10TH-GRADE PLUM : EX-YOUTH-LEAGUE PHENOM BLUMFIELD LEADS EL CAMINO REAL.Byline: Eric Eisner Special to the Daily News The soccer field was a quagmire. Thunder and lightning accompanied the heavy downpour. Every little girl except one had left the field and was safely on her way home. The one remaining 7-year-old stood in the middle of the field refusing to leave. She still wanted to play. The little girl was Cara Blumfield. Go to any youth sporting event in the West Valley, mention Blumfield's name and someone will likely recognize it from her days playing softball softball, variant of baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Invented (1888) in Chicago as an indoor game, it was at various times called indoor baseball, mush ball, playground ball, kitten ball, and, because it was also played by women, ladies' , baseball, soccer and basketball. Now at the high school level, Blumfield is earning praise as a sophomore basketball player for unbeaten El Camino Real El Camino Real (Spanish for The Royal Road or The King's Highway) was the name of a series of pre-automobile highways linking the various New World colonies of Spain:
With 14 seconds left in a game against San Fernando San Fernando, city, Argentina San Fernando (săn fərnăn`dō), city (1991 pop. 144,761), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. , Blumfield sank a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime. She had 24 points, five steals and four assists that night as El Camino Real went on to win. Two days before, Blumfield scored 17 points, including two late 3-pointers, in a 47-46 win over Granada Hills. Blumfield arrived at El Camino Real this fall after making the All-Frontier League team in basketball and softball as a freshman at Calabasas High. She also won the Nike Three-4-All basketball competition in Philadelphia. Blumfield was switched to shooting guard The Shooting guard (SG), also known as the two or off guard,[1] is one of five traditional positions on a basketball team. Players of the position are often shorter, leaner, and quicker than forwards. from point guard by coach Lori Chandler this season. ``I needed someone to fill the scoring void left by the graduation of Tami Jones,'' Chandler said, ``and Cara was the perfect fit. What is amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. about Cara is her composure com·po·sure n. A calm or tranquil state of mind; self-possession. [From compose.] composure Noun the state of being calm or unworried Noun and consistency.'' She has been El Camino Real's leading scorer in every game this season. Before high school, baseball is what gained Blumfield lots of attention. She played against El Camino Real's Woody Cliffords and Canoga Park's Kevin Carlsen at Westhills PONY baseball. As a shortstop and leadoff hitter In baseball, a leadoff hitter is a batter who bats first in the lineup. Strategy Leadoff hitters must possess certain traits to be successful: they must reach base at a proficient rate and be able to steal bases. , she used her speed and savvy to excel against the boys. As a 9-year-old, Blumfield missed the start of a school play so she could get one last at-bat. She hit a triple off the fence. She's the only girl ever to make the All-Star team for 13-year-olds at Westhills. In one of the last baseball tournaments she participated in, there were 119 boys on the tournament rosters and one girl. Blumfield won the tournament MVP (Multimedia Video Processor) A high-speed DSP chip from Texas Instruments, introduced in 1994. Officially introduced as the TMS320C80, it combines RISC technology with the functionality of four DSPs on one chip. . ``It was very tough for me to give up baseball,'' Blumfield said. She has become a top club softball player and figures again to replace Jones, last season's City 4-A Player of the Year, at shortstop for El Camino Real's softball team. Softball and baseball are distant thoughts for Blumfield now. During the basketball season, she focuses on that sport only. Winning a Northwest Valley Conference title is top priority. On Friday, the Conquistadores will face their toughest challenge from preseason-favorite Kennedy. ``Cara is still the little girl who doesn't want to leave the field,'' said her mother, Caren, a P.E. teacher at Lindero Canyon Middle School Lindero Canyon Middle School is a public middle school in suburban Agoura Hills, California. It is located west of Morrison Ranch district and north of Lake Lindero. It serves the entire city of Agoura Hills and is one of three middle schools of the Las Virgenes Unified School in Agoura. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: ``What is amazing about Cara is her composure and consistency,'' says coach Lori Chandler of sophomore guard Cara Blumfield. Evan Yee / Daily News |
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