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This story first appeared
March 29, 2012
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
By Aram Tolegian, SGVN
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The St. Lucy's Priory softball foursome of Danielle O'Toole, Brandi Harkness, Danielle Mavridis and Laura Swan have gotten just about everything they've wanted out of their athletic careers. But something's still missing. Actually, two things. The first is a Sierra League championship and the second is a CIF championship. Beginning Friday, the quartet that has played together for the past 3 1/2 seasons will start a quest for championship glory when they and the rest of the Regents host South Hills in the Sierra League opener for both teams. "Since this is our last run, it's kind of upsetting and bittersweet," O'Toole said. "It's the last chance we have for a CIF title. The last chance we have for a league title. It's probably the last chance for the school for a while to make something really big of the program." O'Toole and her three senior teammates who have been fixtures at their respective positions since their freshman seasons all will be playing at the next level at this time next year. Meanwhile, the next generation of St. Lucy's softball hopefuls will have the difficult task of carrying on. O'Toole, a dominating 5-foot-9 pitcher, give St. Lucy's the all-important standout arm in the circle that's needed for softball success. She will play next season at San Diego State. Harkness, who plays third base, leads the team in RBIs and will play at St. Joseph's in Philadelphia next year. Mavridis leads the team in batting average and combines with Swan to give the Regents an excellent tandem up the middle at second base and shortstop. Mavridis will play at University of San Diego next season while Swan is headed to the University of Illinois-Chicago. "I agree, these girls help equip us with what we should have to be successful," St. Lucy's coach Ryan Nuveman said. "They've been with me since I've started here. It's special. I've seen them grow into quite-capable players. Basically, they've held down these spots. They've been our starting third base, shortstop, second base and pitcher for three years and that's rare. There's only been slight changes in their spots in the order, but no change in their spots in the field. "I don't know how much more they could mean to me than that. I know I can count on them. They're the same four that collectively as a group of four I can count on one hand the number of practices all four have missed combined since their freshman year." As good as the Regents are, nothing will come easily the rest of the way. The Sierra League race figures to be another battle royale with five of the teams entering league play with winning records. Last season, St. Lucy's finished third behind Chino Hills and South Hills, and both of those teams look ready to make another run. Then there's Charter Oak, which has scored the most runs of any team in the league season to date. "My goal personally, and I know for Mav, Brandi and Laura, all of us want to win league first (before the playoffs)," O'Toole said. "That's our big thing, we have to win league first. I've wanted to win league since freshman year and this is the only year that we actually have a really a good chance. "The game is all mental for my team. We all have the physical ability and skills, so it's all mental. I think South Hills is very beatable. Chino Hills is going to be a harder game to play, but I think we can also win." Part of what has the Regents believing they can do more damage in league this year than last year's third-place finish is the postseason success the team had once the playoffs started. St. Lucy's won three playoff games, two of them by 1-0 scores, before falling in the quarterfinals. For a program that needed a wild-card berth just to make last year's postseason, the strong showing has carried over into this year as evidenced by an 11-3 start. With O'Toole in the circle and her trusty, longtime teammates behind her in the infield, there's no telling what accolades the twilight of their stellar prep careers might bring. "We want to prove to everybody we're not just a team that got lucky last year," O'Toole said. "It's really the year for us." It starts Friday.
LANDEROS DRIVES IN 2 RUNS AGAINST MCQUEEN
This story first appeared
March 29, 2012
Sparks Tribune
By Dan Eckles
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Reed bests McQueen
Second-year Reed softball coach Jon Wunder wasn’t real pleased with his team’s effort and mental preparation throughout its Northern 4A League game against McQueen Thursday afternoon. He was pleased his squad found a way to win in spite of its lackluster performance.
Reed scored two runs in the third inning and four in the fourth en route to capturing a 6-2 triumph over the visiting Lancers.
"Our intensity and focus was not there today," Wunder said in a postgame interview. "We started slow, but we did get some timely hits. Our approach at the plate was not good. Luckily, we did cluster some hits together when we had to."
Reed was limited to six hits but a few walks and a pair of costly errors for McQueen helped the Raiders’ cause.
The RHS nine broke a scoreless tie with its two third-inning runs. With one out, Cori Gammon singled and stole a pair of bases. After a walk to Makaela Moore, Shivaun Landeros roped a two-run single.
An inning later, Reed extended its edge to 6-0. Junior Danaya Thompson hit a high fly ball to center field that carried out for a leadoff solo homer. Lindsay Yearman followed and reached on an error. She scored on a Megan Dettling single. After a groundout, Gammon singled. Another McQueen error allowed Moore to reach safely while Dettling and Gammon came around to score.
In the four-run frame, only Thompson’s long ball served as an earned run. Reed had six hits in the victory but no raider had more than one.
Reed’s sophomore pitcher, Dettling, thwarted Lancers hitters all day. Her hurling heroics resulted in a 13-strikeout, three-hit performance. She gave up two runs, only one earned, but did have to work out of jams throughout the contest as she walked six.
"She threw well enough to get the win," Wunder said. "Thirteen strikeouts is certainly nothing to scoff at. That last inning, we could’ve taken her out, but I thought it was important for her to handle some adversity and she did."
McQueen coach Matt Weaver echoed those sentiments.
"Dettling moved the ball around well," he said. "She kept our kids off balance with the changeup and hit her spots. She did a good job ... And our errors hurt us. It’s Reed. You can’t even make one error. If you make two errors, you’re behind the eight ball. They’re a very good team."
McQueen (2-5 Northern 4A) broke up Dettling’s shutout bid with a run in the top of the fifth. Alena Wilson walked and circled the sacks after a double by Caitlyn Faulds and a single by Jaqui Martinez.
The Lancers added an unearned run in the top of the seventh. Shania Lawrence reached after striking out but sprinting to first following a Reed error behind the dish. Next, Danielle Stewart singled, but when her liner was misplayed in left field, Lawrence was able to come around to score.
With the win, Reed was able to improve on its perfect mark in conference clashes. The Raiders now sit 6-0 in league and 9-2 overall.
"So far, we have beaten the teams we are supposed to beat," Wunder said. "But that changes now. We are getting into the meat of our schedule, starting with Carson Saturday. We play Carson and Galena, Damonte Ranch and Spanish Springs. It will get tougher ... I think that will help our focus and intensity."
This story first appeared
March 29, 2012
HS Gametime, Press Enterprise
By Matt Jocks
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BEAUMONT — For three at-bats, Alyssa Fuimaono had no answer for Hemet pitcher Cheyenne Gandara. In one instant, it didn’t matter. Fuimaono drilled the first pitch she saw in the bottom of the seventh inning Thursday for a two-run home run, lifting Beaumont to a 4-2 victory and sole possession of first place in the Mountain Pass League. "I talked to one of my coaches in travel ball," Fuimaono said. "And he gave me a metaphor. He said if you keep running into a sliding glass door, you’ve got to make sure the door is open the next time." Fuimaono, the cleanup hitter for Beaumont (13-3, 5-0 in league), struck out on three pitches in each of her first two at-bats against Gandara and then grounded out in the fifth. In the seventh,
Stephanie Tickemyer, who also had struck out twice, drew a walk and was bunted to second by Kaylee Gemmell. With two outs, Hemet (8-7, 4-1) elected to go after Fuimaono, and she delivered the ball to the top of a storage shed beyond center field. "Alyssa told Stephanie before that inning that, if Stephanie got on, she’d bring her home," Beaumont coach Jim Tickemyer. Fuimaono’s blast finished a tense battle between teams that dominated the first round of Mountain Pass play. Gandara got in the first loud word in her duel with Fuimaono when she hammered a home run to right-center to open the fourth inning. However, Beaumont answered almost immediately when Kelsey Dodson drew a hard-earned walk in the bottom of the fourth and second baseman Alainah Ortiz drilled a triple to right-center. Ortiz, who had three hits, scored on Bernadette Moreno’s fly to center. After allowing the homer to Gandara, Fuimaono settled in, retiring seven consecutive batters before hitting trouble in the top of the sixth. She allowed a one-out infield single to Taylor Vanzee and then pitched around Gandara. Ivy Campbell foiled that strategy by doubling home Vanzee to tie the game. Hemet might have had more, but Beaumont third baseman Krista Valdivia perfectly executed Autumn Davis’ safety squeeze, keeping courtesy runner Samantha Warner at third and getting the out at first. Fuimaono then retired Kassandra Hernandez to end the threat. "We had the same situation earlier and made a bad decision so we’ve been working on it," Coach Tickemyer said. "It’s nice to see us take that to the field." Fuimaono finished with a four-hitter, striking out four and walking two. Gandara allowed eight hits, struck out nine and walked two.
This story first appeared
March 29, 2012
Whittier Daily News
Prep Round up
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St. Lucy's 6, Downey 3
Caroline Smith and Danielle O'Toole combined to allow seven hits as O'Toole earned the win to improve to 8-2 on the season.
The Regents improved their record to 12-3.
Laura Swan had a double and two RBIs with O'Toole contributing three RBIs for
St. Lucy's. Big blow for Downey was Arielle Urtez's two-run home run. The Vikings dropped to 7-4.
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