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Jennifer Ong

Jennifer Ong 5-7 INF R/R Pleasanton, Calif. Foothill HS

Led the league with a .540 batting average in league games as a senior at Foothill High School... Hit .435 overall with 40 hits, a .469 on base percentage and a .533 slugging percentage... First team all-league selection... Voted team most valuable player... Earned second team all-league honors after hitting .417 as a junior... 2009 Foothill Female Athlete of the Year... Two-time Scholar Athlete Award recipient... Helped lead to Foothill to the East Bay Athletic League championship... Played for the San Jose Lady Sharks 18-and-under gold team.

"I am so blessed to have the opportunity to attend one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Yale offers the best of both worlds in that it is strong not only in academics but also in athletics."

MARIAH NISBET
From Contra Costa Times

DANVILLE — A second baseman with a big smile, good glove and a wicked swing ... it must be California High junior Mariah Nisbet.

Nisbet appears to love everything about softball, especially winning, and the Grizzlies prevailed for the second straight time in the powerful East Bay Athletic League, 4-2 over host San Ramon Valley on Tuesday.

Cal's ministreak comes after two straight close losses, 2-0 to Amador Valley and 3-2 to Foothill.

In addition to slugging a home run in the first inning, the muscular Nisbet made strong defensive plays in the sixth and seventh innings behind pitcher Brittany Wright, who tossed a three-hitter.

"She makes all the plays, and she can hit," Cal coach Mike Nevin said of Nisbet, "and she just loves it."

"I love winning," Nisbet said with a laugh. "It's good to finally win ... I feel that we were slow starting off (this season), but we're definitely coming around, and we're picking it up. ... And we're doing great."

Cal had 11 hits, including an extra-base blast in each of the first four innings against a solid Wolves squad that played excellent defense. Both teams left the field with 5-6 league marks and 12-9 overall records.

Nevin has a white board in the dugout, and each player gets a black dot by their name for every hard hit ball. Nisbet has the most dots this season, 19. Cal went on a dot frenzy on this day. Cal senior Krista Miller was 3-for-3 with a double, and Stefanie

SAMMY McCONVEY
Cowboys hammer big rival Foothill

2009 09:10:36 PM PDT

LIVERMORE — The Livermore High softball team has operated with a bit of a chip on its shoulder all season.

The Cowboys knew the reputation of their main rival, Foothill, and they knew the Falcons were the ones they'd have to beat even to think about an East Bay Athletic League title.

Livermore scratched out two runs in the third inning and then broke the game open with six in the fourth to beat visiting Foothill 8-0 at Ernie Rodrigues Fields at Robertson Park in Livermore.

Livermore (15-2, 7-0 EBAL) used its usual small-ball approach to get on the board in the third.

With runners on second and third, Brittany Sabatini laid down a perfect squeeze bunt, scoring Stephanie Gilbert. When Foothill first baseman Kristy Ortiz tried to come home to get Gilbert, the ball squirted away from catcher Erica Tabler, allowing Katie Keller to score from second.

Foothill (12-5, 6-1) couldn't respond to the Cowboys' offensive barrage, sending only the minimum six batters to the plate in the final two innings. Jessica Varady pitched the first five for Livermore, and Sammy McConvey pitched the final two of the shutout.

Livermore's lineup: It's all good

By Matt Schwab
Staff Writer Posted: 03/31/2009 09:19:23 PM PDT Updated: 03/31/2009 10:41:42 PM PDT

LIVERMORE — Livermore High senior pitcher Jessica Varady loves the fact that the bottom of her team's batting order is just the tops.

That was evident Tuesday afternoon when the Cowboys, No. 3 ranked in the East Bay poll, had 11 hits in a 6-1 victory over No. 14 Amador Valley at Robertson Park in East Bay Athletic League softball.

Livermore's Nos. 7 and 8 hitters Megan Ramirez and Sammy McConvey both had two RBI off Amador Valley ace Haley Douglas, one of the area's better pitchers who no-hit California a week ago.

Varady, who allowed two hits in the inning, kept Amador from padding the lead, however, and the Cowboys' big bats came to life in the bottom of the inning. McConvey's clutch two-out, two-run single, driving in Hillary Munns and Ramirez, gave Livermore a 2-1 lead.
McConvey has signed with Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont.

NICOLE KUYKENDALL

Bay Area News Group Girls Athletes of the Week

Posted: 03/26/2009 07:30:56 PM PDT

Updated: 03/26/2009 09:49:13 PM PDT

· Nicole Kuykendall

SCHOOL: Pinole Valley

· SPORT: Softball

· YEAR: Junior

· POSITION: Catcher/third base

· THE STAT LINE: Kuykendall hit a two-run home run and drove in six runs as part of a 3-for-4 performance in a 15-0 nonleague victory over Dublin on March 17, and she also slammed a double in the Spartans' loss to College Park in another nonleague game on March 19.

MAXPREPS STATS (Entire State of California)

California HS State Leaders
Nicole Finished # 3 In State Batting Averages!

http://www.maxpreps.com/california/softball/state_sport.aspx?gendersport=girls,softball&state=ca&urpath=,national

State Stat Stars of the Week
May 21, 2009 4:30 PM
Nicole Kuykendall (Pinole Valley, Pinole): One of the big reasons the Spartans are 21-3 and the third seed in the NCS Div. II playoffs is because of this junior, who is amongst the top sluggers in the state. Last week in an 18-8 victory over Richmond, the backstop and occasional third base girl was a perfect 5-for-5, hit her fourth home run of the season, had two doubles, five RBI and two runs scored. Coming into the playoffs, she's hitting .701 with 47 hits and 21 doubles, 43 RBI and 35 runs scored.

                                ARI ROACH
                                                     (LADY SHARK ALUMNI)
Hey Rob--

I have been meaning to get this to you for your alumni page. Arianna was selected second team all league as shortstop http://www.thesciac.org/sports/sball/2008-09/news/2009_sb_allsciac

She was also Most Valuable Player for her team and Offensive Player of the year. She also got 2 team All american awards for her grand slam and a diving catch turned double play in Tucson.

Susan

ALSO

Ari hit her first homerun (a grand slam) against Occidental College on March 7th and her team held on to win 5-3. She had an awesome day last Saturday in the Tucson Invitational tournament. They played two games against teams from New York and Michigan. Arianna went 8 for 8 with a couple of walks and a triple and 8 RBI's on the day . I think she batted .667 for the 3 days..She also had a diving catch which she flipped to second base for a double play as well. As of March 2nd, (last time stats were posted on her school website) she was leading the team in batting average. I believe she stills is and has raised her average. It was .324 on 3/2, so her grand slam and Tucson at bats are not included. She has played every inning so far and starts at Shortstop and bats first.

MICHELLE PITTS
(LADY SHARK ALUMNI)

Mar 25, 2009Michelle Pitts - Softball

In the last 11 days, the rookie catcher has raised her batting average nearly 100 points and currently leads the Panthers with a .383 mark. In the last nine games, Pitts is batting .462 (12-for-26) with four doubles. On Thursday, she went 3-for-3 with a double and a run scored. She followed that up on Monday with a 2-for-4 performance and her first career home run in the Panthers' 8-7 win over Whitworth College (Wash.). And on Wednesday, the freshman was 2-for-3 versus Hamline
University (Minn.) with an RBI double. She leads Chapman with a .553 slugging percentage and her five doubles are also currently tied for the team lead.

                         JENNIFER LUDERS
                                                (LADY SHARKS ALUMNI)
Jennifer went 5 for 7 with 2 doubles in yesterday's doubleheader. Her batting average is now .367.

                                      WHITNEY HUESER

Softball Signs Two from the Class of 2009

Moraga, CA – Saint Mary’s Head Softball Coach Jessica Hanaseth has signed two from the 2009 recruiting class, as Whitney Heuser and Megan Smith will join the Gael squad in 2010. The two players committed during the National Letter of Intent early signing period, and are about to begin their senior seasons at their respective high schools.

“I am very excited to have Megan and Whitney join our team,” said Hanaseth. They are outstanding athletes and should make an immediate impact in our program.

Heuser, an infielder from Felton, CA, comes to Saint Mary’s from San Lorenzo Valley High School, where she put up stellar numbers for the Cougars. Three seasons into her prep career, Heuser has accumulated a .395 overall hitting percentage and .541 mark in league play. As a junior the shortstop totaled 33 hits, scoring 28 runs, while knocking in an additional 16 runs. Heuser has been named all-league, all-county, and her team MVP while playing for the Cougars.

REGINA SENA

Centre Softball Team Looks to Continue Winning Ways in 2009

2008 Centre College softball team continued the Colonels recent success winning 22 games and making it all the way to the SCAC tournament semi-finals. In 2009, Centre will look to continue winning ways while working towards a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship.

The 2009 Centre softball team will lack inexperience, with only two seniors and one junior on the roster, but will compensate for the lack of experience with talent. Associate Head Coach Chris Mason said, “Despite us being a young team, we are extremely excited about the upcoming year. We might not have a lot of upperclassmen but the freshmen and sophomores on the team are willing and capable of producing an excellent effort on the field.”
Freshmen players that the coaching staff feels might have a chance to make a strong impact this year include: Regina Sena, Elizabeth Fenwick, Catelyn Teague and Cailynn West. Sena will split time with Rhule behind the plate and likely see some playing time in the outfield as well. Fenwick will step in at shortstop for the Colonels and look to solidify the infield defense. Teague will join Jones in the Colonels pitching staff. West will be asked to provide a strong bat in the middle of the order while playing mostly at first base.