Outstanding before the virus hit
Some athletes made major contributions to school sports lore
Before the coronavirus brought high school sports to a screeching halt last March, local athletes put in some stellar performances.
Vanden High pitcher Hazyl Gray, then a sophomore, won both the Vikings’ games in one week in the circle and also hit a home run in each contest. Gray went 16-3 with a 2.01 ERA her freshman year, striking out 122 in 132 innings. In the abbreviated 2020 season, she had been even more deadly, winning all four games the Vikings had played with a 1.85 ERA, striking out 32 in 22 innings.
Against Fairfield she pitched five no-hit, no-run innings, striking out six and walking just one. She also went 2-for-3 at the plate with three RBIs, a home run and a sacrifice fly. In a 12-2 win over Wood, she worked a complete game (six innings due to the game being shortened on the 10-run rule), gave up five hits, struck out 11 and walked none. She also hit an inside-the-park home run.
For her efforts, Gray was named The Reporter’s Athlete of the Week
Gray’s teammates, Tai Wilson and Mia Santos, earned CoAthlete of the Week honors in the first week of the season. The first and second hitters in the lineup, respectively, went 9-for12 and 9-for-11 at the plate in the first week of the season.
“They bring pressure,” said Vanden head coach Anthony Trujillo of his two left-hand batting speedsters. “It’s hard to defend them because they can run, they can hit, they can bunt, they can slap. Those are our table setters. Those two kids are the perfect one-two punch.”
Wilson scored six runs, smacked two doubles, knocked in five runs and stole four bases to go along with her nine hits. Santos’s nine hits included two doubles and two triples. She scored six runs and had seven RBIs.
Speaking of Vanden, the boys’ basketball team managed to win the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III championship before COVID struck. It was Vanden’s first section crown since 1996. The Vikings defeated Central Catholic, 57-41, at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
The top-seeded Vikings (266) did not have an easy road in the postseason. Vanden had to win its first three games on the road because of sanctions handed down by the section due
to an incident with an official after a December tournament game against Gregori in Modesto.
Vanden’s Takai Emerson-Hardy had five blocks, nine rebounds, a steal and a team-high 14 points in the win and earned The Reporter’s Athlete of the Week honor for his efforts.
Also earning Athlete of the Week honors was Will C. Wood’s Landon Seaman. The 6-foot-6 basketball center, then a senior, scored a game-high 23 points in his team’s 63-43 rout of Manteca in the second round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs. He also scored a game-high 16 points in his team’s first-round 52-43 victory over El Camino.
Last March Wood soccer player and co-captain Breanna Marshall won the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Spirit of Sport Award for winter sports in the Sac-Joaquin Section. Each section winner is awarded a $500 scholarship.
Wood girls head soccer coach Andrea Daniels, who nominated Marshall for the award, said, “Breanna is an all-around great person. It’s been a pleasure coaching her these last two years and watching her develop, as she is a responsible, strong, hard-working, passionate woman. Breanna is very composed and a voice of reason. She always puts the team first and communicates so positively.”
The Will C. Wood boys soccer team made school history by advancing to the semifinals in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III championships, the first time the Wildcats had won two playoff games. The 12thseeded Wildcats pulled out their second straight 1-0 upset victory, blanking No. 4 Weston Ranch. They beat No. 5 Johansen of Modesto in the first round.
Vacaville High’s baseball team had a rousing home opener, defeating Davis, 102. Two years before that, Vacaville beat Davis twice on Memorial Day at Sacramento City College to win the Division 1 baseball title. The previous year they beat the Blue Devils 15-8 in a regular-season contest.
The Bulldogs again had the Blue Devils’ number as then senior Vacaville first baseman Michael Brown, with big-league scouts watching, drove in five runs, three of them on a tremendous three-run homer that cleared the 364foot sign in right field and landed in the girls’ softball field, well over 400 feet from home plate.