USTA event Feb. 22 at Vintage High

By Marty James

NOTES AND QUOTES for a Friday in the Napa Valley:

The Northern California section of the U.S. Tennis Association will put on a free event for beginning and entry-level players on Sunday, Feb. 22, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Vintage High School tennis courts.

An informational meeting, explaining USTA leagues, will take place, and there will be some social tennis. Refreshments will be provided.

For more information, contact DeDee Winfield, Community Tennis Coordinator/Adult Tennis for USTA Northern California, at 447-2845, 481-0370 or winfield@norcal.usta.com.

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Eric Branagan-Franco, a former standout on the Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo men’s soccer team, will compete for a chance to don the teal and black of San Jose this weekend at the 2009 MLS Central Coast Showcase.

Branagan-Franco, a Napa High graduate who played on Cal Poly’s 2008 NCAA Tournament team, will return to the home pitch as a trialist with the Earthquakes. The session started Thursday and runs through Sunday.

Branagan-Franco is joined by his Cal Poly teammate, Anton Peterlin. They joined San Jose yesterday for a training session at Alex G. Spanos Stadium and hope to see playing time as the Earthquakes take on the Seattle Sounders FC tonight and Houston Dynamo on Sunday.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for both Eric Branagan-Franco and Anton Peterlin to perform in front of San Jose Earthquakes head coach Frank Yallop,”  third-year Cal Poly head coach Paul Holocher said on the school’s athletic Web site.

“These are both high-character guys who absolutely deserve the chance to compete for a spot on an MLS team. We, of course, hope they both get on the pitch because I know the Cal Poly faithful would be stoked to see two of their own playing in this event.”

Branagan-Franco has had a busy winter involving soccer. He spent January in Costa Rica, training with Grecia and Saprissa.

Branagan-Franco and Peterlin helped lead Cal Poly to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1995.

Branagan-Franco left his mark at Cal Poly with eight individual goalkeeper records. Last fall, he was named as the co-Big West Conference Goalkeeper of the Year and was selected to the NSCAA all-Far West Region Second Team.

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The Palomar College-San Marcos women’s basketball team rolled to its 27th consecutive Pacific Coast Conference victory on Saturday, routing San Diego Mesa 71-38.

The Comets (22-4 overall, 10-0 PCC), who are coached by Napa High graduate Sheri Jennum, are ranked sixth in the state and fourth in Southern California.

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Micah Putnam went 4-for-16 with two RBIs and scored three runs in Cal State Northridge’s season-opening softball tournament.

Putnam, a Justin-Siena graduate, has started each of the first five games at second base and is batting .250.

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Jenna Yoder, a junior who was 9-9 with a 3.06 earned-run average last year, heads the staff for the Southeastern Louisiana softball team. The Lady Lions open the 2009 season by hosting the three-day, nine-team Hampton Inn Lion Classic beginning today at North Oak Park in Hammond.

Yoder, a Vintage graduate, will be the team’s most experienced pitcher in 2009.

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Officials with the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the season-ending event on the Champions Tour, returned over $400,000 to area nonprofit organizations at a catered breakfast by Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn Thursday.

The 2009 tournament marks the 20th anniversary of the Charles Schwab Cup.

The Champions Tour’s Road to the Charles Schwab Cup is a year-long points-based race that has been staged at the Sonoma Golf Club for six years.

“The PGA Tour as an organization exists to create the highest competitive experience for our players and return the greatest amount of money to the communities where we stage our tournaments,” said Leon Gilmore, executive director of the Schwab Cup Championship.

This year’s event, which will crown a season-long winner, is Oct. 27-Nov. 1.

For more information, visit www.charlesschwabcupchampionship.com or call 939-4131.

E-mail Executive Sports Editor Marty James at mjames@napanews.com or call 256-2223.

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