Sports

After a disappointing campaign in 2017, there is a palpable excitement heading into the first season of the Rodriguez era. The tempo has been upped, and the player-to-player accountability has been restored. A repeat of last year’s 4-6 record, which was the program’s first losing season since 2013, won’t be acceptable for the players.

The No. 12-seeded Grizzlies will host the No. 5-seeded Mariners today in the CCS Division II playoffs at 7 p.m. Although they were the lower seed, Pajaro Valley was awarded home-court advantage because of their league champion status.

Jabari Brown, who Santa Cruz Warriors head coach Casey Hill called the missing piece, poured in 36 points on 10 of 16 shooting and his final make from the charity stripe proved to be the difference in Wednesday night’s first round Game 1 win over the Okla

This week’s edition of the Pajaronian Sports Ticker highlights local prep athletes for their performances during the week of Jan. 30 - Feb. 5.  Coaches and athletic directors are encouraged to submit scores and stats to [email protected]. Follow sports editor Juan Reyes on Twitter @jmreyes831...

St. Francis High senior Julian Vargas and a group of other local high school runners put on a strong performance at the 34th CIF State Cross Country Championships on Saturday morning.  Vargas, who qualified as individual, took 12th out of 205 runners in 15 minutes,...

Top-seeded Watsonville exploded for five goals to storm past No. 8 Los Gatos, 5-0, in Saturday’s Central Coast Section Open Division quarterfinals at Emmett M. Geiser Field.

WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville High boys’ soccer team was firing on all cylinders after five different players each recorded a goal in last week’s crushing victory over Soledad High. Seniors Mateo Arias and Saul Valencia had a goal and an assist for the Wildcatz in their 5-0...

SANTA CRUZ—The Aptos High boys’ soccer team sailed into enemy territory Tuesday evening hoping to gain a victory over Harbor High in the frigid-cold and inch closer to within the league standings. Instead, the upset-minded Mariners had to jump overboard following a 2-1 loss to...

For the first time in 52 years, the annual Wharf to Wharf Race will not begin at the traditional starting line in front of The Grove, aka the Coconut Grove, at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.   Instead, the 16,000 expected participants will wait for the...