SOFTBALL BEAT VERDUGO HILLS PITCHERS HONORED.Byline: Gerry Gittelson Staff Writer Former pitchers Laura Fawcett and Melanie Wood Melanie Matchett Wood, born 1981 in Indianapolis, Indiana, is a graduate student mathematician currently studying at Princeton University who has set numerous "firsts" as a woman in the area of mathematics. were honored at Verdugo Hills High in Tujunga on Tuesday as the only softball players in school history to have their jersey numbers retired. Fawcett, who graduated in 1987, was 15-1 with 203 strikeouts in 113 innings as a senior. She won 28 games in her career, and she pitched three hitless innings with seven strikeouts in the first Daily News All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game played by the best players in their sports league. The players are often chosen by a popular vote of fans of the sport and the game often occurs at the halfway point of the regular season, although this is not the case for some all-star games . She went to Cal Poly Cal Poly may refer to:
SLO San Luis Obispo (California) SLO Service Level Objectives (information technology services) , where she was a four-year starter. Wood, who graduated in 1996, was 38-7 with 446 strikeouts in 295 innings in her career. She threw seven no-hitters, two of which were perfect games, and she was also a career .393 hitter with five home runs and 77 RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in . She went on to an excellent career at Cal State Bakersfield. CRESCENTA VALLEY The Crescenta Valley is a small inland valley in Los Angeles County, California. Its name derives from its crescent-like shape, with the convex portion facing roughly northeast and the concave portion southwest. : ``OUR TOES ARE STILL TAPPING'' Many thought Crescenta Valley of La Crescenta would be devastated dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. by the graduation last spring of four-year standout Meredith Cervenka, one of the region's all-time winningest pitchers who is now at Long Beach State. But third baseman third baseman n. Baseball The infielder stationed near third base. Noun 1. third baseman - (baseball) the person who plays third base third sacker Melanie McCauley said the team used Cervenka's departure as a rallying point Noun 1. rallying point - a point or principle on which scattered or opposing groups can come together point - a brief version of the essential meaning of something; "get to the point"; "he missed the point of the joke"; "life has lost its point" , and the Falcons have responded with a 10-1 record, best among large schools in the area. ``I was somewhat concerned about Meredith leaving, but I knew we'd be OK because we just had to make up for it,'' McCauley said. ``You can't win games without scoring runs no matter how good your pitching is, so we've just been concentrating on scoring more.'' Crescenta Valley is batting .314 and is averaging more than seven runs per game, and the Falcons have committed just four errors. Of course, McCauley, a senior, won't have to trudge on without Cervenka for long. She'll join her at Long Beach State next season. ``That will be real fun to be on the field with Meredith again,'' McCauley said. ``Besides softball, we're good friends, too.'' HUGE VICTORY FOR CHAMINADE Chaminade of West Hills, in the midst Adv. 1. in the midst - the middle or central part or point; "in the midst of the forest"; "could he walk out in the midst of his piece?" midmost of a rebuilding season with six freshmen and sophomores in the starting lineup For the line of action figures, see . A starting lineup in sports refers to the set of players actively participating in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as starters, whereas the others are substitutes , shocked Fairfield 1-0 in nine innings at the Best of the West tournament Tuesday in Santa Maria Santa Maria, city, Brazil Santa Maria (sän`tə mərē`ə), city (1991 pop. 217,592), Rio Grande do Sul state, S Brazil. It is a major railroad terminus and the site of an important military base. . The victory was one of the biggest upset in recent years, considering Fairfield (of Northern California Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The region contains the San Francisco Bay Area, the state capital, Sacramento; as well as the substantial natural beauty of the redwood forests, the northern ), led by strikeout queen Alicia Hollowell Alicia Kay Hollowell (born February 29, 1984) is an American athlete who was born in Suisun, California and attended Fairfield High School from 1998 to 2002; her parents are Doug and Suzanne Hollowell, and her siblings are Doug Jr., Bryan, Erica and Caroline. (1,277 strikeouts over the past two seasons) was the preseason No. 1 team in the nation in several polls. Chaminade entered the tournament 1-3 with three runs scored. ``We did realize how big a win it was. Everyone was jumping and cheering afterward,'' pitcher Christina Lupacchini said. GAME OF THE WEEK --VALENCIA (11-2-2) vs. HART (10-3), 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, Newhall Park: When Valencia beat neighborhood rival Hart of Newhall, not once but twice, last year to win the Foothill League title, the sweep was considered shocking. This season, Valencia has returned seven starters, including top pitchers Tori Rocco and Christina Ross, who have excelled again. But Hart, expecting a rebuilding season, has proved equally as strong despite new faces in most key positions. Expect a heated, competitive matchup that figures to be decided at the very end. BOUND TO HAPPEN --When visiting L.A. Baptist of North Hills and Village Christian of Sun Valley meet in the Alpha League opener Tuesday afternoon, there's no way either team will score during the regulation seven innings. Not with hard-throwing right-handers Katie Gustaveson of L.A. Baptist and Lauren Nydam of Village Christian - who happen to be best friends - going head-to-head. Gustaveson, a junior, is 7-2 with a 0.35 ERA and 100 strikeouts in 60 innings. Nydam, a sophomore, is 9-2 with a 0.33 ERA and 114 strikeouts in 84 innings. Both have pitched mainly against larger schools. ``I'm really looking forward to the game. It should be really exciting,'' Nydam said. ``Katie does throw a little harder, but I don't want to compare or say what advantages I might have because we're friends. We're both pretty equal. It could be a long game, but it should be exciting.'' POTENTIAL STAR NICOLE NICOLE Nearly Intelligent Computer Operated Language Examiner (chatterbot) GUTIERREZ Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. Gutierrez scored both runs in a 2-1 victory over neighborhood rival Royal of Simi Valley in the final of the 20-team Simi Softball Invitational on March 16. She also came through with several key defensive plays. The junior shortstop looks to do more damage when the teams meet in a Marmonte League The Marmonte League is a high school sports league primarily made up of schools from Ventura County. The Marmonte Leauge is part of the CIF Southern Section. Click here to view the league schedule. showdown Tuesday afternoon at Rancho Simi Rancho San José de Nuestra Senora de Altagarcia y Simi is one of the land grants in California by the Spanish government. The name derives from Shimiji, the name of the Chumash village here before the Spanish. Community Park. RUBBER ARM Left-hander Cassie Shires is slated to pitch every inning for Chatsworth, just as she did last year. She doesn't mind. ``It gives me extra practice and it gives me more stamina,'' she said. ``I can build up strength for travel ball during the summer.'' LEAGUE UPDATES ALPHA Julie Stone of Village Christian hit a home run over the 220-foot fence Thursday against Glendale, the first time anyone could remember an over-the-fence home run at Village Christian's home field. CONDOR High-powered Oaks Christian of Westlake Village, a newcomer to the league, is in the midst of a two-week break. The Lions meet defending league champion Cornerstone Christian of Camarillo on Wednesday. ``We had a lot of games in a short period, and that was pretty intense,'' coach Pet Ackermann said. ``It's nice for the girls to have a break from each other. They'll come back rejuvenated re·ju·ve·nate tr.v. re·ju·ve·nat·ed, re·ju·ve·nat·ing, re·ju·ve·nates 1. To restore to youthful vigor or appearance; make young again. 2. .'' MISSION Three Alemany of Mission Hills starters are batting .371 or better. Wisconsin-bound Kaitlin Reiss is hitting .381 with one home run, Kelli Rodriguez is at .425 with three home runs and Megan Kelly is batting .371 with one home run. HERITAGE Faith Baptist (7-3) is batting .372, sparked by Amy Rudolph (.538), Devina Quintero (.533) and Ivette Hernandez (.483). PACIFIC Glendale (8-5) is off to its fastest start in several years, and RHP rhp abbr. rated horsepower Heather Hamasaki is hoping the turnaround proves permanent. ``I'm really pleased the team is doing so well,'' she said. ``This is the best start since I've been here. I really think we have a good chance this year. I have high hopes if we keep playing at this level. We might just give Crescenta Valley a good game this year.'' SUNSET SIX Junior Dena DePompa of Verdugo Hills, a transfer from Village Christian, said she loves her new school. ``I like it a lot because it's so much more diverse with so many different types of people,'' she said. ``I'd been going to private school since I was in kindergarten, so it's definitely a challenge adjusting. But I really like what Verdugo has to offer academically. I'm taking AP history, honors English, precalculus pre·cal·cu·lus n. A course of study taken as a prerequisite for the study of calculus. pre·cal  cu·lus adj. and
art.''
TRI-VALLEY Tracey Clark, a SS for La Reina La Reina (Spanish: "The queen") is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It consistently ranks in the top five communes with the best quality of life in the Metropolitan Region. of Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. , has committed to Concordia University in Irvine, a NAIA NAIA abbr. National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes school. WEST VALLEY Birmingham of Van Nuys has upgraded its nonleague schedule after winning the City Invitational championship last year, and coach Jim Rose is hoping better competition will make a difference. ``Certain teams, if you beat them it's no big deal,'' he said. ``But we're trying to get to the next level.'' ... Cleveland of Reseda has seven of nine starters back from last year, including ace RHP Laura Demetrion and standout C Brandi King, so the Cavaliers hope to challenge league favorites 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:
LHP Left Hand Path LHP Lighthouse Point (Broward County, Florida city) LHP Left Half-Plane LHP Lead Hollowpoint (bullet) LHP Living History Project LHP Landslide Hazard Program Cassie Shires of Chatsworth said she might commit to Chapman University. ``I talked to them and the coach said they're looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a left-handed pitcher who can also play first base, and they say I'm their No. 1 pick,'' Shires said. ... ECR's Kelly Lombard is thrilled about switching from LF to 3B this season. ``I wouldn't say left field was boring, but I didn't get much action there last year, especially with Melissa Coogan (now at Hawaii) pitching,'' Lombard said. ``I play third base in travel ball, too, so I'm really happy.'' WHAT I DID DURING SPRING BREAK We polled some of the region's best players about what they did - or plan to do - during spring break. Here are some of the replies: --Kelly Lombard, El Camino Real: ``On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I practiced and took private hitting lessons, that was it. On Thursday I went to Zuma Beach with my brother, Nick, and some friends.'' --Elena Ferrero, Harvard-Westlake: ``We have two weeks for spring break instead of just one, which I think is great. But I didn't really go anywhere. I just practiced with my dad, went to Catalina Island for a day and saw two movies, ``Resident Evil'' and ``Beautiful Mind.'' --Kelly Kalish, La Canada: ``I'll probably just hang out with friends.'' --Cassie Corless, Quartz Hill: ``I love spring break. It feels great to have some time off because we had a lot of back-to-back games. I went to the beach.'' --Melanie McCauley, Crescenta Valley: ``I'm going to the Colorado river to go water skiing.'' --Brandi King, Cleveland: ``I hung out with friends and I sent out about 200 letters to colleges, filling out player profiles.'' --Cassie Shires, Chatsworth: ``We went to Resugio State Beach in Santa Barbara.'' --Dena DePompa, Verdugo Hills: ``We were supposed to go to Pine Flat Lake Pine Flat Lake is a lake in Fresno County, California, about 20 miles (30 km) northeast of Fresno. The lake is formed by Pine Flat Dam on the Kings River. It has a capacity of 1,000,000 acre feet (1.2 km³), making it one of the largest lakes in California. up north, but it rained so we couldn't go.'' --Alondra Scandrick, Littlerock: ``I just relaxed at home and worked at Jack in the Box.'' --Heather Hamasaki, Glendale: ``I'm going to catch up on some sleep.'' --Kianna Urbanski, Lancaster: ``We went to New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of to visit my grandpa and see the play `42nd Street' on Broadway.'' --Lauren Nydam, Village Christian: ``I went to Mission Bay with Katie Gustaveson (of L.A. Baptist). It was so much fun. We worked out the whole time in the weight room.'' --Devina Quintero, Faith Baptist: ``I went on vacation to Orlando and did a lot of sightseeing. It was a lot of fun, especially downtown Disney.'' DAILY NEWS SPRING CLASSIC Pool play begins Saturday for the Daily News Spring Classic softball tournament at Hjelte Sports Center in Encino. Winners of each morning pool game play one another at 1:30 p.m., and losers meet at 3:30 p.m. The tournament playoffs conclude April 13 at the same site. POOL A Notre Dame vs. San Fernando, 9 a.m.; Newbury Park vs. Birmingham, 11 a.m. POOL B Westlake vs. Faith Baptist, 9 a.m.; Harvard-Westlake vs. Kennedy, 11 a.m. POOL C Crescenta Valley vs. Calabasas, 9 a.m.; Burroughs vs. Granada Hills, 11 a.m. POOL D La Canada vs. El Camino Real, 9 a.m.; Verdugo Hills vs. Chaminade, 11 a.m. DAILY NEWS TOP 10 1. Crescenta Valley 10-1 Favorite to repeat as Daily News tourney champs 2. Valencia 11-2-2 Showdown vs. Hart on Tuesday 3. Hart 10-3 No team has more quality pitchers 4. Westlake 8-3-1 Should win pool in Daily News tourney Sat. 5. Royal 10-3-1 Beat SM St. Joe 11-0 in Best of West tourney Tues. 6. Simi Valley 8-4-1 Among three Marmonte teams competing in Best of West tourney 7. Thousand Oaks 7-4-1 Rejuventated now that pitcher Kilionski is eligible 8. Oaks Christian 12-1 Ashlee Freeman: 74 Ks, 0.00 ERA in 48 1/3 innings 9. Moorpark 10-4-1 Barker team's top pitcher (5-2, 0.57), hitter (.400) 10. Rio Mesa 8-4 Pitcher Tripp her usual unhittable self BUBBLING: Saugus 9-7; Camarillo 9-2; Birmingham 14-2; Chaminade 4-4; Harvard-Westlake 8-4; Quartz Hill 9-6; Notre Dame 6-3; La Canada 5-3-1; Village Christian 10-4-1. CAPTION(S): 6 photos, 3 boxes Photo: (1) Ex-Verdugo Hills pitchers Melanie Wood, left, and Laura Fawcett pose with their jerseys, which were retired recently. (2) LITTLEROCK'S ALONDRA SCANDRICK (3) LANCASTER'S KIANNA URBANSKI (4) CHAMINADE'S CHRISTINA LUPACCHINI (5) GLENDALE PITCHER HEATHER HAMASAKI (6) Tracy Clark, right, a shortstop for La Reina of Thousand Oaks, has committed to Concordia University in Irvine, an NAIA school. Evan Yee/Staff Photographer Box: (1) WHAT I DID DURING SPRING BREAK (see text) (2) DAILY NEWS SPRING CLASSIC (see text) (3) DAILY NEWS TOP 10 (see text) |
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