Sports

Esteban Fernandez had 13 kills and four blocks and Dennar Ocampo finished with 33 assists, three digs and two aces, as the Pajaro Valley boys’ volleyball beat Gilroy, 20-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-19, in Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission division action on Wednesday night.

Some of the top high school softball players in South Santa Cruz County are getting ready to sing their swan songs, and a strong group of underclassmen — mostly consisting of freshmen — is primed to fill their large shoes.

St. Francis split its opening series of Pacific Coast Athletic League Gabilan division action against Salinas.

Watsonville’s junior forward Elyanna Magdaleno was named the Most Valuable Player in the Mission division, and Monte Vista Christian junior defender Sophie Bessa earned M.V.P. honors in the Cypress division.

The coaches of the SCCAL determined first-year coach Brian Bowyer played a big role in the program’s impressive bounce back season, recently naming him the Coach of the Year.

After defeating the No. 11 seeded College of the Siskiyous on March 2 in the Adobe Palace, Cabrillo has progressed to the third round of the NorCal CCCAA playoffs for the first time since 1979. Now, armed with the Coast Conference South MVP and Coach of the Year, the No. 7-seeded Seahawks will face their greatest challenge so far when they travel to the Central Valley to play against the No. 2-seeded Merced College Blue Devils.

With Yniguez leading the way, the Sharks won a share of the PCAL-Cypress crown — the program’s first league title since the 2010-11 season — and advanced to the Central Coast Section Division V semifinals.

Freshman pitcher Gio Besio (5-1) threw a complete game of three-hit ball, allowing just one run while striking out four, as Cabrillo easily took the first of a three-game series, 6-1, against Skyline College Trojans in Aptos on Monday.

Depth, defense and fundamentals — more than ever — will be the determining factors over the course of league play.