Napa Valley Baseball Club gets 14-and-under season started

The Napa Valley Baseball Club’s 14-and-under team played in its first tournament, the Spring Showdown, this past weekend in Martinez.

On Saturday Napa beat the Marin Baseball Club, 7-0, behind seven innings of two-hit shutout baseball by Jordan Grubbs, who also struck out five.

Brian Webster also tossed seven innings and threw a no-hitter while striking out 10 in beating the Clayton Valley Eagles, 1-0. The one run was a solo home run by Ellis Good, clearing the left field-fence in the fifth inning.

The NVBC lost its third game Sunday to the Carson Valley Cougars 7-0, with Tyler Whatley having the team’s only hit, a double.

Hayden Hullana had three singles and a double over the weekend. The NVBC finished third out of six teams. Brian Webster was named the tournament’s outstanding pitcher.

The Napa team travels to Twin Creeks in Sunnyvale over Memorial Day weekend for its second tournament./Register

Napa Track Club competes in Modesto meet

Conditions at Modesto Junior College were almost ideal on

Saturday, and the athletes from Napa Track Club took advantage. Nine competitors set a combined 15 personal records as the club produced six meet champions and collected 22 medals overall.

The meet, the Tom Moore Youth Classic, also served as a qualifying event for the USA Track & Field Youth National Championships, which will be held in Chicago in July, and Napa’s team members had seven performances that met entry qualifications.

Jennifer Cardey, an eighth-grader at St. John’s Lutheran School, earned a pair of gold medals, winning both the long jump and the triple jump. Her jump of 30 feet, 9 inches was also good enough to earn entry into the Nationals. She added a PR in the 100 meters.

Her twin sister, Lauren, won the high jump with a personal-best and Nationals-qualifying mark of 4-9. She added third-place finishes and personal records in both the 200 and the long jump, and achieved a PR in the 100.

Harvest Middle School sixth-grader Ashley Agustus turned in two Nationals-qualifying performances. Her time of 9:13 earned a gold medal in the 1500-meter racewalk. She also qualified in the turbo javelin and matched her personal best in the high jump, earning a bronze medal.

Mackenzie Mills, also a sixth grade student, performed well in all three of her events. She won gold in the high jump (4-0), earned silver with a Nationals qualifying turbo throw of 78-0, and added a bronze medal with a personal best in the 800 meters (2:44).

Eight-year-old Erin Mills, the team’s youngest member, continues to show improvement. Her turbo javelin toss (51-7) was good enough for a silver medal and also qualified her to move on to the Nationals. She also earned a bronze in the 1500 (6:17), improving her personal best by over 25 seconds in the process.

Brendan Cardey, a fifth-grader, won his division of the high jump with a personal best of 4-2. He also had a throw in the turbo that earned entry into Nationals.

Eric Zoller, an eighth-grade student at Redwood Middle School, recorded three personal bests, including a very good 58.64 clocking in the 400 meters.

High school freshmen Anthony Zoller and Mario Giovannoni each collected a pair of medals, despite having to compete in a division that was open to all high school students. Zoller earned silver in the triple jump, while Giovannoni earned silver in the high jump. Each has previously qualified for Nationals in those events.

The club’s next meet will be the Pacific Association Championships, which will take place in Sacramento on June 9-10./Register

Vintage High School football parent meeting May 22

A Vintage High School football parent meeting is at 6:15 p.m. today in the school’s gymnasium. The program’s summer schedule and paper work will be addressed.

For more information, call head coach Billy Smith at 253-3656./Register

NV Marathon adopts USATF ban on personal electronic devices

The Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon announced that it has adopted a USA Track & Field rule that prohibits the use of personal electronic devices such as portable music players in the competition area of its sanctioned long distance running races. Race organizers said that the Napa Valley Marathon, a sanctioned USATF race, will enforce the rule starting with its 30th annual event scheduled for Sunday, March 2, 2008.

The new USATF rule will be printed on entry forms and race packets for all 2008 Napa Valley Marathon scheduled events. Additionally, participants in the Napa Valley Marathon will be advised against bringing personal electronic devices with headphones to the race course. Athletes carrying these devices will be asked to surrender them to a race official prior to the race. Surrendered devices will be returned to their owners following the race. Participants who violate the headphone ban risk disqualification from the race by a certified USATF Referee. The names of disqualified participants will not appear in final race results.

“We totally support USATF’s ban on the dangerous practice of headphone use in road races,” said Rich Benyo, who co-directs the Napa Valley Marathon. “USATF makes the rules and regulations of our sport. As a sanctioned USATF race, we are committed to follow them. Plus our title sponsor, Kaiser Permanente, is committed to preventative personal health. We believe this action contributes to the personal health and safety of our participants.”

USATF is the national governing body for track and field, race walking, and long distance running in the U.S. Last December, at USATF’s annual meeting, over 1,000 federation delegates approved a rules package that included amended rule 144.3(b), which prohibits the use of portable electronic devices by participants competing in long distances running races. Previously, the rule applied to USATF sanctioned events conducted on the track, but it merely strongly suggested the prohibition for road and cross country distance events.

The rule amendment came in response to a recent increase in use of music players by recreational runners in organized running competitions, and on open roads in general. Increasingly, this practice, for which the listener typically uses headphones, is viewed as unsafe on roadways.

The Road Runners Club of America is a non-profit organization consisting of over 800 running clubs and 175,000 members across the United States. The organization’s safety guidelines for runners warn against wearing headsets while on the run. The Napa Valley Marathon has served as the RRCA’s National Marathon Championship since 1998.

For more information about the marathon, go to www.napavalleymarathon.org./Register

Athletic physicals to be offered at Justin-Siena on Wednesday

Justin-Siena High School will offer athletic physicals for all student-athletes in the ninth, 10th and 11th grades who plan on playing sports at Justin-Siena for the 2007-08 school year at 1 p.m. Wednesday in Clark Gym. The cost is $20. Forms are available in the Zeller Center. Athletes must be cleared before they will be able to start practice. The first official day of fall practice is Aug. 20.

Forms must be completed annually before student-athletes may try out or practice for any athletic team at Justin-Siena. A sports fee is required before a student can try out./Register

American Legion baseball alumni game May 30

Any alumni American Legion baseball players interested in playing in the alumni game on May 30 at 5 p.m. at the Veterans Home of California’s Cleve Borman Field in Yountville is asked to contact Billy Smith, the manager of the Napa Valley Baseball Club’s Rasmusen Painting team, at www.napalegion@sbcglobal.net./Register

Solano CC player development basketball camp June 12-15

Solano Community College-Suisun is offering an intense player development camp for boys and girls basketball players June 12-15, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. It’s for ages 12 to 17. It’s designed for the more advanced, serious basketball players to further develop their skills by participating in college-level drills and more difficult competition. The cost is $125 per player, $100 for additional siblings, $100 per player for team sign-ups (eight or more). There will be registration at the door as well.

For more information, or to request a registration form, call coach Matt Borchert at 864-7000, extension 333, or coach John Nagle at 863-7831./Register

Braves Volleyball Camp starts June 25 at Justin-Siena

Justin-Siena High School is offering summer volleyball camps for girls in grades 6-8 and 8-12 at Clark Gym. Braves’ coach Kelly Porter and a group of college, high school, and club coaches will instruct in these one-week camps. The focus is to keep the camp small in order to allow more individual instruction. Session I, running from June 25-28, is for girls in grades 6-8 and goes from 6-8 p.m. Session II, running from July 16-19, is for girls in grades 8-12 and goes from 6-8 p.m.

The cost is $125. Checks are to be made payable to Justin-Siena Volleyball Camp and mailed with registration form to Justin-Siena Volleyball Camp, 4026 Maher St., Napa, CA 94558. For more information, call Derek McIntyre, Justin-Siena’s athletic director, at 255-0950, extension 655./Register

Solano CC basketball offers ball-handling day clinic July 7

Solano Community College-Suisun is offering a ball-handling day clinic for basketball players, boys and girls, ages 7 to 17, on July 7, from 9 a.m. to noon. It’s three hours that are concentrated on ball-handling development. Players will leave the clinic with drills that they can practice at home. The cost is $40 per player, $30 for additional siblings, $30 per player for team sign-ups (eight or more). Sign-ups are also available at the door.

For more information or a registration form, call Matt Borchert at 864-7000, extension 333, or coach John Nagle at 863-7831./Register

Foundation for Ichthyosis & Related Skin Types tourney July 9

The second annual Foundation for Ichthyosis & Related Skin Types Golf Tournament and dinner is July 9 at Napa Valley Country Club. Registration is at 10:30 a.m., there’s a shotgun start at 12:30 p.m., and a dinner/silent auction is at 5:30 p.m. The cost is $150 per player, or $50 for dinner only tickets. To sign up, or for more information, call 256-9721 or e-mail Diggermos@aol.com.

Ichthyosis is a group of rare genetic skin diseases that affect more than 16,000 babies each year, and is characterized by very dry, cracked, scaling and thickened skin. In addition to the medical implications, Ichthyosis is a very visible disease, and affected individuals must also handle the psychological factors attributed to their appearance.

Revenue generated will help FIRST in its commitment to find better treatments, increase research and support programs for affected individuals and families./Register