Seemingly under the radar, while basketball playoffs stretched the late season and heavy rains kept students and parents indoors, spring sports nonetheless got underway at area high schools this past month. Tennis and badminton players are already knocking the ball (birdie) over the net, baseball and softball started competitive games last month, and the first swimming match was last weekend, while runners and jumpers are making their marks in track and field.
Spring is one of the most popular seasons for student participation in athletics. School records show 102 students participate in fall sports, 149 in winter and 142 in spring. The high number of participants in a school whose enrollment is less than 550 is remarkable.
Track & Field
Local distance runner Kaeden Anderson, who has sparked the fall cross country team the past couple of years, put his track shoes back on this month at the Big Cat Invitational in Santa Rosa. He showed he’s back in form, winning the 3200 meter (the event’s longest distance) with a time of 9:52.19, more than two seconds ahead of Ome Zuniga of Santa Rosa (9.54.47). Anderson came in sixth in the 1600m, but set a personal record at 4:36.37.
Distance teammates Jack McWilliams and Lukas Brennan also competed in the 1600m, both with personal best times. Other Greyhound boys on the track that day (March 2) included Areum Romero Bennerson in the 100m dash, Cole Pastene and Milo Timmsen-Miller in the long jump, with Pastene also scoring in the triple jump.
Varsity girls in the track events included Madeleine Munsell, Melissa Casas Gatica and Fia Huebel in the 100m and 200m, and Sierra Anderson in the 1600m. Track athletes included Brenna Scott in the discus and shot put, and Tatum Kiff and Huebel in the high jump.
Upcoming meets include two on March 16; the “Dublin Distance Fiesta” for runners and a “Field Event Jamboree” at Santa Rosa High.
Softball
The Lady Greyhounds are already running the bases as spring arrives and the soggy fields begin to dry out. They dropped their first two games to Lower Lake and Justin-Siena, but won a hard-fought seesaw victory over Credo (Rohnert Park) in Healdsburg on March 11.
The Healdsburg team had only four hits but made the best of eight walks and eight stolen bases to pursue Credo through a light rain to come from behind in the bottom of the fifth, which opened with Credo up a run, at 6-5.
Healdsburg’s lead off hitter, Ashley Jenkins, was hit by a pitch and took first. Izzy Osborn bunted to advance her, but an errant throw down the first base line sent Jenkins all the way home, and the throw home went so far askew that Osborn herself scored.
“Thus your very non-traditional walk-off bunt single where you come all the way around to score on two throwing errors, completing what we like to call a ‘Little League Home Run,’” said coach Brian Osborn. The final score was 7-6.
Wednesday, March 13, they met Piner High, usually a league rival, but this game was still in pre-season (results too late for press time). Next home game is March 20 in a rematch against Lower Lake. Game time is 4pm at the softball field, corner of University and Monte Vista.
Baseball
The varsity baseball team has played five games already, but the season has barely begun. They easily won their first game on Feb. 20, defeating Middletown 12-0. But they came up short in their next four games, most recently falling to Montgomery on March 8 in the league season opener.
But it was a close game, as the 1-0 score demonstrates. The Montgomery pitcher allowed only two hits in his six-and-a-half innings of work, from Tyler Swanson and Wyatt Dugan. Meanwhile Healdsburg starter Alex Mauro-Manos had a solid outing, spreading five hits over six innings of work and striking out six.
The next chance to see the Greyhounds play at Rec Park is Friday, March 15, when they meet Elsie Allen, also a team in the NCS-Redwood league. First pitch is 7pm.
Badminton
The indoor court game of badminton is gaining traction in the North Bay, thanks in part to Stan Bischof, who has taught the game now or previously at Piner High, Elsie Allen, Roseland University Prep (RUP), Montgomery and, since 2019, Healdsburg.
Bischof reports that on March 5, Windsor High defeated Healdsburg, 10-5, but two days later, on March 7, the Greyhounds made quick work of Roseland College Prep (RCP), 13-1.
Upcoming matches include at RUP on Thursday this week, March 14, and back in Healdsburg on March 26 against Elsie Allen.
Other spring sports include Boys Tennis, Boys Golf and Swimming. The Tribune plans to follow all seven sports through the concluding months of School Year 2023-24.
