POST SEASON DREAMING BEYOND THE BIG WEST SEASON
Today’s sporting field trip is to the safe deposit box to check out our various precious gems, including some baubles that may well be available at the annual Jewels of the Night fund raiser Saturday night in the Pyramid. The official ads elsewhere in your Gazette give you all that info so we will stick to the diamonds that we know best.
Long Beach softball does believe that Diamonds are a girl’s best friend and they wear them as Big West Champions for the second straight season after a weekend sweep by the Sweethearts of Swat on the campus field. That accomplishment improved LB’s record to 36-14, 16-2 in the Big West and likely another rise in the top 25 polls.
If took forever to get her eligible but transfer slugger Oli Keohohou is now in the heart of the Beach lineup and on Sunday her solo home run in the fourth inning tied the game at 1-1, and her RBI single in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and the bases loaded was the final difference. Her team mate Meredith Cervenka collected her 22nd win, fourth most in a single-season in school history.
Long Beach State has won five conference championships since 1996, and has posted a 51-8 mark in conference play since the 2003 season. In their 18 conference games they are hitting .317 and have 24 home runs, unheard of in ladies softball. Oh yes, they still have three games left, all this weekend at UC Riverside. On Sunday the regional bids come out and if our fair-minded friends at the NCAA finally do the right thing the Niners will host a regional at Mayfair Park. Of course the perfume-filled room can be as unfair as the smoke-filled ones that shafted men’s volleyball.
Switching locker rooms the baseball diamond gang suffered last weekend in Santa Barbara when those pesky Gauchos had two really big innings, with some gusty winds and the return of a fallen star, and beat the Beach boys two of three. On Sunday All-American shortstop Troy Tulowitzki drove in two runs, including the go-ahead run in the ninth to allow LB to avoid the sweep. Hitting just behind Tulo, Sean Boatright gets some pressure ABs but has run his consecutive game hit streak to 26. Tulo upped his average to .372 and the pro talent scouts on hand were whispering that he could be not just a first round pick in June but the first overall pick.
Your last local chance to check out the Dirtbag stretch run is this weekend because the last three home games are with BWC title-contending Cal Poly and that MLB draft will likely take a bunch of juniors out of town along with seniors Cole Jacobsen, Neil Jamison, Steve Valazco, and Brian Anderson. Games are Friday night and Saturday and Sunday afternoons. And yes that team ERA went up a bit to 2.30, but it is still the best in the land.
Last of the post-season notes is that Long Beach State freshman Kay Hoey finished fifth in the NCAA West Regionals at the New Mexico State University and that finish qualifies her for the NCAA Championships as an individual which will be held May 17-20 at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Oregon. Her closing quote, “"I'm really excited. My mental game has really been good and I've been putting everything together. I've been able to get myself out of trouble. It's nice to be playing well, especially since it's coming at the end of the season." Hope those diamond entries can say the same.—DR. DAN
Long Beach softball does believe that Diamonds are a girl’s best friend and they wear them as Big West Champions for the second straight season after a weekend sweep by the Sweethearts of Swat on the campus field. That accomplishment improved LB’s record to 36-14, 16-2 in the Big West and likely another rise in the top 25 polls.
If took forever to get her eligible but transfer slugger Oli Keohohou is now in the heart of the Beach lineup and on Sunday her solo home run in the fourth inning tied the game at 1-1, and her RBI single in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and the bases loaded was the final difference. Her team mate Meredith Cervenka collected her 22nd win, fourth most in a single-season in school history.
Long Beach State has won five conference championships since 1996, and has posted a 51-8 mark in conference play since the 2003 season. In their 18 conference games they are hitting .317 and have 24 home runs, unheard of in ladies softball. Oh yes, they still have three games left, all this weekend at UC Riverside. On Sunday the regional bids come out and if our fair-minded friends at the NCAA finally do the right thing the Niners will host a regional at Mayfair Park. Of course the perfume-filled room can be as unfair as the smoke-filled ones that shafted men’s volleyball.
Switching locker rooms the baseball diamond gang suffered last weekend in Santa Barbara when those pesky Gauchos had two really big innings, with some gusty winds and the return of a fallen star, and beat the Beach boys two of three. On Sunday All-American shortstop Troy Tulowitzki drove in two runs, including the go-ahead run in the ninth to allow LB to avoid the sweep. Hitting just behind Tulo, Sean Boatright gets some pressure ABs but has run his consecutive game hit streak to 26. Tulo upped his average to .372 and the pro talent scouts on hand were whispering that he could be not just a first round pick in June but the first overall pick.
Your last local chance to check out the Dirtbag stretch run is this weekend because the last three home games are with BWC title-contending Cal Poly and that MLB draft will likely take a bunch of juniors out of town along with seniors Cole Jacobsen, Neil Jamison, Steve Valazco, and Brian Anderson. Games are Friday night and Saturday and Sunday afternoons. And yes that team ERA went up a bit to 2.30, but it is still the best in the land.
Last of the post-season notes is that Long Beach State freshman Kay Hoey finished fifth in the NCAA West Regionals at the New Mexico State University and that finish qualifies her for the NCAA Championships as an individual which will be held May 17-20 at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Oregon. Her closing quote, “"I'm really excited. My mental game has really been good and I've been putting everything together. I've been able to get myself out of trouble. It's nice to be playing well, especially since it's coming at the end of the season." Hope those diamond entries can say the same.—DR. DAN
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