Willow Glen Resident

Sports

Rams, Chargers in annual Tiki Match

Softball team splits in four league games

By Dick Sparrer

It's not like the volleyball rivalry between the boys at Willow Glen and Leland isn't strong enough, coaches Jason Hilbert and Jef Wind decided to make things even more interesting--they'd put something more than league standings and bragging rights on the line.
So what did they come up with to make the rivalry so intense in the annual match between the two teams at Willow Glen? The Tiki Award.

Well, Stanford and Cal play football each fall for an axe, and Lincoln and San Jose play a high school football game in town each Thanksgiving Day for an old cow bone. So why not a tiki?

Strange as it sounds, it's important enough to the two teams involved, and they'll be playing for it when they step onto the court for a 7 p.m. match on May 4, following a 5 p.m. junior varsity clash.

The gym will be decorated with a Polynesian flair, and the mood will be light and easy like a South Pacific wind--that is, everywhere but on the court.

"Willow Glen has held the tiki for the past two years," said Wind. "Coach Hilbert really wants it, but my boys don't seem to want to let it go."

Leland would seem to be the favorite in the match. After all, the Chargers are the co-leaders in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League with a 13-1 record. But Willow Glen's not bad either, sitting back in third place with an 11-3 record. The only league losses for the Rams this season come against the co-leaders, Leland and Leigh.

Still, the standings don't seem to matter much when the Rams and Chargers collided in the Tiki Match. A year ago, Leland was on its way to a league championship when the Chargers were upset by the Rams on the night of the tiki.

Willow Glen could have momentum on its side heading into the match this week. The Rams, who were to visit Pioneer on Tuesday before closing out the regular season at home against Leland on Thursday, handled Prospect 25-12, 25-15, 25-10 and outlasted Oak Grove 21-25, 25-17, 25-18, 24-26, 16-14 last week.

Senior outside hitter Jason Tom pounded a team-high 15 kills to the floor in the win over the Eagles. Junior middle blocker Tobin Chase was the kill leaders against Prospect with 11.

The Rams take a 21-12 season record into play this week.

The Chargers, meanwhile, stumbled last week in league play, losing a 22-25, 25-15, 23-25, 27-25, 15-5 heartbreaker to Leigh to force a tie for first place in the division. Scott Lucas had 20 kills in the match for the Chargers.

Leland, 23-5 this year, had opened the week with a 25-9, 25-14, 25-17 win over Oak Grove behind 13 kills by Lucas.

Rams win 2, lose 2

When the Willow Glen softball team can get senior pitcher Michele McCollum a couple of runs, the Rams are a force in the BVAL's Santa Teresa Division. When they can't ...

Well, last week they did and didn't. When they did, the Rams rolled to a couple of division victories. When they didn't, the Rams suffered a pair of league losses.

The Rams put three runs on the scoreboard and that was more than enough for McCollum, who tossed a 5-hitter in a 3-1 Willow Glen victory. Senior Aurora Donnelly led a seven-hit attack for the Rams with three singles.

Willow Glen broke up a scoreless tie with a couple of runs in the third. The Panthers cut the lead to 2-1 with a run in the fifth, but the Rams added an insurance run in the sixth and nailed the 3-1 victory.

Willow Glen scored a couple of runs two days later against Independence and the Rams turned them into a 2-1 win over the 76ers. McCollum tossed a 4-hitter for the victory and Donnelly led the Willow Glen offensive attack with two hits.

But sandwiching that win over the Sixers were a couple of tough losses. The Rams were blanked in a 7-0 loss to Piedmont Hills, despite a triple by senior Katie Joyce, and they lost a 2-1 nod to Del Mar.

McCollum flipped a 7-hitter, but the Rams could managed just four singles in the loss to the Dons. Del Mar broke up a string of goose eggs with two runs in the top of the sixth. Willow Glen got one back in the home half of the inning when senior Debra Weaver knocked in a run, but that was all the Rams could manage.

Willow Glen, 4-6 in the division and 7-9 for the year, was to visit Piedmont Hills on May 2 and will head to Evergreen Valley on May 4 before hosting the Cougars on May 5. All games begin at 3:30 p.m.