Thursday, March 27, 2014

DVC Opens Baseball Play Today

Franklin will be at Davis and Elk Grove hosts Grant this afternoon as the Delta Valley Conference will open its 2014 slate of baseball games.

The Herd is 2-2 thus far, taking on some of Northern California's top squads. Grant is led by left-hander Cameron Avila-Leeper, one of the best pitchers in the Section. Elk Grove's starter will be junior Chris Martin.

The Wildcats will send their ace, Cameron Keup, to the mound at Davis. One would figure the Blue Devils would throw Matt Trask, but there's been rumors he's been dealing with injuries this season. If healthy, Trask might be the best pitcher in the DVC, if not all of the Section.

PG Preps For State Title Game

There is one more weekend of basketball coming up and it's the big ones. The CIF State Championships begin tomorrow and play through Saturday night at Sleep Train Arena.

The 11th seeded Pleasant Grove girls will face Canyon Springs, the top club from SoCal, at  6 p.m. Friday for the Division I title. If the Lady Eagles can pull off the win, that would be back-to-back state championships for that school. The boys won it last season.

The only other area club that is playing this weekend is Folsom. They are taking on St. John Bosco Saturday at 4 p.m. in the Division II boys game.

DePonte Will Stay at P.G.

Pleasant Grove's boys basketball coach John DePonte officially resigned after the Eagles were eliminated from the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs. In an email to me, he wrote that he is looking forward to spending more time in the classroom this next school year at P.G., and, of course, getting extra time with his family.



"It is time for me to spend more time with my children (Aubrey 21, Olivia 10, Natalie 7, and Derek 3) and my wife, Tammy, who has sacrificed so much these past 19 years so that I could chase my goals and dreams," DePonte wrote. "The physical time and mental weight of coaching is carried year around and it feels good to unload it.  Now when I am physically at home with my family, I can be 100% mentally and emotionally with them as well.  I will also be helping with my daughter Natalie’s softball team and being a Soccer Dad to my daughter Olivia.  My little guy, Derek, will be starting up soccer next Fall and strutting his stuff.  I’d also like to spend more time with my oldest, Aubrey, who is in college at Sac State.
I have a lot of other interests and new hobbies that I would like to venture into and now have the time to."

"I do plan on remaining at PG and putting more of my energy into developing Common Core lessons and activities for my Algebra students."

As a teacher, I know the Common Core standards are going to change the way several classes are taught.

No word yet on who might replace DePonte. 

The school will also be hiring a new athletic director. Jeff Caton is stepping down at the end of the year. He also plans on remaining at P.G.

FC Elk Grove Takes Championship

I got a message two days ago on my "Ask.fm" page that the FC Elk Grove competitive soccer squad once again grabbed a big title.

FC Elk Grove Edge won their 4th Association Cup in the last five years. There were undefeated in all six games in this tournament and only allowing one goal for the entire tournament. The championship match was between FC Elk Grove Edge and River City Chaos, won by EG, 2-0. Goals scored in the championship match were scored by Jessica Tosh and Taylor Chaplin.

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