Amador slides in ahead of Deer Valley in baseball season opener Amador slides in ahead of Deer Valley in baseball season opener (March 11, 2005)

Spring sports bursting out all over
by Lori Nielsen

In their baseball home opener, the Amador Valley Dons won a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the visiting Deer Valley Wolverines. Solid pitching was the order of the day for both teams, and the Dons' trio of Rob Learned, David Rowse and Alex Bowman were a notch better than their Deer Valley counterparts.

The Dons got a leadoff double from Pat Glenn to open the bottom of the second, but he was left stranded at second. That was Amador's only hit until the fourth inning. Nate Young opened the inning by taking one for the team and trotted down to first. One out later, a walk to Glenn and a passed ball put Amador runners on second and third. Brett Zollman sent a fly ball to deep right for a sacrifice fly to score Young. Then Brian Riotoc roped a single to left, scoring Glenn from second and putting the Dons ahead, 2-1.

For the second game in a row, Rowse was called upon to pitch two critical innings with the game in doubt, and the junior was once again up to the challenge. Alex Bowman put the game away in the seventh inning. This time working with just the slimmest of margins, his 1-2-3 inning was good for his first save of the year.
Girls Lacrosse

Although Amador Valley's varsity girls lacrosse team was missing seven players for various reasons, they approached their game against the Tamalpais Hawks with the same enthusiasm they've shown in their first two wins. They dominated in the first half, scoring seven goals to Tamalpais' one. They matched that in the second half, scoring another seven goals to win the game 14-5. The Don's Rebekah Cunningham led all scorers with five goals. Goalie Jessica Starkey had six saves on the night.

The Foothill girls varsity team began the season with an exciting win over Bishop O'Dowd 13-7. They opened the game by making three goals in the first few minutes. However by half time the Falcons were down 6-4. Hallie Saxton was fired up in the second half and made several goals and attempts. Kristen Brophy shot and dominated the field at times. Girls Basketball

The Amador Valley Lady Dons' hopes for a North Coast Section championship were crushed last Friday night when the Berkeley Yellow Jackets visited for the semifinal game. The Dons finished the tightly fought first quarter ahead 15-13. Berkeley started the second period with a 17-4 run and never looked back. Amador was behind only 36-27 at the half, but again the Yellow Jackets put on another 16-point streak in the third quarter and the Dons couldn't seem to buy a basket, hitting only two of 12 shots. Berkeley continued to put on the heat all through the fourth quarter, ending the game 67-37. Sarah VanderHorst was high scorer with 17.
Boys Basketball

Both the Foothill and Amador varsity teams were defeated in their quarter-final rounds of the NCS Championships. The Falcons lost 69-61 against Berkeley, and the Dons bowed to powerhouse Newark Memorial 49-26.
Boys Golf

The Foothill boys took fourth, out of a field of 26 teams, at the Gambetta Invitational in Antioch on Monday. The Falcons tied with Bishop O'Dowd with a team total of 384, but Bishop O'Dowd took the third-place honors by winning the scorecard play-off. Foothill was paced by Tyler Galbraith and Eric Pitcaithley, both finishing at 2 over par 74. Medalist for the tournament was Jake Beiber, shooting 72, winning in a play-off on the first hole, followed by Scott Hess at 72. Geoff Gonzalez took third at 73.
Schedule
Friday Baseball - Amador at Castro Valley; JV & varsity, 3:30 p.m. Castro Valley at Amador; frosh, 3:30 p.m. Boys Lacrosse - Bishop O'Dowd at Foothill; JV, 5:30 p.m.; varsity, 7 p.m. Girls Lacrosse - Foothill at Monte Vista - varsity, 5:30 p.m.; JV, 7 p.m. Softball - Las Lomas at Amador - JV & varsity 3:30 p.m.
Saturday Baseball - Amador at Concord - JV, 11 a.m. Berkeley at Amador - frosh, noon
Monday Baseball - Pittsburg at Foothill; varsity, 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday Baseball - Amador at Berkeley; varsity, 3:30 p.m. Berkeley at Amador; JV, 3:30 p.m. Boys Golf - Amador vs. San Ramon at Ruby Hill; 3:30 p.m. Boys Lacrosse - Piedmont at Foothill; JV, 5:30 p.m.; varsity, 7 p.m. Girls Lacrosse - Foothill at Miramonte; JV, 5:30 p.m.; varsity 7 p.m. Softball - Amador at Liberty; JV & varsity 3:30 p.m. Boys Tennis - Amador at Livermore; varsity, 3:30 p.m. Monte Vista at Foothill; varsity, 3:30 p.m. Foothill JV at Monte Vista, 3:30 p.m.
Wednesday Baseball - Irvington at Amador; JV & varsity 3:30 p.m. Tennyson at Foothill; varsity, 3:45 p.m. Boys Golf - Amador vs. Liberty at Discovery Bay; 3:30 p.m. Boys Lacrosse - Amador at Bellarmine; varsity 3 p.m.; JV, 5 p.m. Girls Lacrosse - Amador at Acalanes; JV & Varsity, 7 p.m.
Thursday Boys Golf - Foothill vs. San Ramon at Castlewood; 3 p.m. Softball - Amador at American; JV & varsity, 3:30 p.m. Foothill at James Logan; varsity, 4 p.m. Boys Tennis - Amador at California; varsity 4 p.m. Foothill at Granada; varsity, 3:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 16 Baseball - Tennyson at Foothill, 3:45 p.m.
Thursday, March 17 Boys Golf - Foothill vs. San Ramon at Castlewood; 3 p.m. Boys Tennis - Foothill at Granada, 3:30 p.m.

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