Pointer athletes earn four league titles For the 2012-13 year, the Pointers brought home four league titles, including boys’ basketball, girls’ soccer, boys’ tennis and boys’ volleyball. League title for boys’ volleyball Point Loma High’s boys earned an Eastern League championship, highlighting the spring sports season. Recording an 11-1 league mark (17-13 overall), the Pointers won 35 of 43 sets played in league, dropping only an April 17 match at Morse by a 3-2 score. The Tigers finished second (10-2) in league, 8-0 on their home court. This was Pointer head coach James Sakasegawa’s second league crown in his three-year tenure. He was recently named to head the Pointer girls’ program in the fall. Leaders in kills were senior team captain Jesse Kennedy (174) and senior Bennett Reeber (106). Senior team captain Clinton St. Clair had the highest serving ace percentage (16.2) followed by Kennedy (12.7), while highest serving accuracy percentage went to senior Cecil Horton (94.7) and senior Igor Burgos-Maron (92.5). Reeber (56) and junior Travis Doyle (55) led in blocks. The same pair led in digs, Doyle credited with 101, Reeber with 81. Boys’ lacrosse earns first CIF playoff berth After several years of effort, the Pointer boys not only earned a CIF playoff spot but were awarded a fourth-seed ranking and first-round bye. In the new CIF playoff format matching teams based on performance over recent seasons, the Pointers, with an 11-9 record this last season, were assigned to Div. I. Their second-round opponent, Mara-natha Christian of the California Coastal League, came into the match with only a 5-12 record, but blindsided the Pointers with an 8-2 drubbing to end the the PLHS season. The Pointers finished tied for third (5-5) in the CA City II Conference. Freshman Alex Dillman led the team with 43 points, followed by seniors Sam Dawidzik (38), Jason Irvine (25) and Joshua Mejorado (20). Goaltender Cole Scadden recorded a 5.45 goals-against average in the net. Late-season fade strikes softball On April 10, freshman Chloe O’Rourke and junior Gabby Williams combined to pitch a no-hitter against Cajon Valley High in a game cut short after five innings by the “mercy rule.” Sophomore Emily Poole had three hits, while junior Riley Jo Lamb and sophomore Arynn Pitta had two each. Junior Jenna Vargas recorded three runs batted in. The big victory upped the Lady Pointers’ season record to an impressive 15-3 and the team set its sights on a Western League title. But when third baseman Vargas, daughter of coach Steve Vargas, suffered a non-softball injury that ended her season, the Pointers went 3-5 from that point, losing to both eventual league champ Cathedral (3-2), Clairemont (13-0 and 9-2) and Mission Bay (5-3). In its CIF play-in round game, the team traveled to Steele Canyon High, where it managed only four hits in an 11-0 loss that was also ended after five innings by the “mercy rule.” The Lady Pointers finished the regular season 8-4 (a second-place tie with Clairemont in league) and 18-8 overall. Golf team drives to successful season Longtime head golf coach Fred Fogerty, who is retiring, worked with a group of golfers with varying degrees of experience to once again bring his team a number of victories. In team play, the Pointers posted a 15-5 record. Scoring in prep golf involves adding the four best scores from each team, with the lowest of all eight scores being named “medalist.” Earning medalist honors were players Braydon Brockett, Riley Wood, Grant Lilya and Tyler McQueen. Many of their scores were just several shots over par on major local courses. Mario Villamichel, Wood and Brockett made the cut in the first round City Conference tournament, with Villamichel earning a spot in the match play portion. Fogerty said he was pleased with the performances of his top performers, but added he was equally pleased with the progress made by his newer players. 50-year-old track record broken Senior Sydney Rush set a new PLHS 3 1/2 inches at the San Diego CIF finals. Rush’s jump betters the old mark of 23 feet, 11 3/4 inches set, ironically, the same day in 1963 by both Lyle Schafer and Doug Blanchard. Both were jumping in the annual Easter Relays at Balboa Stadium. Rush’s school record jump was the longest in San Diego County this year and qualified him for the state meet, where he did not place. Rush also tied for the second-best high jump by county preps this year, clearing 6 feet 6 inches. Baseball players named All-League Four Pointer players were named to the All-Western League team. Junior Joe Da Luz (infield/pitcher) and senior pitcher Josh Azar received first-team honors. Juniors Cameron Yackly (second base) and Jordan Goulet (outfield) made the second team. Senior Bryce Zander received the Coach Michael Delgado Leadership Award at the team’s recent banquet.