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Before we put the 2022-2023 prep sports season to bed, I wanted to run through the season one final time, hitting on some of my favorite moments, as well as a few newsworthy events.
For me the sports year started out amazingly when I got a chance to tour the new athletic facilities at Livermore and Granada.
Seeing the new athletic building at Livermore – new gym, locker rooms, and weight room included – as well as new weight room, class rooms, wrestling room, and pool at Granada, was a sign of what is possible when a community and school district work together in the best interests of the students.
This was augmented in November when the voters of Pleasanton finally passed a bond that will bring the athletic facilities at Amador Valley and Foothill out of the stone ages. Big props go out to Bill Butler and Todd Utikal for co-chairing the measure and driving out enough voters to push it through.
There was another sensational moment early in the year when the Livermore football program marked the 9/11 anniversary by paying tribute to the victims and first responders.
The night included new red, white, and blue uniforms for the football players that were ordered and placed in the locker room unbeknownst to the players. The was a huge American flag flying from a fire truck, the presence of the military and first responders, and an entrance by the Livermore players carrying several flags representing branches of service, as well as first responders.
One of the best class-acts I have seen from a high school in paying respect to the United States. This should be done by more schools every year.
Despite efforts every year to control parental conduct at sporting events, behavior is getting worse not better. It was evidenced this year during football season as local officiating associations are seeing their numbers dwindle.
Citing abusive behavior by parents and other fans, the associations are seeing an inability to cover all the games each week. Additionally, the pool of new, younger officials coming into the official pool has all but dried up.
It is a sad scene to see the way people act. I saw it first hand in middle school basketball in a game where an official score was not being kept. It was great to see the middle school kids able to compete again, yet there was a parent intent on ruining it. It was a ton of work to get the teams back playing again and be able to get officials out to work the games, then stuff like this happens.
At this point I would not blame officials if they decided not to take it anymore. Maybe that is what it will take for people to understand their actions.
On the playing field the story of the fall was the San Ramon Valley football team advancing all the way to the CIF State Championship game.
The Wolves came back a year after a disappointing and unexpected North Coast Section loss to win NCS, then a NorCal playoff game to get to the bowl game.
They fell 31-24 to Granite Hills but took the game all the way to the final play and gave the city of Danville quite the ride along the way.
The Amador girls’ water polo team rode the amazing goalie play of Erin Brown and a talented attack to get to the NCS finals where they fell 6-5 to Las Lomas in the championship game. Brown ended her high school career with elite performances.
On the volleyball court the EBAL girls were represented by San Ramon Valley and Foothill in the NCS championship game. The Wolves won the title and both teams advanced to the CIF NorCal tournament.
The Wolves knocked off Sacred Heart Prep in the first round before falling in the semifinals to Saint Francis. The Falcons dropped their opening match at Oak Ridge.
In the winter season, the EBAL had controversy before the season started in girls’ basketball. The league somehow decided to give Carondelet the automatic NCS berth, yet the Cougars didn’t even win the league.
San Ramon Valley, which has a 5-2 mark against Carondelet in the last seven games, beat the Cougars in league and then again, in the post-season.
San Ramon Valley did go on to finish second in NCS, then advanced to the NorCal semifinals before falling to eventual CIF Champion Oakland Tech.
In boys’ basketball, the EBAL was as good as any year in the league’s glorious past. This year saw nine of the teams make the NCS tournament, with six of the teams moving into the NorCal playoffs.
Granada captured the NorCal title with an exhilarating run as the No. 9 seed beating No. 8 Sacred Heart, top-seeded Clovis West, No. 4 Riordan, then No. 6 Salesian to make the CIF Championship game. The Mats fell 67-58 to Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, but what a ride!
Dougherty Valley won the lone NCS title for the league, beating De La Salle in an all-EBAL final. The Wildcats then saw their season come to an end when the team fell in the first round of the NorCal tournament to a team from the Santa Barbara area.
In the spring we saw the resurgence of Amador Valley baseball. The Dons went 6-18 overall and 1-12 in EBAL play during the 2021-22 season, but righted the ship, finishing the season 18-6 overall and 9-4 in league to take the EBAL Valley division title.
The De La Salle baseball team to the CIF NorCal D-I title, beating top-seeded Valley Christian-San Jose 11-8 in the final. The Spartans finished the year 27-5 overall and 12-1 in EBAL play.
In volleyball, the Valley division of the EBAL turned the NCS D-I playoffs into its own personal playground as four Valley teams made up the semifinals of the tournament.
Foothill – the EBAL champ – was the top seed, followed by Dublin, Amador, and Granada, with the four making the semifinals. Foothill and Amador squared off in the finals, with the Dons, led by Stanford bound Nate Clinton getting the best of the Falcons.
The softball season was highlighted by an amazing run by California as the Grizzlies came back from a slow start to take the NCS title. Cal was 6-6 at one point in the season before finishing the year 21-9 with the NCS title. The team fell in the NorCal first round, but that is how to close out a season, going 15-3 in the second half.
Track and field saw three EBAL athletes finish on the medal stand for their individual accomplishments.
Chukwunonso Udeh of De La Salle won the state title in the long jump, also picking up medals for the 110 hurdles (5th) and the high jump (6th). Udeh also got a medal as a member of the Spartans 4×100 relay.
Stanford-bound Cate Peters of Monte Vista brough home a pair of medals. Peters was sixth in the 800 finals for her individual medal, then was the anchor leg for the 4×400 relay team. Peters teamed with Cate Miller, Isabella Moriyama, and Natalia McGowan to set the Monte Vista school record for the race and earn the spot in the finals.
Alexander Franco of Dublin was ninth in the 300 hurdles, earning his spot on the medal stand.
Golf was the final sport of the year and saw De La Salle roll to the state team title again, easily defending their championship. Individually Kush Arora of Amador was second, with defending state champion Brandon Knight of Foothill finishing 15th .
So – that’s it for the year, and it was another exciting one for our local athletes!
See you before long as the Tri-Valley Prep Playbook will be back for a third season in August! Thank you to all the readers that make the Playbook possible!
We are Blessed in our Communities with 99% of players, families and volunteers not behaving badly. Some of us even learn from our mistakes.
Dennis, thanks for all you do to cover sports for us! The high school kids do amazing things, and your reporting is a big part of why I keep up my monthly contribution to the Weekly.
There’s one story that might have gone a little under-reported this spring: EBAL Boys Tennis. Cal High won EBAL for the first time in many years, a huge achievement, with Amador Valley placing second. Both teams went on to NCS, where Amador upset Cal in a very close semifinal match. Amador then lost to Mission San Jose in the finals, placing second at NCS, but still earning the Amador boys an NCS banner and a trip to the CIF NorCal state tournament where Amador placed 4th.
This was a nice team achievement for both Cal and Amador and complements the individual results that you covered separately. Congratulations to the boys tennis coaches and players – not just at Cal and Amador, but across EBAL – for a great season with an exciting finish!