Press Box: Spring Season Sports Review

Glendora Baseball: The Tartans weren’t expected by many to go far in their defense of their CIF Title from a year ago, given the high player turnover from last year’s squad and considering their recent switch to the Baseline League.

Despite the obstacles, Glendora finished top in the Baseline and won eight of their last 10 games of the season, before falling to Damien 6-4 in the CIF-SS playoffs.

“We persevered, I can’t say it enough, I’m happy for the boys for sure,” Glendora coach Dan Henley said, “They had a lot of character, we started out the season 2-2 and wondering what kind of club we would be. Obviously with the string of victories and the way we competed all year, we showed what kind of character we had. I did believe that we had the pieces to be very competitive, so that’s what we set out to do. We did that, and we were very competitive all year.”

Glendora Softball: It was a rough season for the Tartans’ softball team. After starting the season winning seven out of their first eight games, Glendora was inconsistent during stretches of league play, at one point going 4 out of 7 in league games and closing out the season barely above .500 with a 14-12 overall record and 7-8 in the Baseline league, tying Upland for third place.

St. Lucy’s Softball: The Regents at one point were 7-11 and had to win six out of their last seven games just to get into the playoffs. Facing the tough task of beating Claremont in back-to-back games to close out their season over .500, St.Lucy’s was up to the task, winning two tight games against the Wolfpack. In 2011, the Regents went farther than any other team since the 1997 season and won three playoff games, including a wild 11-9 affair against Fillmore before surrendering a 4-0 loss to a visiting top-seeded Oaks Christian team.

Senior pitcher Danielle O’Toole is moving on to San Diego State University, but not before helping the Regents to a memorable season in her final year. The left- hander capped off her season with back-to-back 1-0 wins in the post season against Burbank Burroughs and Highland.

Glendora Girls Swimming: The Tartans used a second-place finish last season as a motivational factor this year and it propelled them to a CIF title.  

The team was again led by senior and future Texas Longhorn Gretchen Jaques who excelled in individual victories in the 200-Yard Individual Medley and the 100-Yard Breastroke, while also getting contributions from seniors Courtney McCadden, Kelly Corso, and junior Rosemary Garcia in the 200 Yard Medley Relay. Jacques’ sister Ellie also placed in the top 8 in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle, amidst a number of other events.

Glendora Football: The Tartans football team will begin their post-Chad Jeffries era this fall not only with a new quarterback, but with a new head coach as they announced former Northview High football coach Todd Quincey would take over from departed Mark Pasquarella.

Citrus College Baseball and Softball: The spring of 2011 was an exciting time to be a fan of Citrus College athletics, with both the softball and baseball teams making it to the post-season.  

The Owls baseball squad finished 20-20 overall and 12-9 in conference, winning three out of their last five to make it into the CCCAA playoffs.

The Owls squared off against Western Conference Southern Division rival L.A. Pierce and beat them 7-3 in the first round of the playoffs, but lost two out of three games in their second-round series against the Rio Hondo Roadrunners.

The Owls’ softball team finished 23-15 overall and 14-4 in conference. Even though they dropped three out of their last five games to close out the regular season, the Owls rebounded to make it into post-season play before being defeated by defending state champion Cypress Chargers in a three-game series. Following a 3-2 loss in game 1, Citrus forced a third game on Mother’s Day after winning the opening game of the day 7-1, before succumbing to a 9-6 loss in the final game of the series.

Citrus College Golf: The golf team was young and full of freshmen in their roster, so it took them a while to adapt to playing in new courses, but coach Trip Horton said the chemistry among team members was good. Even though the Owls were only able to send one representative to the Southern California Championships (freshman Shane Favinger) held at the Bermuda Dunes Country Club earlier this month, Favinger had a respectable outing representing Citrus, finishing tied for 23rd out of 78 competing golfers, with a total score of 154. Favinger also finished just three shots behind the final individual qualifying spot for State.             

 NOTE: Citrus College Sports Information Coordinator Andrew Wheeler helped compile some of the statistical info. for this column.