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Long Beach State junior shortstop Troy Tulowitzki has been named a third team pre-season All-American by College Baseball News. Tulowitzki, who played baseball and basketball locally at Fremont High School, spent last summer helping Team USA win a gold medal at the World Championships in Taiwan.
Sophomore Robert Perry (Mitty), a teammate of Tulowitzki over the years on several successful Sunnyvale National Little League all-star teams, will be the starting centerfielder for Santa Clara University. Perry, who last year was the first freshman in 22 years to start for the Broncos, earned second-team All-West Coast Conference honors last spring. He played in all but one of SCU's 56 games, batting .300 with eight home runs and 27 RBIs.
Tyler Duran, a Mitty and Sunnyvale youth league teammate of Perry, will be a redshirt freshman for the Broncos. He hopes to break into the line-up as a pitcher or infielder.
Other area players on head coach Mark O'Brien's Santa Clara roster in 2005 include senior first baseman Sean Epidendio (Mitty) of San Jose, junior infielders Dustin Realini (Monta Vista/Valley Christian) of Cupertino and Kyle Newton (Leland) and freshmen Kyle Jensen (Los Gatos), Ryan Conan (Mitty) and Jason Matteucci (Bellarmine).
Epidendio's younger brother Nick (Mitty) will be in his first season at San José State University, after two seasons at College of San Mateo. The brothers will oppose each other for the first time when the Broncos and Spartans vie in a three-game series March 46. Also on head coach Sam Piraro's 2005 SJSU roster are seniors Mike Malott and Nate Corrick, both Valley Christian graduates, and junior Sean Farrell (Pioneer).
Malott and Farrell are among the pitching candidates trying to replace ace Matt Durkin (Willow Glen), who left after his junior season to sign a professional contract with the New York Mets. Durkin, a two-time all-Western Athletic Conference selection, was the Mets' second-round pick in last June's free agent draft.
Oreglia plays on
Julie Oreglia completed her senior water polo season at Presentation High School in the fall as an all-leaguer, but it's not the end of her water polo career--not by a long shot.
Oreglia, of Campbell, was a 2-meter star for the Panthers and earned a place on the all-West Catholic Athletic League team for her efforts. Her performance caught the eyes of many college recruiters, and after a year of letters, calls and personal visits from coaches, she decided to sign a National Letter of Intent to attend UC Berkeley.
Oreglia was courted by the likes of Stanford, San José State University, UC-Davis, Michigan, Indiana, UCLA, USC, Loyola Marymount and others, but signed on with the Golden Bears and will be in the Cal water for the spring season of 2006.
Drake at Sweet Briar
Former Willow Glen High School field hockey sensation Julie Drake is still on the field as a junior starter at Sweet Briar College in Sweet Briar, Va. Drake, a San Jose native, was an all-conference honorable mention selection last fall after leading her team with 12 goals. She was battling back this year after suffering two ACL tears.
Locals at Cal
Prospect graduate Amber Madsen was a starting forward on the field hockey team at UC Berkeley this fall. Madsen tallied career highs in goals (eight) and assists (five).
Cal, which finished this fall as the nation's 13th-ranked team with a team-record 17 wins, had a host of former area high school stars on its roster. Juniors Alexandra Harkins (Prospect) and Kiely Schmidt (Archbishop Mitty), sophomore Jamie Nance (Leigh), and freshmen Jamie Sibilia (Monta Vista), Annie Smith (Los Gatos), Veronica Sykes (Del Mar), Christina McGrath (St. Francis) and Jenny and Missy Crane (St. Francis) of Los Gatos.
Jenny Crane was the Bears' top scoring threat off the bench this season, scoring goals on five of her eight shot attempts.
Mollett, Wald still star
Ali Mollett, Del Mar's top player a year ago, is off to a good start for the women's basketball team at Sacramento State. The freshman guard averaged 14 minutes and four points during the Hornets first eight games this season.
An interesting match-up is scheduled for Dec. 31 when Mollett's team hosts New Mexico State. A freshman member of the visiting Aggies will be Mollett's friend and former AAU club teammate Mandy Wald.
Wald, a 2004 graduate of Homestead High School, is one of seven freshmen on the New Mexico team and is averaging about five minutes of playing time through 10 games in the current season. Wald averaged 17 points a game as a senior at Homestead and was an all-league selection as a sophomore, junior, and senior.
Grelli still running
Former Presentation cross country star Melissa Grelli recently completed her first season at Georgetown University, placing 19th in the East Coast Athletic Conference race on Nov. 20. Grelli, who was the second Hoya to cross the finish line at the ECAC event, consistently was among the Hoyas' top five finishers throughout the fall season.
Pacheco a Lady Jag
Jacquie Pacheco, Leland class of 2003, is in her second year playing on the San José City College Lady Jaguars basketball team. Pacheco was a first team all-Coast Conference selection in 200304 and helped to lead the Jaguars to a 7-1 conference record and a co-championship.
Bob Scudder and Dick Sparrer contributed to this story.
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