Three local athletes choose JCs to play for
A trio of local high school athletes recently cemented their plans to play in junior college.
Liberty Ranch softball player Annabelle Buchanan will play for Reedley College, while Lodi High’s Jeffrey Werder will play for College of San Mateo, and teammate Angelo Zazzarino will play for Delta College.
Buchanan, a pitcher and outfielder, was off to a slow start in February before the season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, but batted .448 as a junior, with 9 RBIs and 13 runs. In the circle, she made 4 appearances with 6 innings pitched, and tallied 10 strikeouts.
Zazzarino and Werder also had successful junior seasons on their way to a Tri-City Athletic League title, with Zazzarino batting .321 and
Werder .365. Zazzarino added 4 doubles, 16 RBIs and 19 runs, and Werder had 8 doubles, 18 RBIs and
16 runs. Zazzarino was 15for-15 in stolen base attempts.
Liberty Ranch basekt- ball star Jalen Patterson is already signed to play for Arizona Western College in Yuma, Ariz.
Meanwhile, a few local graduates are taking the step from junior college to four-year colleges.
Onkar Sidhu, an Elliot High graduate, will play basketball at UC Merced, while Tokay’s Tomas Picinich is one of six Delta football players moving on to Kentucky Christian University, while teammate James McClain, also from Tokay, is headed to Dakota State in Madison, S.D.
Sidhu’s Mustangs squad went 19-11, and 11-5 for fourth place in the Big 8 Conference. Sidhu averaged 10.4 points per game, 7 rebounds and 2.3 assists in the 2019-20 season.
The Bobcats play in the CalPac Conference in NAIA, and went 18-10 in the 2019-20 season.
Delta football went 4-6 last fall, and 2-3 in the Valley Conference. Picinich had 5 tackles in 4 games for the Mustangs, and McClain had 1 tackle in 2 games.
Kentucky Christian, in Grayson, Ky., is also in the NAIA, and plays an independent schedule. Dakota State plays in the North Star Athletic Association of the NAIA, and went 5-5 last fall.