Going Home: Prospect hurler Steve Vidal winds and prepares to go home with a pitch in the first round of the CCS playoffs. But it was the Panthers going home after losing their opener 6-0 to Burlingame.
Photograph by George Sakkestad
Panthers, Warriors fall at CCS
Local tracksters earn spots in section finals
By Dick Sparrer
The Prospect baseball team and Westmont softball team each entered the Central Coast Section (CCS) Division II playoffs with big hopes and dreams last week.
But those hopes were dashed and dreams shattered in the opening round of tourney play for each club.
Prospect lost 6-0 to Burlingame to face a quick exit from the CCS tourney. Burlingame lost 4-0 to Santa Cruz a game later to fall out of the playoffs.
The loss ended a brilliant season for the Panthers, who finished the year with a 19-7 record overall after winning the championship in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League (BVAL) with a 16-2 record.
Members of the championship Prospect club included J.D. Mazzuca, Kevin McPeck, Kyle Bonvechio, Ted Piggins, Aaron Jacks, Nick Graydon, Brent Maselli, Andrew Meade, Steve Kinney, Steve Kong, Dustin Hanson, Steve Vidal, David Lenske, Myke Gordon, Tony Puccinelli and Vince Arevalo.
The Westmont girls, meanwhile, drew a first-round bye in the softball playoffs, but they lost 4-2 to Monterey in their opener. Monterey, a 10-0 winner over Sequoia in the first round, will face Carlmont in the CCS semifinals this week.
The loss left Westmont 20-10 for the year. The talented Warriors had finished second in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the BVAL with a solid 11-3 record, thanks to the pitching efforts of freshman hurlers Allyson Carrothers and Breanna Kuhny.
In fact, Westmont featured a solid corps of youngsters on this strong squad, so the future looks bright for head coach Jon Hennig and his Warriors.
Carrothers and Kuhny were joined by infielder Lisa Parola as freshmen on the varsity, and sophomores Danielle Chapman and Michele Desmet were also on the squad.
Jennifer Brown, Bonnie Huggett and Jessica Parola all played key roles as Westmont's only seniors. Slugger Katherine Bamford is joined by Victoria Alexander, Shelby Chapman, Jennifer Quinn, Michelle Salmiery and Kyle Soden as juniors on the squad.
Track finals
The top placers from last weekend's CCS track and field trials at San José City College will return to the college's oval on May 24, 6 p.m., for the section finals.
Representing Del Mar at the CCS finals this Friday will be pole vaulters Stevie Odie and Alan Potter.
Odie topped the bar at 11-0 to finish third in the girls competition at the CCS trials and Potter went 13-0 to tie for sixth in the boys event.
Westmont's Chris Aimonetti and Ashley Mamola finished high enough to earn an extra week of competition. Aimonetti was sixth in the boys discus with a heave of 155-9, and Mamola ran 15.98 to finish seventh in the girls 100-meter hurdles.
Prospect's Ferman Smith earned a CCS berth by placing eighth in the high jump at 6-2.
CCS tennis
Only the area's best tennis players make it to the CCS tournament. And the best of the CCS will be in action this week when singles and doubles play runs through May 23 at the Imperial Courts at Cabrillo College in Aptos.
Tourney play was to begin Tuesday with first round and quarterfinal action. The semifinal round begins at 10 a.m. Thursday, with the finals getting under way at 1 p.m.
The Del Mar pair of Jeremy Heckley and Joseph Heckley qualified for the section tourney and will open against Chris Harris and Corey van der Wal of Menlo in a battle of two unseeded teams.
Campbell, California
