Similar stories:
•
Ace carries Miners baseball to win
VISALIA -- El Diamante High's Blake Gimbarti was -- in baseball parlance -- dealing on Friday.
The senior right-hander pitched a two-hitter with a season-high 13 strikeouts to lead the top-seeded Miners to a 5-1 victory over No. 9 Reedley in the quarterfinals of the Central Section Division II playoffs.
"I had no clue what I was in for," said Gimbarti, who improved to 10-2 with his sixth complete game in 15 appearances. "I just planned to throw strikes and get ahead and hope good things would happen."
•
2009 Boys Tennis All-Star Team
The aggression Josh Lorentzen uses to lead the El Diamante football team in the fall, he applies to overpower opponents on the tennis courts in the spring.
The Miners’ No. 1 singles player (and quarterback) is the Bee’s boys tennis Player of the Year for the second straight year after dominating area opponents throughout the season en route to a 30-1 record.
Despite spending a limited portion of the year focused on tennis Lorentzen concentrates on football from the end of tennis season through December the junior’s skill level was high enough to return him to the Central Section singles championship finals for the second straight year. Lorentzen retired after his legs cramped in the third set of the match against Stockdale’s Jeremy Quiroz. That was his lone loss of the season.
•
Boys tennis second team
Alex Jaramishian
Vitals: Bullard, junior, singles
He’s qualified because: He went 24-4 in singles play and 14-1 in doubles. Coach Mark Weatherly called him the team’s iron man because he would (and could) fill in anywhere from No. 1 to No. 3.
•
Coach of the Year: Darren Bennett
It was as humiliating as it was convincing, a 63-14 loss to El Diamante for the 2007 Central Section Division II football championship that coach Darren Bennett and his Tulare Redskins had to lug into the offseason.
And what justification?
What about the 13-0 record leading into that game?
•
2008 Boys Tennis All-Star Team
He's qualified because: Lorentzen established a gaudy won-loss record of 30-2, his only losses coming to Sky Lovill of Sir Francis Drake (ranked No. 4 in NorCal) and to Stockdale's Jeremy Quiroz in the Central Section final. Lorentzen cruised through pre-season tournaments and the West Yosemite League, then rolled through the Central Section singles tournament, losing only five games before the final, where he lost to Quiroz, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. A good all-around athlete, Lorentzen also plays quarterback on El Diamante's football team.
Defining moment: "The [Central Section] championship match. It was really intense. I'd never been in an environment like that before. It seemed like a college match environment, there were so many people there, the crowd was really into it, cheering us on. I love that part of it, it made me want to play harder, kept me going." -- Josh Lorentzen
The word: "Josh is a gifted athlete who is very competitive but keeps his emotions in check. He always demonstrates proper sportsmanship
Vitals: El Diamante, freshman, singles
He’s qualified because: He made it all the way to the Central Section individual tournament semifinals, losing to eventual champion Jeremy Quiroz in three sets.
He was exceptional as the El Diamante No. 2 singles player, helping the Miners win the Division II title for the second straight season.
Andrada finished 30-2 in singles play.
He said it: “He’s more like a counterpuncher. He’s a backboard that fights back. There’s a little sting on him. ... He has some punch.” — El Diamante coach Joe Harding.
E-Mail
Print
2009 Boys Tennis All-Star Team
@Nyx.CommentBody@