But actually it's McCollum demanding the respect of the other softball players in the circuit, and she's earning it with some rather impressive pitching displays.

The Willow Glen frosh hurler flipped two shutouts last week to lead the Rams to wins over Del Mar and Piedmont Hills. Willow Glen improved to 5-1 in the division and to 13-5 for the year with the two victories.

McCollum whirled a six-hit shutout in Wednesday's 3-0 win over the Dons, and she came two days later to blank Piedmont on just four hits in a 5-0 Willow Glen win. McCollum is now 4-0 for the Rams in league play and 11-3 for the year.

Senior shortstop Angie Keeth ripped two doubles to lead a four-hit Willow Glen attack in the win over the Dons. The Rams scored a single run in the third and two more in the sixth to nail down the victory.

Keeth came back with two more hits, and junior catcher Jamie Andrews tripled home two runs in Willow Glen's 5-0 win over the Pirates. Senior third sacker Marina Mendez also had two hits for the Rams.

Willow Glen staked McCollum to an early lead with two runs in the first. The Rams added a run in the third and two more in the fifth on the road to the easy win.

Willow Glen had just one game this week. The Rams will visit Silver Creek on April 17 at 3:30 p.m.


Two tough losses

Chris Hobbs and Jim Garcia each blasted home runs, but the Willow Glen baseball team dropped a pair of tough one-run decisions last week in Mt. Hamilton Division play. The losses dropped the Rams to 3-7-1 in the division.

Willow Glen lost 12-11 to Leigh despite Hobbs' homer. The junior slugger also singled in the game and drove in two runs. Carlos Torres had two hits for the Rams.

Leigh scored two in the first to take the lead, but Willow Glen rallied for six in the second to take command of the game. The Longhorns got two back in the bottom of the second, but Willow Glen scored two in the top of the fourth to lead 8-4.

Once more Leigh rallied, though, scoring three in the fourth and three in the fifth to lead 10-8. The Rams moved in front 11-10 with three in the sixth, but Leigh won it with two in the seventh.

The Rams faced disappointment again two days later when they lost 5-3 to Prospect in eight innings.

The Panthers took the lead in the top of the fourth on a three-run homer by Aaron Jacks, but Garcia got two in a hurry in the bottom of the frame. John Gibilisco walked and Garcia followed with a two-run homer to cut the lead to 3-2.

Doug Dionne walked and scored on an error in the sixth to even the game at 3-3, and that's how it remained until Steven Vidal ripped a two-run homer in the eighth to give Prospect what it needed to nail down the win.

Hobbs and Torres each singled to round out the offense for the Rams, who were held to just three hits in the game.

The Rams will try to get back on the winning track this week when they hit the road for two games. Willow Glen visits Mt. Pleasant on April 16, 3:30 p.m., and will head to Oak Grove on April 18, 3:30 p.m.


Rams still winning

The Willow Glen badminton team rolled past Live Oak 11-4 and Mitty 10-5 to stretch its record to 10-0 in the West Valley Division.

An Vo, Long Nguyen and Brian Garrotto were singles winners in each match, and the doubles teams notching wins against both the Acorns and Monarchs were Giuletta Pezzaniti and Surleen Kaur, Andy Huynh and Kim Fuentes, and Chris Woo and Vy Ta.


Sarinana leads Rams

Frank Sarinana hammered home 16 kills to lead the Willow Glen boys volleyball team to a 10-15, 15-5, 15-9, 15-3 win over Branham last week. The win pushed the Rams to 15-10 for the year and to 4-2 in the Mt. Hamilton Division.

Earlier in the week, Jesse Hopkins drilled 17 kills for the Rams, but Willow Glen lost a 15-10, 15-12, 7-15, 15-7 decision to Leland.