Ceres’ senior shortstop becomes the Sac-Joaquin Section’s first Ms. Softball in more than a decade.  By Mark Tennis | Cal-Hi Sports    Ceres High infielder Nicole Bates nudged Gatorade National Player of the Year Madilyn Nickles of Merced for top local honor in Stanislaus/Merced County and did the same... Read more

   Dynamic duos in sports can be a corny phrase, but when they are two players from the same team it can create all sorts of possibilities.    At the high school level, I was reminded of the greatest duo from any one high school team that I’ve ever... Read more

   For some, high school football is a year-round activity. For others, it doesn’t come into focus until teams start to practice in the August heat. But for me, the start of the next high school football season has always been the Northern California Nike Football showcase event that... Read more

   Fans of Northern California prep football better start getting used to the term “competitive equity” as it relates to the playoffs in the Sac-Joaquin Section, North Coast Section and Central Coast Section.    To be precise, competitive equity is simply a different method used to determine which playoff... Read more

   Now that Calaveras-San Andreas plus three other California high schools will have to switch from Redskins as their nickname, it’s only obvious to assume that more schools with Indian-themed nicknames may choose to switch as well.    Calaveras is not the only CIF Sac-Joaquin Section school that falls... Read more

   Everyone talks about a graduating class from high school and key athletes moving on into college, but it’s always fun to check out those who’ve earned jobs as rookies in the NFL after playing in college.    There’s a strong group of those players this year from Northern... Read more

State Of Play: Mark Tennis    There was a lot of message board and twitter debate about the strength of that Trinity (Euless, Texas) team that De La Salle-Concord lost to 26-21 on Aug. 29 in Mansfield, Texas.     Some don’t think the Trojans are one of the top five... Read more

State of Play: Mark Tennis (California Football Preseason TOP 20 follows below)    Preseason prep football coverage tends to be dominated by rankings of the top teams, but looking at players has always been important as well.    Key factors one always looks at for teams includes returning starters, what happened... Read more

While compiling the all-time football scores archive earlier this month for Justin-Siena High of Napa, it was fascinating to see what happened after the school jumped from the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section to the CIF North Coast Section. According to football head coach Rich Cotruvo, who has been at the... Read more

  By MARK TENNIS | Cal-Hi Sports   In last issue’s column for SportStars, we reflected back on the top teams in CIF North Coast Section history in baseball due to this year’s team at College Park of Pleasant Hill ending at No. 1 overall in the state.  ... Read more

With its 26-4 final record, including a win over Central Coast Section Open Division champ St. Francis-Mountain View plus an avenging win over De La Salle in the North Coast Section Division I championship, it ended up not being too hard to elevate College Park to the final No.... Read more