Alston Hired As MT Baseball Coach; Detrick Grabs Fifth In Orlando

Monterey Trail High School athletic director David Coronado announced Sept. 24 that he hired Tom Alston as the school's new head varsity baseball coach.

"He brings many years of high school coaching experience to our baseball program," Coronado said. "We are excited to have someone with his knowledge and baseball background as our head varsity baseball coach."

Alston comes to the Mustangs after many years as Rob Rinaldi's top assistant at Pleasant Grove High School.

Alston makes his living as the president and CEO of Aero and Marine Tax Professionals in Elk Grove, yet has been a fixture on high school diamonds for many years. He's taking on a big job, however, in the baseball program at Monterey Trail.

The Mustangs, though successful in its football, boys' volleyball and track and field programs and in recent years with boys and girls basketball, has floundered in baseball. Last season they were 1-26, 0-15 in the Delta Valley Conference. The most wins in a season was in 2008 when the Mustangs grabbed eight victories under coach Zack Retallack.

Alston will be the school's sixth head varsity coach in its nine years of competition.

Detrick Takes Fifth In Pro Waterski Event In Florida

 It was a quick trip to Orlando, Fla., last weekend for Elk Grove professional water skier Brian Detrick. He ended up fifth at "Jack's Splash For Cash" at Jack Traver's Sunset Lake near Orlando.

Detrick said  six of the top seven in world rankings competed alongside of him in the two day event. Detrick is ranked number seven.

Rain hampered the second round on Saturday, but he was in the top eight by the end of the day.

On Sunday he was the first skiier out on Lake Sarah in the final round.

"It was a noticeable head tail (about 12mph)," Detrick said. "My goal was to put up a good score to put the pressure on the rest of the field. I was able to do just that as I ran 3@41off. I did exactly what I wanted to do and it was now a waiting game to see what played out."

By the end of the round, Detrick finished fifth overall.

"I was still thrilled with my performance and it was a succesful weekend skiing," he said.

He'll have a few weeks off before competing in the final three events of the year, including the U.S. Open.

Pro Football Updates

Jeremy Ross scored his first NFL touchdown receiving Sunday in Detroit's 24-17 win over the Jets. He had two catches for 65 yards in the win.

The former Laguna Creek Cardinal had a touchdown on a punt return last season for the Lions.

Chicago Bears' linebacker Lance Briggs had three tackles in the team's 38-17 loss to Green Bay Sunday.

Pro Baseball Season Concludes

Sixteen professional baseball players call Elk Grove their home during the off-season. Most of them are now taking time off.  There will be a few that will spend most of October in their clubs' spring training facility for Instructional Leagues.

David Hernandez (Elk Grove H.S.) looks ready to return to the Arizona Diamondbacks next season after sitting out this year recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Corey Vaughn (Jesuit H.S.) spend most of the season with the Mets' Triple-A franchise in Las Vegas. He batted .228 with seven home runs, playing 65 games in the outfield.

David Freitas (Elk Grove H.S.) played mostly in Double-A baseball in Bowie, Md., this summer but did go to Triple-A Norfolk for eight games.

Another former Herd catcher, Jared Deacon, attended a wedding locally a couple weeks back and said he likes his chances in the minors with the Giants organization.

"They treated me really well," Deacon remarked.

Deacon was drafted earlier this summer out of Cal State-Fullerton and played initially in Salem, Ore., in the Northwest League and then was promoted to San Jose in the Class A California League.

He's heading to the Giants' instructional camp in Arizona soon.

Jesuit Holds On To Beat PG, 28-21

Jesuit fumbled the ball three times and that allowed Pleasant Grove to stick close to the Marauders before beating the Eagles, 28-21, Friday night. It was Jesuit's first win over Pleasant Grove in eight years.

More coming later ....

Sedrick Thomas just misses this  pass from Jake Ford during the second half of Pleasant Grove's loss to Jesuit.

Dawson Weber hauls in the tying TD pass Friday in Pleasant Grove' game with Jesuit.

Other scores of local interest:

Burbank 62, Johnson  6
Grant 43, Franklin 14
Elk Grove 56, Davis 13
Monterey Trail 42, Sheldon 0
Laguna Creek 23, Valley 20
Cosumnes Oaks 61, Oakmont 7
Bradshaw Christian 72, Encina 0
 

Friday Night Football Live Online

Follow this week's games right here.

I'll be covering two games Friday - Johnson vs. Burbank in the late afternoon followed by Jesuit and Pleasant Grove in the evening. Follow my Tweets right here!

Live chat: Prep football Week 4, 6:30 p.m. Sept. 26

 

Madrigal, Team USA Survive Hurricane Odile To Win Gold

Nick Madrigal and his family now know personally what damage a hurricane can impose on land. As a member of the age 18-and-under Team USA baseball squad that competed the past couple weeks in the La Paz, Mexico the Elk Grove High School shortstop saw the results of Hurricane Odile which hit the Mexican Baja Peninsula a week ago.

“There were trees laying in the road, flooding everywhere,” Madrigal recalled.

Team USA was a perfect 8-0 competing in the COPABE Pan American Championships and was in the middle of its championship game Sept. 14 with Cuba before the weather turned sour.

Team USA winners of COPABE Pan American Championships in LaPaz, Mexico

The game was halted with USA leading 1-0, the gold medals were awarded the Americans, silver to the Cubans and then the teams were hurried to safety at a hotel where many of the players’ parents, including Madrigal’s mom and dad were staying.

After the hurricane passed the families, players and Team USA coaches were taken Sept. 15 to a nearby military base because the local airport was shut down.

“We stayed in an abandoned school,” Madrigal said. “It was pretty creepy. There was barbed wire everywhere.”

The team members couldn’t sleep that night so they stayed up much of the night playing volleyball. The promise of a military plane to take the Americans didn’t initially materialize so they spent a second night at the school.

Finally, a couple Mexican military transports Sept. 17 arrived to take most of Team USA to Tijuana where they could be bused across the border to San Diego.  They went almost 36 hours with no food or water.

Bradshaw Hangs Around, But Loses To VDL, 56-42

The Bradshaw Christian Pride just wouldn't quit. Despite Eagle running back Colby Carrera's 235 yards rushing on 21 carries and four TD's, 219 of that in the first half alone, the Pride hung around all night before losing to Vista del Lago, 56-42, Friday night.

Water girl Shannon Abe does her job very well in providing liquids during timeouts

More on that game later, but here are some photos:

Kyle Wilburn lofts a pass for the end zone right before halftime. It was intercepted, but might have been a big play for the Pride if completed. It could have brought BCS to within seven at halftime after trailing badly in the first half. Instead, the Eagles took a 36-21 halftime advantage into the locker room.

WR Dustin Jack looks back for a pass from BCS quarterback Kyle Wilburn

Twenty yards later Jack stiff-arms his defender and scores his second TD of the night.

Pride head coach Drew Rickert lines up his kickoff squad in the second half.

Back in the Swing Of Things ....

My son is married, off on his honeymoon with his new wife, tons of family are gone back home and now it's back to normal. Time to spend my Friday nights at a local football game.

This week I'll be at Bradshaw Christian for their non-league game with Vista del Lago. For the first time in a long time the Pride are under .500, 1-2 on the season. Don't think they'll even the record this weekend, either.

I'll be tweeting updates all night, so join me @EGSportsCorner on Twitter or follow on the Preps Plus Chatroom.

Live chat: High school football Week 3, 6:30 p.m. Sept. 19

 

Enjoy Friday's Games ... I Won't Be There

I always enjoy covering our local football games on Friday nights, but this one will be a special one for me and the Hull family - my son, Joel, a 2007 graduate of Elk Grove H.S., is getting married Saturday. We're hosting the rehearsal dinner Friday night at our home.

Joel and Carlee

Joel was a three-year starter on the Herd football teams '04-'06 and was the center fielder on the Section championship baseball teams in '06 and in '07. He went on to Menlo College where he started three seasons on its baseball team. Joel is that school's career stolen base leader and in the top ten in career hits and runs.

I proud of him and welcome his soon-to-be-wife, Carlee Bunac, into the family. Carlee also graduated from EGHS and played softball for the Herd.

So, while I am overseeing all of the marriage stuff, you all enjoy Friday's games.

Live chat: Friday night preps, Week 2, 6:30 p.m. Sept. 12

Salerno's Goal: Return To Football

Jeff Salerno wants to play college football some day. Maybe, even next fall.

But, the Sheldon High School senior right now has the job of being his football team’s biggest encourager on the sidelines – while sitting in his wheelchair.

It was just 13 months ago, one day before the Huskies were set to open fall drills, that Jeff’s dreams of a stellar junior season were crudely dashed. As a passenger in a vehicle driven by his uncle, Salerno was badly hurt when they hit a telephone pole along Bradshaw Road, near Folsom Blvd.

Jeff Salerno, left, with Sheldon football coach Herbie Berry

“I went through about 31 hours of surgery just to put things back together,” Salerno recalled.

That began the long, agonizing recovery process that still lingers to this day. The 6-4, 300-pound offensive lineman doesn’t show any emotional effect at all from the near-death incident. In fact, he now ranks right up there among the elite positive thinkers anywhere around.

“He was a great football player, started every game as a sophomore,” Sheldon head coach Herbie Berry said. “Wonderful, positive, hard-working, dedicated. He’s one of those guys who I knew would (graduate from high school) with a (college football) scholarship because of his size and tenacity.”

“To have something like that happen to him is so devastating to him and his family,” Berry continued. “Because it took away an opportunity that I think was clearly there for him.”

The multiple injuries prevented Salerno from attending school last year. But, that didn’t keep him from advancing ahead in his studies while recovering physically.