Whitesell, Dan Dalbey and junior Mike Poll were among the county leaders in scoring and rebounding. All season long they were top performers for the Cards. Sample from a few games: Against Palma, Neil Whitesell brought the home town crowd to its feet with a rousing breakaway slam dunk. Neil got his 16 points inside and also garnered seven rebounds against the champion Harbor team. Against Gustine, Mike Poll led the Cards with 9 of 13 shooting for 18 points and nine rebounds. In a close loss to Palma, Mike, who had a game high 15 points, drove to the hoop moments later and the Cards had regained the lead at 36-35 with 5:46 left. Poll gave the Cards their final lead with 46 seconds left with another driving lay up. Dan Dalbey was the leading scorer or rebounder in many games.

The hard to beat girls basketball team were led by the dominate and powerful play of center Caroline Marshall, who was named SCCAL Most Valuable Player. She had a game where she scored over 50 points. Caroline was a key player in the Card winning SCCAL championship with a 14-0 league record and 25-3 overall record. They made it the semifinals of the CCS Region IV where they lost to Seaside. They won 22 straight games at one point. In one of the Cards toughest games Caroline got the big hoop on a steal and the big rebound of a last second Harbor shot to seal up the game as SC scored seven points in the final 1:17 to overcome a 38-41 deficit.

Key SC wrestlers were Martin Corona and Bill Burr.

Did not have enough information about the other teams to add to the list.