Sports

Powerhouse Mariners start season atop the rankings after a long streak of success this decade.

St. Francis High incoming senior Chase Watkins gave his verbal commitment to the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo baseball program for the 2018-19 season, he confirmed with the Register-Pajaronian on Monday.

After more than two decades of coaching at Watsonville High, James Gomez has decided to step down from both of his lead positions, he confirmed to the Register-Pajaronian on Saturday.

The annual Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League Jamboree was Friday night at Carl Conelly Stadium on the campus of Cabrillo College in Aptos and we learned plenty about the 10 teams from the county.

Watsonville and the five other local teams will all partake in league jamborees today at various sites. North Monterey County High and Pajaro Valley High will join the Wildcatz at North Salinas High for the Monterey Bay League Pacific division jamboree and Monte Vista Christian travels to Salinas High for the MBL-Gabilan division jamboree, while Aptos High, St. Francis High and Mt. Madonna will compete in the brand-new Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League Jamboree at Santa Cruz High. All three jamborees are set for a 9 a.m. start.

M.V.C. this year is using the ImPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) program as another protective device against concussions.

The North Monterey County High Condors will debut their brand new all-weather football field and track for homecoming on Oct. 6 against the Pajaro Valley High Grizzlies.

Austen, a senior offensive lineman for the Aptos High football team, stands at a towering 6-foot-5-inches and 311 pounds. Standing next to his fellow lineman, the starting left tackle makes them all look like members of the freshman squad. Six-foot-2, 283-pound senior tackle Joseph Gutierrez-Lee might as well be 5-foot-7 and 150 pounds.

Stingy, speedy and mean, Watsonville’s defense kept the Wildcatz in every game last season but the offense struggled mightily to keep up its end of the bargain, averaging just 12.8 points per game. Watsonville’s offensive struggles ultimately cost the program a shot at the MBL-P championship, as the Wildcatz failed to score a touchdown in a heartbreaking 6-5 loss to eventual league champion Seaside High.

After serving as the Sharks’ defensive coordinator for the past two seasons under Adam Hazel, Ausman is now the head coach of the St. Francis program. The University of La Verne alumnus has tried to keep most of the same offensive and defensive concepts i