Notes and quotes

By MARTY JAMES,

NOTES AND QUOTES for a Friday in the Napa Valley:

For the first time in many years, Mike Neu is without a team.

Neu, a Napa native and 1996 Vintage High School graduate, is a free agent pitcher who is looking to sign with a major league organization sometime soon.

He started and worked in relief last year for the Las Vegas 51s, the Triple-A affiliate for the Los Angeles Dodgers which plays in the Pacific Coast League. He began the year with Florida, but was released by the Marlins in spring training.

Neu, a right-hander who pitched for the Oakland Athletics during the 2003 season, is preparing for spring training even though he and his agent, Danny Horwitz, have yet to hear from any ballclubs.

"It's the first time in my life where I don't know where I'm going to be," Neu, 27, said from his home in Martinez on Thursday.

"It's a little bit of a different situation for me. Hopefully I'll get an opportunity to go to a major league camp -- that's what I'm looking for. Otherwise I'll go to a minor league camp, try to pitch well and work my way up from there."

Despite missing three weeks with tendinitis in his throwing shoulder, Neu still made nine starts and appeared in 35 games for Las Vegas last year. He was 2-3 with a 5.56 ERA, struck out 54, walked 62, and gave up 55 earned runs in 89 innings. He also had one save.

"I was used in pretty much every situation you can think of," Neu said.

If anything positive came out of the 2005 season, Neu said it was that he actually got to pitch and got a lot of innings in. He also finished on what he considered a bright note, pitching into the eighth inning in each of his last two starts.

"I felt pretty good," he said.

Neu was traded to Florida on Dec. 16, 2003 but pitched in only one game for the Marlins in 2004, as he was injured and spent the majority of the year at Triple-A Albuquerque, N.M.

"To be able to pitch a lot of innings last year and have the numbers that I had was really important," he said. "I wanted to get a lot of experience and throw a lot of innings. That was important and it was nice to get that confidence going into the offseason. Hopefully I can pick up where I left off."

Neu, who pitched at Vintage, Sacramento City College and the University of Miami, said his immediate goals are to get better and try to stay healthy.

"I want to keep learning every day and make the most of my opportunities," he said. "I want to be able to pitch a full season without any injuries."

The Vintage High School girls wrestling team will be competing in the first-ever CIF Northern California Section Championships today and Saturday at Whitney High-Rocklin.

Vintage has 11 girls scheduled to wrestle in the event, led by Michele Querin and Hattie Borg, currently ranked eighth and 10th nationally in their respective weight classes.

Chaundra Cox and Heather Farace are expected to receive strong seedings based on their recent performances.

The CIF is the governing body for high school sports in the state.

While girls tournaments have been taking place in California for a number of years under CIF sanctioning, including the first ever tournament -- the ASICS Napa Valley Girls Classic hosted by Vintage -- this will be the first sponsored CIF regional event. A similar tournament will run concurrently in West Covina for Southern California.

"It legitimizes us as a sport," said Querin.

Aimee Abadilla, Mariah Phelps, Danni Beltran, Lauren Lasch, Chelsi Aguayo, Nastassia Michalek and Tatiana Alexis-Manayan round out the Vintage squad.

Lauren Philipps and Devery Mitchell of Napa High will also compete in the event.

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