Sports

Focused on building up her mental toughness and working the inside of the plate, Watsonville High’s star junior pitcher did not put up the gaudy strikeout numbers of a year ago, but the end result was just as good — or maybe even better. The coaches of the Monterey Bay League Gabilan division said as much, naming Rodriguez the division’s top pitcher for the second straight season.

According to former Watsonville baseball coach James Gomez, Rivera is the first player from the program to be drafted since Rene Rascon was selected by the Florida Marlins in the fifth round of the 1995 draft.

The powerhouse Padres completed their dream season with a 13-3 mercy rule win over the Braves to capture the PVLL Majors championship at Ruso Field in Watsonville.

Aptos High’s Will Patterson, Matthew Quinn and Patrick Peoples were all named to the Mission Trail Athletic League Mission division’s First Team after leading the Mariners’ lacrosse team to its first league title since 2014.

St. Francis is one of 31 schools who combined forces to form the monstrous PCAL, which will be in its inaugural season next school year. The super league will feature former members of the Monterey Bay League, Mission Trail Athletic League and the Coastal Athletic League.

So when the coaches of the Monterey Bay League Pacific division decided to name him co-Coach of the Year along with Alisal High’s Bernie Castaneda, he was more than happy to distribute credit for the honor among his assistant coaches Ed Ackerman, Eric Eldridge and Joe Manfre.

Chase Watkins plans to study business when he heads to Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo on a baseball scholarship in the fall. But the St. Francis High senior outfielder dipped into his science and history databanks when trying to sum up the Sharks’ disappointing 14-2 loss to The King’s Academy Knights in Saturday’s Central Coast Section Division III championship game.