SOUTHERN SECTION BASEBALL: DIV. II: ST. FRANCIS REVELING IN TEAM SUCCESS.Byline: ERIK BOAL Special to the Daily News Evan Simonitsch was approached earlier this season by a fellow student at St. Francis High of La Canada Flintridge and asked, ``Where did the baseball team come from?'' Being a member of a program that boasts major-league talents Mark Loretta Mark David Loretta (born August 14, 1971 in Santa Monica, California) is a second baseman in Major League Baseball who plays for the Houston Astros. Previously, Loretta played with the Milwaukee Brewers (1995-2002), Houston Astros (2002), San Diego Padres (2003-2005) and Boston and Gregg Zaun Gregory Owen "Gregg" Zaun (born April 14, 1971 in Glendale, California) is a Major League Baseball player with the Toronto Blue Jays. A catcher, his plate-blocking ability and hustle have made him a fan favourite in Toronto. among its alumni, in addition to producing several other promising minor-league players, Simonitsch was at a loss in trying to answer such a question. Thanks to Simonitsch and fellow juniors Joe De Pinto pinto Spotted horse, also called paint, piebald, skewbald, and other terms to describe variations in colour and markings. The American Indian ponies of the western U.S. were often pintos. Most pure-breed associations refuse to register horses with pinto colouring. , Brett Hertz and Andrew Sember, the baseball team won't have to worry about flying under the radar This article is about the magazine. For other uses, see Under the Radar (disambiguation). Under the Radar is an American magazine that bills itself as "The solution to music pollution." It features interviews with accompanying photo-shoots. any longer. Building on a bond that began as 10-year-olds, the longtime friends have helped St. Francis reach the Southern Section finals for the first time in program history. The Golden Knights
Santa Ana (sän'tä ä`nä), city (1993 pop. 129,873), W El Salvador. It is the second largest city in the country and the commercial and processing center for a sugarcane, coffee, and cattle region. (26-4) -- the top-ranked team in the state in Div. II by Cal-Hi Sports -- at 4:30 p.m. today at Angel Stadium. ``You would think with all those great players, they would have had that type of success,'' said Simonitsch, whose older brother Errol -- a 2000 St. Francis graduate -- pitches for the NewBritain Rock Cats, the Minnesota Twins' Double-A affiliate. De Pinto and Sember won a Crescenta Sports Association Pony division championship when they were 10, Hertz and Simonitsch led Foothill Little League to only its third 12-under district title in 2001 and all four players combined to help La Crescenta's 14-under Babe Ruth team place third at the World Series in Quincy, Mass., two years ago. ``It brings back a lot of memories,'' said De Pinto, the team's shortstop, who hit a seventh-inning home run in a 4-2 quarterfinal victory over Yucaipa. ``How great is it when you can say you're playing baseball with a group of your best friends and you have an opportunity to do something really, really special for your school.'' Mike Solar, St. Francis' fifth-year coach, knows how 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. the experience can be, having won a Div A DIV Associate of Divinity . 4-A title in 1988 as a player at Covina High. Solar said the chemistry shared by this year's group reminds him a lot of his championship team because of the strong senior leadership and unselfish attitude of the younger players. Hertz, Sember and Simonitsch are all younger siblings of former St. Francis players. Along with Solar's guidance, they credit the coaching of their fathers and additional instruction from their siblings for helping them reach this level. ``They're really proud of us,'' said Hertz, whose father Bill coached the boys on his Glendale Knights travel-ball team that competed in the Cooperstown Dreams Park Cooperstown Dreams Park is a youth baseball tournament, that is held in Cooperstown, NY. Children aged 12 or younger stay in barracks at the field complex for 5 days, the last couple of days being days for playoffs. tournament in 2001. ``(Our brothers) are a little jealous because there's always a competition between brothers. Hopefully we can get extra props if we win (today).'' Said Sember: ``When we got to (the 2004 regionals in) Utah and Massachusetts, we thought, `This is as good as it gets at this age.' To play in Angel Stadium is a dream come true for me.'' erik.boal@dailynews.com (818) 713-3607 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: St. Francis coach Mike Solar is glad he has, from left, Brett Hertz, Joe De Pinto, Andrew Sember and Evan Simonitsch on his team. John McCoy/Staff Photographer |
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