Sportstars
Grinders
  There’s No Off Day In The East Bay Athletic League — And Foothill Baseball Is Just Fine With That •   Story By Mike Wood | Photos By Berry Evans III When Foothill High School-Pleasanton wrapped up a strenuous, dramatic win over Monte Vista-Danville, Falcons players rushed the... Read more
Hang 10
With Its First 10 Games, Clayton Valley Baseball Announced Its 2017 Presence With Authority Story By Mike Wood | Photos By Samuel Stringer Clayton Valley Charter High-Concord baseball is out of the gate quickly this season. How fast? Try a 10-0 start, with five shutouts. Thanks to a stingy... Read more
Everyday Joe
NOTE: This article first appeared in SportStars on August 22, 2013, as the cover story to our 2013 Football Preview. • We are providing it again in its original version as a complement to the most recent column of our editor, Chace Bryson, who reflects on the Joe Mixon... Read more
With Its First 10 Games, Clayton Valley Baseball Announced Its 2017 Presence With Authority Story By Mike Wood | Photos By Samuel Stringer Clayton Valley Charter High-Concord baseball is out of the gate quickly this season. How fast? Try a 10-0 start, with five shutouts. Thanks to a stingy... Read more
After 11 Winning Seasons Patriots’ Day is Finally Here for Heritage
After 11 Winning Seasons, Heritage Clinches Its First State Playoff Berth. After 10 seasons of varsity basketball, and never a losing season, nobody could’ve blamed the Heritage-Brentwood boys or coach Pat Cruickshank if they didn’t feel a bit cursed at the end of the 2015-16 season. The Patriots rode... Read more
Freedom’s March
Junior Pitcher Vanessa Strong Leads A Talented Freedom Roster Still Burning With Motivation Following An Emotional 2016 NCS Title Run. Story By James G. Kane It was, in retrospect, love at first sight. The diamond. The ball. The strike zone. The target. And the batter, of course. Don’t forget... Read more
NorCal FB Offensive Players of the Year
  Co-Offensive Players Of The Year   RONNIE RIVERS • RB • FREEDOM-OAKLEY • SENIOR   An argument in favor of Ronnie Rivers winning any sort of Player of the Year trophy can almost start and end with seven simple words:   He was the MVP of his league.  ... Read more
Parker Jones Can’t Lose
Story and Photos by CHACE BRYSON Momentum is a dangerous thing in volleyball. It can wield great power. It also isn’t easy to get back once it’s been lost. Acalanes had lost the momentum. And the only way the Dons were going to get it back was to win... Read more
Raising The Bar
Story by MIKE WOOD | Photos by BERRY EVANS III An already towering bar of success has been raised to loftier heights for Salesian College Preparatory-Richmond’s basketball team. And that’s something the Pride’s players and coaches realize and fully embrace. It’s a natural progression for a team that shook... Read more
Carondelet Golfer Yealimi Noh Named SportStar of the Week
Carondelet-Concord Golfer Yealimi Noh is named our SportStar of the Week One year after Top 10 finishes at both the CIF NorCal and State Tournaments — as a freshman — Noh shot to the top of the leaderboard. At The Club at Crazy Horse Ranch in Salinas on Nov. 7,... Read more
   Well it’s November, which means we’ve officially reached the first postseason of the high school sporting year.     This one arrives with a bit of intrigue for a couple sports, actually. And of course, an accompanying amount of confusion and controversy.     Let’s talk about the good stuff... Read more
Jonathan Pierce
SportStar Of The Week | Freedom-Oakley | Football | Senior • In one the best back-and-forth games of the season in the East Bay, Pierce helped keep the Falcons’ perfect season in tact by leading them to a 41-38 victory at previously-unbeaten Pittsburg. Pierce’s 34-yard touchdown pass to Giles Jackson... Read more