After all, the 6-foot, 175-pound second baseman started his first full professional season by batting .364 in spring training as a non-roster invitee, then was a big hit at three levels of the Giants farm system. Frandsen, whose family lives in Willow Glen, went from Class A San Jose to Double-A Norwich and on to Triple-A Fresno, hitting .335 overall, including .351 clips in both the California and Pacific Coast Leagues.

Despite hitting primarily in the second spot, Frandsen managed to drive in 76 runs, attributable mostly to his 40 doubles. His 172 hits were tied for seventh-most in the entire minor leagues, and his 23 times hit-by-pitch were sixth-most. He also muscled six home runs, stole 21 bases and was the ninth-toughest strikeout in the minors, fanning only 41 times in 514 at-bats. He also earned a trip to the All-Star Futures Game in Detroit and played in the Arizona Fall League.

In September, Frandsen rejoined the San Jose Giants for the playoffs. He batted .367 with a home run and six RBIs, helping San Jose capture the California League championship. He was named the team's co-Most Valuable Player.

In a December edition of Baseball America, Frandsen was ranked ninth among the Giants' top 10 prospects. In another report, California League managers lauded him as the "Top Defensive Second Baseman."

Tulowitzki stars

Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki (Fremont), the Colorado Rockies first-round draft pick last June following his third season at Long Beach State, made his first pro baseball stop at Class-A Modesto a good one.

Although he missed a couple of weeks with a quadriceps injury, Tulowitzki returned in September in time for the play-offs against Stockton and San Jose. He hit .266 with four homers and 14 RBIs.

Pereira with Giants

Nick Pereira, formerly of Cupertino High and the University of San Francisco, pitched in 14 games for the Giants short-season Class-A team in Salem-Keizer, Ore. He started nine games and posted a 5-3 record with an earned run average of 3.04. Pereira struck out 41, walked 14 and did not give up a home run in 50 1/3 innings.

Kim a Spartan

Naomi Kim, who finished second for Fremont in the 2004 Central Coast Section girls golf tournament, is a member of the SJSU women's golf team.

Field hockey stars

Katie Cummings, a freshman midfielder from Monta Vista, played in 13 of 20 field hockey games for UC-Berkeley in the fall, making both of her shots on goal. Another freshman, goalie Veronica Sykes (Del Mar), started all 20 games for the Bears and made 10 of her 75 saves in an NCAA play-off game against Wake Forest.

Several other Cal Bears began their field hockey careers at local high schools. Among them are sophomore Jenny Crane and freshman sister Missy Crane, Los Gatos residents who attended St. Francis. Jenny scored eight goals and Missy tallied seven this season.

The other former local stars playing for Cal were two other former Lancers, freshman Christina McGrath and senior Jenna Long, senior Alexandra Harkins (Prospect), junior Jamie Nance (Leigh) and freshmen Gwen Belomy and Kellie York (Saratoga), and Jamie Sibilia (Monta Vista).

Long and Stanford freshman Bailey Richardson (Los Gatos) were named to the NorPac All-Tournament team. Both Richardson and senior Lyndsay Erickson (Los Gatos) started 20 of Stanford's 21 games.

Several former local standouts dotted the University of Pacific field hockey line-up this fall. Junior Jennifer Chaney (Westmont), sophomores Valerie Niles (Branham), Elle Busch (Mitty) and Jenny Dixon (Los Gatos) and freshman Erica Nestle (Leigh) all made contributions for the Tigers.

Sophomore Courtney Furia (Los Gatos) played her second season on field hockey team at Miami University in Ohio. She scored her first point last year with an assist in a 3-0 win against Southwest Missouri State and then scored the game-winning goal in the MAC Tournament to beat Central Michigan 1-0.

Kelley a gymnast

Jessica Kelley (Homestead) is in her first season on Cal's gymnastics team. Kelley was a five-time Level 10 national qualifier while competing for Airborne Gymnastics of Santa Clara. Meanwhile, Alise Blackwell (Mitty), a teammate at Airborne, has started her collegiate career at San José State.

Epidendio a Spartan

Nick Epidendio (Mitty) begins his senior baseball season this month at San José State. He was "Co-Newcomer of the Year" in 2005, after batting .267 with 12 doubles, 20 runs scored and 30 RBI in 44 games.

Area softball players

Two former Monta Vista players, Danielle Brown and Sarah Taylor, are freshmen in San José State's softball program. Another newcomer for the Spartans is sophomore pitcher Kelly Harrison (Leland), a transfer from Saint Mary's College. Harrison pitched in 24 games, nine as a starter, for the Gaels as a freshman.

Santa Clara University's double-play combination this season could feature a pair of seniors, Shannon Linerud (Presentation) at shortstop and Jenny Brown (Westmont) at second base.

Realini a Bronco

Dustin Realini, who played his sophomore year at Monta Vista before finishing at Valley Christian, is a senior at Santa Clara University. He started all 54 games last season and shared the team lead in RBIs.

Bergeron in Belmont

Dan Bergeron, a star on Fremont's boys basketball team last winter, is a starting forward this season at Notre Dame de Namur University of Belmont. Often joining the 6-foot-6 freshman in the Argos' line-up are senior guard Prince Benites (De Anza College) and junior guard Stephen Chang (Mitty) of Los Gatos.

Kimure stars for Dons

Katherine Kimure (Homestead) contributed right away for the University of San Francisco women's soccer team. The freshman midfielder played in all 20 games, starting 14, and scored two goals.

Gunderson all-league

Jenna Gunderson, a resident of Cupertino and a junior at St. Francis High School, won all-league first team honors as a utility/driver on the West Catholic Athletic League girls water polo team this fall.

Junge at Stevens

Melissa Junge (The King's Academy) is attending the Stevens Institute of Technology where she is playing basketball. Junge's collegiate career began in November and will continue into February of 2006.

Bob Scudder, Kevin Sparrer and Dick Sparrer all contributed to this story.