Willow Glen Resident

Sports

WG's Chase shares volleyball MVP award with Ng-Parish

By Kevin Sparrer

Only the top players in each division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League win special awards, and only one athlete in each division is named the best.

But in Mt. Hamilton Division volleyball this year that wasn't possible.

Superstars Tobin Chase of Willow Glen and Jon Ng-Parish of Westmont shared the top award when they were named the division's co-Most Valuable Players for the 2007 season.

Willow Glen was represented with more than just one special award, though. Marcus Mancuso of the Rams was named the Sophomore of the Year in the division.

Derek Pirse of Leigh was picked the Senior of the Year, Brandon Beville of Westmont was the Junior of the Year and Sam Safatu of Oak Grove was the Freshman of the Year.

Willow Glen also had a pair of players named first team all-league for their efforts. Robby Paine and Robert Harris were the two Rams named to the squad.

The rest of the first team included Mike Downs, Austin Ensley and Mason Tregoning of Leigh, and Kenny Tran and Daniel Ortiz of Leland.

Willow Glen's Billy Hahn earned a placed on the all-league second team along with Mike Jones and Chris Green of Oak Grove, and Keith Nyberg, Martin Szczepaniak and Landon Jones of Westmont.

Baseball

Willow Glen's baseball team struggled a little this season in the rugged Mt. Hamilton Division, but Dewey Rogge played well enough to earn all-league honors. Rogge was named to the division's second team as an outfielder during his senior year.

The co-MVP awards in the division went to Chris Balcom-Miller of Leigh and Matthew Cummins of Live Oak. Garret Lewis of Pioneer was named the Senior of the Year, Matthew Brady of Leigh was the Junior of the Year, Zach Jones of Santa Teresa was the Sophomore of the Year and Leland's Trevor Dyer was named Freshman of the Year.

Rounding out the first team all league awards were Steven Amarl and Kyle Jury of Leigh, Nate Jones and Alex Todd of Leland, Eddie Gomez and Blaine Sutton of Live Oak, Travi Molina of Santa Teresa, Derek Clark of Pioneer, Kyle McDonald of Westmont and Bret Itatani of Piedmont Hills.

Finishing out the second team were Cameron Willis, Anthony Austin and Adam Perez of Live Oak, Tyler Christian and Ryan Pitman of Leigh, Kevin Krail of Leland, Kyle Burchfiel and Matt Montelongo of Pioneer, Christian Taylor of Santa Teresa and Cannon Bernarding of Westmont.

Softball

Like the baseball team, Willow Glen's softball team struggled this season, but like Rogge, sophomore pitcher Tayler Vierra played well enough to earn a place on the all-league second team.

Audrea Lopez of Branham was the MVP of the division, while Katrin Gabriel of Oak Grove and Linda Fernando of Independence split the Senior of the Year award. Alicia Noriega of Oak Grove was the Junior of the Year and Del Mar's Lauren Zweigle was the Sophomore of the Year.

The rest of the first team included Kellene Condie and Courtney Pollak of Del Mar, Leah Sparrowe of Prospect, Casey Post of Sobrato, Emily Soumountha and Monique Aguilar of Oak Grove, Erica Nowack and Kris Sonnmier of Santa Teresa and Kacey Foltz, Nicole Bertolacci and Angela Hays of Branham.

The second team was filled out by Anna Myers and Leslie Wilson of Del Mar, Stacy Rock of Prospect, Amanda Estantion and Jessica Perqlez of Independence, Mallory Powers of Oak Grove, Alexandra Galusha and Erica Salazar of Santa Teresa, Frankie Kellett of Sobrato and Melissa Mayes of Branham.