It wasn't until the top of the seventh inning when McCollum finally realized what was happening--Michelle was throwing a perfect game. "When I their lead-off hitter come up to start the seventh, I knew it," said McCollum, who then know doubt had a double case of the nerves as both Michelle's coach and father.

But he had nothing to worry about. Michelle put down the 76ers one-two-three in the seventh to complete her first ever perfect game in Willow Glen's 3-0 win over Independence.

"After the last pitch, she came sprinting over to me," said McCollum.

Michelle, a junior, had retired 18 straight hitters entering that final inning, getting most of them to ground out weakly to the infield. In the seventh, though, she got the first hitter on an infield roller, then struck out the last two batters to complete the perfecto.

Michelle finished the day with six strikeouts, four of them coming against the last five hitters of the game. Only two balls left the infield, and both were fly balls hauled in by Willow Glen outfielders.

It was "Senior Day" for the Rams, and catcher Caitlin Edmunds was receiving her final game ever at Willow Glen. She went out in style.

"One of the most important players in a perfect game is the catcher," said McCollum, praised the work of Edmunds behind the plate.

Juniors Aurora Donnelly and Debra Weaver led the offensive effort for the Rams in the win, according to McCollum.

"It was just one of those games," said McCollum of his daughter's perfection. "She's been close before."

Strangely, she was close again the next day. The Del Mar lead-off hitter singled, but Michelle went on to retire the next 21 consecutive batters to finish with a 1-hit shutout. She also doubled twice to drive in three runs in the 4-0 Willow Glen victory. Senior Dana Samhouri added a couple of hits and scored two runs.

Willow Glen had opened the week with a 4-1 win over Andrew Hill on another 1-hitter by M. McCollum.

Two hits and one run in 21 innings pitched on three consecutive days--not a bad week for the junior hurler.

London, Okun at CCS

The season finished during the first week of May for many high school swimmers--for others, it finished last weekend at the Central Coast Section trials and finals at Stanford University's Avery Aquatics Center.

Scott London and Christina Okun of Willow Glen were among the "others."

The two juniors qualified for the CCS meet with solid performances during the regular season. London made it to CCS in two events--the 50-yard freestyle and 100 butterfly--and Okun made it one--the 50 free.

London barely missed making the B-final in the 100 fly, cruising to a 55.34 for the 18th best time in the 46-swimmer field. He was also 32nd in the 50 free in 22.71. Okun ended up 50th in the 50 free in 26.50.

Okun led the Willow Glen girls to a 4-2 dual meet record in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. The Rams finished third at the league finals.

Okun starred in the 50 free with junior Kelly Greene a standout in the 200 free and freshman Jackie Anderson leading the Rams in the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke.

The Willow Glen boys were fifth at the league meet, but were led by a few outstanding individuals. London timed out at 57.06 in the 100 fly and 23.12 in the 50 free--bettering both marks at CCS.

Sophomore Reese Rotsaert was a standout in the 100 free for the Rams and soph Freddy Martinez showed great improvement throughout the season.

Meghan Corcoran coached both the boys and girls teams at Willow Glen this spring.

Senior Brandon Walsh, junior Adam Stickles, sophomore Reese Kolar and freshmen Dylan Brown, Josh Dombro, Geoffrey DuBridge, Charlie Kane and Dustin Shean were other members of the Willow Glen boys team.

Rounding out the girls team were seniors Christina Galvan and Samantha Troup; juniors Michelle Anderson, Courtney Buchanan, Lauren DuBridge, Lorraine Rowan, Lindsay Tait and Laura Vonstockhausen; sophomores Amber Box, Kristin Davis, Jamie Furtado, Shar Heinkel, Kim Helmbold, Amber Johnson, Kathryn Cremer, Alexandra Troup and Amelia Zahra; and freshmen Chelsea Barnes and Elizabeth Bootrich.

Corona, Morales win

The best of the BVAL got together for the league track and field championships on May 12 at Mt. Pleasant High School, and Marcos Corona and Michael Morales of Willow Glen were among the best of the best.

Corona won two events and Morales won one to top of list of 11 Willow Glen qualifiers in 14 events for the CCS semifinals coming up May 21 at San José City College.

Corona raced to a win in the 1,600-meter run in 4:24.55 with teammate Mohamed Abdalla sixth in 4:36.88, and Corona was first in the 3,200 in 9:45.60 with Abdalla third in 9:49.48 and Robert Ramos sixth in 10:28.49.

Morales raced to a win in the 200 meters in 22.59 and he was second in the 100 in 11.17.

Joining the two at CCS among Willow Glen boys will be Jose Valle, sixth in the shot put at 41-8, and Jose Cervantes, ninth in the 800 in 2:03.80.

Angela Pizzella starred for the Willow Glen girls at the league meet. Pizzella qualified for CCS in four events: tying for fifth in the triple jump at 33-10, nailing sixth in both the 400 in 1:02.36 and the long jump at 16-5.5 and finishing eighth in the 200 in 26.82.

Cristina Diaz romped to a fifth-place finish in the 3,200 meters in 12:15.91 with Michelle Moran seventh in the 800 in 2:28.65, Angelica Montelongo seventh in the discus at 103-2 and Kari Server ninth in the 1,600 in 5:32.17. The four will join Pizzella at the CCS meet on Saturday.

Volleyball team falls

A great run came to an end for the Willow Glen volleyball team--the Rams lost 25-10, 25-7, 25-23 to Bellarmine in the first round of the CCS playoffs.

Willow Glen finished the year with an 18-16 record. One of the highlights of the year for the Rams was a big win over Leland in the "Tiki Match" held a couple of weeks ago. The Chargers won the championship in the BVAL's Mt. Hamilton Division, but they lost 25-18, 22-25, 25-17, 25-22 to the Bells last Saturday.