Sports

Senior libero Alexis Pena is the lone returning starter from a squad that went 6-6 in Monterey Bay League Pacific division play and narrowly missed the Central Coast Section playoffs for the sixth straight season. Senior outside Anissa Diaz, who sparingly saw the court last season, is also a returning senior.

The star shortstop is batting just below .400 — .381 as of Wednesday night — through 10 games with the Wareham Gatemen of the CCBL. He has 16 hits, eight RBIs, three doubles and a home run.

Juliana Wilson hit her fifth home run of the season in Watsonville’s 7-4 Monterey Bay League Gabilan division win over the Gilroy High Mustangs on Tuesday in Watsonville.

Watsonville High cross country runner Layla Ruiz won the girl’s freshman race at the Pacific Grove Invitational on Saturday in Pacific Grove.

The senior three-sport athlete with a 4.0 grade point average will have a very good shot at breaking several records for the Aptos football team in the fall.

No. 4 Aptos, a team with more than a handful of first-time varsity players, concluded its season in an 8-4 loss to top-seeded The Menlo School at Homestead High on Tuesday.

Because of poor air quality in the Bay Area stemming from the ongoing Camp Fire just east of Chico, all of Friday’s football games will take place on Saturday at five sites in the southern portion of the CCS. The CCS Cross Country Championships, too, were pushed back a day and moved to a different location. The section’s top runners will meet at Toro Park in Salinas on Sunday at 10 a.m.

Sam Groth, Liam Broady, Alexander Bublik and Taylor Fritz all punched their ticket to today’s semifinal round of the 30th annual Nordic Naturals Challenger presented by Santa Cruz County Bank.

Cabrillo College halted its losing streak at five games with a 36-20 win over winless Gavilan College on Saturday at Gilroy High in American Golden Coast Conference action.