Schools
Birmingham High: Spring Sports Roundup
Birmingham was on some kind of roll this spring. Here's a look back at some of the highlights.
BASEBALL
It was a historic year for the Birmingham High baseball program.
Just two years ago, the team struggled to finish 2-24, but this season saw the Patriots (17-15) finish in the city semifinals for the first time since 1969.
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Senior Captain Pedro Santoyo hurled a no-hitter on May 6 against Granada Hills High.
Senior Marti Sementelli, a young woman who pitched for the USA Baseball Women's National Team, broke a barrier by earning a combination academic-baseball scholarship to Montreat College, an NAIA school in North Carolina. The outstanding student-athlete had a 3.7 GPA.
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Among the top players this season was dual-threat senior pitcher Kevin Torres (8-5), who hurled 75 strikeouts in 76.2 innings pitched and scored 27 runs and 20 RBIs at the plate. If those numbers weren’t impressive enough, he won the home run derby at the City vs. Southern Section All-Star Game. Santoyo hit .327 with 18 runs and 14 RBIs and also won five games with a 2.64 ERA at the mound, while Eric Munoz added 21 runs and 21 RBIs, finishing with a .320 average.
Torres struck out 12 and added two RBIs for good measure in the Patriots’ 10-3 first-round victory against San Pedro. Santoyo, Munoz, Daniel Gomez and Randy Medellin added two RBIs each.
Santoyo led the charge in the Patriots’ 3-2 city quarterfinal victory over Granada Hills by holding the Highlanders to just one earned run, while going 2 for 2 at the plate. Torres gave the Patriots the lead with a two-run homer and slammed the door shut on Granada Hills with a save.
Although the season ended against top-ranked Chatsworth in the city semifinals, a lot of promise remains for the future. Junior teammates Medellin hit .337 with 21 RBI and 21 runs, Gomez hit .420, Steven Rodriguez contributed 12 RBIs and Jerry Zaragoza belted a team-high 22 RBIs. Sophomore Daniel Rivas hit in 14 RBIs and stole seven bases.
SOFTBALL
The Birmingham High softball team (20-13) displayed its youthful exuberance early on. The Patriots raced out to a 6-0 record, outscoring opponents by a 54-14 spread, despite only having four seniors.
Pitcher Cassandra Soto (10-3), who threw seven complete games with a 2.81 ERA, was the senior leader for a young core that included juniors Amanda Carriedo and Michelle Cannata, sophomore Vanessa Acosta and freshmen Mia Acosta and Lesley Segura.
Carriedo led the team with 27 RBIs and two home runs. She also finished with a .388 batting average. Vanessa Acosta led the team with 29 runs scored and six stolen bases. Mia Acosta not only batted a team-high .516, but also recorded the lowest ERA at a microscopic 1.93. Segura ripped 21 RBIs, scored 23 runs and finished with a .375 average.
While the Patriots got out to a quick start and showed major promise, the next 18 games would reveal the team’s character. They would go 8-10, but rebound nicely to finish 6-3 down the stretch, including a run to the city quarterfinals.
In the Patriots’ 12-6 first-round playoff win against Lincoln, Mia Acosta struck out seven in a complete game performance, while also adding two RBIs at the plate. Cannata added three RBIs. Midseason call-up Katherine Anduray, a freshman who started on JV, hit in two more RBIs.
Although the season ended in a 4-2 defeat to Marshall, the Patriots hope to build on their playoff success next year.
TRACK
Both the boys and girls track teams also excelled. Each team took home the West Valley League championships and contended for the City Championships. The boys finished second to Dorsey High, while the girls finished fourth out of 23 teams.
Key seniors Justin Bowie, Chris Mitchell, Jacbob Williams and Issac Diosdado led the charge.
In the City Championships, Bowie sprinted a personal best, coming in first in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.58 and finishing third in the 300 hurdles with 40.06. In the league finals, Bowie came in second in both the 110 hurdles (15.84) and the 300 hurdles (41.98). Bowie also qualified for the 110 State Championships.
Mitchell finished second in the 400 (48.06) and fourth in the 200 (21.89) at the City Championships, qualifying for the State Championships in the 400. At the league finals, Mitchell won the 200 (22.40) and the 400 (48.75), while Williams won the 100 (11.29) and came in second in the 200 (22.81).
Together with Michael Whirley and Upton Jones, they won the 4x100 relay (42.81) and with Emanuel Castro and Jahi Gains, they added another Patriot victory in the 4x400 relay (3:25.07) at the league finals. The 4x100 relay team also placed third (42.21) at the City Championships and qualified for the State Championships.
Diosdado won the 3,200 (9:57:14) and came in second in the 1,600 (4:31:55) in the league finals.
Key athletes for the girls track team included seniors Geena Person and Alexandra Arellanos, junior Hillary Hill and sophomore Hannah Lopez, all of whom qualified for the State Championships in their respective events.
Person won the 1,600 (5:15:21) and the 3,200 (11:49:02) at the league finals. She finished second in the 1,600 at the City Championships (5:15:18).
Arellanos finished second in the 3,200 (11:49.91) at the league finals, and third (11:28:73) at the City Championships.
Hill finished second in the 100 hurdles at the City Championships with a time of 14:59.
At the league finals, Lopez won the triple jump at 34-03.00, while finishing second in both the pole vault (7-00.00) and long jump (16-00.00). She placed third in both the triple (34-10.75) and long (16-00.00) jumps at the City Championships.
SWIMMING
The boys team finished third and the girls finished fourth out of 28 teams at the City Championships.
Jerome Ames and Neil Abac garnered two first-place city finishes. Ames won the 1-meter diving (363.30) and Abac won the 100 breaststroke (1:03.53). Abac, Taylor Earwood, Carlos Giron and Roger Ruiz finished second in the 200 medley relay (1:46.20). Earwood, Kevin Sazo, Brandon Leon and Cristian Bonilla finished third in the 200 freestyle relay (1:35.21).
On the girls side, Paulina Barrios, Natalie Garcia, Ploy Laohlongtip, Heidy Nurinda and Leslie Vento led the charge at the City Championships.
Barrios, Garcia, Laohlongtip and Vento finished third in the 400 freestyle relay (3:56.02) and Barrios, Garcia, Laohlongtip and Nurinda finished fourth in the 200 medley relay (204.47).
Individually, Garcia placed fourth in the 100 freestyle (58.78), while teammate Barrios finished fourth in two events (200 freestyle–2:06.27 and 100 butterfly–1:03.66). Laohlongtip added yet another fourth-place finish in the 100 backstroke (1:06.26).
Other Spring Sports:
The boys volleyball team finished (20-12, 6-4), and lost to San Pedro 3-0 in the second round of the playoffs. It was an impressive run for a team that was only 3-19-1 last year. Two key victories that led to the Celts’ second-place West Valley League finish came against Cleveland and Taft in nail-biting five set matches.
The boys lacrosse team finished (4-8, 1-3). Some of the key players were Devin Johnson, Matthew Hernandez, Bryan Desouza, Eric Diaz and Mauricio Suarez.
The girls lacrosse team (7-12, 5-3) got out to a tough start against great competition. After starting 2-10, the team bounced back to finish 5-2 in its last seven games. It finished second in the City lacrosse league. Andrea Deleon led the team with 34 goals, Mayra Corona had 30 goals and 14 assists, Angelica Flores had 19 goals and Jenniffer Haro added 12 goals.
