The Panthers were coming off an outstanding 22-8 season in 2004 but needed to replace their team up the middle--shortstop, second base and centerfield. Newman knew that they would be "rebuilding early and how well the replacements did would determine their success this season."

It all worked. The Panthers were very successful in the '05 campaign, playing well enough to run up a 23-8 season record, to contend for the title in the West Catholic Athletic League and to reach the semifinals of the Central Coast Section playoffs.

Junior Amanda Moriarty, who had been on the varsity as a sophomore but hadn't seen much playing time, stepped in at shortstop to solidify that spot. Junior Mikaela Gillette nailed down second base to the pleasant surprise of all. Gillette had suffered through two hip surgeries in her freshman and sophomore years and originally was a pitcher. She had never played second before but agreed to give it a shot and filled the position all season long.

"It was an outstanding comeback for Mikaela," Newman said. "It showed the kind of character she has to be out for two years and then to come back and play a new position."

The real key for the Panthers this season, though, was the outstanding combo of Jamie Lettire on the mound and Nicole Woyak behind the plate. Woyak was so solid in her skills and understanding of the game that Newman allowed her to call her own game all season long, which was the first time he had done that in 28 years of coaching.

Lettire responded with an outstanding season, compiling a 21-7 record with 353 strikeouts in 204 innings pitched. She allowed a mere 15 runs on the year (five of which were earned) for an ERA of 0.12.

Lettire fired five no-hitters, seven one-hitters and 16 shutouts. She struck out 51 percent of the batters she faced and fanned 10 or more in 23 games. In one nine-inning contest she struck out 22.

Senior third baseman Liz Skaggs was solid defensively and went errorless at her slot after the second game of the season. She was also a big impact offensively, improving her batting average by more than 100 points from her junior year to a .352 average.

"Our Achilles heel was that we had no real speed on the team and no slap hitter or solid bunter," Newman pointed out. "To score we had to rely on three singles or a single, bunt, double combination."

"We played in five tiebreaker situations and lost all five and scored only one run in them," the coach added. "Jamie could keep us in a game against anyone, but we fell short manufacturing runs."

Leanna Guillermo has been a four-year varsity starter and an outstanding lead-off batter.

Lettire earned the league's Pitcher of the Year award when the WCAL named its all-league squad at the season's end. Joining her on the all-league first team were Woyak and Staggs. Earning berths on the second team were Guillermo and Gillette and Joanna Mendoza was picked to the honorable mention list.

Although the Panther's season ended one game sooner than they had hoped, it was a season to be proud of.

As Newman summed it up, "For the season, Mitty was a razor's edge better than us, but we were pretty doggoned close!"

Soccer camp

Presentation High School will host a series of summer soccer camps for girls. Camps are slated for June 20-24, June 27-July 1, July 11-15 and August 1-5. For more information, contact Presentation head soccer coach Andrew Ransome at 408.446.0618 or andrew@griffinsoccer.com, or visit www.pres-net.com/athletics.

Field hockey camp

The sixth annual Del Mar girls field hockey camp for beginning players in grades 5-9 will be held on June 27-30 at Del Mar High School. The cost is $50 per player for the camp that runs from 9 a.m.-noon. Equipment will be provided. For more information, contact Del Mar coaches Gene or Stacey Sampson at 408.264.2373 or dmfieldhockey@netscape.net.