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1988
Sentinel November 1. Everybody’s Invited To Attend the Playoff Party.
As designated by the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) the governing body fo state high school sports, the new playoffs, for boys and girls, are to feature five divisions based on school enrollment, regardless of record and post-season play is to follow the traditional schedule. Locally, playoffs are to begin with CCS games with the winners advancing to Northern California playoffs and finally to the state tournament. The tentative starting date is Feb. 22 for CCS regional first round games with CCS finals March 4-5. The SCCAL has one of the widest varieties of playoff contenders in the state. The eight SCCAL teams are eligible for four different divisions, with Monte Vista Christian of the Christian Schools League also benefiting from the new alignment. Here is the breakdown of divisions, enrollment limits, the local teams in each division and each schools enrollment figures submitted to the CCS.
Division I (2,000 or more students) Watsonville 2,415
Division II (1,500-1,999) Soquel 1,660
Division III (1, 000-1,199) Aptos 1,200; Harbor 1,113; North Monterey 1,456
SLV 1,023 and SC 1,321
Division IV (400-999) no local schools qualify
Division V (399- under) Marello 50 and Monte Vista 365
There are options for the schools that are not pleased with their division. Schools can compete in a higher division or not compete at all, but it must be approved by the CCS. The system opens the door for post season play to schools like Soquel, Marello, SLV and Watsonville, which have never been in the CCS playoffs.
Coach Newell, “ Its something new and should generate a lot of excitement. All I know that regardless of how we do in league, they have the opportunity to test their skills in the tournament, against competition from outside the area.” Aptos coach Bill Warmerdam, “I think it’s a lot fairer in the long run. It will keep everybody’s season alive. As a coach, you know you can get to the playoffs. And everyone can get lucky in the playoffs, we’ve proven that.”

Sentinel March 27. Basketball Rule Change. High Schools Get Go-Ahead For 3-Pointers.
The basketball rules committee of the National Federation of High School Athletic Associations in Kansas City adopted the three-point field goal, and the same 19 foot, 9 inch distance used in college basketball this season. High schools across the US are expected to use the three-point line beginning next year. The CIF could vote to be exempt from the rule change. Coach Newell says the rule would open up the high school game. “Perhaps it will open the game up to smaller players who have the skill to make that long shot. I have nothing but a positive response for it. It certainly has shown its merits at the college level.”

June 13. Tami King was named the Sentinel Girl Athlete of the Year for the County. During her first three years at SC, in which she played three sports a year, volleyball in the fall, basketball in the winter an softball in the spring, only once was she picked all league. That was in her junior year, as second-team all-league in softball. Notoriety didn’t come her way–and that was fine with her. “I don’t like attention,” King said. “I get embarrassed.” But, as a senior, King has the athletic year of her life: second-team all-league in volleyball, first-team all-league in basketball and Player of the Year in softball. No one else had a year like that. No one. She was the only female athlete in the county to be all-league in three sports; several were all-league in two sports, but only King was all-league in three. All King had to do during her senior year to keep reporters from wanting to write down her every word was keep her accomplishments to a minimum; maintain a low profile.
Being all-league in three sports doesn’t qualify as maintaining a low profile. Then again, it’s probably not in her to maintain a low profile when she plays. Even after King was yanked from behind the plate early in the softball season and moved to first base–to ease the wear and tear on her injured left knee–she was seen diving for popups and going down into the dirt for low throws. King just didn’t know how to it any other way than 100 percent 100 percent of the time. “I just want to play the best that I can,” she said. “I like to play because I enjoy sports.” King’s .523 batting average in softball this year was the best of her career and only the second time in the last five years an SCCAL player topped .500 (Rae Ann Pifferini hit 573 last year for Soquel). King scored 26 runs and had 25 RBI, as Santa Cruz went 20-7 for the season and won a share of its first league championship since 1982. It was also the first time in the last three years Santa Cruz finished above .500. “It’s going to be hard for somebody to step in and fill her shoes next year,”
Cardinals softball coach Vic Miguel said. As a forward in basketball, King averaged 10 points and 11 rebounds as the Cardinals finished above .500 for the first time in four years, closing at 12-11 after winning seven of the final eight games. And, in volleyball, the Cardinals were considered by many to be one of the top teams in Northern California, but King and the Cardinals didn’t make it to the Central Coast Section playoffs because they had the misfortune of playing in the same league with NorCal champ Harbor and CCS Division 11 South runner-up Soquel. But, what King and the Cardinals did do, was beat Soquel for the first time in a long time and finish third in the SCCAL at 8-4. Impressive. And interesting. King had the best year of her high school career at the same time the teams she was on had their most successful year since you came to Santa Cruz High. Coincidence? Not if you ask Pete Newell, the Cardinals Boys’ basketball coach, who was King’s softball coach her freshman season. “Each year, Tami got better and better as an athlete, and more valuable to each team she was on,” he said. “Over the last three years, all three of those teams (volleyball, basketball and softball) got better because Tami got better.” Surely, after reading Newell’s comments, King will turn red with embarrassment. No, the only thing she took credit for was herself: “Hard work does pay off,” she said. Newell was impressed, too, by King’s hard work in the classroom, where she compiled a 3.2 grade-point average this year. “Her academic attitude was the same as her athletic outlook, and that was to try to do the best she could in everything she did in the classroom,” Newell said. “She was consistent in athletic production and she was consistent in student production.

Picked by the Sentinel as Having The Best Of Both Worlds for both academic and Athletic success from SC was Booth Wainscoat for football and for only one B in four years of high school with a GPA of 3.963.

From the Sentinel, They’re All At The Top Of Their Field from, the SC boys, were Darryl Ratliff all county in baseball and basketball and could have been a top football player if he had played this year.
Jack Sylvan. Although he only played basketball, he was the All County Player of the Year and key to the Cards success.

From the Sentinel, They’re All At The Top Of Their Field from, the SC girls, was Mercedes Blair, who led the track team to its first Region IV track team title with four wins at the meet.

Much of this years material came from the yearbook, which did not have team members names listed in many of the sports. Because of a low sign up for the Trident class, the result was the class was dropped. Volunteers kept an irregular printed and short Trident going. Football, basketball and baseball game write ups came from the Sentinel.

Coaches: Ron Mehuron, varsity football and assistants Bob Nicolaisen and Vic Miguel also head softball. Mark Hodges, JV football and assistants Quinn Cordero and Doug Monroe. Tex Ronning, freshmen football and assistants Rudy Escalante, Rich Price and Liberatore. Mike Bennett, boys water polo and swimming. Marty Kruger, cross country. Dennis Mullen, girls and boys tennis. Carol Kreppel, girls swimming. Blair Bennett, volleyball. Pete Newell, basketball. Rudy Escalante, freshman basketball. Kathy Wilson-Pappas, girls basketball. Sergio Sierra, boys soccer and assistant Jorge Sierra. Cori Housten, girls soccer. Fred Pfyffer, baseball and assistant Angelo Ross. Byran Wall and assistants Marty Krueger. Don Dempwolfe, JV girls softball. Bill Johnson, track and assistants Bryan Wall, Marty Kruger and Don Roberts.

1988
FOOTBALL Practice games: Stevensen 13-27, Alisal 21-13, Pacific Grove 14-55, King City 13-28. Practice record 1-3. League: North Monterey 0-47, Aptos 0-37, Watsonville 8-62, SLV 23-30, Harbor 13-0, Soquel 6-51. League record 1-5 tied for last place. Season record 2-8.
Final league standings: Soquel 5-1, North Monterey 4-1-1, Watsonville 4-1-1, Aptos 4-2, Santa Cruz, Harbor and SLV all 1-5.

Sentinel. SC Numbers Don’t Add Up. The good news is there are 12 lettermen returning, but the bad news is there are only a few more players suited up. What the team may lack in manpower will be counterbalanced by the considerable playing experience many Cards have. “Last year we had six sophomores in support roles and they did well. I’m looking forward to coaching these guys, who’ve shown a lot of character,” said Coach Ron Mehuron. With the small squad many will be asked to play both offensive and defensive positions. Conditioning and strategy will be the keys to our success.” The Cards embarked on a vigorous conditioning program that began last spring and has continued with their workouts during the summer. Familiar faces are running backs Matt Zwerling who gained 324 yards and Booth Wainscoat who gained 175 yards. “Most of our scores were on the long ball last year. We’re going to pass the ball, I think we’re going to be more effective at it. Last years starting quarterback Aaron Wainscoat, who took over after a few games, got a lot of experience. I like the offensive potential of our team,” said Coach Mehuron. “On defense our backs and linebackers will be our strength. Marcus Hooten, a 260 pound lineman who will go both ways, will be the guy to watch in the trenches and with his size he’ll be hard to miss.”

Trident. Players listed by name, position on offense and defense, height and weight.
SENIORS POSITION HEIGHT WEIGHT
Mike Nevin RB, DB 5-8 145
Jeff Neumann RB, LB, P 5-10 170
Matt Zwerling RB, DB 5-7 165
Booth Wainscoat RB, LB 5-9 185
Carey Alvarez RB, DB 5-6 145
Andrew Danner RB, LB 5-8 160
Marcus Hooten OL, DL 6-3 260
Flavio Cornejo OL, DL 5-8 165
Scott Lowe OL, LB 6-0 185
Sam Parnianfar OL, DL 5-9 280
Dan Sota OL, DL 5-10 210
Dino Scoppettone RB, DB 5-7 150
Brent Wittke RB, DB 6-0 175
Carlos Norena QB, DB 5-10 170
Steve Mead OL, DL 5-11 190
Mike Locatelli OL, DL 6-0 190

JUNIORS
Aaron Wainscoat QB, DB 5-10 140
Sean McFarland OL, DL 6-3 218
Fidel Marquez RB, DB 5-7 140

SOPHOMORES
Jose Marquez RB, DB 5-8 155
Roga Garcia Kicker 5-8 160
Dan Johnson RB, DB 5-9 155
Rapheal Rodriquez RB, LB 5-8 165

Coaches: Ron Mehuron, Bob Nicolaisen and Vic Miguel

Sentinel. Cardinals Lose, But Save Face. Santa Cruz Picks Up Steam In Second Half in a 27-13 loss to RLS. After spotting RLS a 21-6 halftime lead, the Cards played them even the second half as the defense came alive to shut RLS out. RLS’ only second half TD was on an interception return. Quarterback Aaron Wainscoat set up the second quarter TD with a 24 yard pass to wide receiver Andrew Danner, Then Wainscoat scored on a one yard sneak. They teamed up again in the fourth quarter scoring on a 11 yard pass. Halfback Booth Wainscoat had a productive game rushing for 61 yards on 11 carries. RLS took the opening kickoff and marched down the field for a score. For the game, RLS rolled for 255 yards on the ground. With the exception of a 30 yard TD bomb late in the second quarter, their passing game was almost an after thought. The Cards were very much in the game until the long pass.

Sentinel. Cardinals Grind Out First Win to beat Alisal 21-13. SC proved that its quality and not quantity, that wins football games. Despite being out numbered nearly 2 to 1 in players, the Cards were able to grind out a 21-13 non league victory. SC, which hadn’t won a game, since it defeated Marello one year ago today had to overcome a team that out gained them 303 yards to 258 rushing. The Cards were led by Booth Wainscoat, who gained 130 yards on 17 carries and scored two touchdowns. Wainscoat scored the Cards first TD.
It was the SC defense that made the difference when it counted. Linebacker Jeff Neumann provided the initial big play, intercepting a pass in the first quarter and scampering 72 yards for a TD to give SC a solid 14-0 lead. Alisal scored to make it 14-7 until the 2:53 mark in the third quarter, when Alisal scored and went for a two point conversion and failed, when Booth Wainscoat burst through to stop Alisal short of the end zone leaving SC ahead 14-13. SC added an insurance TD in the fourth quarter, when Booth Wainscoat scored from seven yards out.
“This was the first or second day out for some players,” said Coach Mehuron, whose team started with 22 players. Quarterback Aaron Wainscoat connected on only one of seven passes attempted for eight yards. “Its been so long since we’ve had a win, that I’ve got to feel good about it. I don’t want it to be the last one of the season. I hope for a lot more from the kids, “ said Mehuron. Defensive lineman Sean McFarland and guard-linebacker Scott Lowe were standouts in the game.

PG Steamroller Flattens Cardinals 55-14. PG jumped out to a 34-0 halftime lead. The Cards brightest moment came when running back Jeff Neumann scored twice in the second half. Starters Mike Nevin and Dino Scoppettone were out with ankle injuries. All purpose player Booth Wainscoat was injured in the second half. PG turned three SC fumbles into touchdowns. PG out gained the Cards 575-217 a differential of 358 yards.

North County Runs Up 47-0 Victory In League Opener. North Monterey ran up 435 yards rushing and held SC to 67 total yards gained in the SCCAL opener. The defending league champions lost the ball four times on fumbles, but the beleaguered Cards playing with out injured running back Booth Wainscoat were unable to take advantage of the give a ways. Quarterback Aaron Wainscoat tried to go to the air, but managed to complete only four passes. Matt Zwerlilng took up the rushing slack, but managed only 64 yards in nine carriers against a Condor team, who had only allowed 66 yards total on the ground this year in three games. Jeff Neumann kicked the ball eight times for an average of 33 yards per kick. Besides Booth, the Cards were without wingback Mike Nevin and center Sam Parnianfar, who is probably lost for the season.

Aptos Alone In First Place. Mariners Win Big Over Santa Cruz 37-0 to take over first place in the SCCAL. Until three interceptions, which came during a five minute span midway through the second half, SC appeared on the verge of getting relief from its scoring drought. Every time SC mounted a drive, the Aptos defense stiffened. SC punted only three times, three drives ended on unsuccessful fourth down plays and four others on turnovers. “We did a better job than last week. We just didn’t get the ball in the end zone. We’re an improved football team, though the score didn’t show it.” Coach Mehuron said. SC finished with 14 first downs to Aptos’ 12 and trailed the Mariners in total yardage by only 86 yards, 289-203. Booth Wainscoat saw limited action and carried seven times for 21 yards and on defense he managed to deflect an extra point try. Jeff Neumann led SC in rushing for the second week, picking up 87 yards in nine carries. Dino Scoppettone caught three passes for 56 yards. SC fumbled six times, but recovered all but one.

Pre-game write up: Cards vs. Cats. The Cards are averaging 188 yards a game on offense, but happen to be eighth in defense giving up 405 yards a game. But Coach Mehuron is not discouraged. “We’re looking for improved play. The guys are doing their best and I give them credit for that. I only admire them for sticking with it.” He is pleased with the efforts of two way players Scott Lowe, Andrew Danner and Booth Wainscoat. He is hoping that the desire his players have shown can be maintained the rest of the season.

Wildcats Blow Out Cardinals 62-8. Following the opening kickoff, the Cards engineered a virtually flawless 85 yard, 19 play drive capped off by Booth Wainscoat’s fourth down TD run from a yard out. The Cards ran traps up the middle, threw swing passes into the flat and used up more than nine minutes of the first quarter. Quarterback Aaron Wainscoat swept in for the two point conversion and the Cards were up 8-0. All this from a team that had not scored a point in its two previous league games. “We certainly got started on the right track. After that, there is not much to say,” coach Mehuron. Watsonville scored touchdowns on nine of its 10 possessions in the game. By midway through the third quarter, the Card players, most of whom played both offense and defense were clearly tiring and could not cover the entire field. Both coaches agreed that the Cards gave the best effort they were capable of giving.

Pre-game. Santa Cruz, SLV Both Confident Of A Victory. Both teams have 0-3 records in league and 1-5 overall. SC has showed signs of breaking loose offensively, led by running backs Jeff Neumann 60 rushes for 290 yards and Booth Wainscoat 57-282. Neumann twisted his ankle against Watsonville and is listed as questionable for the game. Two way lineman Steve Mead is nursing a hip pointer.

Cougars Rally To Stun SC. SLV Scores 23 In The Fourth Quarter for a 30-23 Win. Santa Cruz seemed full of life when it had a 17-7 lead with 12 minutes to go. But the Cards were leveled by a late shot from SLV’s shotgun formation. A 6 yards touchdown pass with 47 seconds left to play. SLV scored on a 26 yard pass to close the score to 17-15. Ninety seconds later SLV picked off a Cards lateral and went 35 yards to go ahead 23-17. SC then put together their best drive of the day, moving 78 yards on 15 plays with quarterback Aaron Wainscoat plowing over from the two yard line to tie the score 23-23. SC was able to tip the winning pass, but SLV was able to make the catch in the end zone for the winning score.
“We just didn’t have people in the right places on those passes. Our guys played a hard game. They played their hearts out.” Coach Mehuron. Both teams had early scoring drives end with turnovers. SLV took the kickoff and moved to the Cards 6 yard line, but Roga Garcia picked off a pass to end the drive. SC had first and ten on the SLV 22, but fumbled the ball away. Jeff Neumann kicked a 24 yard field goal to put the Cards up 3-0 midway through the second quarter. SLV scored on a 30 yard pass to lead 7-3 at halftime. SC scored on a Wainscoat to Dino Scoppettone pass play in the third quarter to lead 9-3. SC’s Dewey Thomas recovered a fumble on the SLV 30 and senior Andrew Danner scored from 16 yards out. Booth Wainscoat’s two point run gave the Cards a 17-7 lead. Booth had to leave the game late in the third quarter with a pinched nerve in his neck.

Pre-game write up for Harbor game. SC and Harbor have several things in common this season. Both are 1-6 overall, winless in league, have been out scored by huge margins and both are hungry for a SCCAL victory. In the loss to SLV last week, the Cards racked up about three-quarter of its 31 league season points in this one game. The Cards must be flying high, even with the loss. “We finally got some points on the board. We played better team defense. It has to serve as a springboard toward further improvement,” Coach Mehuron.

Cards Sink Bucs, Drench Mehuron. How sweet was homecoming? “It was this sweet, pointing to his own soaked clothing.” SC shut out Harbor 13-0 to rise one step above the basement in the SCCAL and left Harbor alone in the bottom. “This was a tremendous victory for us. We played tough, we held onto the ball and we kept pounding away,” Coach Mehuron. “ I thought about losing in the final minutes last week, but this week we had the toughness to hang in here. We realized how important and precious a lead can be.” With less than two minutes remaining, Booth Wainscoat broke free up the middle and ran 26 yards for a TD. Harbor out gained the Cards 230-152, but Harbor lost the ball to the Cards four times on fumbles and twice on interceptions. The Cards had their first big break in the second quarter, when Scott Lowe intercepted a pass and returned it 40 yards to the Harbor 11. A penalty on the play put the ball on the one and from there running back Jeff Neumann pounded it into the end zone.

King City Holds Off Santa Cruz 28-13. King City scored on a 85 yard touchdown pass with only 36 seconds into the game to go out to a 7-0 lead. But the Cards were determined not to let their long 90 mile trip go to waste. Rapheal Rodriguez recovered a fumble and the Cards scored on a eight yard run by Booth Wainscoat to tie the score 7-7. Later in the game trailing 14-7, SC put together a 67 yard drive behind Booth’s tough up the middle running, culminated in a one yard plunge by the stocky Card fullback for a TD to make the score 14-13 KC. On the ensuing kickoff, King City ran the ball back 85 yards for a touchdown to take the lead 21-13 at halftime. The Mustangs were in command and never looked back.

Sentinel. Nov. 13. Nicolaisen Says It’s Time To Hang ‘Em UP. After 28 years, Coach Nic To Retire. One thing that Bob Nicolaisen has learned in 28 years of coaching football in Santa Cruz County is when to quit. In the case of “Coach Nic” that will be Saturday when the Santa Cruz High defensive coordinator will hang up his cleats for the final time following the Cardinals’ season-ending game at Soquel. “I’ve gone long enough,” said the 56-year old Nicolaisen, who will continue to teach social studies and history at Santa Cruz. “I’ve enjoyed it and it has certainly been fun.”
Nicolaisen’s reason for leaving the coaching ranks is a medical one. “My hip has been bothering me a lot recently,” he said. “I’m pretty sure it’s turning into arthritis.” For Nicolaisen, what hurts even more is not being able to get down into a three-point stance and show his players exactly how things are done. Recently he’s been forced to use crutches on the sidelines during games and at practices to keep pressure off his leg. “It’s not that I need the crutches to walk or anything,” Nicolaisen said, “but the last couple of weeks have been close to impossible.”
To say that Saturday will mark the end of an era would be a cliché–but an accurate cliché. Although Nicolaisen has only been a head football coach with one team for three of his 28 seasons, he has left his mark at four county high schools and Cabrillo College. “Maybe I was destined to be an assistant,” Nicolaisen said, “but I kind of like it. You get to do a lot more coaching.” And Nicolaisen has certainly done that.
Six years after playing for Castlemont Athletic Club (a semi-pro team) against the Santa Cruz Seahawks in the Harvey West Park dedication football game, Nicolaisen moved to Santa Cruz and took a position with the city police department in 1955. His first teaching job was at Santa Cruz High, where he began coaching in 1960. Ironically, that’s where his coaching career will end. In a way, you could say it has come full circle.
The Nicolaisen resume is a long one: Santa Cruz High (1960-61), Soquel High (1962-63), Cabrillo College (1964-68), Harbor High (1969-83), Aptos High (for two weeks in 1983), and Santa Cruz High, again (1983-87). If there’s a coaching job in football, Nicolaisen has probably worked at it. “Over the years I’ve coached everything,” he said. In looking over the seasons, two teams in particular stand out for Nicolaisen: the 1963 Monterey Bay League co-champions at Soquel and the 1985 Santa Cruz team that didn’t win a title, but finished 7-2-1. In 1985 at Santa Cruz, Nicolaisen helped produce Santa Cruz County’s most prolific runner, Johnny Johnson, who rushed for 1,729 yards.
Nicolaisen is proud to point out that he has coached the top four runners in county high-school football history: Johnson, Harbor’s Charlie Smith (1,213 yards in 1979), Santa Cruz’s Jim Courtright 1,176 in 1984) and Harbor’s Ted Fehn (1,169 in 1981). Of course, there are more than a thousand other football players that Nicolaisen has coached over the years, and it is with them that the true legacy lies.
“The impact that he’s had on the youth of our community is hard to fathom,” said Ron Mehuron, football coach at Santa Cruz High. “If you start thinking about it, it’s overwhelming,” Mehuron, for one, is thinking about it a lot. “It can get real emotional, kind of like the old workhorse who is still into it, but whose body won’t let him make it,” he said. “Bob is, and always will be , a very special person to me.” And to a lot of others, as well. “I’ll be aware of it on Saturday and I think the kids will, too.” Mehuron said. “That’s going to make every play of the game a little more special.”

A new King Crowned In The League: Soquel. Soquel trounced SC 51-6 to finish 5-1 in the SCCAL and win their first undisputed championship since 1980. Every year since, North Monterey has either won or tied for the league title. To start the game, Soquel fumbled the opening kickoff and the Cards recovered on the Soquel 25. Eight plays later the Cards fumbled on the four yard line and Soquel recovered. Soquel didn’t score until 1:24 left in the first quarter on a 19 yard pass and that opened the floodgates. Halftime score 44-6 Soquel. SC lost the ball six times on fumbles and twice on interceptions. SC running backs Booth Wainscoat and Jeff Neumann, who have carried a big part of the SC load this season were injured and had to leave the game.

Sentinel Prep Football Stats on November 10 when SC had played nine games with only one game remaining.
Individual rushing by position in the order of players, name, number of rushes, yards gained, average per carry, average gain in yards per carry and touchdowns.
PL NAME NR YARDS AV TD
5 Neumann 105 471 4.6 3
6 B. Wainscoat 96 470 4.9 6
17 Zwerling 48 207 4.3 0

Aaron Wainscoat was fifth in passing yards gained with 509 yards gained on completing 44 of 126 passes attempted. He had 13 interceptions and two touchdowns.

Individual receiving by place, name, passed caught, yards gained, average yards per catch and touchdowns scored.
PL NAME PC YG AV TD
9 Scoppettone 15 195 13.0 1
13 B. Wainscoat 10 72 7.2 0
16 Danner 8 146 18.3 1

Individual points scored: twelfth Aaron Wainscoat 32, twenty-fifth Booth Wainscoat 26 and twenty-seventh Neumann 25.

In league SC scored 37 points and gave up 240, which put them in last place in both categories.
In team offense, SC was fifth with 1332 yards gained for and average per game of 207.8.
On defense, SC was last giving up 2243 yards for an average per game of 359.8.

Sentinel ALL COUNTY first team offense included senior, running back Booth Wainscoat at 5-9, 185 pounds and senior, guard Scott Lowe at 6-0, 185 pounds. Honorable mention were Andrew Danner, Marcus Hooten, Steve Mead and Jeff Neumann.

JUNIOR VARSITY FOOTBALL
Players listed by name, position on offense and defense, height and weight.
SOPHOMORES POSITION HEIGHT WEIGHT
Josh Riggins RB, LB 5-4 115
Russell Powell RB, LB 5-10 160
Bobby Hultzen QB, LB, P 6-1 170
Fidel Guerrero RB, DB 5-6 135
Mark Goodrich RB, LB 6-1 160
Jeff Thuringer RB, DB 5-10 145
Andrew Stenovich FB, DB 5-8 140
Todd Herbner OL, DL 5-7 150
Jesse Trumbell OL, DL 5-9 205
Nick Morgan OL 5-5 125
Justin Discoe OL, DL 6-1 180
Tony Parodi RB, LB, K 5-6 135
Fred Smith OL, DL 5-9 170
Doug Kishi OL, DL 5-6 165
Joe Craw OL, DL 5-9 175
Nick Hawley OL, DL 6-1 170
Jesse Alvarez RB, DL 6-1 170
Ben Broadbent RB, DB 5-8 145
Ryan Reber RB, DB 5-9 150
Bernie Escalante RB, DB 5-9 150
Chris Simms RB, LB 5-6 160

FRESHMAN
Edwin Hutchings RB, LB 5-10 160
Aaron Myers OL, DL 5-8 155
Mark Marquez RB, DB 5-9 130

Coaches: Mark Hodges, Quinn Cordero and Doug Monroe

FRESHMAN FOOTBALL
Players: D. Sussman, J. Messer, S. Brown, J. Ysselstein, M. Locatelli, J. Berry, E. Hutchings, N. Hutchings, S. Glenn, B. Yale, R. Criswell, M. Marquez, B. Jay, A. Meyers, G. Norman, C. Nelson, C. Stevens, A. McFarland, N. Scoppettone, B. Ortan, R. Tranchina, D. Brown, R. Del Pelso, P. McElroy, R. Shipstead, J. Sturgill, B. Nichols, N. Johnson, A. McGraw, J. Chase and J. Meyer.
Coaches: Tex Ronning, Rudy Escalante, R. Price and Liberatore.

CROSS COUNTRY
Boys meet scores with SC scores first: Watsonville 47-17 for loss; SLV 26-30 win; Harbor 18-42 win; Soquel 25-32 win; Marello 15-incomplete; North Monterey 31-25; Dual league record 4-2.
Boys team scoring at the league meet. Watsonville 44, North County 60, Soquel 82, SC 90, Aptos 115, SLV 148, Harbor 163 and Marello incomplete. The boys made it to the Central Coast Section meet where the Cards place higher than any other team in the county.

Girls ran incomplete in every meet as there were not enough girls to field a team. Jennifer Cameron ran in the CCS Region IV meet.

Yearbook. Coach Marty Kruger was successful in preparing everyone on the successful team to be in top shape. Course records were broken at Harbor and North Monterey County by Nick McBurney and Jamie Marshall respectively. Nick led the boys varsity and Jennifer Cameron fronted the girls varsity team. Overall, a good enjoyable season, revealed an abundance of talent.
No other team members listed.

Sentinel September 18. Watsonville boys down SC 17-47 and topped SC in girls 15-50 at the UCSC 2.12 mile course. The lone SC finisher in the top eight was Nick McBurney, who was fourth in 12:23. Jaime Marshall, expected to be the Cards number one runner is out indefinitely with injuries from track. Chad Crane broke a toe and is out. Eric Olsen and Kevin Smith ran while sick and finished tenth and eleventh respectively.
Watsonville won the first eight places in the girls race. Jennifer Cameron was SC’s top finisher in ninth place in 17:09.

September 25. In the boys race, SC 26, SLV 30. Nick McBurney was the top Card in second place in 16:31.
In the girls meet SC had only four girls and SLV had only two, so both had incomplete scores. Maria Shanle won the race in 21:32.

October 16. Boys SC 18, Harbor 42. Nick McBurney blistered the 1.55 mile course at Harbor in a record time of 8:46, followed closely by teammate Eric Wolfson in 8:58 for first and second place. SC is now 3-2 in league. Jamie Marshall, coming off a hip injury, ran a 9:04 in the junior varsity race.
The girls race was won by Harbor 25-32. Jennifer Cameron of SC won her first varsity race in 11:46 and Maria Shanle was second in 12:03. Harbor place three through seven for the team victory. SC is 1-3 in league.

Sentinel. Oct. 23. SC 25, Soquel 32. SC 15, Marello incomplete. Nick McBurney finish in first place in 12:01 on the 2.12 mile UCSC course. Jaime Marshall, who is recovering from a muscle injury, did not race and may not run again this season.
Girls, Soquel 15, SC incomplete. Jennifer Cameron led SC with a fifth place finish in 15:52, which trimmed more than a minute off her best recorded time on the course.

October 30. Boys, North Monterey 25, SC 31. Jaime Marshall won the race in 16:19, the fastest time on the NMC three mile course this season. The Condors took four of the next five places. SC finished 4-2in league dual meets.
Girls, North Monterey 17, SC incomplete. SC, which had only three runners, finished the league dual meet season 0-6.

November 6. At the SCCAL meet, Watsonville lived up to its status as favorite. Watsonville scored a clean sweep by winning all four team titles, boys varsity, frosh-soph and junior varsity and girls varsity. Rain fell for nearly an hour, then stopped about 15 minutes before the first race, but the footing was treacherous, said the boys winner SLV’s Joey Rodriguez. Nick McBurney took third place in 17: 29.
Boys team scoring: Watsonville 44, North County 60, Soquel 82, SC 90, Aptos 115, SLV 148, Harbor 163 and Marello incomplete.
Girls team scoring: Watsonville 44, Aptos 47, North Monterey 67, Soquel 70, Harbor 138, SC and Marello incomplete. No Cardinal placed in the top ten runners.

November 13. SCCAL: Fares Well In Sub-Section Meet. It was a banner performance for the SCCAL during the inaugural CCS Division II sub section cross county meet at Crystal Springs Reservoir. Three boys teams, SC, North Monterey and SLV made the grade as did the North Monterey girls. The SCCAL was the only league to qualify three boys teams. This is the first meet under the new CIF format splitting all teams into divisions based on enrollment. The division II sub section meet was for schools with enrollments between 801 and 1,600. (Watsonville is in division I)
SC was sixth in it’s boys heat, led by number nine finisher Nick McBurney, who was clocked in 16:15. Others listed by place, name and time. 16. Jaime Marshall, 16:28; 46. Kevin Smith, 17:22; 57. Eric Olsen, 17:36; 59. Damon Shanle 17:39; 60. 14 year old sophomore Bates Marshall (Jaimes younger brother), 17:38 and 71. Chad Crain, 18:24.
In the girls race, Jennifer Cameron placed forty-four in 22:27.

GIRLS TENNIS WON ITS FIFTH STRAIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP in undefeated fashion going 10-0. The netters have now won 42 league matches in a row. Their last defeat in league was in 1983.

Yearbook. Team members were Kristy Bennington, Hilary Hultzen, Kelli Mullen, Liz Christensen, Beth Jarman, Stacey Wilhelmsen, Jane Wolfe, Dawn Barbic, Kelly Nelson, Becki Fomasi, Sarah Alpert and Laura Shumate.

Cards ‘Slip’ But Don’t Fall. In their league opener against Aptos, the Cards lost more matches and twice as many sets than they did all last year in league play. One match, two sets. SC defeated Aptos 6-1. Last year the Cards did not lose a team match as it went 10-0 for the third consecutive season in league play. The only set lost was to Aptos. This year Aptos won the number two singles 6-0, 6-2. Number three singles, Sarah Alpert won the match in three sets that took nearly three hours 0-6, 7-5, 6-4. Number one singles Kirsty Bennington won 6-1, 6-1. The victory was the thirty-first straight win in league play for the Cards.

Sentinel. Oct. 14. SC 7, Watsonville 0. With the win SC is now 5-0 in league. At number one singles Kira Bennington won 6-1, 6-0. Number one doubles team of Jane Wolfe and Kelly Nelsen were a perfect 6-0, 6-0.

Oct. 16. Santa Cruz Win Streak Reaches 37 in defeating Aptos 6-1 as the Cards improved to 6-0 in league. SC has not lost a league match since November 1, 1983, when it was beaten by Aptos. The Cards have never lost more than two individual matches in a league match and only once have they lost that many. SC’s league individual match record since November 1, 1983 is 249-10. Last year, the Cards didn’t even lose a set in league play. Against Aptos they won 12 of 14 sets. Losing only at number two singles over senior Hilary Hultzen. It was only Hultzens second loss in 36 league matches, spanning four years, both this year against the same person. For the rest of the matches it was all SC. At number one singles Kirsty Bennington won 6-0, 6-2. No. 3, Kelli Mullen won 6-2, 6-0. No. 4, Sarah Alpert won 6-2, 6-3. At number one doubles, Dawn Barbic and Laura Shumate won 6-2, 6-1. At No. 2, Becky Fomasi and Liz Christensen won 6-0, 6-3. SC is 8-3 for the season.

SC 7, Soquel 0. Bennington won the number one singles match 6-1, 6-2. The only match that went three sets was the number two doubles, where Dawn Barbic and Laura Shumate won 6-1, 4-6, 6-1.

Oct. 28. SC 7, SLV 0. SC maintained a perfect 8-0 record against the 0-8 Cougars. Bennington, Hultzen, Mullen and Alpert won their singles matches.

Oct. 30 Another Year, Another Title For Santa Cruz. Dennis Mullen’s memory is not fading. It’s just that the SC coach has won so may SCCAL titles over the last dozen years that he has to refer to his record to keep track of them. With a 6-1 victory over Watsonville in the league finale, the Cards have won five straight SCCAL crowns and eight since the league was formed in the fall of 1976.
“It’s the kids who work hard, who make the program really successful,” said Mullen, whose teams are 110-10 in SCCAL play and have won 41 straight matches, with a 10-0 record this year. SC won 67 of 70 individual matches this season. Two of the losses were to Aptos and this one to Watsonville. “We were hoping we would do as well as last season, when SC was 70-0 in individual matches and 140-1 in sets. A lot of these girls have been playing for quite a few years,” Mullen said. Hilary Hultzen only lost twice in four years of varsity singles play and Kelly Nelson never lost in three years, two in doubles and one in singles play. Against Watsonville in number one action, Kirsty Bennington won 6-0, 6-1in singles and in doubles Jane Wolfe and Kelly Nelson won 6-1, 6-0.

Sentinel Nov. 2. Card’s Star At Home On Tennis Court.
Sometime this afternoon at Imperial Courts in Aptos, where the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League is having its girls’ tennis singles and doubles championship tournament, the league will crown a new singles champion. And, in all likelihood, it will be Kirsty Bennington of Santa Cruz High–unless something happens, like, she forgets to bring her racket. Bennington, the Cardinals’ No. 1 player, went 10-0 in league this season, winning each match in two sets. She won 120 games and lost only 14. And never one did she lose more than two games in any one set. Says Harbor Coach Owen Hand, “She’s got great strokes from both her front and back hand. She hit’s the ball hard and doesn’t miss. She hits it where she wants to, too–like, all the time. I’d have to pick her to win the championship.”
When Kirsty was 12 years old, she decided she wanted to join a tennis club in England (where the family lived at the time) so she could practice against some really good players. Club officials thought Kirsty was too young to be in a club where most people are in their 20s. Kirsty believed she was good enough to join. So they decided to give her a test, by playing a doubles match with some of the members. “If they thought I was good enough, they’d let me be in the club.,” Kirsty said. She passed. They even let her play in the ladies club championships the following month. It would be good PR, they said. It was.
Articles about this whiz kid appeared in a local paper as she advanced through the preliminary rounds. But, when she reached the semifinals, the paper turned prognosticator and predicted Kirsty’s demise. She’s been around for a while, but we’re sure she’ll bow gracefully from the scene, the paper wrote.
“But instead of bowing gracefully then,” Kirsty said, “I bowed after I won.” That’s right, she won the whole thing. “I shocked them all,” she said. “And I couldn’t believe it, either.” Kirsty moved to Santa Cruz (her grandmother resides her) in May from South Aftica, where she lived for 12 of her first 16 years. She was born in Zimbabwe, where she lived for two years, moved to South Africa for 10, then to England for two and back to South Africa for two more before coming here.
“We heard America was the land of opportunity, so we thought we’d come here and try that.” She was introduced to Santa Cruz High Coach Dennis Mullen and the rest, as they say, is history. “I can’t believe how lucky the team was,” said Mullen, who had everybody coming back this year except three time SCCAL singles champion, Jenny Newman. “And on the other hand, I think in some way it seems sort of unfair to the other teams because she is that good. It would have been different if she had come out as a freshman and worked her way up.”
Really. Like Santa Cruz wouldn’t have won its fifth straight SCCAL championship if it didn’t have Kirsty. And don’t think the other Santa Cruz players didn’t know it, either. They knew that, with Newman gone, they would all get to move one rung up the ladder this year. And they knew they probably would win the championship, too. “They all like Kirsty. They’ve really accepted her.”
“I love it here,” Kirsty said. “The people are very friendly. It’s a great place. I like it here better (than South Africa).” It’s even worked out quite well in the classroom for Kirsty. “It’s less-discipline here,” Kirsty said. “You don’t have to stand at attention when the teacher talks to you. You don’t have to hop up and down all the time, you can relax.” So does Kirsty think she’ll be hanging around Santa Cruz for a while? “I really don’t know,” she said. “We could move again, we’re not permanent yet. I just have to take everyday one at a time. I don’t know what I’ll be doing tomorrow.” Oh, that’s easy: finding a place on the mantle for her championship trophy.

Nov. 5. It Was In The Cards. Santa Cruz Sweeps Finals. There is an old adage about the rich getting richer and it certainly applies to SC when one talks about girls tennis. SC won both the SCCAL singles and doubles championships at Imperial Courts. Kirsty Bennington lived up to her billing as the top player in the league with a 6-2, 6-2 win. She used an effective array of slicing backhands and well place forehands, mixed in with and occasional drop shot. Bennington a junior, seemed to be in control throughout most of the match.
In the doubles competition it was an all SC final for the second straight year. And for the second straight time senior Hilary Hultzen and junior Kelli Mullen came out on top beating teammates Jane Wolfe and Becky Fomasi. 6-1. 6-2. Hultzen and Mullen normally the number 2 and 3 singles players for SC, were in control the throughout their match. Although not accustomed to play with each other, Hultzen and Mullen were able to use their superior volleying skills to control the net and both players seemed to mesh well on the court.
Mullen said, “the second title was more satisfying than the first, because we played better than last year.” Hultzen added that playing doubles is a much different game for the two girls, who are used to baseline singles matches. “There is a lot more volleying and we have to work on that a lot. We tend to crowd into the middle,” said Hultzen.
Yet, Hultzen and Mullen have proved to be quite a tandem. Last year they stunned the field in the CCS playoffs advancing to the semifinals before bowing out. Wolfe and Fomasi were also pleased with their performance and glad the loss was at least to their teammates. Kelly Nelson, who competed in the finals of the league doubles championship last season, and who during this season played with Wolfe in the number one doubles spot, decided to pass up this years competition to attend classes at UCSC.
Bennington, Hultzen and Mullen will play next in the CCS singles and doubles championship Tournament at Cuesta Park in Mountain View. Also SC begins play on November 16 in the CCS team competition.

JV TEAM had six members, but they were not named.

BOYS WATER POLO
Practice: Gilroy 9-6, RLS 12-11
Final league standings: Harbor 8-0, Soquel 6-2, Watsonville 4-4, SC 2-6 and Aptos 0-8. Overall 5-7(according to the following information)

Yearbook. The team was young and inexperience, but played with heart and conviction, despite a 2-6 league record. The Cards were led by seniors Brent Erickson and Kevin Crawford. Erickson a two year ALL SCCAL selection, tallied eighty goals to led the team offensively. Crawford playing in his second season, gave the Cards speed and quickness, while turning key defensive plays throughout the year. Other senior standouts were Bryan Herbert, Bernard McGraw and Carri Kreppel, all of whom proved themselves at the varsity level. Coach Mike Bennett says the future is bright for the Cards with juniors Rob Bacon, Seb Sussman, Goalie Cameron Forester and sophomore Jeff Wickum all returning with high expectations. Other team members were Ben Smith, Jason Ward, Brick Blackburn, Jove Shapiro, Chris Yurich and Joey Meyer.

Sentinel Oct. 23. SC hung on to defeat Gilroy 9-6. SC ran up a 5-0 lead by the end of the first quarter, before Gilroy came back to 5-3 at intermission, Kevin Crawford led SC with three goals, followed by Brent Erickson and Bryan Herbert each with two goals.

Nov. 5. Cards Sink Stevenson. Brent Erickson scored the game winning goal with 40 seconds to play in the fourth quarter as SC finished on the up side of a see-saw battle 12-11in a non league match. It was Erickson’s seventh goal of the game, as he led SC at both ends of the pool. Kevin Crawford also keyed the SC defense. “It had been kind of a problem, that we would self destruct in the fourth quarter,” said coach Mike Bennett. “For the first time, we maintained our intensity.”

Nov. 12. In the season finale, Soquel defeated SC 20-4.
In the SCCAL single elimination tournament, SC is schedule to play Aptos, who has beaten them twice this season. “it’s going to be tough, playing Aptos,” said coach Bennett. “Then the winner plays Harbor, that where it really becomes tough.”

Nov. 15. SC beat Aptos 11-8. Bryan Herbert scored six goals in the win, which gave SC the opportunity to play Harbor in the semifinals of the league tournament. Harbor showed no mercy, rolling over SC 21-1. “They’ve got a really good press defense. They’re good at putting pressure on at all times. They wait for the bad passes and once you make one, they’re off with that counterattack,“ said Coach Mike Bennett.

GIRLS SWIMMING
Yearbook. Team members were Lindy Ribeiro, Heather Gregg, Zoey Grey, Shannon Cummings, Jennifer Walters, Janice Zumot, Simone Krietz, Rachal Thompson, Kristen Thomas, Sonia Vantassel, Jennifer Pandolfi, Stacy Swain, Tina Brandy, Hilary Gillette, Mercdes Blair, Vonnie LeBer, Carrie Kreppel, Laura Dunbar, Larkin Ferber, Gabrielle Korte, Shannon Litz, Mari Lange, Maisie Ganzler, Beth Burns and Jesse Chappel.

Sentinel. Oct. 27. Not only did SC lose the swim meet to Live Oak, they had to endure more unhappiness. Coach Carol Kreppel’s swimmers had packed some food to eat on the way home. No way. “The bus driver wouldn’t let anyone eat and it wasn’t even a school bus, but a private charter,” After some audible complaints, the driver relented, but only if the girls would clean up the bus. So they ate. But the trip home was still hard to swallow.

Oct. 30. Gilroy 90, SC 72. “Our girls had several season bests and it was an exciting meet from that standpoint,” said coach Carol Kreppel, whose team ended the SCCAL dual meet season with a 1-5 record. Traci Kreppel won the 50 free in 28.44 and the 100 backstroke in 1:18.06. Julie Grijalva won the 100 butterfly in 1:12.34 and the diving competition.

GIRLS VOLLEY BALL
League: North Monterey 0-3, 3-0; Soquel 2-3, 3-1; Watsonville 3-1, 3-0; Harbor 0-3, 2-3; SLV 3-0, win; Aptos 3-0, win. League record 8-4 for third place.

Yearbook. Injuries impeded the full progress of the team during the season. The Chrislock sisters, Laurel and Erin, Jodie Thuringer, Molly Ball, Mary Moses, Meara Moe, Tami King, Sarah Hart and Karen Machado formed a team of eight. Sarah and Karen due to injuries were not able to finish the year playing, but made up for it on the bench giving the team support, which helped the Cards finish strong.

Sentinel Sept. 25. In the SCCAL season opener, North Monterey upset SC, 15-10, 12-15, 15-11, 15-10 for its first victory over SC in the last three years. Coach Blair Barnett said, “They deserve to win. They played consistently and we didn’t.”

Sentinel Sept. 30. The match took three hours and five games, before Soquel defeated SC, 15-10. 10-15, 12-15, 15-11, 15-9. “We played the best we could, but we missed nine serves in the last two games and that was our downfall, said coach Barnett.” SC was led by the all around play of Jodi Thuringer, Tami King and Molly Ball.

Oct. 2. SC defeated Watsonville 14-16, 15-4, 15-12, 16-14, by rallying from a 14-7 deficit in the fourth game behind Laurel Chrislock, who served for seven points to get SC even. SC won the match following a side out. Coach Barnett said, “she did a good job.” SC is now 1-2 in league.

Oct. 7. Harbor turned back SC 15-6, 15-9, 15-11, despite fine play by Molly Ball, Jodi Thuringer, Tami King and Erin Chrislock. Harbor held a 9-1 lead in the third game, but lost it when SC reeled off ten straight points and then regained the upper hand. SC dropped to 1-3.

Oct. 9. SC defeated SLV 15-2, 15-9, 15-3. SC upped its record to 2-3. Barnett praised the front row play of Laurel Chrislock and back row play of Mary Moses. “Mary didn’t make any errors hitting and she played very good defense. “We played well as a team. We kept our intensity up after that heartbreaker loss to Harbor, two days ago.”

Oct. 14. SC led by Erin and Laurel Chrislock and Jodi Thuringer, downed Aptos 15-12, 15-7, 15-4. “Those three girls were my offense for the day. They played almost errorless ball in the front row,” said coach Barnett. Each game, the Cards kept upping the margin of victory. “We played good defense and committed no serving errors. We had high intensity for this match. We are picking up the intensity more and more. Following the Cards fast start, Barnett was not surprised the Cards dealt with Aptos so easily. I thought that if we could win the first game that we could win in three, said Barnett.

Oct. 21. SC topped North Monterey in three games in a critical league match 16-14, 15-13, 15-4 and allowed SC to move to a 4-3 league record ahead of NMC now 3-4. It kept SC alive for a CCS playoff spot. Although SC squeaked out a victory in the first game, North Monterey ran out to a 11-4 lead in the second game, before SC regrouped. “We just decided to start playing,” said Coach Barnett. From that point, SC won 26 of the next 35 points to close out the match. “We didn’t make any mistakes in the third game,” Barnett. SC was led by setter Molly Ball and hitter Jodi Thuringer, who had ten kills in 13 attempts.

Oct. 23. Santa Cruz Turns Tables On Soquel. Cardinals Out last Knights In Four Games. The last time the two teams met, Soquel won in five game. This time SC took charge from the start and kept its post-season hopes alive by defeating Soquel in four games, 15-11, 15-4, 9-15, 15-4. SC is now 5-3 and Soquel 6-2 in league. Soquel coach, “SC passed a little better, was more aggressive at the net, put their serves in the court and we failed to do all these things.” Setter Molly Ball had ten kills in 14 attempts and setter/outside hitter Tami King was 7 for 14. Erin Chrislock had six service aces. Laurel Chrislock played well in the back row.

Oct. 28. SC steamrolled Watsonville, 15-9, 15-2, 15-0. “We’re hanging in there and improving each week, there’s no doubt about it,” Coach Barnett. The third place Cards, 6-3, were led by Jodi Thuringer, Mary Moses and Tami King, who each had five kills in the match. Erin Chrislock had 15 serves for points and five kills. Molly Ball had 13 service points and two kills.

Oct. 30. Pirates Barely Get By Cardinals with a pulsating 5-15, 15-6, 15-13, 10-15, 15-12 victory. SC 6-4 in league gave the defending champion Harbor now 9-0 in league, plenty of fight. Senior Molly Ball was the Card catalyst. “Ball played just great defense. Her set selections was outstanding and she was just a great leader. She was definitely the MVP of this match. SC just flat took it to us and I feel really lucky to win the match,” said the Harbor coach. Coach Barnett, “Molly was unbelievable. She had only one error in 16 attempts and had five kills. Jodi Thuringer, Tami King and Erin Chrislock were complemented by the coach. Thuringer had ten kills and five solo blocks. King contributed six kills and two solo blocks and Chrislock delivered 14 kills. The two teams were tied 11-11 and 12-12 in the third game and “that was the turning point of the match, when Harbor rallied to win the final three points,” Barnett said. His Cards stormed back to take the fourth game. “Our best game all year long,” but Harbor came back from behind to win the fifth game.

Dec. 4. Captain Molly Ball and Jodi Thuringer were named first team ALL SCCAL, both were repeat first stringers. Second team selections were Tami King and Erin Chrislock.

BOYS BASKETBALL SCCAL CHAMPIONS
Practice games: Palma 49-47, Alisal 50-54. Los Gatos Tournament: Lynbrook 47-41, Los Gatos 56-55 in the semifinals; Mountain View 55-51 for consolation title. Carmel Tournament: Alameda 58-64, Pacific Grove 66-42, Monterey 55-40 for consolation title. Carmel 66-55. Monterey 66-58, SCCAL Pre-season Tourney: North Monterey 72-47, Soquel 66-59, Aptos 77-48 for the Championship. Practice record 12-5 according to the Sentinel. Three preseason games missing.
League: Aptos 51-47, 66-64; North Monterey 58-45, 66-54; Watsonville 63-53, 50-48 in overtime; Harbor 69-58, 51-33; Soquel 59-54 in overtime, 58-64; SLV 62-36, 66-44; Marello 79-42, 80-42. League record 13-1. Overall record at the end of league 25-6. CCS games: Willow Glen 76-56, Cupertino 55-46, San Mateo 62-57, Jefferson 58-65 for second place in CCS Division III. Northern California Division III playoffs: Las Lomas 50-52. Season record 27-8.

The Cards are big quick and experienced. Coach Newell, “We can compete with anybody in the league. We have the makings of a good team. I feel we can be competitive with all the teams in the area.” Returning starters are guard Darryl Ratliff, 6-6 forward Jack Sylvan and Patrick Jones a 6-6 sophomore center. Shawn Forgaard a 6-1 junior will be the other forward. Billy Mellis, Tracy Barnes and junior Jeremy Green are battling it out for the point guard spot. Last year, Sylvan scored 7.4 points a game with 6.5 rebounds. Ratliff averaged 8.7 points and Jones averaged 5.0. “We have a nice blend of size and quickness and overall depth. I’m really happy with our enthusiasm. It seems all players at the varsity level have improved a lot, because they played in the off season,” said Newell. Key reserves include Zack Raney a 6-3 forward-center and Tom Mills a 5-11 forward.

Team members were Jeremy Green, Danny Aldrich, Val Cubales, Billy Mellis, Tracy Barnes, Mike Morris, Darryl Ratliff, David Ransom, Shawn Forgaard, Tom Mills, Jack Sylvan, Zack Raney, Jaime Chavez, Bobby Hultzen, Pat Jones, Bert Rayer and Duncan Sharp. Coach Pete Newell.

Alisal 54, SC 50. Alisal came from behind to beat the Cards. Sylvan and Jeremy Green each scored 11 points for the Cards in their season opener, while Zack Raney added 10. Alisal’s top scorer with 19 points, scored 11 points in the fourth quarter.

SC 49, Palma 47. Darryl Ratliff took an inside feed from Jack Sylvan to score the winning basket with three seconds on the clock to give SC its first win of the season. With 30 seconds left, Ratliff forced a turnover. SC worked the clock down for the final shot. Sylvan led the scoring with 15 points, while Ratliff added 12. “Considering the way we played, it was nice to win one,” coach Newell.

At the Los Gatos tournament SC defeated Lynbrook 47-41 in the opener. SC got strong production in the fourth quarter from Jeremy Green and Billy Mellis to pull out the victory, after a slow start. Jack Sylvan led with 18 points followed by Mellis with 11.

Los Gatos 56, SC 55 in OT of the semifinal game. The score was deadlocked 54-54 at the end of regulation, In the overtime period, Sylvan hit a free throw to put SC up 55-54. With 15 seconds remaining, Los Gatos hit a short jumper for the winner. The only scoring of overtime. Sylvan was the top scorer of the game with 17 points, followed by Jeremy Green with 13, including a pair of three pointers. Darryl Ratliff tossed in a three pointer to end up with 13 points also. Green hit ten points in the first half to help SC take a 30-28 lead.

SC 55, Mountain View 51. Darryl Ratliff scored 16 points and sophomore Pat Jones added 12 as the Cards won the consolation title of the Los Gatos Invitational. SC led 46-32 going into the fourth quarter, during which Mt. View outscored SC 19-9 to make it close. SC is 3-2 for the season, received eight points from Jack Sylvan.

Jan. 3. SC 66, Monterey 58. Darryl Ratliff and Jeremy Green combined for 21 points in the first half to give SC all the cushion they needed. SC led 39-31 at halftime was in front all the way. Ratliff wound up with 18 points and Green with 13. SC is now 8-5, received 14 points and five rebounds from Jack Sylvan.

Santa Cruz Turns Tables On Soquel. Cards overcome a ten point deficit to come away with critical outside shooting in the third period and inside dominance in the fourth for a 66-59 victory in the semifinals of the SCCAL preseason tournament. Soquel controlled the inside in the first half and SC was shooting cold from the outside in the opening two quarters as Soquel led 31-22 at halftime and appeared to have the game well in hand. Jeremy Green opened the third quarter with a three point shot that signaled the beginning of a Card scoring streak. By the end of the period, the lead was cut to one 49-48. In the final period, SC went to the free throw line 20 times and converted on 16 of them, including seven by Green. All but two of SC’s fourth quarter points came from the foul line and it came with in the final seconds of the game.. Pat Jones and Jack Sylvan got the ball inside forcing Soquel to foul to prevent easy baskets. Sylvan had 18 points and six rebounds, while Green had 12 points.

Jan. 10. Cardinals Blow Out Mariners. Aptos Coach Worried About How To Stop SC. Quick Cards Outclass Mariners In All Phases. SC ran away with a 77-48 victory in the championship game of the SCCAL preseason basketball tournament at the Civic Auditorium. The two teams will meet again this coming Tuesday in the league opener. What went wrong for perennial league champion Aptos, which had beaten SC in nine straight games, dating back to the 1984-85 season? Coach Bill Warmerdam sighed, “Everything. Nothing went right. We just can’t match up with them speed-wise. I can’t remember getting beaten very many times by 30 points.” Led by Jeremy Green’s 21 points and by Darryl Ratliff’s 18, SC was up by 43-16 at halftime. It didn’t improve for Aptos in the third quarter, as SC went on a 10 point unanswered run to take a 63-29 led.
“We’re going into league with a seven game win streak and coming off a victory against a very good team. We played very well on both ends of the court and were able to sustain our defense throughout the game,” said coach Newell. Aptos kept changing defenses, but nothing worked.
Aptos coach, Warmerdam, “We’re not that bad, but they make us look bad. You could see what was going to happen after the first minute of the game.” SC was quicker and more accurate than Aptos. Both of those factors made for a blow out. SC hit 30 of 60 shots and hit 11 of 15 from the line. Aptos hit only 17 of 59 shots and 14 of 25 from the line. Other Card double figure scorers were Pat Jones and Jack Sylvan with 12 apiece.

Jan. 13. Register Pajaronian, by Joel Domhoff. Profile: Darryl Ratliff, SC Basketball.
For Santa Cruz High senior Darryl Ratliff, basketball is just a way to pass the time and have some fun. His real sport is baseball, but the 6-0, 170-pound guard/forward for the Cardinals is the main reason behind Santa Cruz’ seven-game winning streak As they head into tonight’s league opener, a showdown against arch-rival Aptos, the Cardinals will look to Ratliff to do just what he did against the Mariners Saturday night: everything. The Santa Cruz blowout was keyed by the lightning-quick Ratliff, who used his speed to register six steals, along with 18 points, against a rattled and des-believing Aptos squad.
For Santa Cruz High coach Pete Newell, it’s been a case of, what haven’t you done for me lately? All Ratliff has done is average almost 11 points and four steals a game, and he has given coach Newell one of the quickest most exciting players he’s coached in years. “Offensively, he has given us the best transition game in the county,” Newell says. “He converts quickly, and he has incredible speed. Defensively, he has great instincts off the ball and he uses his quickness to deny passes.”
Ratliff says the one facet of his game that has improved the most is his ability to finish off a fast break. “I’m making my layups now,” Ratliff said. “I used to get out on the break but I couldn’t make my layups.” Ratliff, a three-sport star until this year, (he decided against football this season, citing his need to stay healthy for baseball) knows his future is on the diamond. Already, the pitcher/outfielder has received letters from perennial collegiate baseball powerhouses Oklahoma, Arizona, USC and Stanford. “I’ll stay with baseball,” Ratliff says. “I’ll probably try college first, and it will be as an outfielder. After this year, pitching is out.”
According to Newell, Ratliff’s attitude will allow him to do anything he wants. “Darryl is a competitor, and his attitude has been great,“ Newell said. “He has assumed more and more responsibility each year he has been here.” Ratliff doesn’t have any individual goals as far as basketball is concerned, but he hopes he can help the team do a lot of things. I want to beat Harbor, he said, “win the championship for the first time, and go as far as we can in CCS. Ratliff, a great leaper, says his decision to not play football has helped his legs for basketball. “My knee feels great, and my legs are much fresher, he said.
Although Ratliff won’t play basketball in college, Newell is convinced he could. “Darryl is such a great athlete that I’m sure a coach could find a place to play him,” said Newell, “but there’s not much doubt his future is baseball.” Newell also tells about another side of Darryl that people can’t see on the court.
“Not only has Darryl made great strides in basketball, but he has developed so much as a person and as a student. He has taken a much more mature attitude towards his education. He has shown several of his teachers that he has college potential in the classroom,” said Newell. While college baseball coaches dream of getting Ratliff’s unlimited potential on the field, local high school basketball coaches are thanking their lucky starts that basketball is just his hobby.

Beat Goes On: Cards Win League Opener. Aptos Big Burst Missing; SC Makes It Eight In Row. The Cards played nose to nose defense for four quarters and got enough break away layins from Darryl Ratliff to beat Aptos 51-47 in the SCCAL opener. “On the inside, I’m bubbling, but on the outside I’m relieved,” Coach Newell. “Even though we had the lead much of the way, we didn’t have control. You are always concerned Aptos will get in one of its steaks and bingo, the game can turn around that quickly.”
But there would be no trademark Mariner surge. Aptos’ longest streak was three baskets. Aptos held the lead once 11-10 a minute into the second quarter. Still they were never really out of it. With 1:46 to play, SC led 49-41. Aptos got within 49-45 with 47 seconds left. As Aptos hurried down the floor, the ball got loose and Jeremy Green beat everyone to the ball and went in for a layup to make the score 51-45 with 19 seconds left. Aptos Coach Warmerdam said, “Whenever we get to within three or four points, I figure we’re going to win. But tonight it didn’t happen.”
SC had big plays delivered throughout the game by forwards Ratliff and Sylvan and Green’s play with the game on the line was vital,“ Coach Newell, “Jeremy flat out wanted it more. It was Green’s only basket of the game. Billy Mellis and Ratliff played tough defense on Aptos’ best shooter. “Billy Mellis’ defense was making Craig earn every dribble. We wanted to pick him up as soon as we could. If you don’t, he’s going to measure his shot while he’s coming over the half court line,” Coach Newell. Ratliff hit a three point shot with six minutes left in the fourth period, giving him 25 points for the night and SC a 42-37 lead.
Aptos played a diamond and one defense. The diamond plays a zone and the one player guards his man, man to man. We can’t match up with them man to man, because we can’t stay up with them. Our traps won’t work, because they move the ball too well,” said Warmerdam. The defense gave Sylvan the opportunity for open shots and he scored eight points from the top of the circle in the first half. SC led 30-26 at half. Ratliff already had 16 points, while Aptos had 16 turnovers, 11 in the first quarter.

Defense Scores Points For Santa Cruz Guard in 58-45 win over North Monterey. It may not be as glamorous as scoring 20 points a game, but being a strong defensive player is a way of life for senior guard Billy Mellis. “Billy did another fine job on the Condors top scorer with a 18 point average holding him to eight points,” Coach Newell. “Billy fits his role very well. He understands that he needs to play solid defense, not turn the ball over on offense and to fill the lane on the break. He does all those things well. Billy has a very cerebral approach to the game. He’s always using his mind to analyze what other players are attempting to do and he compensates for what he is missing in some physical skills with above average mental ability.
We’ve also played better than average defense inside with forwards Jack Sylvan and Zack Raney and sophomore center Patrick Jones. Then there is the quickness of small forward Darryl Ratliff, who has the ability to anticipate passes and make four or five steals a game.” Mellis’ play is part of the reason SC is the number one defensive team in the SCCAL, giving up 50.8 per game coming into this week. Junior guard Jeremy Green hit four three point goals for 22 points, while Sylvan scored 13. SC was up 35-29 through three periods, but finished with 23 point fourth quarter to win going away.

Cruz Control. Cards Beat Cats For tenth Straight win 63-53. “They have a lot of people you have to worry about. They are well balanced team and use their talent well,” Bob Linney Watsonville coach. SC has used its talent to turn around a 4-5 start into a sparkling 14-5 record. The last time the Cards lost was December 17 in the first round of the Carmel tournament against Alameda 51-61. Watsonville was ahead by as much as 12 points in the first quarter. “They had it rolling, but our guys keep their poise, when it meant the most, when they had that lead,” Coach Newell. Before the second quarter was four minutes old, SC tied the score 22-22.
The big turnaround came at the end of the half, when forward Zack Raney came off the bench to score six points. Darryl Ratliff’s three point shot with four seconds left put SC ahead 31-26 at intermission. By 3:26 mark in the third quarter, SC stretched the lead to 44-30 as point guard Jeremy Green helped pick up the pace on offense. Green turned a steal into a layin, then sophomore Patrick Jones made one of his career best moves to the hoop for a 54-40 lead with 2:58 to play. “Jeremy helps a lot. When your leader keeps his poise and plays with intensity, the rest of the players feed off that,” Newell.
Jack Sylvan led in scoring with 18, followed by Green with 15. As often as possible, SC tried to move the ball inside, particularly to Sylvan. “We think we can stay with anybody inside. The post up inside and the fast break are our two offenses. It worked pretty well tonight,” Sylvan. Defensive whiz Mellis held his man to five points.

Defense Is No. 1 For Santa Cruz. Jump shots can be fickle. Sometimes they just won’t drop. But if a team plays intense defense, sometimes it doesn’t matter what’s going on at the other end of the floor. SC is an example. They don’t have the biggest scorers in the world. They don’t always have somebody with a hot hand to do the scoring for them. If they go cold, they just make the other team go colder. “We think of ourselves as the best defensive team in the league. And the fact that we give up the lowest points a game just proves it,” Jack Sylvan.
SC is number one ranked team in the league giving up an average of 50 points a game. Being the best on defense means something to them. “It means a lot. At the end of the game, no matter who is in there, the first five or the last five, we try to hold them under 50. We didn’t do it tonight, but we came close,” said Sylvan. That’s the way SC plays. They pound away at you with their defense, make a steal here and there, force a bad pass or bad shot, then turn it into points at the other end.
Oddly enough, SC doesn’t spend much time working on tough defense until about the time of the Dads Club around the second week of December. Until then, Newell spends more time on offense, with only some fundamental preaching on defense. But be this time, the five best defensive players are usually on the floor, no matter if they can score or not. “I pick up the level of defensive intensity at practice,” Newell. Sometimes it’s by raising his voice and sometimes it’s by merely raising his eyebrows. The Cards usually get the message; Play defense or you don’t play. “At first, its tough,” Sylvan says of being pushed every day to work on defense. “But it becomes kind of natural. If you don’t do it, he gets on your case.”

Victory Streak Hits 11 For SC. Cardinals Hold Off Pesky Harbor 69-58. Coach Newell was happy with the “bottom line”, but he was not happy with much else. SC seemed capable of putting Harbor away more than once, but never did. “I don’t think we played particularly well. We played just well enough to win. There were a lot of little things that worried me. Definitely our intensity was down,” Newell. One of the worries was letting Harbors top shooter score 26 points. The cat quick Cards were in front at halftime 36-24 and midway through the third period 46-30. SC was simply too quick and possesses too much fire power. “We have enough offensive weapons that it is difficult for teams to go on long runs against us.” Newell. Green scored 18 points and Sylvan 17. The Cards quickness, Green, Ratliff and Mellis, in particular throw off the other teams offense. “You can’t practice against quickness, if you don’t have any,” Harbor coach Mike Gruber.

Cards Dodge Bullet to defeat Soquel in three overtimes 59-54. “Once we got to overtime, I knew we were going to win,” Darryl Ratliff. “We knew going in we were going to have to spend every ounce of emotion we had,” Coach Newell, whose team won its twelfth straight game for a 5-0 league record. Newell was absolutely right on the money. It was like a championship game without trophies. It left nothing to the imagination, nothing to be desired and it had everything.
Point guard Jeremy Green opened the overtime with a quick three pointer and later hit the first of two free throws with 17 seconds on the clock to give SC a 57-51 lead. When Green missed his second foul shot, reserve forward Zack Raney tipped it in to up the lead to 59-51. Now it was over. “We seem to rise to the occasion,” Jack Sylvan, who was brilliant as he scored 12 of his teams 14 points midway through the second half as SC went from a 33-30 deficit to a 44-39 lead with 3:25 to play in the fourth quarter.
This is as big a game as we’ve played all year and Jack was at his best,” Newell. There’s something about us. It seems all the tight games we’re in, somebody’s putting it in the basket. If we need a clutch free throw, somebody will get it. At the other end on defense, they didn’t get a good shot at the end of the game,” said Sylvan. With 1:25 to play in regulation and SC leading 48-45, Sylvan was hit for this fifth foul and then was hit for a technical. Soquel made only one of their three foul shots to tie the score 48-48 rather than go ahead.
Both teams had opportunities to score, but interceptions, missed foul shots, losing the ball on the dribble and a technical foul did not have any affect on the score. Soquel was delivering the early blows as they worked for open shots and played a mean 1-2-2 zone defense to stretch out leads of 21-8 and 23-10. Green hit a three pointer and a free throw to cut it to 24-20 at halftime.

Cards Run Past Cougars. Santa Cruz Speed Too Much For SLV in a 62-36 win. SLV played SC tough the first quarter, but midway of the second period, the Cards pressure defense forced four turnovers and SC got into its transition game an was up 33-16 at half, having out scored SLV 24-8 in the quarter. SC came out and scored two quick baskets to start the third quarter to set the tone for the second half. SC was up 53-22 to begin the last quarter. SC got balanced scoring from Green 12 points, Mellis 11 and Sylvan 10.

Santa Cruz 79, Marello 42. SC ends the first half unbeaten with a 7-0 record. Scoring 25 points in the second quarter, SC put together a halftime lead of 40-20. Sylvan led all scorers with 15 points, followed by Ratliff with 13.

‘Hat Trick’ For SC Against Mariners in 66-64 nail biter for the Cards fifteenth consecutive victory. For the third time this season SC has defeated Aptos. The big difference this time was the game was played at the human sweatbox know as the Aptos High gym. “It wasn’t the most beautiful game, but we won and that’s what counts,” said Jack Sylvan. Aptos’ top scorer was 8 for 11 from the three point line and scored 38 points. The victory keeps SC in first place undefeated at 8-0 followed by Soquel 6-2, Aptos and Harbor 5-3.
Aptos caught SC in the third quarter, but then let the Cards go. Aptos opened up a 51-43 edge with six minutes left in the game. In less than two minutes SC had reeled off nine unanswered points and bounced back into the lead on a pair of free throw by Darryl Ratliff with 4:11 left. By the time the scoring burst was over, SC had put together a 15-0 run to take a 58-51 edge with two minutes left.
SC did not make a field goal in the final 2:49, the reason was the Aptos strategy of fouling to get its hands on the ball. Even though Aptos was hitting their shots, SC was hitting its free throws. SC connected on 10 of 15 foul shots. SC had a 66-58 advantage with 29 seconds left. SC Coach Newell started substituting. The Aptos ace with 13 seconds left scored five points to close the gap to 66-64, but missed a long shot as the buzzer went off.
The Cards had beaten Aptos 77-48 in the preseason SCCAL Tourney and then again in the first league game 51-47. These wins were satisfying for Sylvan and Ratliff, who going into this season had lost to Aptos nine times in a row dating back to their freshmen seasons. “ This one was special to us,’ said Sylvan as the happy Cards beat on the metal lockers like drums, chanting “Hat trick…Hat trick” to celebrate the victory.

SC 66, North Monterey 54. With four minutes left in the game, the Condors led by three points and seemed to have momentum on their side. Speedy SC turned several turnovers into scores. Then North Monterey was forced to foul to get the ball back, but SC kept hitting their foul shots. North Monterey coach, “We kept them from running most of the game as that is what they are best at. That’s what kept us in the game.” Four Cards scored in double figures: Ratliff 21, Sylvan 15, Raney 15 and Green 14.

No Hope. Instead, Cards ‘Believe’ And Win Again. Cards eked out a 50-48 overtime win over Watsonville. Against any other team in the league Watsonville would have won. They had clutch shooting and rebounding and unwavering determination. Unfortunately they were playing SC, who are at their best, when the pressure is unbearable, which is why they haven’t lost a game in nearly two months.
“We know we’re going to win,” said senior forward Darryl Ratliff. “It’s an intangible that’s hard to define,” said Coach Newell, unable to determine whether the streak is a product of the Cards confidence or whether their confidence has come from the streak. “They don’t hope they are going to win, they believe they are going to win.” “My goal for my senior year was to go 14-0 in league,”
Jack Sylvan, who led all scorers with 24 points as SC improved to 21-5 overall and 10-0 in league. “If somebody had told me at the start of the season we’d go 14-0, I wouldn’t have believed it.” Sylvan. If someone would have seen Watsonville go scoreless for eight minutes of the first half and then said the Cats should have beaten SC, it would have sounded crazy, too. The craziest was with 18 second to play in the game, a Watsonville player with Sylvan all over him made a three pointer to tie the game 44-44. As they had all night, Green and Ratliff rattled the Cat backcourt in overtime.

Santa Cruz ‘Sixth Man’ Has Impact On Card Season. The sixth man on the court for SC can’t be seen. He has no number, no jersey and his stats can’t be found anywhere in the official scorebook. But you know he is there, giving the Cards that special little edge over the rest of the teams in the Santa Cruz area. He’s ‘The Streak’ age 17 games. “We just seem to pull through, put it together and stick it in there when we have to, says senior Zack Raney, who is the real sixth man on the team and possibly the best sixth man in the area.
“We kind of take it for granted,” senior forward Jack Sylvan says of the winning streak that has seen SC improve from 4-5 to 21-5. “At the beginning, it surprised us. It happened so fast. It was seven games and we didn’t realize it. Now, we’re looking to keeping it going through league.” Actually these days its hard to tell whether ‘the Streak” is a boost or burden. In the last three games there have been two overtimes and a two point win. “We’ve just kind of been hanging on the last couple of games. We used to put away every team, starting in the first half. We’re not doing that now,” said Raney.
The streak within ‘The Streak’ has not escaped, coach Newell. “We‘re not playing consistent basketball. We‘re not sustaining our defensive intensity in each possession.” That may be why he talked with his players nearly 20 minutes after the game. “The streak helps our confidence at the end of the game,” Sylvan said. “But we shouldn’t be in the situations we’ve been in, up only two or four.”
SC hasn’t exactly been lucking out. SC has two of the leagues best players in Sylvan and junior point guard Jeremy Green, who has made a instant impact in the SCCAL. Then there is senior forward Darryl Ratliff, who may be the best pure athlete in sneakers this season. Ratliff and Sylvan have played on the varsity for three years. They handle pressure and don’t get rattled.

Santa Cruz Adds Number 18 to Win Streak defeating Harbor 51-33. Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, nothing has come easy for SC lately. SC is a team on the roll, but winning can be a lot more difficult than it looks. “It was tough,” said Jack Sylvan, wiping his brow with a towel and breathing a sigh of relief. In the three previous games, the Cards had gone to overtime twice an won the third by two points.
The pressure of winning was starting to show. In an attempt to let off a little steam, Coach Newell gave his team a rare day off from practice and it showed tonight. “We played with a lot more intensity.” Early in the fourth quarter Harbor had pulled within eight points, 34-26 with seven minutes left. Newell called time out and called a back door play to take advantage of the Pirates overplaying his players. Within seconds, Sylvan bounce a pass to Ratliff streaking to the basket for an uncontested layup. It worked perfectly. Off this play the Cards went on a 11-1 run.
“Against teams who overplay, it should work that easy. It also makes the other team back off a little to open up other things,” Newell. SC took a 8-0 lead right off. With the lead SC could afford to take all the time it need to set up each time down court and wait for Harbor to make a mistake.
SC never let Harbor get closer than five points the rest of the way. SC dominated the game with their aggressive man to man defense, led by Ratliff and guards Mellis and Green. SC controlled the boards 33-18. Sylvan and Green topped the SC scoring with 13 and 12 points respectively. SC overall record is 22-5 and a perfect 11-0 in league.

Cardinals Must Wait Until Next Game To Clinch Title as Soquel beat them 64-58, before a standing room crowd at Fehliman Gym. “We never got our inside game going at all,” said Jack Sylvan, who was held to a three point field goal for the game. “When I got the ball or anyone got the ball, there were three players on us inside.” From a Soquel lead of 55-47 with 3:38 to play, the Cards cut the lead to 55-51 with three minutes left, but that was as close as SC got. SC is still in first place at 11-1, while Soquel is second at 10-2.

It’s Official, Cardinals The Champs beating SLV 66-44. “We got fired up, we won and now it’s all over, said senior Darryl Ratliff. “It feeels goood!” Screamed Ratliff between high fives and low 10s in the locker room. “We’re number one!” SC went out to a quick 20-4 lead in the opening quarter, behind Ratliff and Sylvan, who each scored seven points. At half it was 26-12 and the third quarter 46-24.
With the streak finally over, the Cards looked and played like a team that had just unloaded a heavy weight from off its back. The SCCAL title is the second in four seasons for SC. In 1984-85, SC won its last eight league games to finish tied with Aptos. “Our goal at the beginning of this year was to win the league outright,” said Sylvan. “We are the best team in the league and we want the record to prove it.
This is my first championship team and it feels very sweet.” said Coach Newell, “there’s less anxiety on my mind now than at any other time this season. During league, no matter who we beat or how big a win it was, I really didn’t enjoy it, because my mind always on the next opponent.” After the Marello game, Newell’s mind will be on the CCS Division III playoffs. “If we play SC style basketball we can compete with anybody in the section.” “Streaks are just a product of playing well and winning. A streak in the playoffs would be even better,” said Jack Sylvan. Ratliff led all scores with 15 points. Zach Raney coming off the bench add 14. Sylvan and Green chipped in with 12 and 11 points respectively.

Santa Cruz 80, Marello 42. Darryl Ratliff and Jeremy Green led the Cardinals with 16 and 15 points respectively. End of story.

February 25. Green’s Talent Rubs Off On Cards. The two top scorers in the league picked up the most votes for league MVP, but SC’s Jeremy Green received a vote. “That’s quite a tribute, considering the outstanding individuals in the league,” said SC Coach Pete Newell, of his junior point guard getting and MVP vote. “I was kind of surprised. I was just happy to be on the first team,” said Green, who is the slickest passer or toughest defensive player in the league.
He is the SCCAL’s unofficial leader in haircuts. Each week he had a different portion of his scalp shaved. Certainly, Green’s impact has rubbed off on his team. SC had won 18 games in a row at one point and then went on to win the league title with a 13-1 record. The 5-11 Green said, “I run the show for the team. I’m kind of like the supplier, I take it up and give it up.”
“The thing that has pleased me the most has been his consistency,” said Newell of Green, who was the only junior named to the SCCAL first team. “Green has been a winner since the fifth grade, when his father was coach of the football team at Northwestern University. Jeremy continued here on the junior varsity and now on the varsity,” Newell said. “Our seniors are our leaders, but we all respect Jeremy’s leadership abilities. And in his own quiet way, he leads by example. In terms of his personality, Jeremy has been respectful of the fact that he is a junior.
Jeremy is not the type of kid who will force his way in and tell people what to do. And one of the neat things about Jeremy is that as the team got better and as he continued to play a more important role in the success, he remained the good person he has always been. He hasn’t gotten the big head. He just goes and plays.”
It helped that third year varsity players Jack Sylvan and Darryl Ratliff were around him and the best defensive guard in the area Billy Mellis. “I was helped a lot by being able to play with Billy, because I don’t have to worry about playing the best guard on defense,” Green says. “Mr. Newell has let me do what I want, so I try to penetrate and get the ball to the big guys.”
Coming into the season, Green had the unenviable task of replacing Sean Harrell, who took his talents to Berkeley and walked on at Cal and won a spot on the roster as a freshman. Yet, this season the Cards haven’t missed a beat. “I watched Sean a lot and learned a couple of things, in the way he ran the offense and things he did, individually, too,” Green said. “Our system puts a lot of responsibility on the point guard. We have been blessed the last four years with Eddie Marcum, Sean and now Jeremy,” Newell.
“What has made Green special is that he has made his teammates perform better, which is the ultimate compliment to a point guard. “When you have a player like Jeremy on the court, it raises the abilities of the other players. He is always thinking, always aware, always exploiting the other teams weaknesses and taking advantage of the situation. With a player like that leading you, you have to be alert. He is able to project the play unfolding before it does.” Beyond that, often this season when the Cards needed a big play at a big moment, with either a steal, a drive to the hoop, a jump shot or by coming up with a loose ball, Green produced under pressure. Green’s quickness has made him the most explosive backcourt player in the area.
Newell describes Green’s natural gift as “acceleration with the ball, coming out of backcourt, while still playing under control. A lot of players will accelerate and when they do they approach the fine edge of losing control. Jeremy rarely plays out of control.” And he has one more year of high school.

February 28. Santa Cruz Decks Inept Willow Glen. Game Not As Close As Final Score Of 76-56. SC tarred and feathered a Willow Glen team that was short of talent and height, in the second round of the CCS Division III playoffs. SC received a first round bye. If not for a 19 point Willow Glen explosion in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, the game would have been more of a run away. Willow Glen had won their first CCS playoff game.
SC played much of the second half with reserves and still ran the Rams ragged. “Our defensive pressure took them out of their offense,” Newell said. SC was ahead 55-34 going into the final quarter. The Cards longest run of the game was 14-0 in the second quarter to go into halftime up 39-18. Green in the first half equaled Willow Glen’s total output. SC ran up and down the court at will. Newell’s biggest worry was the Cards inconsistency. SC scored in clusters. 45 of SC’s points were scored in runs of six or more points. Green scored 24 points and Raney followed with 18. Sylvan fouled out early in the fourth quarter and Raney filled in well. Coach Newell, “Having a player of Raney’s capabilities coming off the bench, there’s not going to be that much of a drop off. I thought reserve guard Tracy Barnes played well, too.” Darryl Ratliff chipped in 14 points.

Barnes, Raney Key Santa Cruz Victory in the teams second game of the CCS playoffs to defeat Cupertino 55-46 in the quarter-finals, as SC received a first round bye. “I’m not really sure why he put me in the game,” said Tracy Barnes with a smile. But given the opportunity, Barnes made the most of it, teaming with sixth man Zach Raney to give SC 19 key points off the bench. “All season long, they’ve been coming off the bench, yet they’ve accepted that role, because they feel it’s been in the best interest of the team,” Coach Newell.
The win sends SC 26-6 to the semi-finals against San Mateo 28-2. Cupertino muscled its way to a 24-18 halftime lead. Cupertino was dominating the game, out shooting and out rebounding SC, who missed three layups, had three air balls and were ice cold at 27 percent from the field in the first half. The only thing that kept the Cards in the game was their trademark pressure defense, which force Cupertino into 12 first half turnovers. Eventually, the Cards defense was all the offense they needed. “We wanted it more,” said Raney, who scored eight of his 11 points in the second half. “We came out after the half determined. We were fired up ready to go.”
With four minutes left in the third quarter, cat quick Ratliff picked off a pass and sprinted the length of the court for a layup, despite being fouled on the play. He hit the free throw, too, to pull SC even at 28-28. Barnes said, “Darryl provided the spark for us. He turned it around. All of a sudden, everybody just started picking up the slack and started making the plays we hadn’t been making before.” The two teams traded baskets the remainder of the quarter, but it was clear the Cards had grabbed the momentum.
After Cupertino scored to go up 37-36, Green hit a three pointer to put SC ahead 39-37. That began a 14-2 game clinching scoring run, although it was far from apparent at the time. Following Green’s bucket, Cupertino committed another turnover and the Cards went into their delay game to try to pull Cupertino out of their tight 3-2 zone. With three Cards passing the ball back and forth over half court, the official ordered Cupertino to initiate action, essentially come out of their zone and match up with SC. (The rules say the defense has to match up with a player handling the ball within five seconds or be penalize with a technical)
Two Mustangs jumped out instead of three and Cupertino was called for a team technical foul. Sylvan hit both free throws, and SC also regained possession of the ball. Four second later, Ratliff hit nothing but net from the left baseline. “We got four points out of it and increased our lead from two to six, our biggest of the game,” said Newell. With Cupertino now in a man to man defense the quicker Cards sprinted the rest of the way to victory.

State Of The Art: SC On A Mission. “Mission accomplished,” Darryl Ratliff screamed, flashing a huge smile. Ratliff was referring to two things: first that the Cards have made it to the Northern California basketball tournament for the first time; and second, that the little slogan on the San Mateo warm-ups, “on a mission,” didn’t get accomplish a thing. “Going to Nor Cal feels so good, I feel like I’m glowing,” Santa Cruz sixth man Zack Raney, also a senior, said after the 62-57 win over San Mateo in the semi-finals of the CCS Division III playoffs.
The win automatically qualifies SC for the Nor Cal Division III tourney, since both the champion and runner up from CCS advance. SC meets Jefferson, the number one ranked Division III team in the state, in the CCS finals at Independence High in San Jose. “We’ll just try to get in there and give them a good game,” Ratliff said. SC will have to have its best game to keep up with Jefferson, which has more quickness than the Cards and as much size.
“We will have to find it within ourselves to accept the challenge of going against the number one team in the state,” Coach Newell. It means the SCCAL will be in the Nor Cals a third straight year. Aptos won the Nor Cal Division II title two seasons ago and was a runner up last year. This year in a new, five division state playoff format, almost all of the teams, particularly the top teams that played in Division II before are in Division III now. “We’re just going to see how we come out and play against Jefferson. We want to see how we can do. They are the best,” said senior forward Jack Sylvan.

Jefferson Tops Santa Cruz For CCS Title 65-58. SC found out they can beat the number one Division III team in the state. They didn’t, but they can. “I don’t see why not, if we meet them again,” said senior center Zack Raney after losing to Jefferson in a game the Cards had a chance to win. Although the Cards didn’t win in their first appearance in a CCS title game since 1969, this week they go into the Northern California tournament. Figuring they have as good of chance of winning it all as anyone including Jefferson.
SC trailed by nine points early in the fourth quarter, but rallied to tie it up 57-57, as Jack Sylvan showed why he has become possibly the Most Valuable Player in Santa Cruz County this season. With the Cards trailing 55-49, Sylvan took an offensive charge to wipe out a Jefferson fast break layup, then scored the Cards next eight points, from down low, from the high post and finally from outside, to make it 57-57. “I wanted the ball,” said the 6-6 Sylvan, who only this year assumed a scorer’s role in Coach Newell’s offense. “I thought I could score on them from outside or inside,” said Sylvan who finished with a game high 25 points.
“The two best teams we’ve played were San Mateo and Jefferson and the two best games Jack has played were against these two teams,” said Newell. What Sylvan did, while also defending against Jefferson’s big weapon at forward, was put SC in position to win. In the final 2:33, SC didn’t score a field goal and went only 1 for 4 at the free throw line, then turned the ball over twice in the final 42 seconds. Trailing 59-57, SC worked the ball to Sylvan, who was fouled shooting. He missed the first free throw, then made the second for 59-58. Jefferson missed a shot at 1:43, but the Cards couldn’t convert on a fast break, but Green got one of the teams few offensive rebounds. At 1:35, Green was fouled shooting, but missed both foul shots. Jefferson called time out and then made a back door move to the hoop to score for 61-58.
SC called time out with 42 seconds left and set up two plays. SC ran an inbounds play with a pass to Sylvan: he looked for Raney, who was battling for position against the Indian center. As the pass came inside, the center deflected the ball and Ratliff hustled for the ball, but was tied up. The possession arrow pointed Jefferson’s way at 33 seconds. “Zack was open and when the ball came in, he got bumped,” Newell said. “But both refs let the kids bump all night. And that caused the turnover.
With 27 seconds to play Jefferson hit two foul shots, then after a Card turnover made two more free throws. Jefferson went 6 for 6 at the foul line in the final two minutes and finally iced the game with seven seconds to go. But it wasn’t even over then. “We just had to keep playing tough defense, take good shots and try to get it inside,” Newell said of the Cards task in their fourth quarter surge. “And we did have a chance to go ahead.”
Throughout, SC had trouble with Jefferson’s ability to get second, third even fifth shots, by sending virtually anybody and everybody to the offensive boards. The Indians massacred the Cards underneath, pounding on Sylvan and Raney. “Zack and Jack battled four people every time,” Newell said. “But Zack is pretty intense and strong, physically,” Newell said of his sixth man, who played nearly the entire game for the second game in a row. “He gives us good stability there.” The finish of the first half showed Jefferson’s advantage on the boards, not in height, but in the number of jumpers Jefferson had. When the Cards working for the last shot, turned the ball over with 21 seconds left, Jefferson came down, fired away and crashed. With one second left Jefferson scored on a tip in. Instead of SC sneaking in within two or three points, they trailed at half 33-26. In the second half, Newell tried to get all his players to screen out better. “Our perimeter people were keeping their men off the boards,” Newell said of the Cards improvement. “In the first half it was 1 on 4 or 2 on 5 it seemed,” Raney said. “Then in the second half, we were battling more and that helped a little.” If the Cards are to meet Jefferson again. They will have to do a better job of handling the offensive rebounding and make free throws in the clutch.
What the Cards won’t have to do is motivate Raney and Sylvan, who were a two man army against the board crashing, trash talking Indians. “There was a lot of banging and pushing,” Raney said of the physical match ups underneath, and they were cussing every minute out there. “They tried to intimidate us, but I don’t think they did,” said Sylvan. They are a good team, but they were classless winners.”

(Addition to Jefferson) Cards Stick Together. Before the tip off, it was clear how much SC believed in sticking together. The first guy on the floor, Billy Mellis sported a flat top, he really didn’t want and probably didn’t like. He was followed by the rest of his teammates, all with boot camp hairdos, courtesy of an official team shearing. It was hard to recognize some of the players. What makes this significant is that to be successful on the basketball court, the Cards have to play as a team. There can be no individual, 1 on 1 deviations from Coach Newell’s team system. That’s the concept that produced a SCCAL title. It’s how SC won 18 games in a row this season. It’s also why they are 27-7 going into the Northern California Division III tournament. The head shearing tells a lot about the Cardinals. They made a pact that if they qualified for the Nor Cal tournament, they would shear their heads.
The CCS championship game was an interesting match up. SC which relies on team play at both ends of the floor, against Jefferson, which goes 1 on 1 and crashes the boards. All game long SC worked on the fundamentals of screening away from the ball and working the ball inside. Jefferson’s idea of an entry pass was shooting, then getting the offensive rebound for a lay up. “Sure, they go 1 on 1, but they’re talented enough to go 1 on 1,” Newell said. Facts are facts. Jefferson has more individual talent then SC. “We knew they would come out and play undisciplined.
But we knew we had to stay in our offense and not worry about what they did.” said Jeremy Green. The Cards did just that. It might have been the most difficult thing they did, play within themselves, together. Team ball vs. 1 on 1 ball. Fundamental ball vs. playground ball. “There were times when we did try to do too much as individuals. When we did, we weren’t successful,” Newell. But the Cards knew what Newell wanted. They knew what they had to do. Although they came up short, they proved a team that plays and shaves together is tough to beat.

Nor Cal Destiny All Mapped Out For Cards. The road to Sacramento’s ARCO Arena, for Saturday’s Northern California Division III championship game goes through Walnut Creek, then either Chico or Manteca. Their first game is against Las Lomas High of Walnut Creek. Center-forward Zack Raney, knows their will be a heavily partisan Las Lomas crowd. “It will be a test of how together we are as a team. We’re just going to have to tighten up and play like family. But we have a lot of team unity,” said Raney.
This is the third straight year a team from the SCCAL has been in the Nor Cal playoffs. Two seasons ago, Aptos hosted Chico in a first round game, then last year Aptos traveled to Redding and Aptos won both times. Newell was able to get videotape of Las Lomas’ 59-51 victory over Foothill in the North Coast Section finals. Winning on the road isn’t always as difficult as it may appear. Aptos has been 5-1 in the Nor Cal playoffs the last two years. Aptos Coach Bill Warmerdam, “You may be uptight at the start, but after that the best team should win. We treated it just like any other game. You’ve got to have confidence. We’re as good as the teams up north and you’re going to be in the ballgame against them.”
“We played two good games last week and we’re gong to have to play at least that well this week to win all three,” Newell. The winner of Nor Cal will play at the Oakland Coliseum in the State finals.

Fighting Back. Sylvan Has Learned To Dish It Out
Two years ago, Santa Cruz High’s Jack Sylvan was beaten up–daily–in the name of sport. Spindled, folded and mutilated in basketball practice by none other than Johnny Johnson, who last season punished major-college defensive players as a freshman wide receiver and running back on the San Jose State football team. But Sylvan never backed down. Not an inch. He took everything Johnson could dish out–and came back for more. “Everyday, Johnny beat him to a pulp,” Santa Cruz Coach Pete Newell said. “But he never backed off and never complained. That was part of the learning process that made him into the player he is today.
Today, Sylvan is a rugged, 6-foot-6 forward who can hit shots from inside and outside, play tough-as-nails defense and bang with the best of ‘em for rebounds. And, more important, not back down against intimidators. In the SCCAL season, Sylvan was steady and consistent–he’s averaged 14 points and six rebounds a game., In the CCS playoffs last week, he was spectacular. He scored 23 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in the section semifinals against San Mateo (a 62-57 win), then scored a career-high 25 points–he was 12-for-16 shooting–with seven boards in the championship game against Jefferson (a 65-58 loss), the No. 1-ranked Division III team in the state by Cal-Hi Sports.
“The last two games were really good,” Sylvan said. “I guess that’s good timing, because of the playoffs.” Sylvan’s development as a basketball player has not been by accident. It has not just happened. He has, indeed, come a long way from even two seasons ago, when he was a reserve going head-to-head with Johnson–everyday. At the time, he was a defensive specialist whose offensive skills were lagging behind the rest of his game. But midway through last season, Sylvan began to assert himself offensively as well. Now, he’s a complete player. A steady, complete player. “He does everything well,” Newell said. “He’s the most fundamentally sound player I’ve ever had the privilege of coaching. “He combines intelligence with a solid work ethic. Much of Jack’s basketball knowledge has been picked up in observation of what’s taught to other players. He’s always absorbing knowledge and applying it to his own game.”
Sylvan definitely has the smarts to play basketball. The senior is a 4.0 student at Santa Cruz. “I’m not the most athletic player on the court,” Sylvan said. “I pretty much have to rely on playing smart. I’m not as much an athlete as I am a basketball player.” So, Sylvan spent a lot of time becoming an offensive player. It did not come easy for Sylvan, but he still worked hard. And last season, the hard work finally began to pay off. My offensive skills just weren’t that good when I was younger,” he said. “I think I matured a little late. And the last two years, Mr. Newell has just asked me to do more offensively. “It’s been coming around pretty well,” he said. “When I’m getting the ball, I’m putting up pretty good shots and the ball is just going in. I guess it’s like a basketball rhythm.”
Even when Sylvan was not the offensive player he is now, Newell saw something in him. He saw a player with mental toughness and a strong desire to improve. “I’ve never had a complete player like Jack,” Newell said. “And I’ve seen him everyday for three years to be able to make that assessment.” Sylvan broke the backs of more than a few opponents this season. He seems to thrive on keeping the other team off-balance; when a team, is making a run at Santa Cruz, for instance, it’s usually been Sylvan who has broken that momentum, with a basket or big rebound. “We always seem to have a different hero every night,” Newell said, “but Jack’s always been there with consistent scoring, rebounding and defense.” “I’d say I’m pretty tough,” Sylvan said, softly. I just don’t give up.”
Late in Sylvan’s sophomore season, he was thrown into the middle of the action as a green reserve in an important SCCAL playoff game against Watsonville. “I did it out of necessity,” said Newell, who wanted Sylvan’s defense in the game. Sylvan remembers that game as if it happened just yesterday, “It was my first real taste of a crucial game,” Newell said, “I was scared to death. It was a good learning experience.” Back then, Sylvan was scared to shoot the ball. “I did not have the confidence,” he said. That’s not the case anymore. “He’s been a source of strength for our team all season,” Newell said. “We’ve gone to him so many times–because of his character. “I consider it an honor to have been his coach. I’m going to miss him a great deal.” As a player, sure. But as a person, too.

Cardinals Comeback Comes Up Short 52-50. Who would have thought it? The game was won by Las Lomas in the last six minutes of the first half, when Las Lomas’ 6-8 center and main offensive weapon was on the bench with three fouls. At that point Las Lomas went on a 12-0 run for a 30-16 half time lead. They never lost the lead the rest of the way.
I’m extremely proud of the team,” said Coach Newell. “We just ran out of minutes.” And perhaps, of luck. With four seconds left in the game, Las Lomas made a free throw, but missed the second and Mellis rebounded the miss. He dribbled past half court, but was tied up as time ran out. “We could have won. We just didn’t play very smart. A lot of stupid passes,” Jeremy Green. “We just stopped concentrating on trying to get the ball inside, especially when their center was out of the game. Without the big guy in there, it was the perfect opportunity.” With the 6-8 center out, it looked as if SC was playing against five flat topped choirboys. But these choirboys could play as a team.
The center came back into the game with 5:25 left in the third quarter. SC had cut the lead to 32-26. Jack Sylvan keyed the 10-2 run with three baskets, seemingly finding his shot from the top of the key. “We came out knowing we had to play harder in the second half,” said Mellis. “We didn’t play smart basketball late in the first half. We took the first easy shot. We were launching 25 footers. We didn’t do a very good job of transition from defense to offense. We realized at halftime that we weren’t doing a good job attacking there zone. We weren’t stopping their dribble drives to the basket,” Coach Newell.
By 4:52 in the fourth quarter, Las Lomas’ lead was down to 43-40. But the Las Lomas center scored two key baskets. SC kept at it, with a basket each from Green and Ratliff and a Mellis free throw to cut the lead to 47-45 with two minutes to play. Las Lomas made three free throws to go up 50-45. But a three pointer by Green, the only one of the game by either side, cut the lead back to 50-48. Las Lomas hit a foul shot and two pressure free throws by Mellis with 19 seconds left, got it down to 51-50. Las Lomas hit a free throw to make it 52-50, but missed the second shot and Mellis rebounded, but was not able to get off a shot.
Newell talked to his team for about 30 minutes after the game. “My biggest regret is I’m not going to have the privilege of coaching these kids anymore,” said Newell, whose team ended the season with a 27-8 record and a SCCAL championship. “And that far outweighs what happened in this basketball game.” Sylvan led all scoring with 17 points followed by Ratliff with 12.

Las Lomas Fans Could Talk A Mean Game. Talk about your home court advantage. Talk about your hostile crowds. Then your talking about where the Cards played and lost to Las Lomas 52-50. The old rickety gym was jam packed and Las Lomas rooters were out in force, a force to be reckoned with, taunting the officials when calls went against their team. They tried to unnerve the Cards and Coach Newell. The vocal crowd certainly did not make life easy for SC. Whenever, Newell got up to question a call, chants of “Sit down, Newell,” came from the crowd. Whenever the Cards were about to put up a bomb, the fans would shout, “Airball!” Whenever Card players were at the free throw line, the rooters would in unison go, “Ssssshhhh …” loudly.
In the new five division playoff format, the first two rounds are played at the higher seeds home gym. Newell said, “Any team that has come this far has won on the road.” For forward Jack Sylvan and the rest of the Cards, the season ended with a whisper, not with a bang. “We could have won it,” a barely audible Sylvan said in the locker room with his eyes riveted to the floor. Sylvan’s comment was one echoed by other SC players.
SC did get the lead down to one point late in the game. In the second half, Las Lomos’ 6-8 center carried his team down the stretch. SC led once in the game, in the opening seconds, when Jeremy Green stole a pass in back court and went in for a layup. Las Lomos responded by scoring the next seven points. Guard Billy Mellis, “They just outplayed us. It seemed they wanted it more. Defensively, we were reacting instead of anticipating.”

Trident. June 13. And The Streak Goes On. SC may have made it to the Nor Cal Division III playoffs in March, but their most important game of the season might have been in early January. “We broke the psychological barrier with that one,” said Coach Pete Newell of the Cards 77-48 victory over Aptos in the finals of the SCCAL pre-season tournament. “Aptos was considered the pre-season favorite and rightly so. When we beat them the way we did, we knew we had a chance to compete for the championship.”
Another turning point game in the third meeting between the two schools at Aptos. The Cards trailed by eight points late in the third quarter, but reeled off 15 straight to take the lead. “You just don’t do that in the Aptos gym,” says Newell, whose team began the season having lost nine straight times to the Mariners. The streak is on the other foot now, since SC defeated Aptos all thee times en-route to a 27-8 record.

Best Off The Bench. (Special recognition of the value of the sixth man and especially the value of Zach Raney to the Cardinals) It isn’t often a basketball player who doesn’t start on his own team good enough to be even considered for All County honors, let alone make the top 15 list. It just doesn’t happen. Then again, it isn’t often a guy like Zach Raney is sixth man. “He was able to come off the bench and provide a spark for us,” Santa Cruz Coach Pete Newell said of Raney, the Cardinal senior who played so well this season that it seemed fitting to create a Sixth Man of the Year Honor. Raney was truly exceptional, particularly in post-season play, when his strength inside kept Santa Cruz alive in virtually every game. “But he did it more than just at the end of the season,” Newell said. “He was one of our better basketball players, but he accepted his role, to come off the bench. He did things for us defensively, and on the offensive boards, and gave us scoring when he could.
The great thing about Zach is that he never once complained, never once questioned it. He had such a marvelous attitude. In his own way, with that type of leadership, he was just as effective as Jack (Sylvan) to our success.” Considering Sylvan is the all-county Player of the Year, and the Cardinals went all the way to the Nor Cal playoffs, that says a lot about a sixth man. And it says a lot about Raney.

Cards’ Sylvan Picks Davis–Sentinel May 1988
It only makes sense that a high-school athlete with Jack Sylvan’s all-around interests would choose to attend a college that could provide him with an all-around education, both athletically and academically. And it was probably with that in mind that the Santa Cruz High senior, Player of the Year on The Sentinel’s All-County boys’ basketball team, decided to attend the University of California, Davis. “Davis is a good school, and I think I can play for them,” Sylvan said. “I’m going to try to make the varsity–but if I don’t, I’ll play jayvee and enjoy that.”
Considered one of the most complete players in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League, Sylvan personified the role of a “team player.” Usually assigned to cover the opponents’ toughest forward in the Cardinals’ suffocating man-to-man defense, Sylvan also developed into the team’s top scorer. He led the Cards with an average of 14.1 points per game, and also paced the team in rebounds with 6.1 boards a game. Most importantly, Sylvan was a winner. The lanky senior helped pace Santa Cruz to the SCCAL title and an overall record of 28-7.
The Cards also advanced to the title game of the CCS championships and a wild-card berth in the Northern California playoffs. Sylvan saved his best for last, scoring a game-high 17 points in Santa Cruz’s 52-50 loss to Las Lomas. Sylvan also earned all-tournament selections in the Los Gatos Invitational, the Carmel Invitational and the Santa Cruz Dads’ Club Invitational. He was also a tough head-to-head competitor, winning the boys’ open category in the Calistoga Classic one-on-one tournament. UC-Berkeley had already accepted Sylvan, who carries a 4.0 grade point average and is a top candidate who may become the SCHS valedictorian, but he opted for Davis–a Division II school where he would get a chance to continue his basketball career.
“It was a tough decision between Cal and Davis,” Sylvan said. “I wanted to do architecture, and Cal has one of the best architectural schools on the coast, but I found out Davis has an architectural school, and basketball really wasn’t an option at Cal.” Santa Cruz Coach Pete Newell said, “Davis seems to be the best place for Jack to continue his athletic and academic career. (Davis Coach) Bob Hamilton has had a solid program at Davis, and they play top caliber competition in Division II.” “I anticipate Jack will develop into a solid contributor for the team.” Newell said. But he added that Sylvan will have his work cut out for him as he tried to make the Davis squad. “He lacks upper-body strength,” Newell explained. “I imagine for the next 18 months, his prime concern will be to develop the upper-body strength to go with his sound fundamental background.”
Sylvan has already scrimmaged with some of his future teammates, and he thinks he needs to improve his quickness, strength and defense to be a top player. Because of his balanced style of play, Sylvan tended to be over-looked by a lot of people. However, Newell said that Davis expressed sustained interest in Sylvan throughout the season. Apparently, the feeling was mutual.

Register-Pajaronian, January 16, 1988
Newell Takes Coaching One Step Beyond. SC Coach Helps Kids on, Off Court
Santa Cruz High has just beaten Aptos for the second time in four days and Pete Newell is pumped. In the SC locker room Tuesday night his team is chanting “back to back.” The phrase refers to the twin killings of Aptos, a school that had beaten the Cardinals in 22 of their 23 previous meetings. “I can’t remember the last time Aptos High was held in the 40s in two consecutive games,” says Newell. Newell then shakes the hand of each member of his team. It doesn’t matter that some didn’t work up a sweat. They still participated.
After complimenting some of that night’s heroes, Newell directs his attention to seniors Jack Sylvan and Darryl Ratliff. “Jack and Darryl, it’s been a long string for you guys your sophomore and junior years (losing to Aptos), but you’re going to remember these four days for a long time.” “One of the neatest things walking off the Santa Cruz Civic court was the number of former players, all sitting in one section,: said Newell. “There must have been 25 of them up there and I wanted to stop and say ‘This one’s for you.’”
After a 20-6 season at Serra (San Mateo) in 1973-74, Newell replaced Jack Alzina at Santa Cruz. His first team went 1-23 and his second team won only six games. The highlights were few for Newell, although a win over Aptos the second season was one of them. One way Newell tried to make up for his team’s lack of talent was to use the delay game on offense. Another way was to raise his team’s intensity level. The intensity had paid off in the Catholic leagues where Newell had previously coached. But on this side of the hill, Newell had mixed results. “Here I am with this Catholic, competitive mentality of intensity, trying to instill that into laid-back Santa Cruz,” he said. “There were obvious clashes.”
Looking back, Newell admits that many of those clashes were his fault. “At Santa Cruz, where the level of play and expectations was on the downside, a lot of my actions were immature and harmful to the kids that I coached,” he said. In contrast to his coaching, however, Newell found teaching to be a delight. He had never taught in a public school, but caught on quickly. “The basketball was a horrible experience and the teaching was great,” said Newell of the early years. “Over the years, the teaching has stayed great and the basketball we’ve been able to raise to a really fulfilling level.”
MORE THAN A COACH Observe a Pete Newell class or basketball practice and you’ll see some similarities. His practices are a little more serious, with 18 red-and-white clad players dribbling, passing, shooting and defending at his command. There’s not a lot of yukking it up at a Cardinal workout. In school he’s in control, but a little looser. The sharp edge is often replaced by a dry wit. What is consistent is his constant challenging of both students and athletes. Challenging them to think. “Life is mental,” Newell said. “People walk around with positive images or negative images, high self-esteem or low self-esteem, being involved or being apathetic. All of these things are derived from the mind. In the classroom I want to challenge them and stimulate thinking.” Rudy Escalante is a former player and student of Newell’s, who’s now a policeman and coaches freshman basketball at Santa Cruz. Escalante remembers Newell’s classes well. “He lets you input your feeling on things. He’d debate with you and he’d be the devil’s advocate, saying ’What if this happened, what would be your response?’ It’s the same idea as he has about basketball: If you can’t think, you can’t play. I think that’s true in the world as well.”
With Newell, coaching and teaching are almost inter-changeable. “With coaching, you try to get five people to work together in harmony on both ends of the court,” Newell said. “For them physically to do that, they have to be on the same wavelength.” But before Newell could to that, he had to get on the same wavelength as the community.
TOUGH COACH
“I never hit anybody or threw anybody against a wall, but there was a lot of verbal abuse from my part,” Newell recalled. In 1980-81, Santa Cruz lost six league games–one to each team–in overtime, the last one a triple overtime defeat to Harbor. The Cards were competitive, but they were also tight as a drum–perhaps a reflection of their intense young coach.
“I had to stand back and realize that year after year the kids gave great effort, and so that said something,” Newell said. “So I figured that if I backed off, it would relax the players more. They’d feel more positive about participating and we’d have better success.” A couple of things brought Newell to this realization, one of them being post-season talks with his players. “A lot of them didn’t have good experiences and the reason they didn’t was because of me,” Newell said. “It wasn’t because of scoring averages or wins and losses. I realized I had to change or get out. And I didn’t want to get out.”
MELLOWING OUT
Brian Whitesell was a standout on several of Newell’s early teams and is now the junior varsity coach at Santa Cruz. Whitesell has recognized the change in his former coach. “He’s much more mellow,” said Whitesell. “He used to be almost militant. We used to do all our calisthenics together. If one person messed up, we’d do them all over.
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
Spiro Mellis, father of current Cardinal started Billy Mellis, was the manager of Pete Newell Sr.’s 1954-55 Cal team. The elder Mellis thinks the SC coach is comparable to his father in many respects, just at a different level of play. “Pete is the best coach in this area as far as being a teacher of basketball,” Mellis said. “He might not have as many titles as some of the other coaches, but there’s not a better teacher of the game, or anyone that takes such a sincere interest in the kids.” Along with the mellowing of Pete Newell has come the fruits of success. Newell has rebuilt a once-floundering program into a respected outfit that has forged winning seasons in five of the last six years, including a co-championship with Aptos in 1984-85. In the past six years, Newell’s teams have lost more than four league games on only one occasion. And Newell has accomplished all this while carrying the largest rosters in the league (18 players last year and this year). “Ten or so years from now, who cares who won and who lost? …who remembers?” Newell said. “What’s important is the camaraderie that the players have for each other.” Because he wants so many kids to experience that feeling, Newell tries to keep every player who comes out and is earnest about playing.
However, basketball has gained such popularity in recent years at SC that he fears he may have to cut players next year. “He’s not just a starting players’ coach, said Sylvan, the team’s star forward. “He’s an 18-player coach. He gives as much time to the 18th player as to the first person.” Sometimes that attention is in the form of praise, sometimes constructive criticism. Cardinal players learn to listen to the message, and not the tone with which it’s delivered.
“I think we understand him more now than when we played,” said John Wilson (class of ‘81). “I appreciate him when I look back at all the good qualities he instilled in us. He taught us things like never being late or missing practice, things that can carry over into school or your job.” Perhaps current player Zach Raney summed things up the best: “Education is the top thing with him,” he said. “Basketball is second. He helps you with a lot of social problems, too. If you have a problem off the court, he helps you work it out. He’s a coach, but he’s a human being too.”

Sentinel final stats of March 15.
Individual scoring by place, name, games played, total points, high game and average per game.
PL NAME GP TP HI AV
8 Sylvan 35 492 25 14.4
13 Ratliff 35 406 25 12.3
16 Green 35 403 24 11.5
37 Raney 35 237 18 6.8
43 Jones 35 194 12 5.5

On team offense, SC was fourth with a 60.7 average per game and a high game of 79.

Individual rebounding by place, name, games played, total rebound, high game and average per game.
PL NAME GP TR HI AV
20 Sylvan 35 212 11 6.1
29 Jones 35 165 9 4.7
31 Raney 35 146 8 4.2

On team defense, SC was first giving up an average per game of 50.7. The low game was 36.

March 21. Sentinel ALL COUNTY team. Cardinal Stars In A New Role. Sylvan Surprised By Top Honor. SC won three out of the Sentinels top four awards. Jack Sylvan PLAYER OF THE YEAR. Jeremy Green JUNIOR OF THE YEAR. Pete Newell COACH OF THE YEAR. Darryl Ratliff was second team.

Jack Sylvan was named the SCCAL Most valuable player, Jeremy Green and Darryl Ratliff ALL SCCAL. Honorable mention were Pat Jones and Billy Mellis.
Pete Newell was named Coach Of The Year.

JV BOYS BASKETBALL
Team members were Mike Jones, Patrick Richards, Mark Northcutt, Ryan Reber, Josh Barthel, Kenny Martinez, Bernie Escalante, Steve Hamblin, Aaron Bolding, Saul Martinez, Mike Minium and Stan Pillsbury.

FRESHMAN BASKETBALL coached by Rudy Escalante. No players or information available.

GIRLS BASKETBALL Practice games: North Salinas 50-60, Seaside 46-54, Monterey 50-34, Lynbrook 36-53. SCCAL Preseason Tournament: North Monterey 30-47, Soquel 47-40, Aptos 62-61 for the consolation title. Live Oak 43-53, Hollister 29-50, Gilroy 30-53, Notre Dame won. Practice record 4-7 (from Trident). League: Aptos 51-38, 81-53; North Monterey 36-52, 60-46; Watsonville 49-51, 47-25; Harbor 39-47, 60-64; Soquel 39-37, 47-41; SLV 41-32, 51-28. League record 8-4. CCS Region IV games: Seaside 68-53. Record to this point 13-11. (Do not have next game, which has to be a loss)
From the Sentinels next years write up, it said the overall record was 13-12.

Changing Of The Guard: Former Player Now The Coach. She’s never really thought of herself as a pioneer in women’s sports, but Kathy Wilson may be one. Since Title IX ignited the girl’s interscholastic athletics boom in the mid-seventies, Wilson is the first local athlete to return to her alma mater as the head coach of a girl’s major sport. “I don’t really feel like that I am on the spot being a women,” said Wilson 25, a 1980 SC grad, who is the Cards new girl’s basketball coach. Besides she is only doing what she’s always wanted to do. “Ever since I was little, I wanted to teach PE and coach at Santa Cruz High,” says Wilson, a third generation SCHS grad among the women in the Wilson family, besides her grandmother and mother. “In the preseason, I’ve only seen one other women coach. She has found herself mistaken as someone else, too. Several opposing coaches have walked up to her assistant, Pete Pappas, presuming he was the head coach. Wilson believes it’s not crucial for girl athletes to have women coaches as it is for them to have good coaches. Wilson doesn’t see herself as being special. “There are a lot of good quality players who have played here, who would be good coaches.” Growing up Wilson was a stand out athlete as was her brother John was a three sport main stay, who has gone on to be a pro baseball pitcher and younger sister Joanna, who played basketball and softball..
At SCHS, she played tennis, softball and four years of varsity basketball for Coach Ray Hunter, who she is replacing. “There were a lot of old memories when I walked into the gym for my first practice this year,” said Wilson. “I remember being a freshman and all the great seniors we had, like Evonne Sandas and Sue Dodge…”
This season hasn’t started exactly the way Wilson wanted, partially because of injuries and are 2-6. Wilson isn’t backing off, She says, she’s not as intense as a coach as she was as an athlete, but Wilson is dead serious about one thing. She doesn’t want her players to every say they never had a good woman coach.

Nov. 27. Sentinel preseason write ups. Finally SCCAL Is Even. Race For Girls Title Is Wide-Open Affair.
First year coach, 25year old Kathy Wilson, a former four year varsity player for the Cardinals from 1977 to 1980, is taking over from long time coach Ray Hunter. Wilson is still evaluating the talent of her 14 player team. “We have been hampered by injuries to five players. “We have some girls who work really hard in practice, but we are a young team.” Only three seniors return with two who had plenty of playing time last year. The two are forward-center Tami King, who averaged 7.5 points a game last year and guard Molly Ball. Other returnees are juniors Celia Homesley a forward, who had a scoring average of 9.6 points and had 5.4 rebounds a game last year. Forward Monique James, forward, Wendy Vajretti and guard, Stacy Wilhelmsen. Other team members were Kelly Mullen, Val Kingdome, Wendy Marcinaro, Addrena Mauga and Mercedes Blair. “It’s my first year,” Wilson said and I’m going to start building with basics and fundamentals.

Nov. 28. Cards lose season opener to North Salinas 50-60. Monique James lead the scoring with 15 points followed by Celia Homesley with 12. Injuries cut the Card roster to eight players for the game. North Salinas led 46-41 going into the fourth quarter and SC never got closer.

Dec. 2 Cards Play Well Despite Second Loss. Coach Kathy Wilson said, “We did some really good things. We seem to be getting better and doing more of the right things.” Seaside’s speed broke open a close game with a 18-7 surge in the third quarter en route to a 54-46 win. SC held a 22-20 edge at the half, but Seaside’s speed took charge. Top scorers were Addrena Mauga and Tami King with 11 apiece. King lead in rebounds with 12. “Molly Ball played real well at guard and Val Kingdom got some important rebounds,” Wilson said.

Dec. 4. SC 50, Monterey 34. SC outscored Monterey 19-5 in the final quarter to pull away with the victory. Tami King led the scoring with 17 followed by Addrena Mauga with 12. King and James each pulled down 15 rebounds. SC was led by the aggressive defensive play of guard-forward Stacey Wlilhelmsen, said Wilson, who was “really happy with the win as the team played well and are getting better.”

Dec. 9. Lynbrook defeated SC 53-36. SC slipped behind 18-6 at the end of the first quarter and never got back into the game. Coach Wilson said, “Lynbrook had three big girls that were hard for us to defend. Anddrena Mauga led SC with 12 points, followed by Wendy Vajretti with 8 points and six rebounds. Stacy Wilhelmsen had eight points.

Dec. 16. Gilroy 53, SC 30. “They were taller and had some really good shooters. Our shot rolled around and rolled out,” said coach Wilson-Pappas. “They had three girls in the 5-10 to 6 foot range. We would try to take care of one of them and they would go to the open one.” Auddrena Mauga led with ten points

Dec. 20. Live Oak 53, SC 43. SC fell behind 22-16 and was unable to make up the lost ground, losing for the five time in seven games. SC trailed 31-26 at halftime and 47-36 after three quarters.” We were right with them all the way,” said coach Kathy Wilson, who noted that Live Oak is 7-0 for the season. “This is the best game we’ve played. We’ve played. We’re getting better. We shot really well. When they pressed, we broke it. But we had some minor mistakes and they’re a good team and if we turned the ball over they’d score.” Auddrena Mauga and Celia Homesley each had 12 points.“

Dec. 23. Not in the Cards. Hollister cruised to a 50-29 win. SC coach Kathy Wilson said, “They are one of the best team’s I’ve seen this season.” Tami King led the Cards with 10 points.

Jan. 6. After Hot Start Card Girls Fall to North Monterey 47-30 in the first round of the SCCAL Preseason Tournament. SC was up by seven points with 5:30 to play in the third quarter against a bigger North Monterey. But SC began to tire and the strong rebounding and sure ball handling of the Condors started to pay off with a 15-3 run and the eventual 17 point victory. SC was controlling the tempo of the game with aggressive play and had been in the lead since the first quarter. Both teams were using the game to test different combinations of players on the court.

Jan. 7. Cards beat Soquel 47-40 after losing their first game of the SCCAL Preseason Tournament. Homesley and James each scored 13 points to snap a three game losing streak to raise their record to 3-7. “the girls were starting to doubt themselves. Now they see that they can win again and that’s what’s important,” said coach Wilson.
Jan. 8. SC beat Aptos 62-61 for the consolation championship. It took a strong comeback for Santa Cruz to offset a 33 point effort by the Mariner’s top scorer. Aptos led 52-44 in the third quarter, but then “SC tried to get a little more patient”, said Coach Wilson. With 2:48 left in the game, Tami King made two free throws to put the Cards ahead 56-55. The lead changed hands twice until Mercedes Blair gave SC a 62-59 lead with 53 seconds remaining. Monique James and King scored 18 and 14 points, respectively. “That’s the first time we came back and won. It was the best second half and best game we have played. We’re peaking at just the right time heading into league games,” said Wilson.

Jan. 12. Cardinals Control Spurlock, Mariners to win the first league game 51-38. Spurlock scored 33 points against SC in their previous game, but Celia Homesley held her to 14 points in this game, which was a key to the game. Homesley added a double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Tami King and Monique James also had a double-doubles. King scored 13 points and had 13 rebounds. James had 11 points and 12 rebounds. The game was tied at halftime 21-21, but SC outscored Aptos 14-5 in the third quarter to take a 35-26 lead into the fourth quarter.

Jan. 15. North Monterey 52, SC 36. North Monterey pulled away in the fourth quarter out scoring SC 18-8. Lineup: Mauga 5, Wilhelmsen 10, King 7, Vajretti 2, Blair 0, James 10, Ball 0, Mullen 2.

Jan. 19. Watsonville Rallies to defeat SC 51-49 to share first place with North Monterey. The Cats were down by 11 points early in the third quarter, but were up eight early in the fourth quarter. Watsonville tried to stall it out, but SC made a rush to all most win. Addrena Mauga and Celia Homesley led the Cards with 12 points followed by Tami King with 11.

Jan. 21. Harbor Tops Cards In Battle Of Defenses 47-39. Harbor went out to a 17-7 lead in the first quarter. After the flat start by the Cards, coach Kathy Wilson began trying different combinations of players to combat the Pirates. The shuffling had its effect as the Cards defense held the Pirates to a combined 20 points in the second and third quarters. “Our non starters changed the pace of the game. They kept us in it,” said Wilson. In the fourth quarter the Cards went on a 12-2 run to close to within seven points. Lineup: Mauga 7, Marcenaro 1, Wilhelmsen 2, Homesley 2, King 15, Vajretti 5, Blair 2, James 5, Ball 0, and Kingdom 0.

Jan. 27. SC 41, SLV 32. Tami King scored 9 of her game high 13 points in the decisive second quarter as the Cards took a 24-11 halftime lead. Monique James had 11 rebounds as the Cards even their league record to 3-3.

Feb. 2. Cards boost their SCCAL record to 4-3 with a 81-53 win over Aptos. Tami King scored 20 points and hauled down 11 rebounds and Monique James scored 15 points and 15 rebounds. Addrena Mauga scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds. Coach Wilson was happy that eleven of her players scored. “We had quite a few people play well.” Lineup: Mauga 10, Marcenaro 5, Wilhelmsen 8, Homesley 8, King 20, Vajretti 2, Blair 2, James 15, Ball 6, Mullen 2 and Kingdom 3.

Feb. 9. James Leads Cards To Upset of North Monterey 60-46. Monique James is starting to come into her own for the Cards as she scored 25 points and pulled down 17 rebounds. In the last couple of games, she has really peaked. She’s seeing what she can do.” said Coach Wilson. SC move into a third place tie with North Monterey with 5-3 records. James was the spark to work the Cards back from a eight point deficit in the second quarter to go ahead 27-26 at half. SC pulled away in the third quarter out scoring the Condors 18-6. Everyone played well even the bench, They were so into the game. They kept the girls on the court intense. We would not have been able to do it without them, said Wilson. Addrena Mauga hit 12 of her 16 points in the second quarter comeback, including two three point goals. “She was putting them up and they were swishing. She was just on fire. She hadn’t even tried a 3 point shot this year,” said Wilson. Tami King did a super job on defense, plus chipping in nine points and 10 rebounds. Lineup: Mauga 16, Wilhelmsen 2, Homesley 6, King 9, Vajretti 0, James 25, Ball 2 and Mullen 0.

Sentinel Athlete of the Week of February 9 was Monique James a junior center, who had a season high 25 points and 17 rebounds in a 60-45 upset of North Monterey and 15 points and 15 rebounds in a 81-53 win over Aptos. “Moniqe has a lot of potential and I think she’s finally realizing what she can do,” coach Wilson said of James, who didn’t play basketball before her freshman year and didn’t see much action last year on varsity. She’s learning to be physical. When we block out, there’s no on who can get a rebound away from her.”

Feb. 9. On A Roll. Santa Cruz Continues Streak With Win Over Cats 47-25. There may be no hotter team -boys or girls- in the Monterey Bay area than the Santa Cruz girls basketball team. SC pulled their second shocker in as many games with a win over second place Watsonville. SC jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter. SC came out with a tough defensive effort to take control. Monique James scored 16 of her 19 points in the first half as the Cards led a halftime 31-8. Watsonville Coach, “Nobody’s playing better basketball than Santa Cruz right now. They’re just doing everything right.” Tami King put a lot of pressure on us as she scored ten early points from the outside, while James got hers inside. Lineup: Mauga 8, Marcenaro 0, Wilhelmsen 0, Homesley 4, King 10, Vajretti 0, Blair 0, James 19, Ball 4 and Mullen 2.

Feb. 11. Harbor Girls Outlast Cards For twentieth Win in a hard fought contest 64-60. In the early going, the Cards looked as if they were ready to pull off the upset of the season against the Pirates, who have now won 47 straight league games. Monique James was impressive for the Cards as she pounded out 19 points with aggressive inside play against the experience Pirates. Forty eight fouls were called and Harbor made 20 of 29 free throws to SC’s 9 of 25. Harbor held a 48-46 lead with 3:53 minutes remaining, when the Pirates went on a 7-2 run in the next two minutes to put the game out of reach 55-48.
A couple of three point goals late by Andrea Mauga and Monique James made it close, but it was too late. After falling behind 17-9 in the first quarter, the Cards clawed their way back into contention in the second quarter, when they held Harbor to six points to go ahead 25-23. The lead could have been much larger, but SC missed seven free throw, including the front ends of five one on one chances. In the third quarter, SC kept the pressure on Harbor, rebounding from a three point deficit late in the quarter to out score Harbor 7-2 in the final 1:54 minutes to reclaim a two point lead 38-36. The Cards last lead was 44-42 with 5:16 remaining. Mauga tied the score with a jump shot at 4:30.

Feb. 13. It was a case of too much Celia Homesley in the first half as the Cards took Soquel 47-41. Homesleys 16 first half points sparked SC to a 35-17 lead at intermission. Lineup: Mauga 8, Marcenaro 2, Wilhelmsen 4, Homesley 18, King 11, James 2, Mullen 2 and Kingdom 0.

Feb. 16. SC 51, SLV 28. Tami King ended any hopes of the Cougars getting back into the game at the end of the second quarter, when she hit two 3-point shots to give SC a 20-10 lead. The Cards led 10-0 at the end of the first quarter and 20-10 at halftime and then went 16-7 in the fourth quarter to take over third place in league. SC shot well from the foul line going 21 for 24. Tami King hit two 3-pointers and was high point person with 18. Lineup: Marcenaro 2, Wilhelmsen 0, Homesley 4, King 18, Vajretti 0, James 12, Ball 7, Mullen 6 and Kingdom 2.

Feb. 24. SC Prevails In Playoffs. James Scores 31 To Spark Triumph Over Seaside 68-53 in the first round of CCS Division III play. It was a 24 minute struggle and with 1:12 left in the third quarter Seaside went ahead 41-40. That’s when Monique James and the Cards stopped toying and started to play. James hit a baseline jumper to put the Cards ahead by two points to start the fourth quarter. SC received a total of 10 points from five different player to open the fourth quarter, giving them a 54-42 lead with 4:15 left in the game. The Card defense tightened and held Seaside to 11 points, while scoring 24 themselves. “We worked the ball well,” said James, who made most of her baskets on lay ups coming of quick passes from Stacey Wilhelmsen and Molly Ball. James collected 21 rebounds and said, “when we needed to work as a team, we did it.” SC did have an 11 point lead in the second quarter. James out maneuvered and out-rebounded the Spartans. Coach Wilson said, “She’s realizing what she can do. She’s starting to play as well as she can play.”

Lost the next CCS game.

Sentinel Prep final girls basketball stats as of March 8
Individual scoring by place, name, games played, total points, high game and average per game.
PL NAME GP TP HI AV
5 James 24 273 31 11.4
9 King 25 266 20 10.6
15 Mauga 23 179 17 7.8
17 Homesley 22 159 18 7.2
2 SC team 25 1177 81 47.1

Individual rebounding by place, name, games played, total rebound, high game and average per game.
PL NAME GP TR HI AV
4 James 24 256 23 10.7
8 King 25 241 20 9.6
21 Homesley 22 108 11 4.9

On team defense, SC seventh giving up an average per game of 47.4. The low game was 25.

Sentinel All County first team included Monique James and Tammy King was on the second team. Auddrean Mauga was chosen the Sophomore of the Year. Honorable mention Celia Homesley.
Monique James was selected first team center on the Sentinel All County team. She averaged 11.4 points a game, tied for fourth in the league and averaged 10.7 rebounds for third place. Coach Kathy Wilson said of the 5-9 junior center, “She can be a really dominating player. She has a lot of potential and if she works really hard in the off season, she could be really good. She could be the MVP of the league next year.”
Tami King was selected for the second team. “ She has an athletes mind and knows how to compete,” Wilson said of the 5-9 senior forward. Auddrena Mauga was selected Sophomore of the Year. Celia Homesley, a junior forward was selected honorable mention, which turns out to be the third team, as only five players were named.

ALL SCCAL first team selection, Tami King a 5-8 senior forward. Celia Homesley a 5-8 junior forward and Monique James a 5-9 junior center were second team ALL SCCAL. Honorable mentions were senior Molly Ball and junior Stacey Wilhelmsen.

FROSH-SOPH GIRLS BASKETBALL
Team members were Amy Kline, Mary Crogan, Amy Robinson, Jenny Posey, Stacy Collerette, Meghan Kinney, Sara Daughters, Sarah Dalbey and Lynn Beach. Coach John Wilson.

Cards beat North Monterey 35-22. Top scorer was Meghan Kinney with 11 points and Jennie Posey 10 points.

WRESTLING
Yearbook. This years squad was the most dominate team in several years. Led by captains Cary Alvarez and Steve Hensinger. The star wrestlers were Tom Ronzano, Ian Allison and Conrad Alvarez. (Question on where the team finished the season?
Sentinel. Jan. 21. Cats Escape Cards Surge. WHS Wrestlers On Title Trail. Taking the air of a league championship match between Watsonville and SC played a key role in determining who will win the SCCAL title. With a 36-24 win, Watsonville moved in reach of the dual meet title. There is still the league tournament yet. Under the SCCAL point system, a team receives points based on its finish in the in league dual meets standings and on its finish in the league tournament. The efforts of a set of three sophomores almost put the Cards in the frontrunners position, adding at the same time a touch of drama, just when Watsonville seemed to lock it up. Trailing 24-13, SC was going to lose by forfeit in the heavyweight division. But SC had three sophomores left to wrestle. The Cards needed the equivalent of three pins by those sophomores to win. They almost received them.
Jesse Alvarez at 167 was the first of the three up against a senior. Alvarez came out fast and immediately scored a takedown and then worked to pin his man. With two seconds left in the first period Jesse got his pin. That moved SC within 24-19. Derek Eselious took on a junior with a fervor in the 177 match and held a 15-1 lead on a series of near falls, before the Watsonville wrestler had to forfeit because of injury in the third period to put SC ahead 25-24. That set up the last match to be competed as SC was going to forfeit the heavyweight class. Rafa Rodriquez took on his opponent at 193 and if he could pin him, SC would win the meet. But starting out with a flurry of takedowns and reversals, the first period looked close, but the opponent soon took control, pinning Rodriquez with 1:12 left in the second period. Despite the drama, Watsonville built its victory in the light weights. In the opening match at 100 pounds, Jesse Lopez lost by decision. At 107, Josh Riggins lost be pin. At 114, Ian Allison lost be major decision, to give Watsonville a 13-0 lead. Conrad Alvarez at 121 decisioned his man. The 128 pound match ended in a tie, when Cary Alvarez was called for stalling at the end of the match. Thomas Ronzano scored a superior decision in the 124 pound match. At 134 pounds, Chris Hillyard lost by decision. At 147, Steve Heninger won by decision. At 156, Garth Taylor lost on a technical fall. In the junior varsity match Watsonville won 37-11.
Feb. 21. SC 51, Aptos 18. SC ended the dual meet campaign at 4-1 by winning nine matches with five by forfeit. At 101, Jesse Lopez, Cary Alvarez at 135 and Derek Eselious at 193 all won by pin. At 115, Ian Allison won by decision.
March 15. At the Santa Clara Freestyle Tournament with more than 350 wrestlers competing two SC wrestlers, Ian Allison and Chris Hillyard and assistant coach Chris Lovato all placed.

BOYS SOCCER
Practice games: Gilroy 2-2, Seaside 1-1 Carmel 3-0. Practice record 3-1-2. League: Soquel win, Harbor 2-1, North Monterey 3-1, SLV 3-1 Aptos 2-0, Watsonville ?. League ?.

Yearbook. Team members were Jaun Gaona, Jaime Martinez, Tim Shields, Rogaciaro Garcia, Alexander Reyes, Pedro Sierra, Jevin Albuquerque, Jesse Trumbull, Peter Verpraustus, Juaquin Muros, Roberto, John Garcia, Jorge Sierra, Jerry Mayes, Alex Aguirre, Jose, Andrew Aldred, Brendan Walsh, Loni Adams and Javier Gonzales. Head Coach Sergio Sierra and assistant Jose Marquez.

Sentinel Nov. 26. SC tied Gonzales 2-2. SC was down 2-1 at halftime. “It was our third game and I was real happy with our tactical play. There’s room for improvement, but I think our team will come together a lot more,” said coach Richard King. Miguel Maganna and Zak Ibsen scored for SC, which is now 1-1-1.

Dec. 4. Cardinals Tie Seaside 1-1. SC’s lone goal was scored 15 minutes into the game by Fidel Marquez. “We had to endure a two man referee system,” said coach King. “It made for a real tough game. The second half got very physical. But the players kept their cool. I’m very happy with the spirit of our team. Guys had to switch positions because players got kicked and had to come out of the game.” SC is now 1-1-2.

Dec. 10. SC 3, Carmel 0. SC improved its record to 3-1-2 as Miguel Maganna, Marco Llanos and Javier Aguirre each scored a goal. Maganna scored ten minutes into the match and Llanos scored 20 minutes later. Aguirre scored 23 minutes into the second half.

Dec 20. SC 2, Harbor 1. SC earned a share of first place with Soquel by winning for the second time in two league matches. Names of SC scorers were not available.

Sentinel. Jan. 21. SC 3, North Monterey 1. SC did it all the first half, scoring three goals, all but icing the game. “We moved the ball well, We jumped into the game and just moved,” said Coach Richard King. Miguel Maganna scored two minutes into the match, the Armando Sierra scored eight minutes later. With two minutes left in the half Maganna scored once more for a 3-0 lead.

Sentinel. Jan. 14. SC defeated SLV 3-1. SC was in the midst of a two game losing streak. Not disastrous, but also not something that a team wants to expand on. “Its nice bouncing back from a loss and coming on strong,” said Coach King. SC is now 3-2 in league following loses to Watsonville and Soquel, set the tempo for the game by scoring two minutes into the contest, when Miguel Maganna booted one in. On a header by Fidel Marquez about 24 minutes into the game and when into halftime with a 2-0 lead. Midway in the second half, Maganna scored once more to ice the game.

Jan. 17. SC 2, Aptos 0. SC stayed on the heels of the SCCAL leaders using good defense and a couple of quick strikes to beat Aptos. Both teams had a lot of opportunities, but SC capitalized for a couple of goals, while Aptos couldn’t put it in the net. Aptos struggled more than SC in the mud. Late in the first half, Ageo Garcia converted on a solo breakaway to put SC ahead 1-0. The Cards defense, solid all day continued to play well in the second half. Miguel Maganna made it 2-0 as the Cards improved to a league record of 4-2.

Feb. 22. The ALL SCCAL first team of 16 players, selected by the league coaches included SC players: Fullback Marco Llanos and halfback Armondo Sierra. Honorable mention were Tony Villalobos and Wyatt Cameron.

March. CCS Soccer Honors. Five SCCAL players have been named to the All Central Coast Section Division II boys soccer team selected by a panel of four Monterey Bay Area Coaches. Junior Midfielder Armando Sierra represents SC.

GIRLS SOCCER
Practice game: Live Oak 0-4 and one other loss. League: Watsonville 1-1, 2-1; Soquel 2-0, loss; Harbor 2-1 in overtime, 2-1; Aptos 0-2, loss; SLV 0-3, 1-0; Marello two wins. League record 7-4-1 tied for second. Overall 8-5-1.

Yearbook. Team members were Ashley Anderson, Raachael Skehan, Maureen Pacino, Siri Moeller, Christy Kramer, Laura Shumate, Aimee Nitzberg, Danielle Sharpen, Tricia Aldemann, Cara Field, Jennifer Turner, Ruby Lipsenthall and Grace Coulsen. Coach Cori Housten.

Sentinel Nov. 25. Live Oak 4, SC 0. Goalie Cara Fields, daughter of the SLV coach, played well for SC, as did sweeper-center halfback Aimee Nitzberg, said coach Cori Houston.

Jan. 7. SC 1, Watsonville 1. SC is now 1-1-1 in league, as Christy Kramer scored for SC midway through the second half.

Jan 8. Cards Climbing Up The Standings. SC moved up to third place in the SCCAL standings with a 2-0 shutout of Soquel. “It looks like we have it back together,“ said coach Cori Houston, whose team was coming off a disappointing 1-1 tie to Watsonville. “For the team, we played much better today. It was a very important win for us.” Maureen Pacino scored first for SC 30 minutes into the first half. Laura Shumate added another goal early in the second half.

Jan. 12. Cardinals Nip Pirates In Overtime. Senior right halfback Ashley Andersen was in the right place at the right time, coming up with a loose ball to score the game winning goal in overtime for a 2-1 SC win. “There was a scuffle in front of the goal and Ashley was waiting there and placed it back in,” said coach Houston

Jan. 15. Mariners Shut Out Cardinals 2-0, to end the first half of the SCCAL undefeated.

Jan. 27. SC 2, Harbor 1. Harbor led 1-0 at halftime, but the Pirates couldn’t hold off Maureen Pacino. Pacino connected for two second half scores to improve SC’s record to 4-4-1.

Jan. 29. SC 2, Watsonville 1. Grace Coulson scored twice, once in each half. Watsonville scored with 30 seconds left in the half. SC is 5-4-1 in league and 5-6-1 overall.

Feb. 5. Cardinals Win Game, But Lose Playoff Bid. SC scored enough goals to defeat SLV 1-0, but not enough to qualify for the CCS Division II playoffs. SC finished the SCCAL season with a 7-4-1 record tying SLV for second place. SLV defeated SC 3-0 in the team’s first meeting, giving the Cougars a 3-1 edge in goals, to edge SC out of a CCS berth. The goal differential decides which of second place teams will go on playing, as only two league teams qualify for the playoffs. Thirteen minutes into the second half Aimee Nitzberg scored. “We needed three more goals to qualify,” said coach Cori Houston. Goalie Cara Fields was credited with the shutout.

March 2. Four Cardinals were named to the ALL SCCAL team selected by the coaches. They were Jennifer Turner, Rachael Skehan, Grace Coulson and Mareen Pacino.

TRACK BOYS AND GIRLS WIN CCS REGION IV CHAMPIONSHIPS
Both girls and boys won the CCS Region IV championships. In league the boys were third and the girls were fourth.

Boys dual meets: Monterey 77-45, San Jose Academy 105-25. League dual meets: SLV 75-51, Watsonville 70-65, North Monterey loss, Aptos 98-30, Soquel ?,
Girls dual meets: Monterey 57-58, San Jose Academy 83-41. League dual meets: North Monterey 50-76, Soquel 61-53,(rest not available)

Yearbook. Boys team members were Jeremy Verinski, Larkin Feber, Eben Green, Bates Marshall, Daiman Shanle, Mick McBurney, Matt Henry, Booth Wainscoat, Ram Tipton, Steve Mead and Cory Petric. Other team members were Amy Bradstreet, Anna Weinbaun, Gwen Vilches, Alison Lawton, Maria Shanle, Elisa Rodriquez and Jennifer Turner. Coaches Brian Wall, Bill Johnson, Don Roberts and Marty Kruger.

May 15. Strange Day In League Meet. What was supposed to be a tough three way battle for first place in the SCCAL Track and Field Championships turned into a victory parade for North Monterey which finished with 151 points, easily outdistancing Watsonville with 119 and SC with 106 points. It was North Monterey’s six championship in the last seven years. Top seeded Tim Shields took second in the 300 meter intermediate hurdles. Mike Jones won the high jump at 6-0. Cory Petric won the 400 meter. Jaime Marshall was forced to drop out of the race with a stress fracture in his leg. Tim Shields took second in the 300 meter intermediate hurdles.
The Girls at the SCCAL meet won the relay on the wings of a brilliant anchor lap by long striding Larkin Ferber, who came from fourth place to win with room to spare. Ferber displayed her strength earlier by winning the 800 handily in 2:23.9. The victory gave SC 85 points for fourth place one point behind North Monterey with 86. In the long jump Mercedes Blair took second place in 17-7, three inches behind the winner in her last try, as the drama went down to the end.
Blair lost the 100 to the same person by .1 of a second. Her time 13.0 to 12.9. Blair finished a tough second in the high jump, clearing a personal best of 5-2. The winner won the event at the same height, but won on fewer misses. Blair took In the frosh-soph Division SC came in last.

May 22. Red Letter Day For Cardinals. Santa Cruz Track Teams Win Region Championships. Santa Cruz High Teams Sweep Region IV Track.
Saturday was a day of firsts for SC, as the Cards won both the boys and girls varsity team titles at the CCS Region IV Track and Field Championships. “We’ve been up and down all season, but we’re certainly on top of things now,” said junior Mercedes Blair, who won three individual events and anchored the 400 meter relay team to another victory at Hartnell College. SC won its first girls championship with a wire to wire effort. The Cards piled up 61 points followed by North Monterey with 47 and Watsonville with 36.
The boys varsity victory is also believed to be the first Region IV championship for SC, whose previous best was a second place in 1969. SC had 59 points to slip by Salinas and Live Oak, which finished second and third with 57 and 52 points respectively. “I’m absolutely ecstatic,” said coach Bill Johnson. “The kids were out of the heads today. We really had a lot of fun out there.” With the top four finishers in each event qualifying for the CCS meet at Independence high in San Jose, the Cards are going to have to charter a bus to San Jose.
SC qualified 16 athletes in 14 different events. Leading the SC charge was Blair, who won the high jump in 5-5, the long jump at 16-8 and the 100 meter dash in 12.7 and anchored the 400 relay team to victory in 51.09.
The boys were led by Corey Petric with a victory in the 400 meters in a school record 49.55 and teammate Mike Jones, who was second in the high jump at 6-4, third in the long jump in 21-6 and third in the triple jump at 42-8. Petric’s victory in the 400 broke the school record of 49.9 over 440 yards held by Al Marshall that had stood since 1969. Earlier in the season during a meet at Soquel high, Petric met Marshall and told the former Card that the record wouldn’t last much longer. “Al said, ‘Go for it. It’s stood for too long as it is,” coach Johnson recalled. “I knew to get my 49.5, I had to push off the blocks hard,” said the senior, who was also a member of the second place 400 relay team. Petric said, “I got a great start an was in front in a hurry. I didn’t want to have to come from behind.” Tim Shields and Nick McBurney are both going to the CCS championship meet after finishing third and fourth respectively in the 300 meter
intermediate hurdles.
The SCCAL girls dominated the region, winning 10 of the 15 events. Qualifying in three events was Gwen Vilches, who besides being a member of the winning 400 relay team, finished third in the 200 meters in 2638 and fourth in the 400 in 59.96.
Day To Remember For Blair. Once Santa Cruz High’s Mercedes Blair started winning Saturday, there was no stopping her. “It just makes you that more focused,” said Blair, who won three individual events and anchored the Cardinals’ winning 400-meter relay team at the Region IV track and Field Championships. “You just want to win again and you can’t wait until the next event.” Less than 48 hours prior to the meet, Blair was wondering if she’d even be able to compete Saturday at Hartnell College, let alone win. “I’ve been really sick the last couple of days,’ Blair said. “I could barely get out of bed Thursday. That’s why I’m so surprised.” Blair pulled off her biggest shocker early, soaring three inches over her previous personal best to win the girls’ high jump in a school-record 5 feet 5 inches. “I’m only 5-4, so it’s a even more of a surprise,” said Blair, who made the height on her third and final attempt. “The high jump is the one event that I do for fun, so I just try and do the best I can.” For Blair, the fun was just starting. Immediately after finishing the high jump, Blair walked briskly over to the long jump for two quick run-throughs before the start of the girls’ 400 relay seconds later. When Blair took the baton, the Cardinals were in fourth place. By the time she hit the tape, Blair was leading the field as Santa Cruz posted a season-best time of 51.09 seconds for the win. I feel like everything’s coming together for me right now.” The other members of the winning relay team were Gwen Vilches, Larkin Ferber and Meghan Kinney, who helped Blair celebrate the win. “When the rest of the team does well it makes it all the better,” said Blair. “This team is really good for supporting each other.”
Next up for Blair was the long jump, where one again she saved her best for last. On her third and final attempt in the finals, Blair jumped 16-8 to win. The only race remaining for Blair was the 100 meters, where she had won her heat in the trials, but was not expected to win. There were five other runners in the race with faster qualifying times than Blair’s 13.0 going into the Region IV meet. The Santa Cruz junior, who had transferred from Soquel last summer, wasn’t about to let that slow her down. Blair virtually leaped out of the blocks into the early lead and never trailed. “All I can do is by best,” said Blair, whose winning time of 12.66 was another personal record. “To have a day like this takes a lot of luck, too. It just all came together for me.”

May 29. Rough Day For Cards. One Point At CCS For Region Champs. It’s a long way from the top to the bottom. Less than a week after capturing the Region IV boys and girls championships, the Cards did a pratfall at the CCS meet. The boys scored only one point and the girls were shutout. The boys 400 relay team ran a 43.70 for tenth place.
Corey Petric, second seeded in the 400, faded badly in the home stretch to finish out of the money, summed up the team feelings. “I don’t think we ever came back down from last week. With all the hype from winning the boys and girls titles in the regionals, I don’t think anyone came completely down.” Instead, the only things not down for the boys were their times. Petric was a prime example. Petric crossed the line at San Jose, two seconds slower than in the region meet. After running the best ever 300 meter split time of 32 flat, Petric labored down the stretch. “All night long I thought about the top seed. I tried too hard to stay up with him. I was trying too hard to win than running my race. As I was coming down the last 100 and people were passing me, all I could think about was this was the last race of my high school career. I almost started crying.” Unfortunately, Petric’s experience was all too common for the Cards. It was one of those days in which nothing seemed to work out right.
Mercedes Blair, the all-around star junior for the girls team seemed a bit off stride from the outset. As the top seeded high jumper, she had a leap of 5-6 in the region meet, she had trouble with the approach area to the bar and could only clear 5 feet to finish in a six way tie for seventh place. Blair equaled her seasons best in the long jump with an effort of 17-8, but it was only good for seventh place. Blair anchored the 400 meter relay team, whose time was well off their regional time.
Mike Jones, who had jumped like a rabbit in the regionals, limped in with disappointing finishes in the high jump and long jump. After clearing 6-4 in the regionals, he cleared 6-2 in the finals. In his CCS finals long jump, he jump of 18-9 was more the 2 feet short of his previous best. Even when a runner did top his or her personal best as junior Matt Henry did in the 200 meters, it wasn’t quite enough. Henry lowered his seasons best time from 22.4 to 22.25 to finish eighth.
Despite the disappointing day, Petric summed up many of his teammates feelings. “I’m happy with the season as a whole. We had good and bad moments, but there were more good moments. I will always remember winning the team titles in the regionals, that was probable the proudest moment of my athletic career.”

The Santa Cruz turnaround began with the arrival of Brian Wall as head coach in 1986. Wall laid the groundwork for this year’s championship performance by adding Marty Kruger and Don Roberts to the coaching staff, to handle distance runners and hurdlers, respectively. The following year Johnson, one of the top sprint coaches in the area, joined the group. “These guys are essentially my best friends,” says Johnson, who took over as head coach this year when Wall, who heads the science department at Santa Cruz High, decided to pursue a master’s degree. Wall, who came to the Cardinals from the highly successful North Monterey County High program, has remained as an assistant, specializing in the weight events. “I don’t think there’s a lot of differences in the program,” says Johnson, who teaches at Marello Prep, where he also serves as athletic director. “The kids have just been with us for three years and prospered. Their skills have been developed and it’s as simple as that.”
One of the first things the coaching staff taught the Cardinals was how to get the most fun out of the sport. “You teach the kids how to enjoy working out, and the marks take care of themselves,” says Kruger. There are only two team rules at Santa Cruz: Try your best; care about your sport. In the midst of all the fun, the Cardinals know when to get serious. “Our coaches aren’t really strict, but we get pushed a lot in practice,” says senior Cory Petric, who won the boys’ 400 meters at the Region IV meet in 49.55, to break a school record that had stood since 1969. “We do our share of work. The coaches take competing seriously, but they’re our friends, too, no matter if you’re first or last in a race.” “We know when we’re supposed to be serious,” says junior Mercedes Blair, who won three individual events and anchored the girls’ 400-meter relay team to another first at the Region IV meet. “We’re a pretty close team.” That’s why it’s not unusual to see a Cardinal practice come to a sudden halt in order to congratulate an outstanding individual effort–or to appreciate a particularly zesty one-liner.
“Track can be so intense at certain moments–especially at the moment of competition,” says Johnson, “and you can’t be that intense all the time. We don’t strive for any artificial intensity. That takes care of itself. We teach them to control it, and use it to get their best performance.” “We just let things happen,” says Kruger, “and that really manifested itself at the region meet.”
The Cardinals will lose only two of their top athletes–Petric and Nick McBurney– to graduation. Not only that, but Santa Cruz expects to be even stronger next year. “We just seem to be in a cycle that we can’t see the end of,” Johnson says. “We have some very talented kids who will be joining the varsity program next year.”
No matter what happens, today at CCS or even next season, you can count on at least one thing from the Cardinals. They’re going to have fun, Hawaian-style. Judging by season bests, Blair stands a solid chance of advancing to the state meet Friday and Saturday at Cerritos College in Cerritos. The top three places in all events at the CCS meet automatically qualify for the state meet. Blair’s winning effort of 5 feet, 5 inches at the Region IV meet ranks her second in the section.

Good Time Keep Cards On Track. Winning Ugly. “Winning is a by-product, but you don’t have to win to have a blast,” said Coach Bill Johnson. No one can say SC’s track team doesn’t know how to have a good time. After all life at the top for the Cards these days is all fun and games. “We’ve really had a lot of laughs this year,” said Johnson, whose Cards are still savoring the schools first Region IV boys and girls team championships. It should be easy to pick out the SC coaching staff in the crowd. Just look for the smiling guys in the gaudiest-looking Hawaiian shirts imaginable. “It’s hard to take yourself seriously when you’re in an ugly Hawaiian shirt,” laughs Johnson, who began wearing the shirts on special occasions as an assistant at Cabrillo College a few years ago. Part fashion statement, part parody and part diversion, the Hawaiian shirt craze has caught hold at SC. Last week the team donned the shirts for a practice session at Hartnell, stopping off on the way home for a traditional barbecue dinner in Castroville. “It’s become and institution,” Johnson says of wearing the shirts, “and it helps lighten the load.” Relieving the pressures of competition has played a key role in the Santa Cruz success story. Four years ago, the Cardinals finished the season with nine athletes on the track and field team. Today, the Region IV champs have more than that at this CCS meet.

DUAL AND INVITATIONAL MEETS, PLUS TRIDENT AND YEARBOOK INFORMATION

Sentinel March 4. Santa Cruz Splits With Monterey. In the season opening non-league meet SC boys 77, Monterey 45. Matt Henry won the 100 in 11.74 and the 200 in 24.24. Kevin Smith won the 800 in 2:20.08 and the 1,600 in 5:16.77. Mike Jones won the high jump in a frosh-soph school record height of 6 feet.
Girls: Monterey 58, SC 57 in a nail biter. Mercedes Blair won the high jump at 5-0 and 100 in 13.64. Maria Shanle won 100 hurdles in 17.70 and the 300 hurdles in 54.45.

March 11. Cards Runaway Winner. SC 105, San Jose Academy 25 to boast the Cards record to 2-0. Mike Jones and Tim Shields won two individual events and Paul Pinkham nearly pulled off a double. Jones won the triple jump at 37-10 and the high jump at 5-6. Shields won the 110 high hurdles in 17.2 and long jump at 18-4. Pinkham was impressive in the sprints, winning the 200 in 23.4 and finishing runner up to team-mate Cory Petric in a virtual dead heat in the 100 in 11.3 to 11.4. “He had a good day,” said coach Bill Johnson. Jones, Petric, Matt Henry and Pinkham, in that order won the 400 relay in 45.9. Petric, Henry, Matt DeWar and Nick McBurney won the 1,600 relay in 3:52. Other Card winners were Izaak Sawyer, the 800 in 2:16.5. Henry in the 400 in 53.8. Jaime Marshall the 1,600 in 4:50.1. Steve Mead in the discus at 111-6.
GIRLS: Big Day For SC. SC 83, San Jose Academy 41. The news was good, better and best for SC’s girls track team. The good news: Gwen Vilches, Mercedes Blair and Maria Shanle each won two individual events. The best news: They’re all juniors, so they’ll be back next year. The Cardinals great news: These girls sparked the team to its first victory. Vilches, Blair and Shanle started their afternoon by joining Larkin Ferber on the victorious 400 relay team. Vilches then sprinted off to wins in the 100 in 13.5 and 200 in 28.3. Shanle won the 100 low hurdles in 17.2 and the 300 low hurdles in 53.9. Blair took the long jump at 5-2 and high jump at 4-2. Other winners included Ferber in the 400 in 1:08. Mari Lang in the 1,600 in 6:18.1. Cara Fields won the shot put for a strong early season mark of 26-8. Elisa Rodriguez in discus at 79-8.

March 17. Cardinals Short In Numbers, Long On Quality. By body count alone, SC with its 50 or so athletes, shouldn’t have a chance battling North Monterey with its legion of 140 plus. “But the ones we have, are quality people,” stresses assistant coach Marty Kruger. That’s why the Cardinal boys team is being tabbed the favorite to win the SCCAL and the Card girls with the hope of closing the gap on Harbor’s highly talented defending champions. “We have people who have put three years into our program, so right now, we are ahead of the game. They know what to expect from us, what we want and they are ready to do it.” coach Kruger. Although SC lost Kurt Hodges with the fastest 100 meters ever in Santa Cruz County at 10.68, the rest of the relay team of Matt Henry, Mike Jones and Cory Petric are still running. Paul Pinkham, the frosh-soph 100 and 200 champion will fill in for Hodges. Jaime Marshall, when healthy is a top 800 and mile competitor. SC should improve in all the field events. “We’re really concentrating on being ready for the league meet, that’s what it is all about. We want to make sure everyone is healthy and they get something out of every race experience,” Kruger.
The above goes for the girls also. Junior Maria Shanle has been her teams MVP twice already will be a leader for SC.

Sentinel. March 18. Jones Up To Usual Standards. Santa Cruz Topples SLV To Open League. Sophomore Mike Jones was spectacular as usual and so were some of his teammates. Jones’ three individual wins led the Cards to a 75-51 league victory over SLV. Cards Matt Henry and Marcus Hooten were double winners. Coach Bill Johnson commented, “Mike, week in and week out is hard to top. I’m happy with the way people are pulling together. So far, so good. We hope we can continue to improve. We think we’re going to be alright.” Jones won the long jump at 19-6, high jump at 38-6 and the high jump at 6-0. He also ran on the winning 400 meter relay team, with Henry, Cory Petric and Paul Pinkham in a strong 44.8 time. Henry captured the 200 in 23.7 and the 400 in 52.4. “Matt was just exceptional,” said Johnson. Hooten won the shot put at 41-8 and the discus at 119-6.

March 30. At the two day SCCAL Multi-event meet at Soquel an Aptos athlete won the event with 5,456 points, followed by Cardinals Mike Jones with 5,33 and Nick McBurney with 5,067. In the boys team competition SC with 10,363 points was second to Watsonville with 10,497.

Sentinel. April 8. Dispute Clouds SC Win. Cards’ Coach Accused Of Influencing Judges. There were two vastly different viewpoints after the showdown between undefeated SC and Watsonville. “This was the most competitive meet I’ve seen in this county. Every event was critical to the outcome,” said assistant coach Marty Kruger after the Cards edged Watsonville 70-65. Mike Jones sparked the Cards by winning the long jump in 19-8, triple jump in a personal best 41-9 and the high jump in 5-7. The Watsonville coach, agreed it was a sensational meet, but unhappily charged that Kruger, “influenced the judges at the end of the meet,” and created a dead heat decision in the decisive mile relay. The two finishers dove across the line virtually together and suffered some abrasions. “I was in a very good position to see what was happening and Marty was 15 meters away,” said the Watsonville coach. “When the kids came across, I was waiting for the judges to make their decision and then Marty starts running and yelling, Dead heat! Dead heat!’ from ten meters away. It’s a good call for Marty, But I don’t believe we were beaten.” Petric “landed on top of White,” Loyola said, “And I would believe that meant White our runner was ahead at that time. But it will all be settled at the league meet. we’ll find out who the best team at that point.” “It’s unfortunate,” Kruger replied, that Watsonville has that point of view. We feel there were no losers today. White and Gregg are two of the classiest athletes we’ve seen in a long time.” The clerk of the course said she didn’t hear me and made up her own mind.
SC went a long way toward securing their victory, when Jones, David Cook, who had never even practiced the triple jump before and sophomore Tim Shields went 1-2-3 respectively. Shields had pair of runner up finishes in the 110 meter high hurdles in 17-6 and the 300 lows in 44.2. “We put Shields in the pressure cooker and he really came through,” said Kruger.

Sentinel Athlete of the Week of April 12 was Cory Petric a senior sprinter, who set two league season bests: 23.0 in the 200 meters in a 70-65 win over Watsonville. The other was a 52.2 in the 400 at the King City Invitational. He also won the 100 and was on the winning relay teams in the 400 and 1,600 against Watsonville. “He has a lot of natural ability, but he’s worked pretty hard at it, too,” said assistant coach Kruger, who also says of what it took for Petric to be one of the top sprinters in the area. “He’s just learning how to work, what it really means to work. He jogs two miles a day, besides practice and he hit’s the weights hard. That’s made a big difference.”

April 15. North County Boys Win Forty-third Straight. SC’s sprinters shined, but North Monterey dominated the field events and rolled out its ever present depth to win their dual meet. SC had two double winners. Cory Petric won the 200 in 23.49 and the 400in 52.11. Jaime Marshall won the mile in 4:47.82 and the two mile in 10:14. Mike Jones won the high jump at 5-6 and took second in the 100 in 11.5 and the long jump at 19-9. North Monterey, due to their overall depth, took third place in all events. Paul Pinkham won the 100 in 11.42, but was held out of the mile relay, because of a hip injury, which was a factor in SC losing the event. Two of the most exciting races of the day were the 800 meters and the 400 relay. Nick McBurney won the 800 in 44.25 to his close competitor in 45.44. Pinkham was the anchor man in the 400 relay and won in a photo finish.
In the girls competition North Monterey won 76-50. Double winners were Maria Shanle and Mercedes Blair. Shanle won the 100 hurdles in 16.84 and the 300 lows in 51.22. Blair won the 100 in 13.5 and the high jump at 4-10 and took second in the long jump at 15-4. SC is now 2-1 and North Monterey 3-0 in SCCAL dual meets.

Cardinal Wins 800. Jaime Marshall ran the 800 meters in 1:58.7 for first place at the King City Invitational, which is the SCCAL best time this season. Matt Henry was third in the 200 in 22.7 after doing a league best in the trials in 22.7. He was sixth in the 100 in 11.6. The mile relay team of Mike Jones, Cory Petric, Nick McBurney and Henry were fourth in 3:34.6. Jones was sixth in both the high jump at 6-0 and the long jump at 20-11.
In the girls varsity, Gwen Vilches was third in the 200 in 27.2 and the 400 in 1:03.5. Rachel Hagan took fourth in the long jump at 15-4.
In the frosh-soph division, Tim Shields was second in the 70 yard high hurdles in 9.3 and second in the 300 intermediate hurdles in 42.9.

April 17. Card Headed For Princeton. Jamie Marshall a top senior distance runner has accepted a fellowship grant to Princeton in the fall. The grant is worth $12,000 per year for four years. Marshall will run in the 800 meters and the mile in college, “Princeton has a brand new indoor track and the coach is excellent. The program looks really good,” said Marshall.

April 17. Catch Me If You Can. Marshall Runs Away From Field In 1,600 meters. Marshall won the 1600 meters at the Gilroy Invitational in 4:25.7. Marshall took the lead with 400 meters to go and after that the other runners didn’t have a chance. His time was the best in the league and a personal best for him. There were more than 40 schools at the meet.
In the Boys Frosh-Soph Division. Sophomore Mike Jones was sixth in both the long jump at 20-7 and triple jump at 42-10, which is a SC frosh-soph record and also a personal best.
Tim Shields and Nick McBurney went 1-2 in their heat in the 300 intermediate hurdles, finished seventh and eighth overall in 41.8 and 41.9 respectively. Shields time broke the school record. Both runners times were personal bests for them
Girls Division. Mercedes Blair placed third in the long jump at 16-11 to set a school record. She had a great trio of jumps. After her first jump of 15-4, her next five were all over 16-5. Blair was sixth in the 100 meters in 12.8. Both marks are personal bests.
Gwen Vilches was sixth in the 200 meters in 26.8. Larking Ferber was eighth in the 800 meters in 2:27.4. Both times were personal bests

April 29. Cardinals Start Fast, Race Past Mariners. After Mike Jones, Cory Petric, Matt Henry and Paul Pinkham opened the meet winning the 400 meter relay with a season best 43.8, SC was ahead to stay in at overwhelming 98-30 victory. SC is 4-1 in the SCCAL and 7-1 overall. The overall league championship is determined by both the dual meets and the league meet. North Monterey is 6-0 in dual meets. Nick McBurney won both the 110 low hurdles in 16.6 and 300 intermediate in 42.9. Henry won the 100 meters in 11.3 and the 200 in 23.2. Jones won the long jump at 20.4, the triple jump at 40.7 and the high jump at 6-0. David Cook celebrated his seventeenth birthday with third place finishes in the 300 low hurdles in 43.7, long jump at 19-4 and triple jump at 39-1.

Sentinel Athlete of the Week was Mercedes Blair, a junior, who set a school record in the long jump at 17-5 ½, tied the school record in the high jump at 5-0 and won the 100 meters in 12.8 in a 76-51 loss to Harbor. In less than one season, Blair has gone from 16-2 to 17-5 ½ in the long jump. “I think a lot of it has to do with her sprinting, as head coach Bill Johnson corrected some flaws in her sprinting and that equated to more speed on the run way. Therefore, she got more distance and the end of the run-up. As for going 18 feet, when I told her at the beginning of the year she could do it, I don’t think she believed it. But I think she believes it now,” said Kruger.

April 28. Sentinel area prep ten bests in the SCCAL in boys track and field.
By place, name, time and date.

100 METERS
PL NAME TIME DATE
1 Henry 11.1 3-28
4 Jones 11.2 3-28
6 Petric 11.3 3-17
8 Pinkham 11.4 3-17
10 Shapiro 11.5 4-21
11 Shields 11.5 3-28

200 METERS
1 Henry 22.7 4-9
2 Petric 23.0 4-7
6 Jones 23-3 3-17
7 Pinkham 23.4 4-7.

400 METERS
1 Petric 51.4 4-21
2 Marshall 52.1 4-21
3 Henry 52.2 4-7
7 Shields 53.7 3-29

800 METERS
1 Marshall 1:58.7 4-9
5 McBurney 2:06.0 4-7

1600 METERS
1 Marshall 4:24.3 4-16

3200 METERS
7 Marshall 10:14.0 4-14

110 METER HIGH HURDLES
2 Shields 15.9 -16
6 Cook 16.8 4-21
9 Shapiro 17.3 4-9
11 McBurney 17.3 4-21

300 METER INTERMEDIATE HURDLES
2 Shields 41.2 4-21
3 Mc Burney 41.8 4-21
7 Cook 44.0 4-21.

400 METER RELAY
1 SC 43.9 3-26 members were Jones, Petric, Henry, Pinkham

1600 RELAY
2 SC 3:34.6 4-9 members were Jones, Petric, McBurney, Henry

SHOT PUT
6 Hooten 41-8 3-17

DISCUS
9 Hooten 127-10 4-14

HIGH JUMP
3 Jones 6-2 4-9

LONG JUMP
1 Jones 19-9 4-16
6 Shields 19-9 3-28

TRIPLE JUMP
3 Jones 42-10 4-16
6 Cook 39-11 4-14
10 Shields 38-11 4-7

POLE VAULT
9 Shapiro 10-6 4-7

April 28. Sentinel area prep bests in the SCCAL in girls track and field.
By place, name, time and date.

100 METERS
PL NAME TIME DATE
3 Blair 12.8 4-21
4 Vilches 13.0 4-21
6 Hagan 13.4 4.9

200 METERS
2 Vilches 26.5 4-21
7 Blair 28.1 4-7

400 METERS
3 Vilches 1:02.5 4-16

800 METERS
2 Ferber 2:27.4 4-16

1600 METERS
7 Lang 6:02.0 4-7

3200 METERS
None

110 METER HIGH HURDLES
4 Shanle 16.8 3-28
7 Kinney 17.8 4-21
9 Lawton 18.0 4-21

300 METER LOW HURDLES
2 Shanle 51.0 4-21
5 Kinney 52.5 4-21
6 Lawton 52.8 4-21

400 METER RELAY
1 SC 52.1 3-26 members were Vilches, Ferber, Shanle, Blair

1600 RELAY
1 SC 4:19.5 3-26 members were Vilches, Ferber, Shanle, Blair

SHOT PUT
7 Fields 29-12 4-7

DISCUS
none

HIGH JUMP
2 Blair 5-0 3-3

LONG JUMP
3 Blair 17-6 4-21
6 Hagan 15-4 4-9

TRIPLE JUMP
None

May 1. At the annual Top 8 Invitational Track and Field meet at Los Gatos. In the Frosh-Soph Division of the meet, sophomore Mike Jones picked up a first in the long jump for a season best at 21-6, a second in the high jump at 6-0 and a third in the 100 meters in 11.55. Tim Shields another sophomore was second in the 300 intermediate hurdles in 41.6 and third in the 65 meter high hurdles in 9.55. The 400 relay team took fourth place in 49.6. Runners were Shields, Saul Martinez, Ramm Tipton and James Melton.

At the Pacific Grove Invitational the next day, Matt Henry won the 220 yard dash in 23.2 and took second in the 100 in 10.8. Cory Petric was second in both the 100 in 10.8 and 440 in 52.6. SC won

May 6. Santa Cruz 61, Soquel 53. SC held off a late Soquel rally with Marta Shanle’s upset victory in the 300 low hurdles in 50.6 to 51.2 and Mercedes Blair’s third victory, a 4-10 to 4-8 squeaker in the high jump. Blair also took the 100 in 12.8 and the long jump in 16-7.

Sentinel June 2 Area Prep Bests for boys track and field for the top ten places, by event, place, name and time.
100 meters: 1. Henry, 10.9; 4. Jones, 11.2; 6. Petric, 11.3; 7. Tie Shapiro, 11.4 and Pinkham, 11.4
200 meters: 1. Henry, 22.0; 2. Petric, 22.4; 5. Jones 23.3; 6. Pickham, 23.4
400 meters: 1. Petric, 49.55; 4. Marshall, 52.1; 5. Henry, 52.2; 9. Shields, 53.7; 10. Dewar, 54.0
800 meters: 2. Marshall, 1:58.7; 7, McBurney 2:06.0
1,600 meters: 1. Marshall, 4:24.3;
3,200 meters: 10. Marshall 10:14.0
110 meter high hurdles: 2. Shields, 15.7; 3 tie. Shapiro, 16.1 and Cook, 16.1; 5 tie McBurney, 16.5
300 meter intermediate hurdles: 1. Shields, 40.3; 2. McBurney, 40.4
400 meter relay: 1. SC team of Jones, Petric, Henry and Pinkham
1,600 relay: 1. SC team of Henry, McBurney, Shields and Petric
Shot put: 7. Hooten, 41-8
Discus: 9. Hooten 127-10
High jump: 1. Jones, 6-4
Long jump: 1. Jones, 21-6; 8. Cook 20-0; 10. Shields, 19-9
Triple jump: 2. Jones, 42-11; 6. Cook 39-11; 9. Shields, 38-11
Pole vault: 10. Shapiro, 10-6

Sentinel June 2 Area Prep Bests for girls track and field for the top ten places, by event, place, name and time.
100 meters: 1. Blair, 12.4; 5. Vilches, 12.9; 6 tie. Hagan, 13.4 and Pillars 13.4
200 meters: 2. Vilches, 26.1; 7. Blair, 28.1; 10. Kinney 29.1
400 meters: 2. Vilches, 59.96; 6. Ferber, 1:03.7
800 meters: 1. Ferber, 2:23.9; 10. Lang, 2:41.0
1,600 meters: 8. Lang, 5:51.2
3,200 meters: 6. Lang, 12:58.1
100 meter low hurdles: 3. Shanle, 15.9; 8 tie. Lawton, 17.8 and Kinney 17.8
300 meter low hurdles: 4. Shanle, 50.1; 6. Lawton, 50.7; 7. Kinney, 52.5
400 meter relay: 1. Santa Cruz team of Vilches, Ferber, Kinney and Blair
1,600 meter relay: 2. SC team, of Vilches, Lawton, Kinney and Ferber
Long jump: 3. Blair, 17-8; 6. Hagan, 15-4; 7. Burns, 15-1
Triple jump: 5. Burns, 32-10
High jump: 1. Blair, 5-5; 7 tie. Turner, 4-2 and Rodriguez, 4-2
Shot put: 8. Fields, 30-0
Discus: 6. Rodriguez, 94-6

BASEBALL
Practice games: Alisal 23-4, Valley Christian 9-5. Palma 10-3, North Salinas 8-7. Soquel Tournament ?
League: Marello 3-2, 9-2; Watsonville 2-10, 8-5; Aptos 6-5, 2-7; Soquel 5-8, 0-1 in ten innings; SLV 4-3 in nine innings, 8-2; Harbor 18-4, 3-10; North Monterey 4-3, 1-5. League record 8-6 for fourth place. Overall 12-13.

Having talent to choose from is not one of the things Card Coach Fred Pfyffer has to worry about. But finding pitchers, who can throw strikes and get people out is a concern. Last year, the Cards were the SCCAL’s answer to the New York Yankees. They scored runs in bunches, but gave up runs just as freely. This year returning senior Zack Raney and transfer from Harbor Greg Press are counted on to be the starters. A wild card in the pitching equation is Darryl Ratliff. Considered by many to be the best all-around athlete in the county and already a bonafide star in the outfield. Ratliff did some pitching last year and will be called on again this year. Scott Wilkinson pitched and played first base last year, by will play shortstop this year.

Sentinel. Mar. 9. SC 23, Alisal 4. SC boosted their record to 1-2 thanks to a 10 run third inning, that featured five walks, three errors and hits by Eric Ulwelling, Greg Press and Zack Raney. Press hit a two run single in the big third inning and finished 2 fir 5, Raney was 2 for 3 including three RBI’s. Darryl Ratliff was 3 for 5, while scoring three times and driving home two runs. “It helped tonight to have the basketball players, Billy Mellis, Ratliff, Raney and Tom Mills come out and play. It brought a little more life to the team,” said coach Fred Pfyffer.

Sentinel. March 12. SC Glad To Have Ratliff Back. In the 9-5 win against Valley Christian, the senior outfielder-pitcher went 3 for 4, including a double, home run and pitched two innings, striking out four and allowing one hit and walking none in relief to pick up the win. The Cards are now 2-3. “Darryl threw strikes and he hit the ball well.” Pfyffer said. Valley Christian took a 5-3 lead before SC tied the game in the game in the fifth to set the stage for Ratliff. Ryan Reber led off the sixth inning with a double, then Ratliff uncoiled on an inside pitch and drove the ball over the fence in straight away centerfield to put the Cards ahead. A scout from the Los Angeles Dodgers was on hand to see Ratliff unbeknown to Darryl. Scott Wilkinson scored three runs, while driving in a fourth. Scott Simmons got a clutch two run single that tied the game in the fifth and pitched the final inning to preserve the victory. Raney pitched well and when Greg Press gets back our pitching rotation should be solid. Scott Simmons hit the ball well, too. We need to improve our defense. That’s how they scored their runs. We’ve been playing poor defense. But, I’m happy we won tonight and looking forward to playing Palma and North Salinas,” Ffyffer said. SC used five pitchers. Raney started and went three inning and left ahead 3-1. Koch and Cooper pitched in the fourth and part of the fifth and gave up four runs. Ratliff pitched the fifth and sixth innings and Simmons finished the seventh. Tom Mills was the catcher. Doubles by Reber and Ratliff. Triple, Flores.

Sentinel Athlete of the Week of March 15 was Darryl Ratliff, senior center fielder and pitcher, who batted .667, 6 for 9, with five RBI’s, one home run and two stolen bases as SC defeated Alisal 23-4 and Valley Christian 9-5. Against Valley, he pitched two shutout innings, facing only seven batters, while giving up one hit and striking out four. In his first game of the season, the night before he played forward for the SC against Las Lomas in the first round of the Northern Cal basketball playoffs, Ratliff with no practice time in, went 3 for 5 with three runs scored and two RBI’s against Alisal. “There’s no question, he’s probably the best athlete in the county. Darryl is definitely a threat any time he gets on base, at the plate or in the outfield,” said Coach Pfyffer.

March 16. SC 10, Palma 3. After starting non-league play 0-3, the Cards have won their last three in a row and its no coincidence. The teams fortunes soared the moment the basketball team disbanded after making it all the way to the Northern California Tournament. A top basketball player Darryl Ratliff singled three times in four plate appearances, stole three bases and scored three runs. Sixth man in basketball, Zack Raney was the winning pitcher and went 2 for 4, including a double. “Raney allowed only one hit, but got a little tired in the fourth inning. He’s not in baseball shape to pitch long yet,” Coach Pfyffer, who said, “of junior Greg Press, who struck out seven batters and didn’t give up a hit, finished up the game. He’s been with us since the season started and we worked together last summer on the same team. He’s a lot stronger, since last year and he is pitching well.” Ratliff started the game with a single, stole second and came home on Raney’s single. SC opponents can expect to see a lot of that this season. “If Ratliff gets a walk, it’s as good as a double,” said Coach. Scott Simmons and Ratliff each had RBI hits in the third inning, when the Cards scored three time and moved to a 5-1 lead. SC went on to score in every inning of the darkness shortened six inning game.

March 20. SC 8, North Salinas 7. With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Scott Wilkinson knocked in Ratliff to give the Cards a thrilling win, Raney earned his first win of the season, when he pitched 2 2/3 innings of relief. SC is now 4-3. Wilkinson led SC going 2 for 3 with two RBI’s. Pfyffer praised the defensive efforts of Ratliff and Steve Mitchell, who both made clutch plays.

In the league opener, the Cards defeated Marello 3-2. Darryl Ratliff led off the seventh inning with a single, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on another wild pitch for the win. It was a scoreless game until SC scored twice in the top of the sixth. Marello tied it 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth. (Some of the write ups were short, like this article or were mainly about the other team. They are all from the Sentinel)

Cardinals Done In By Wildcats Buddy System. Two good friends the ace pitcher and top hitter were key to the Cats 10-2 win over SC. The Cards had four hits and struck out eight times. Darryl Ratliff relieved in the fifth inning and walked five of the 11 batters he faced. There was some questions about umpires calls. (In these first two games, what you see is all of SC in the write ups.)

Injuries Piling Up, SC Really Hurting. It’s not bad enough that the SC baseball team is on a five game losing streak going into to-days game against first place Aptos. Two top players, Darryl Ratliff and Zack Raney probably will not play against Aptos. Centerfield Ratliff and leftfielder Raney collided while running down a fly ball last week at the Soquel Tournament. Ratliff, the Cards leading hitter with a .480 average, suffered a deep thigh contusion and Raney, who is hitting .286 suffered a sterno-clavicular strain. SC started the season with three loses, each of which occurred without the likes of Ratliff and Raney, who were still playing basketball in the section and Northern Cal playoffs. Once they returned, SC won five in a row. SC lost the next two games, even with Ratliff and Raney in the lineup to fall to a 5-5 record. Then came three more losses beginning with the fateful Soquel game to make their record 5-8. Out for three to four weeks are pitcher/infielder Scott Simons and Ryan Reber.

Mariners Upset By Undermanned Cards, 6-5. Making due with a makeshift lineup, SC “ had to make something happen. We played like we wanted to win, which we hadn‘t been doing,” said Coach Pfyffer. What the Cards did was make their own breaks, while Aptos were making life miserable for themselves. SC won on an unearned run in the seventh inning. Dan Cooper led off with a single. Then with one out, Pfyffer figured he had to make something happen. Cooper got the steal sign and on a bad throw to second headed to third, when the ball got past the centerfielder, Pfyffer waved him home. Cooper scored on back-to-back errors with the winning run.
The Cards came into the game on a string of tough luck, five straight losses and three starters unable to play. They were Darryl Ratliff, shortstop Steve Mitchell and outfielder Scott Simons. Plus pitcher/outfielder Raney was limited to being the designated hitter. So, Pfyffer rolled the dice: He brought up sophomore Mike Park from the junior varsity to start in right field and Park delivered with three hits and scored two runs. In the third with runners on first and third he called for a double-steal and it worked with Park stealing home. In the fifth, Tom Mills dropped down a beauty of a suicide squeeze to drive in Eric Ulwelling for a 5-4 lead. Scott Wilkinson filling in at shortstop rocketed a two run homer that landed in the road at the top of the hill. Aptos scored four runs in the third on five consecutive hits with three of them doubles. Pfyffer stayed with his pitcher Greg Press, who bounced back and gave up only four hits in the next four innings, for a complete game win.

Knights Win sloppy Game. Eleven errors and Seven Unearned runs between Soquel and SC. Because Harbor and Aptos played a day game at Harvey West, which lasted nine innings and took four hours. The SC vs. Soquel game did not get under way until 8:45. The teams played as cold as the weather. Card starter Dan Cooper gave up a run in the first inning. In the second inning, Soquel scored again on a walk, two SC errors, a walk and another error. SC finished the game with seven errors. At the bottom of the fourth inning, Soquel was up 8-0. SC came back and scored two runs in the bottom of the inning aided by two consecutive errors, a Eric Ulwelling single, Bernie Escalante walked and Billy Mellis was hit by a pitch. SC came back to score three runs on six hits in the fifth and sixth innings.

April 13. Cardinals Outlast SLV 4-3 in nine innings. It had the appearances of a wasted effort. Darryl Ratliff, walked of the mound after one of the finest pitching performances of his high school career. Darryl had given up only two hits, struck out six and had two unearned runs scored against him. But SC was headed into the eighth inning with the score tied 2-2. It wasn’t until the bottom of the ninth, after both teams had scored a run in the eighth, that the Cards frustration ended when they scored the winning run to come away with a 4-3 win. In addition to his work on the mound, Ratliff turned in his usual shift with the stick. He was 3 for 3 with a run batted in and a stolen base, a normal workday for Darryl. In the ninth, SLV walked two batters to load the bases and brought in a reliever, who on his second pitch threw the ball to the backstop as Eric Ulwelling sprinted home with the winning run.

April 18. Cards Bomb Pirates To Get Back In Race. SC banged out 18 hits to beat Harbor 18-4 in a critical SCCAL showdown. SC is now in a three way tie for second place with Watsonville and Soquel a game behind league leader Aptos. The stage is set for an exciting stretch run. SC broke out to a 6-0 led in the first inning. SC added a run in the second, three in the third, one each in the fourth and fifth innings and three apiece in the sixth and seventh. Greg Press went five solid innings to pick up the win. Press allowed five hits, struck out six and allowed only one earned run. Zack Raney in relief shut down Harbor with two perfect innings. Coach Pfyffer, “We’ve been struggling lately. We have a lot of kids with potential and today they really swung the bats.” The three top hitters were shortstop Scott Wilkinson going 4 for 4 with four RBI’s and four runs. Second baseman Billy Mellis and third baseman Steve Mitchell each had three hits. Raney and Ratliff scored four and three runs respectively.

Cards Get The Bounce. SC Beats North Monterey On Throwing Error, 4-3.. In the top of the fifth inning, the ball bounced past third base on a throw from right field and Ratliff scored the winning run to break a 3-3 tie. After that, relief pitcher Greg Press took control. Press retired 11 of the 12 batters he faced for the win. SC had only four hits, but made everyone of them count. In addition, SC made North County pay dearly for each of its three errors. SC’s only earned run came in the first inning on a home run by Scott Wilkinson. SC starter Zack Raney gave up solo runs in the second and third innings. SC regained the lead on a pair of unearned runs in the top of the fourth. An error, two walks, another error and a suicide squeeze bunt by Steve Mitchell put the Cards ahead 3-2. The Condors answered immediately tying the game on a two base error, a pass ball and a RBI single.

Cards Handed A Win By Cats. Big Seven Run Second Inning The Key. SC dodged a bullet, but Watsonville did not. As a result, SC won by three runs, while the Cats should have won by three. A seven run, second inning that should have been a one run inning. Confused? Two strikeout pitches that instead became wild pitches, prolonged the big inning instead of ending it. Eric Ulwelling walked to start the inning. Dan Cooper bunted him to second. Mike Park grounded out and Steve Mitchell sliced a double down the right field line to drive in Ulwelling.
HOWEVER Bernie Escalante struck out on a curve ball in the dirt in what would have been the third out, but the ball bounced away from the catcher and Escalante was one first and still only two outs. The next batter, Billy Mellis also struck out on a curve ball in the dirt and the same thing happened. Mellis was on first and Mitchell scored and still only two outs. Raney, Ulwelling and Cooper subsequently each hit an RBI singles and Wilkinson hit a two run single. Mike Park popped up for the third out. SC scored its last run in the seventh on a single by Wilkinson, he was moved to second on Ulwellings nice bunt, took third on Coopers ground out and scored on Parks double, when the right fielder lost the ball in the lights.

Mariners Magic Leaves Cards Stranded. Aptos squirmed out of jam after jam to upend SC 7-2 and take sole possession of first place with a 7-2 mark, followed by SC at 6-3. Aptos came out swing in the top of the first against starter Darryl Ratliff. Fernando Flores and Scott Wilkinson were the first two of 12 SC base runners who would be left stranded with most in scoring position. After Ratliff gave up his second home run in the top of the third inning, he was relieved by Zack Raney, who with the help of two other Card pitchers held Aptos to three runs the rest of the game.

Soquel Still Close In SCCAL Title Race. In a game which both teams could not afford to lose, neither team appeared as if they wanted to win. It was not for lack of trying though. In the bottom of the tenth inning, Soquel flared a two out, two strike single into right field to score the runner from third to give Soquel a 1-0 win. It was getting dark and would probably have been suspended to finish another day if the winning run had not been scored. It was a bitter loss for SC and starting pitcher Zack Raney, who pitched nine shut out innings, before being replaced by Greg Press to start the tenth. “Zack pitched a super game. I was going to pull him after the eighth, but he wanted to stay in there,” said Coach Pfyffer. SC stranded four runners at third base and another at second. Centerfielder Ratliff went 3 for 4 to account for half the Card hits. He stole second twice in the game, but was gunned down the third time for the first time this season. A one out walk started the tenth. A pinch runner then stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. Press got the second out on a strike out and a good curve ball was flared into right to win the game..

SC 8, SLV 2. SC broke a string of 13 scoreless innings with two runs in the fourth and six more in the sixth. SC went ten scoreless innings against Soquel on Tuesday. Greg Press went the distance on the mound giving up five hits, no earned runs, two walks and struck out five. Dan Cooper’s suicide squeeze in the top of the fourth drove in the first run and Raney drove in the other with a triple. In the six run fifth, SC collected six hits, including RBI doubles by Wilkinson, Raney and Steve Mitchell.

Cardinal Pitchers Handle Preps Bats. Darryl Ratliff and Zack Raney teamed up to pitch a two hitter as the Cards down Marello 9-2. Ratliff pitched five and two-third innings giving up the two hits and two runs, both unearned. Raney finished without allowing a hit. SC scored all the runs it needed on a two runs single by John Koch in the first inning, then added a three run home run by Scott Wilkinson in the fourth.

Harbor 10, SC 3. SC lost the opportunity for a playoff spot by losing as Soquel 8-4 and Watsonville 7-5 lost also. Aptos is 10-2, Soquel 8-4 with two games remaining and SC 8-5 with only one game left. The win was Harbor’s first after eight consecutive losses.

Cardinals Finish On Sour Note. Just plain disappointing is the best way to sum the Cards season as they lost the last game to North Monterey 1-5. The Cards finish 8-6 and North Monterey 7-7. Just like their 10-3 loss to Harbor Tuesday, SC started off on a high note with a first inning home run by Darryl Ratliff, who collected three hits. The Condor catcher ripped a bases loaded triple of starter and loser Greg Press to grab a 3-1 lead in the second inning. “The season was disappointing for myself as coach and a lot of the boys. We had high hopes of the team capturing a playoff spot. This was a bad week for us. We had no enthusiasm. The same thing happened last year and I don’t know why, but I’m going to find out,” said Coach Fred Pfyffer.

June 2. Base path Burner. Ratliff Drafted In Fourth Round by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the major league baseball amateur draft. Ratliff doesn’t have an agent yet and doesn’t know what he’s going to do. SC coach Fred Pfyffer wasn’t surprised Ratliff was drafted, because of his speed and overall athletic ability the Pirates took him that high. A lot of teams were looking at Darryl and most of the major league teams have seen Darryl play. He is one of the best athletes in the county. He was a star on the league champion basketball team, did not play football this year, but was a standout the year before. He can do a lot of things with his speed. Darryl has an awfully quick bat for his size and he is going to develop.

June 6. Sentinel ALL COUNTY team included two senior Cardinals: Outfielder Darryl Ratliff with a .533 batting average and first baseman Scott Wilkinson a .388 hitter. Senior outfielder Zack Raney with a .323 average was pick for the second team. All three were three year varsity veterans.
Coach Fred Pfyffer on his first team members. “Darryl Ratliff is one of the outstanding athletes in the league, if not THE outstanding athlete.” Scott Wilkinson sacrificed what would have been an All SCCAL season at first base had to play shortstop, because no one else could do the job at short. Zack Raney came through and pitched some good games for us.

Sentinel Dream Team Lineup Card
Lead off hitter, centerfielder Darryl Ratliff had a .533 batting average on 32 hits, with 26 runs, 27 stolen bases and 18 walks. Runs down fly balls most outfielders can catch only in their dreams. Destined for Pros. Added information in article. No one in the county has hit as high as .533 in the last five years. Darryl stole 27 bases and was thrown out only once.

The only repeat selection from last years ALL SCCAL team was speedy Card senior outfielder Darryl Ratliff, who led the league in hitting with a .550 average and in steals with 24. Senior utility man Scott Wilkinson hit .387 moved up from second team All SCCAL to the first team this year. The second team also included two Cards, outfielder Zack Raney and pitcher Greg Press.

JV BASEBALL no information available

SOFTBALL CO-CHAMPIONS with 10-2 record. Went from 6-6 last year to first place.
Practice Games: Monterey 1-3, Carmel 6-4, Monte Vista 21-1, Live Oak 0-6, Hollister 3-4, North Salinas 9-6, Gilroy 3-2 Moreu Tournament consolation title.
League: Aptos 2-1, Harbor 15-2, Soquel 6-3, North Monterey 1-0 League record 10-2 to tie SLV in a co- championship.
CCS Division II South playoffs: Carmel 7-5, North Salinas 0-3. 20-7 overall.
Yearbook. Team members were listed by first names only in the yearbook and no other information was available. Simone, Jennifer, Mary, Val, Celiea, Monique, Tammi, Kelly, Wendy, Sarah, Sandra, Sara, Tyrene, Lori, Diane, Amy and Stacey. Coach Vic Miguel

Sentinel softball preview on February 28. SC had a 6-6 league record last year. Coach Miguel said, “Our pitching has improved as Debbie Chavez is stronger and more mature this year and Tami King, who was second team All SCCAL catcher last year with a batting average of .291 and 17 RBI’s will led the Cards.”

Sentinel. Feb. 28. Monterey 3, SC 1. SC cored their only run in the seventh, but left the bases loaded to end the game. “It was a good tight game most of the way,” Miguel said. SC 1-1 scored their only run on freshman Diane Gergen’s RBI single, which knocked in fellow freshman Laurie Welch. Jennifer Posey hit a triple in the first inning. Pitcher Debbie Chavez allowed two earned runs off five hits.

March 2. Cardinals Rally To Top Carmel. Debbie Chavez pitched a three hitter and had a no hitter going into the fifth inning, but it took a four run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning to propel SC to a 6-4 decision. Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth, SC received RBI walks to Tyrene Tartlow and Celia Homesley and won the game on a base hit by Chavez and an insurance single from Stacy Wilhelmsen. In the seventh inning, with one on and a runner on first base, shortstop Mary Moses snapped up a sharp liner and threw to first for the game ending double play. The win improve the Cards record to 2-1.

March 3. Santa Cruz Mauls Monte Vista 21-1. Exploding with eight runs in the second inning, then putting the game completely out of reach with 12 runs in the fifth, the Cards scored one other run the rest of the game. Tami King led the SC 12 hit attack, going 3 for 3, with a triple and two RBI’s. Mary Moses went 2 for 5 with a double and two RBI’s. Simone Krietz went 2 for 3. Celia Homesley pitched the final four innings for the victory. SC is now 3-1.

March 4. Live Oak Ambushes Cardinals. SC got a good look at the defending CCS Division I champions. To Good. SC managed only one hit in a 6-0 loss. Mary Moses got the only Card hit. Debbie Chavez was the losing pitcher for SC now 3-2 gave up 10 hits, struck out three and allowed no walks.

March 13. Hollister 4, SC 3. Hollister scored three runs in the third inning. “It was a good, close game, a defensive battle,” Coach Vic Miguel said. On the mound, Debbie Chavez gave up four hits and struck out five. Tami King had two RBI’s. SC is now 3-3.

March 16. SC 9, North Salinas 6. “It was a game of triples,” said Miguel. There were seven triples in all, three by SC and four by NS. SC scored two runs in the first on back to back triples by Mary Moses and Tami King. The Cards scored five runs in the third and two in the fifth. Moses hit two triples in four at bats. Kelli Mullen was 2 for 4. King drove in two runs.

Sentinel. March 18. SC 3, Gilroy 2. Senior Mary Moses triggered the victory, blasting solo home runs in the third and fifth innings. She finished 2 for 4. Kelli Mullen went 2 for 4 and Tami King was 3 for 3. King and Mullen each had an triples in the first inning. SC had seven hits all by the above three. Debbie Chavez pitched all the way striking out six, issuing no walks, allowed two hits and only one earned run. SC won its second game in a row and is now 5-3.

Sentinel. April 6. Cardinals Win, Despite Getting Only Two Hits. The time had come for SC to prove themselves. Facing Aptos’ ace pitcher, who threw a two hitter and struck out five Cards, but a little heads up base running and a lot of gutsy defense kept SC in the game as the Cards prevailed 2-1. SC improved its league record to 2-0. Coach Miguel was proud of his teams defensive effort, but admitted the game could have gone either way. It was a close game all the way. There was no doubt the teams were ready for each other. We won because we got the breaks. SC’s defense was bolstered by the exceptional play of center fielder Simone Krietz and first baseman Tami King. Krietz made a tough catch on a line drive in the fifth inning that would have meant extra bases for Aptos. King showed her Golden Glove potential by nabbing a foul pop, over her shoulder in the fourth inning, that seemed unreachable. She re-injured her knee and had to sit out the rest of the game. King is normally a catcher, but moved to first to minimize stress on her knee. Both pitchers were tough on the batters.
There were no extra base hits and 11 runners were left on base. King broke the ice, singling in the third and scoring on an error. Aptos tied the score in the fifth. In the bottom of the inning, SC went ahead, when Moses singled, advanced two bases on pass balls and scored on a squeeze bunt by Jennifer Posey to put SC ahead for good 2-1. Chavez, who led the Cards to the consolation title in the Moreu Invitationl by throwing a no hitter, allowed Aptos only four hits and two walks.

March 13. SC 3, Gilroy 2. Senior Mary Moses triggered the victory, blasting solo home runs in the third and fifth innings to finish 2 for 4 at the plate. Kelli Mullen was 2 for 4 and Tami King was 3 for 3. They both had triples in the first inning. The three of them accounted for all seven of the Cards hits. Debbie Chavez pitched a complete game striking out six, issuing no walks and allowing only two hits. Only one of the Gilroy runs was earned. Wining their second straight game the Cards are now 5-3.

April 17. Chavez And Co. Bomb Harbor. Good Day At Plate For Card Hurler. When Harbor scored two runs in the top of the first inning, SC accepted the challenge. SC didn’t take long to answer that message, scoring eight in the bottom of the inning en route to a 15-2 victory. Leading the comeback charge was pitcher Debbie Chavez, who only allowed four hits, walked one, struck out six and slugged a pair of solo home runs for good measure. SC is tied with SLV for first place in the league with 4-1 records. SC sent 11 batters to the plate in the first inning, coming up with four hits and taking advantage of three walks, two errors and a hit batsman. The Big hits in the inning were Simone Krietz’s two run triple and Chavez’s first home run. SC had 14 hits with eight players hitting safely.

May 4. SC 6, Soquel 3. Running their league record to 7-1, the first place Cards did it the hard way. They had only three hits, but ran the bases effectively and got easy runs. Winning pitcher Debbie Chavez scattered nine hits, while striking out three and walking only one.

May 15. Cards Earn Share Of Title. Chavez pitched a two hitter and scored the games only run to help the Cards earn a share of the SCCAL title with a 1-0 win over North Monterey. It is the Cards first championship since 1982. The victory closed out the league season for the Cards, which tied SLV for first place with 10-2 records. SLV beat SC both times in league, which gives SLV the league number one seed in the CCS South Division II playoffs.
Chavez faced one batter over the minimum, throwing only 53 pitches. “Debbie is getting stronger. The more she pitches the stronger she gets. We just have to play some defense,” Coach Miguel said. SC played errorless ball, but North Monterey’s two errors led to the Cards lone run, Chavez reached base on an error, moved all the way to third on another error on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Stacey Wilhelmsens’ squeeze bunt. “I’m pleased with our defense. Offensively, I think we’re going to have to sharpen up at the plate,” said Miguel. SC had only three hits.

May 20. Changing Tactics. SC’s Chavez Crosses Up Carmel in CCS. Chavez had fed the Padres a steady diet of change ups in a 6-3 preseason victory over Carmel. As a result Carmel was looking for the same pitch this time. Chavez crossed them up, by throwing only one or two today. Chavez threw a six hitter, struck out two and walked one in the Cards 7-5 CCS playoff victory. Their next game will be against North Salinas a 5-4 winner over Aptos. SC beat North Salinas 9-6 in a preseason game.
“Chavez pitched a smart game,” said Miguel, whose team is now 20-6 overall. “She had a good low outside fastball today and good control. She mixed her pitches up pretty well.” SC never trailed, taking 2-0 and 6-1leads in the top of the first and fourth innings. The only walk issued by Chavez came in the bottom of the fourth inning, when Carmel scored three times, two of the runs courtesy of a triple.
SC wasted no time in taking command. Stacey Wilhelmsen led off the game with a single up the middle and scored on a triple by second batter Mary Moses. Kelli Mullen singled to right to drive in Moses for a 2-0 lead. A four run fourth inning featuring RBI singles by Tyrene Partlow and Simone Krietz, a fielders choice RBI by Chavez and a sacrifice fly to deep center by Wilhelmsen gave SC some breathing room. SC’s final run came in the fifth inning, when Tami King was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches and scored on a single by pinch hitter Diane Gergen.

SC lost to North Salinas in the CCS Division II South semifinals 3-0.

Sentinel softball stats of June 9, listed by place on the list, name, at bats, runs. Hits, runs batted in and batting average.
PO NAME AB R H RBI AV
1 King 65 26 34 25 .523
21 Mullen 70 14 22 19 .314
25 Chavez 53 10 16 11 .302
28 Moses 88 25 26 18 .295
36 Krietz 43 6 11 8 .256
39 Posey 69 13 17 14 .246
41 Mauga 55 16 13 7 .236

Hitting
Triples: King and Moses in first place with 4 and Chavez next with 3.
Home runs, Moses and Chavez second with 2.

Pitching by place on the list, name, won/loss, innings pitched, hits, walks, strike outs and earned run average.
PO NAME W-L IP H BB SO ERA
4 Chavez 19-7 157 119 29 90 2.36
3 Team SC 164 122 30 91 2.30
In all league article said Chavez was15-6.

Sentinel ALL COUNTY team. Tami King PLAYER OF THE YEAR. Debbie Chavez JUNIOR OF THE YEAR. SC had three first team members: Debbie Chavez, junior, pitcher with a 2.36 ERA. Tami King, senior, first baseman with a .524 batting average and senior Mary Moses at shortstop with a .302 average. Second team selection was Kelli Mullen, junior outfielder.
Coach Vic Miguel comments of his teams selections. Debbie Chavez, the Junior Of The Year. We wouldn’t have been as successful or gotten this far in the playoffs without Debbie. Mary Moses at the important shortstop position made some tremendous defensive plays for us all season. Centerfielder Kelli Mullen came through with some very key hits.

Sentinel Softball Dream Team Lineup Card.
Number four hitter, first baseman Tami King, who hit for a 523 average, 34 hits, 26 runs and 25 RBI’s. Hits for average and power. What more do you want? Goes all out on defense.
Number six hitter, right fielder Kelli Mullen with a .314 average, 19 RBI’s and 14 runs. Looked BAD at the plate with those black batting gloves. Her numbers looked good.

King Is Queen. Cards’ Star top Player. Tami King was voted by the SCCAL coaches as the league MOST VALUABLE PLAYER. SC had three first string members. Debbie Chaves 15-6 pitching record. Tami King first base with .520 hitting average and shortstop Mary Moses at .324. Voted to the second team were Auddrena Mauga and Stacey Wilhemlsen.
King took a .550 batting average into the playoffs is one of the only six seniors on the team along with teammate Mary Moses. King a thee year varsity player was a catcher until this year, when her knee injury forced her to play first base. “She is a good heads up player and she has a good work ethic. She is a team player who would be an asset to any team.

SC’s King Best Player Around
As hard as it is to believe now, there was a time when Tami King, a senior at Santa Cruz High wasn’t considered to be a good softball player. And it wasn’t that long ago either. During the summer following her freshman season at Santa Cruz, King, who’d been playing softball for only a year, put out $500 to spend a week in Orange County at a softball clinic. It was money not well spent, as far as one of the instructors (a college coach) was concerned. She did everything but tell King a week at Disneyland would have been a better investment for her money. “She told me I’d never be a softball player,” King said. “She just said I was terrible–plain, right to the point–and that I had no future in softball whatsoever.”
Was she ever wrong. For her performance, King, who played first base, has been selected the Player of the Year on the Sentinel’s All-Santa Cruz County softball team. The pick shouldn’t as any surprise to the SCCAL’s softball coaches, who three weeks ago voted King the league’s Most Valuable Player. You’d think King would buy an extra copy of today’s paper and mail it to that college coach who turned out to be such a poor judge of talent. “I thought about it at one time,” King said. But she decided not to, even though she knew the coach had it coming. It was a cruel thing to say.
Last year as a junior, King, considered to be the best all-around catcher in the county, hit .291 with 17RBI. Not satisfied with her batting she worked on it over the summer. “I was in a slump for a long time,” King said “We tried a lot a different ways and finally found a stance and swing I was comfortable with. It showed this year. My bat came around for me.” Behind the plate, King was looking just as impressive. And then, in late March, a nagging injury to her left knee forced her to first base, where it was thought her knee wouldn’t take so much abuse. Wrong. King, never known to do things with less than maximum effort, continued to bang up that knee by diving for foul pop ups.
But it was that same type of energy and drive that made her the best first baseman in the league this year, just as it had made her the best catcher in the league last year. And, though she was reluctant to make the switch at first–”She definitely wanted to stay behind the plate,” Miguel said–she’s now glad she changed positions. “I like playing first base better,” King said. “Basically, it’s the same thing as catcher, only you don’t have to squat down all the time. But I’m glad I did catch because it makes playing first base a lot easier, having that experience. It’s easier to stop grounders because I’m not afraid of being hit by them anymore. If that coach could only see her now.

JV SOFTBALL
JV members were Krista, Elaine, Ami, Mysti, Megan, Ali, Cynthia, Colleen, Lara, Vivian, Rebecca, Marisol, Rachel, Janell and Malinda. Coach Don Dempewolf

BOYS SWIMMING
Tied for second place in league.

March 4. SC 96, Salinas 58. SC winners were Kevin Crawford, 100 free in 52.34; Tim Mockus, 500 free in 5:33.39; Rich Harbison, 100 backstroke in 1:05.61 and Lief Kubima, 100 breast in 1:09.12.
Trident March 7. To open the season, the Cards hosted six schools, including Harbor, Aptos, Soquel, Salinas and James Logan for their fourth Annual Sprint Meet. A sprint is any distance of 100 yards or less. The varsity placed fourth and the JV’s took second in their division. Varsity swimmer Kevin Crawford won the 50 yard freestyle with a new meet record of 23.29. For the JV’s Jeff Wickum won the 50 yard breaststroke and Mark Holmes won the 50 yard freestyle.
Head coach Mike Bennett in his third year of coaching at SC says, “This years team looks as good as last years team with Kevin Crawford on sprints and Brian Herbert and Tim Mockus swimming distances. There are 26 swimmers out along with two divers, Casey Mervine and Paul Burdette. Last year the team placed second to Harbor at the SCCAL meet.

Register-Pajaronian. April 15. SC Swimmers Win 106-51 over Watsonville. Mockus took the 200 yard freestyle 1:57.54 and the 500 freestyle 5:28.58. Crawford captured the 50 freestyle in 23.51 and the 100 yard freestyle 53.05. SC is undefeated in league dual meets with a 3-0 record in league and 4-0 overall.

Aptos defeated the Cards 93-76 in a dual meet held almost entirely in the rain. The two teams tied for second in the SCCAL. Aptos took firsts in every event except diving where Casey Mervine placed first with 157.15 points. Zack Gallagher took second with 104 points. Tim Mockus placed second in the 200 yard freestyle and second in the 500 freestyle in 5:23.44. Kevin Crawford placed second in the 50 freestyle. Richard Harbison placed second in the 100 backstroke in 1:02. Cameron Forster placed second in the 100 breast stroke. Seb Sussman place second in the 200 individual medley.
The Frosh-soph defeated Aptos 65-53. SC placed first in every event. At this point in the season the Frosh-soph is in second place. Peter Angelsea, Jordie Larson, Django Sussman and Adam Sullivan place first in the 200 yard medley relay. Adam Sullivan took first in individual 200 medley. Jake Wormhoudt won the 200 freestyle in 2:19.62. Jordi Larson finished first in the 100 individual medley, which is a combination of four strokes, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and crawl and also placed first in the 100 breaststroke. Django Sussman took two firsts, one in 50 yard butterfly and also the 500 freestyle in 6:18.30. Peter Angelsea won the 100 backstroke in 1:20.75.

Fun’ SC Loss. With people competing in other than their regular events, SC just “had fun” against Mission San Jose Saturday and regrouped after the previous days pressure packed meet against Aptos. SC found out that Mission San Jose was a powerhouse and lost 104-58. The lone winners were Kevin Crawford in the 100 free in 52.83 and Richard Harbison in the 100 backstroke in 1:02.31.

Sentinel SCCAL best times up to May 19. For this only SC players listed by place, name and time for the events SC athletes are listed in. Only the top five athletes or schools are listed.
200 YARD MEDLEY RELAY: 5, SC. 1:53.62.
100 YARD FREESTYLE 4, Crawford 51.78
50 YARD FREESYLE: 3, Crawford, 23.29.
DIVING: 2, Mervine, 159.40 points.
500 YARD FREESTYLE: 5, Mochus, 5:20.86.
100 YARD BACKSTROKE: 4, Harbison, 1:01.33.
100 YARD BREASTROKE: 3, Forster, 1:10.53
400 YARD FREESTYLE RELAY: 3, SC. 3:36.48.

ALL SCCAL, Kevin Crawford, Casey Mervine, Cameron Forster. Tim Mockus and Richard Harbison.

BOYS VOLLEYBALL
SC beat Monte Vista 15-10, 15-9, 16-14, 15-8. SC was led by the hitting of Shawn Forgaard and the backrow play of Jerrell Beougher and Rob Smith. In the Junior Varsity match SC won 15-10, 13-15, 15-8.

TENNIS LEAGUE CHAMPIONS AGAIN GOING UNDEFEATED IN LEAGUE.
Yearbook Led by number one singles player, senior Cort Blackburn, number two, senior Davey Ransome, number three Arthur Marcum, number four Benji Goldfrank and number five Danny Aldrich. In doubles Josh Barthel and Chris Coulson are number one and have not lost a league match. Number two doubles are John Sanford and David Kardon, who also have not lost a match.

Trident. What makes SC so good? Coach Mullen says’ “It is all of the hard work, the ability to work as a team and the support that the team provides for the players.” SC has practices for three hours a day to get into proper shape. Although those practices seem long and tiresome, it is what it takes to become a number one team.

Trident. SC lost in the first round of CCS playoffs to a private school Menlo from the Peninsula 2-5. Winners for the Cards were number one player Cort Blackburn and number four man Benji Goldfrain. Last year the Cards lost to another private school Bellarmine of San Jose in the first round. In the past years SC has always won the league championship, but never got very far in CCS. Only losing two seniors, the Cards will be back to CCS again next year.

Sentinel. March 6. Cards Whip Gilroy 5-2 in their opener. Cort Blackburn won the number one singles 6-7, 6-3, 6-4. In number one doubles, Brendan Walsh and Mike Minium won 6-3, 6-4. “Since this was Gilroy’s fifth match, I was happy with the way we played,” said Coach Dennis Mullen.

Sentinel. March 9. Cardinals Breeze Past Live Oak. In their second match of the season, SC ran its record to 2-0, by beating Live Oak 6-1. Cort Blackburn won the number one singles, 6-2, 6-2. In number one doubles, Josh Barthel and Chris Coulson won 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Winning the next singles in order of the ladder, starting with number two man Art Marcum, Benji Goldfrank and John Sanford. Mike Minium and Brendan Walsh won their doubles match.

March 13. Cards in one of their toughest matches of the year beat Monta Vista of Cuperitno 5-2. SC won four singles matches with Cort Blackburn, Benji Goldfrank, Danny Aldrich and Davey Ramson all winning their matches.

April 6. Cardinal Shutout No Slaughter in 7-0 win over Soquel to up their league record to 3-0. There were a lot of close matches. SC had to come back form deficits in several matches to post three set wins. In number 2 singles, Davey Ransom won 6-7, 7-5, 6-4. In number one doubles Chris Coulson and Josh Barthel also fought back from a first set loss to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. In number one singles Blackburn won 6-0, 6-4.

April 10. SC 7, Watsonville 0. All wins were in straight sets. Watsonville didn’t win more than three games in any match. Blackburn won 6-0, 6-3. Number one doubles Coulson and Barthel won 6-0, 6-1.

April 13. Cards Win Again with a 6-1 win over Harbor running their league record to 5-0 and 8-2 overall. Number one Cort Blackburn won 6-2, 6-3. Davey Ramson, Benjy Goldfrank, and Dan Aldrich also won. In a great match Art Marcum lost 3-6, 6-2, 4-6.

April 17. Cards Rally To Top Aptos. Aptos won the first two matches and SC coach Dennis Mullen was clearly worried. “Psychologically, there was a lot of pressure on our kids,” Mullen said. As they have so many times in the past the Cards came through in the clutch, eventually defeating Aptos 5-2. Blackburn lost 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 in number one singles. Davey Ransom lost 2-6, 2-6. “They were ready for us. I was pleased with the way our kids fought back,” Mullen. SC won the remaining three singles matches, including key wins from Art Marcum and Goldfrank. SC finally clinched the team win with a victory by the number two doubles team of David Kardon and John Sanford.

April 21. Cardinals Zero In On Eighth Straight Title. SC’s league record is 7-0 and overall 10-3. In a thrilling number one singles match Cort Blackburn won 6-7 (7-9), 6-3, 6-2. “I was pleased with Cort’s comeback in the second and third sets,” said coach Mullen. At number one doubles, Chris Coulson and Josh Barthel posted a hard fought 7-5, 6-0 win. Singles winners were Davey Ransom, Art Marcum, Benjy Goldfrank and Dan Aldrich. Brendon Walsh and Mike Minimum won their number two doubles match.

May 1. Cards (Yawn) Perfect Again. SC is in a rut. For the last three years, its gone 10-0 in SCCAL competition. Friday, Coach Dennis Mullen’s Cardinals capped yet another undefeated season beating Harbor 7-0. Since the first year of the SCCAL in 1977, SC has won 11 of the 12 possible league titles, including two co-championships. They’ve finished unbeaten in nine of these seasons. In the last three seasons Cort Blackburn is 28-2, while Davey Ransom is 36-4 over the last four seasons. “Some years you do and some …,” Mullen said, as his voice faded out. “I don’t know, it’s sort of hard. This year, it was a surprise. I didn’t know, because our team was fairly young. I didn’t know how good they were going to be or how well we were going to play.” SC won all of its individual matches in straight sets, except for the number one singles. In that match, Blackburn won 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

GOLF no information

INDIVIDUALS
SC top water polo player, Brent Erickson a two year ALL SCCAL selection, tallied eighty goals as the led the team offensively.

FORMER PLAYERS

From February 15, 1988 Sentinel. All Wilson Does is Beat You. If John Wilson keeps up his biannual habit of catching headlines, 1988 could be a banner year for him. In 1982, he was an All League pitcher and first baseman at SCHS. In 1984, he pitched his first career no hitter at Cabrillo College. In 1986, he led the staff at San Francisco State to league titles and was selected as a Division II All American. In 1988, he will get a shot at playing a full year of pro baseball. Wilson is a smart, steady pitcher with good control of his off speed pitches and exhibits great composure on the mound. Most importantly, he is a winner. After his final season at SFSU, he signed with the San Francisco Giants and was sent to their Rookie league team in Everett, Washington. He pitched 16 innings, picked up a save and a loss and kept his ERA under 3.00. He will be going to Spring training in Scottsdale, Arizona with the Giants.

Glass Hopes to Join Majors By 1990. Steve Glass an All League shortstop at SCHS graduated in 1983. Next stop San Francisco State for three years, where he helped his team win league titles, before he was drafted after his junior season by the Atlanta Braves. He spent his first pro year with the Idaho Falls Rookie league team, where he played great defense and hit .285. If everything goes as planned for the 6-3, 205 pounder, he will be with high-A-league Durham, North Carolina or double AA Greenville, South Carolina. He thinks he can be in an Atlanta Braves Uniform by 1990 at third base. “I can swing with power and play defense,” he said. Glass said, he learned most of his baseball from retired SC coach Bill Dodge. “He’s one of the best coaches I ever had. He taught me discipline and taught me to believe in myself. He knew all the proper fundamentals.”
In his first year of professional baseball at Idaho Falls he said, ”It took me awhile to get used to using wooden bats. I must have broken about 30 of them this season.”

Glenn Allen Hill Ready For the Majors. Signed right out of SCHS in 1983 as a three sport star and with a full ride scholarship to Arizona State, Hill instead signed a pro contract with Toronto. He has risen up the ladder with the Toronto organization and has been voted the MOST OUTSTANDING MINOR LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE YEAR. The Toronto director of player personnel has said, Hill has a shot to make the team and can play outfield or be the designated hitter. “We’re looking for good things from him. He is still a young player with enormous amount of potential. He still has a lot of baseball ahead of him. Toronto has three very good outfielders, which has kept Hill from the big leagues longer than it should have. Hill says he would rather be a back up in the majors than a starter in Triple-AAA. The way Hill sees it, he will have 15 to 20 at bats this spring with the big club that will determine whether he plays in the majors or the minors this year. “The pressure is going to be there no matter what. I’m going in there knowing I can win the Lotto. I’m going in there with patience and will just hope and pray for the best. In a recent Associated Press Spring-training preview story, Glenallen Hill was listed as one of the four rookie “Hot prospects” that seem destined for Cooperstown. Hyperbole? Of course. But it’s a nice thought. Hill will soon be leaving for the Toronto Spring training facility in Florida.

Johnny Johnny Johnson 1986 grad.
Good Times Sports Oct. 1987 Here’s Johnny
In his first football game for San Jose State, ex-Santa Cruz High star Johnny Johnson scored a touchdown on a 27-yard pass play. In his second game against the Cal Bears, Johnson scored a touchdown on a 43-yard reception. He also caught a 36-yard pass that led to a field goal and the Spartan’s 27-25 win. In his third outing, Johnson caught another touchdown pass against Oregon State. And last Saturday, in a victory over Stanford, Johnson had his best game yet. He caught two passes that set up a TD, and then he scored another touchdown on a beautiful 26-yard reception-and-run through most of the Stanford secondary. Four games; four touchdowns’; many big plays.
But it was really his basketball playing that provided an extra clue that he could make it at the major college level. On the court, his movement was exceptional. Johnson had quickness, power and grace. He could score and rebound, sometimes seemingly at will. The fact that Johnson has turned into a fine receiver for the Spartans–after playing running back in high school–is easy to comprehend: this guy has soft hands. Interestingly enough, San Jose head coach Claude Gilbert had a similar experience scouting Johnny. “I never saw him play football, but I did see him play basketball. He was a man among boys.” After the Stanford game, Johnny described some of the changes he’s experienced going from high school to major college football. “It’s a lot more mental in college, he said. “In high school, I could rely on physical skills. Here everyone is talented, so technique is much more important. Running pass routes precisely, blocking correctly–these are the things you have to work hard on.” This ability to concentrate sheds light on Johnson’s performance. Against Stanford, Johnny caught every pass thrown in his direction. The ball just seems to be engulfed when it reaches him. There’s a smoothness to the whole process that’s clearly visible: basketball hands at work.