Sports
San Diego’s water polo players shine during college season
Sophia Sanders, the CIF San Diego Section girls water polo player of the year while at Bishop’s, won her second NCAA Championship after Stanford beat USC 11-7 in the NCAA title game in Indianapolis on May 11.
A driver, she finished the season with 20 goals with four multi-goal games and 14 assists while playing in all 26 games for the 25-1 Cardinal.
In the NCAA tournament, Sanders scored a goal against Hawaii and one against Wagner. Last season, Sanders had 44 goals and 19 assists with 15 multi-goal games.
Stanford’s only loss came in a 12-11 setback to USC. The Cardinal then won 10 games in a row, all against ranked teams.
Record setter
Riley Hull (Helix) broke the Villanova freshman women ‘s water polo scoring record with 81 goals. She also had 36 assists and finished with 117 points, including a season-high 10 in a match against VMI.
Hull, who also played field hockey at Helix, was the MAAC rookie of the year as well as honorable mention All-American. An NCAA Division I program, Villanova was 21-12 this season, losing to Marist in the semifinals of the conference tournament. After one season, Hull ranks third in team history in goals and fifth in points.
More water polo
Maggie Johnson (Bishop’s) was one of USC’s captains this season, finishing the season with 23 goals and 58 assists. Isabel Zimmerman (Cathedral Catholic) played in all 34 games for the 29-5 Trojans with 20 goals and 15 assists.
• Julia Bonaguido (Bishop’s) helped Cal to a 19-5 record and a spot in the NCAA Championships with 36 goals.
• Freshman attacker Jenna Human (Santana) had nine goals for UCLA, which went to the eight-team NCAA Championships and finished 20-6. Camille Greenlee (Bishop’s) redshirted for the Bruins this season.
• Lisbon Zeigler (Bishop’s) scored the game-winning goal as Pomona-Pitzer beat Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 9-8 to capture its fourth straight NCAA Division III championship. She finished the season with 27 goals and 15 assists. The Sagehens finished the season 25-10 while playing Division I teams like USC and UCLA.
Baseball
Right-hander Cody Delvecchio (Mission Hills) was the only local player in the College World Series. He started for UCLA against Arkansas, going four innings, allowing seven hits and three runs over four innings. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out three. Delvecchio finished his junior season with a 1-4 record. He made eight starts, working 27 innings with 12 walks and 39 strikeouts.
• Ryan Lovato (Madison/Grossmont College) was a student manager and bullpen catcher for College World Series champion LSU. An outfielder, Lovato started his college playing career at Cal State San Bernardino before transferring to Grossmont College and on to LSU.
• Zach Daubet (Clairemont) and Ryan Fenn (Granite Hills) helped lead Cal Poly to a 43-19 record and berh in the NCAA Regionals. Daubet, who was a first-team All-Big West selection, hit .360 with nine homers, 29 RBIs and scored 53 runs.
Fenn hit a team-leading .365 with a pair of homers, 42 RBIs and a team-leading 54 runs. He drove in two against Oregon and three hits against Utah Valley. Arizona beat Cal Poly twice to win the regional.
• Left-hander Jackson Betancourt (Mira Mesa) led NCAA Division II Montana State Billings to its first playoff win. He finished the season 5-3 with a 3.61 ERA. A senior, he is the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s all-time leader in starts. Catcher Jason Wright (Westview) played in 18 games for the Yellowjackets with two homers and 11 RBIs.
Softball
Indiana Langford (Poway) was Michigan’s top hitter, batting .406. A junior second baseman, she raised her average 77 points from last season, had 20 multi-hit games and had a 20-game on-base streak. She was named first-team All-Big Ten as well as All-Big Ten Tournament. She registered a hit and scored two runs in both games against Texas and Central Florida in the NCAA regionals. Michigan finished the season 39-21.
Basketball
Sophomore guard Shea Fitzgerald (Cathedral Catholic), playing at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY, was named Liberty League player of the year and all-region and was NCAA Division III third-team All-American. He is the first player in school history to garner All-American honors. He averaged 19.7 points a game with a team-leading 75 assists while playing a team-leading 31.7 minutes a game. He scored 20 or more points in 12 games and had a career high 34 points against Middlebury and Cortland.
In the pros
Tyler Nevin (Poway), who played 68 games in the major leagues across four seasons with the Orioles, Tigers and Athletics, batting .204 with 12 homers and 49 RBIs, has signed a two-year contract extension with the Seibu Lions of the Japanese Pacific League.
Nevin, a 28-year-old corner infielder/outfielder, is hitting .269 with five homers and 32 RBIs in 68 games. The Lions are 37-31 and in fourth place in the Pacific League, trailing the Nippon-Ham Fighters, Orix Blue Whales and Softbank Hawks.
• Infielder Hannah Flippen (Bonita Vista/Utah), catcher Sharlize Palacios (Eastlake/UCLA) and pitcher Megan Faraimo (Cathedral Catholic/UCLA) are playing for the Talons in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League. Flippen is hitting .410 with two homers and 13 RBIs. Palacios is hitting .268 with a pair of homers and five RBIs. Faraimo is 1-0 in seven appearances. The Talons are 9-3 and tied for first with the Bandits. The league is based in Wichita.
• Erika Piancastelli (Carlsbad/McNeese State) is playing for the Volts in the AUSL.
John Maffei’s Alumni Report appears during the college season. Readers are encouraged to send items on local athletes to john.maffei@sduniontribune.com.
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