Baseball squad bests Channel Islands for first win of the season

While one state playoff-bound basketball team is keeping winter sports alive for at least another day, the spring sports teams at Santa Ynez High are starting up.

The Pirates baseball, led by second-year head coach Craig Gladstone, posted its first win of the year on Saturday, March 1, beating Channel Islands 5-1.

Jaxon Glover drove in two runs, with a run scored and a stolen base, against the visiting Raiders, while Nic Palacios and Dylan Ross had two hits and one RBI apiece. Elijah Roberts earned the complete-game win, allowing a run on five hits and striking out five.

The win on Saturday stemmed a rough start for the Pirates. On Wednesday, Feb. 26, SYHS opened the season at home against Pioneer Valley and lost 11-2 as the Panthers scored nine runs over the last two innings. Glover was a bright spot for the Pirates in that game, going 3-for-3 with three runs and two RBI.

Two days later, SYHS was held to two hits in a 14-2 loss at Mission Prep on Friday, Feb. 28. Roberts and Tate Minus scored runs for the Pirates.

Santa Ynez played Bishop Diego on Monday, and travel to Ojai to face Nordhoff High on Tuesday, March 4.

Girls beach volleyball team beats Dos Pueblos

The Santa Ynez girls beach volleyball team defeated Dos Pueblos in a non-league duel 4-1 on Tuesday, Feb. 18 to even its record at 2-2.

“The girls did a great job of staying in system against a solid DP squad,” said coach Melissa Rogers. “Tough serving, controlling the ball and minimizing our errors were key.”

Match results:

  1. Jayden Jones/Halle Rillie (DP) defeated Scarlett Ollenburger/Arelie Perez (SY) 21-14, 21-8
  2. Jordan Gann/Natalie Bailey (SY) defeated Grace Posey/Ella Payne(DP) 22-24, 21-18, 15-10
  3. Kailyn Snekvik/Lila Cassidy (SY) defeated Eleni Becker/Tanner Love (DP) 21-18, 21-17
  4. Scotty Losson/Ella Miller (SY) defeated Atasha Black/Gia Haas (DP) 21-14, 21-10
  5. Kendall Herthel/Nora Eliason (SY) defeated Allie Ben-Yaacov/Char Welch (DP) 21-18, 21-16

The Lady Pirates are in the midst of a busy week: They faced off against Santa Barbara on Monday, the start of a four-matches-in-four-days stretch. They face Laguna Blanca today (Tuesday), Nipomo on Wednesday, and St. Joseph on Thursday, all home matches starting at 3 p.m.

One interesting aspect about these matches is that they are all now being played closer to home: A new sand volleyball court has been built next to the west parking lot on campus, so the Lady Pirates can actually play at home after using Sunny Fields Park as their “home” venue in previous years.

Boys tennis gets a win

While coach Jennifer Rasmussen is leading the SYHS girls basketball team through its postseason run, her boys tennis team is getting thing started on their season.

The Pirates eked out a win, 5-4 over Orcutt Academy.

Adam Angel (6-1, 6-1), Andrew Kozlov (6-1, 6-1), and Devin Van Schmus (6-0, 6-0) swept their singles matches, while the doubles teams of Jeremy Shehab/Xavier Lovering (8-4) and Angel/Evan Lemay (8-0) won their crucial matches.

Winter sports squads bow out

The Santa Ynez High boys basketball and girls soccer teams were eliminated in the second round from their respective CIF Central Section playoffs on Wednesday night, Feb. 19. The boys basketball team lost 61-43 to North High in Bakersfield in Division III. The girls soccer team fell 4-1 at Santa Maria High, also in Division III. In both cases, the SYHS teams lost to the top seeds in the division.

Feature Image: Santa Ynez High’s Jaxon Glover connects for a double in the Pirates season opener against Pioneer Valley on Feb. 26. Glover went 3-for-3 in the game. Photo by Mike Chaldu/SYVS