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Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Aim High: Willow Glen's Loc Nguyen was a winner at No. 4 singles, but the Rams lost to Yerba Buena last week.
Rams open Miguel with victory
Parker returns as WG softball coach
By Dick Sparrer
When Charlie Miguel was alive, he was a softball coach who would strive for excellence and encourage his high school players to play their best.
In that spirit, the late Charlie must have been pleased as he looked down on the performance of the players participating in the tournament that bears his name and began last weekend at Mission College in Santa Clara.
There were 21 different teams playing their best last weekend, but five clubs were a little more excellent than the rest.
Del Mar, Monta Vista, Prospect, Santa Teresa and Gilroy each opened the Miguel Tournament with back-to-back wins. Willow Glen won its only game last weekend and Cupertino, Santa Clara, Mt. Pleasant, Lynbrook and Pioneer each split.
Willow Glen won its only game of the weekend, scoring a run in the bottom of the sixth to pull out a 3-2 victory over co-host Santa Clara. Janelle Calderon had two hits for the Rams, and she was also the winning pitcher, whirling a seven-hitter.
Cupertino, Lynbrook, Pioneer and Santa Clara each rebounded from opening round losses with victories.
Chelsea Bjorklund doubled twice and singled and Kristen Fleury had two hits to knock in two runs for co-host Pioneer in a 5-2 win over Los Gatos. Jill Foley doubled and also tossed a five-hitter for the win.
Anne Boin had singled and tripled and Foley doubled for the Mustangs in a 5-4 loss to Prospect.
Parker's back
It didn't take Bob Parker long to realize that his place is on the field.
The veteran Willow Glen coach retired from his position as the head baseball coach after the 1999 spring season, ending a successful reign that spanned more than two decades. And Parker resigned as the Willow Glen football coach after the 1999 fall season, despite great success in the decade of the 1990s.
Still, Parker was ready to dedicate his time to his duties as the Willow Glen athletic director, and give up his coaching responsibilities. Yeah, right! That was a decision he couldn't even stick with for an entire school year.
Parker is back on the field as the first-year head coach of the Willow Glen girls' softball team. And the coach who has spent a career working with boys' teams is looking for great things from his girls this spring.
"Actually, I feel pretty good about this team," said Parker, who took over the program late in the winter because of a coaching change. "We have a solid infield and a group of hard-working girls."
"We're still working on fundamentals, something neglected in the past," he added. "And we have a lot of inexperience, including the head coach."
Still, Parker looks for his Rams to be contenders in the race for the title in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
Comeback starters Angel Ocampo, Desiree Dagnino, Maria Gonzales and Jenny Silva join with lettermen Jennae LoPriesti and Michele Sanchez to give the Rams a solid corps of returners this season.
Freshman pitcher Janelle Calderon and freshman catcher Angie Keeth give Willow Glen a young but talented battery.
Ocampo is a senior returner at second base. She was an all-league second team pick a year ago for the Rams.
Silva, a senior captain, is back at third base for Willow Glen, with juniors Dagnino, Gonzales and LoPriesti in the outfield. Sanchez is a sophomore starter at shortstop.
The Rams, who were to host Lincoln on Monday and visit Overfelt on Tuesday, will open league play at home on March 17, 3:30 p.m., against Del Mar.
Willow Glen dropped a nonleague decision to Oak Grove last week. Calderon was tagged with the loss, despite tossing a four-hitter, and LoPriesti doubled for the Rams.
Panthers are 3-0
Presentation has opened the 2000 campaign with three straight wins, all by shutout.
Denise Arde, Shannon Linerud and Adrian St. Cin have each tossed shutouts for the Panthers in the first three games of the season.
Arde flipped a no-hitter in Presentation's 6-0 win over Salinas to open the year. Linerud doubled home a couple of runs in the win and St. Cin doubled.
Linerud blanked North Salinas on two hits in a tight 1-0 Presentation win. St. Cin had three hits for the Panthers.
St. Cin came back with a three-hit shutout in last week's 2-0 win over Mountain View. The hurler also led a three-hit attack with a double.
Rams net split
Cyrus Yazdani rolled to a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles and Willow Glen swept in doubles play to pull out a tight 4-3 win over Valley Christian in league tennis action last week.
It was the season opener in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL for each team. Eric Bursch and Huy Nguyen teamed for a clutch 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 win at No. 1 doubles, with Minh Phan and Chris Lyons winning 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 and Mike Nguyen and Alex Kane winning 6-3, 6-4 at No. 3.
But Willow Glen lost 4-3 to Yerba Buena later in the week, despite singles wins by Yazdani (6-2, 4-6, 6-1 at No. 2) and Loc Nguyen (6-3, 6-1 at No. 4).
Phan and Lyons won 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 at No. 2 doubles, but that was the only other victory the Rams could muster in the match.
Willow Glen had opened the season with a 5-2 nonleague win over Del Mar. Nick Burggraff, Yazdani and L. Nguyen were each singles winners for the Rams, and the doubles teams of M. Nguyen and Bursch and Kane and H. Nguyen also won.
Rams win a pair
The Willow Glen boys' volleyball team ran its nonleague record to 3-0 last week with wins over Prospect and Washington of Fremont.
Guy Beahm led the Rams with 24 kills in the two matches as Willow Glen topped the Panthers 15-7, 15-6, 15-8 and edged Washington 19-17, 15-5, 15-8.
Willow Glen had opened the year with a 21-19, 15-7, 15-12 victory over Hollister. Beahm had 10 kills in the win.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
