Heimbigner eyes Toledo for softball
November 26th, 2009
November 20th, 2009
November 19th, 2009
November 18th, 2009
November 17th, 2009
NOTES AND QUOTES for a Monday in the Napa Valley:
Becki Heimbigner will transfer from the University of Vermont to Toledo (Ohio) this fall and play softball for the Rockets, a member of the Mid-American Conference, on an athletic-academic scholarship.
Heimbigner, a former Napa High School standout, batted .241 and was named to the America East All-Rookie Team for Vermont last year as a freshman. Heimbigner was one of only two players to start all 46 games this past season for the Catamounts. She finished tied for the team lead in doubles (8) and runs scored (11), as well as having the second-most hits on the squad (33).
A shortstop-outfielder, she was named as the America East Rookie of the Week on April 6.
Heimbigner was the Defensive Player of the Year on the 2008 All-Napa County team as a shortstop for the Indians.
Toledo’s connection to the Napa Valley includes Gina Muratori, another Napa High graduate, who was named as the Rockets’ MVP in 2006. Muratori, a shortstop, led Toledo with a .348 batting average, including 11 doubles, two triples, .400 on-base percentage, 27 runs scored and 102 assists in the field as a senior. She ended her career fourth on Toledo’s all-time batting average list with a .341 mark, third in hits, fourth in total bases and fifth in assists.
Muratori was an All-MAC player. She was also the MVP on Monticello Empire League and All-Napa County teams as a senior at Napa High.
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Napa’s Taylor Bickell was the girls overall champion, shooting rounds of 70 and 72 for a 2-under-par 142 total, at the Fairfield Junior Championship. The Junior Golf Association of Northern California premier tournament was played at Rancho Solano and Paradise Valley last week.
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Matt Yourkin (5-1, 1.92 ERA) pitched two scoreless innings to get the win as Connecticut beat Erie (Pa.) 6-5 in a Double-A Eastern League game Friday.
Yourkin, who went to Napa High, allowed one hit, walked one and struck out one.
Connecticut is a San Francisco Giants affiliate.
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Napa players continue to do very well in U.S. Tennis Association Northern California junior tournaments.
Quinn Hirsohn and Danielle Mirda of Napa each won titles at the Walnut Creek Northgate August Junior Open.
Hirsohn won the boys 12’s singles title, beating Liam Neville of Davis (6-2, 6-0), Sean Hill of Berkeley (6-2, 6-4) and Adam Zorin of Los Altos in the finals (6-2, 6-2).
Mirda won the girls 16’s singles title, recording wins over KyssiaRuth Mendoza of Millbrae in the quarterfinals (6-0, 6-0), Jacquelyn Ward of North Highlands in the semifinals (6-3, 6-0), and Shuyang Ye of Milpitas in the finals (6-1, 6-1).
In boys 18’s singles, Andrew Kelley of Napa beat Trevor Sipos of Alamo in the quarterfinals (6-4, 2-6, 1-0) and lost to Teddy Chung of Benicia in the semifinals, 6-1, 6-1.
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The Santa Barbara Foresters were eliminated from the National Baseball Congress Semi-Pro World Series in Wichita, Kan., with losses last week to the El Dorado (Kansas) Broncos 4-3 and the Liberal (Kansas) Bee Jays 3-2 in 14 innings.
Napa’s Matt Leonard was 5-0 with a 0.78 ERA, striking out 36 batters in 40 2/3 innings this summer for the Foresters. Opponents hit just .172 against the left-hander, who is a starter for Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo and a Justin-Siena graduate.
Santa Barbara finished the year 42-13-1 and won the California Collegiate League title with an 18-6 record. The Foresters have won seven straight CCL titles and 16 of the last 17.
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Mike Gibson of Napa played in a back-up role at guard for the Philadelphia Eagles in their NFL preseason game last week against New England.
This is Gibson’s second year with the Eagles.
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Rachel Pickett of Napa was among the players on the Red team who got off shots for the Fresno State women’s soccer team in the Red/White Scrimmage, which ended in a 0-0 tie after 70 minutes of play last week. The defense for both teams prevailed.
Fresno State kicks off the 2009 season on the road against San Diego State on Aug. 21. The Bulldogs’ home opener is Aug. 30 against Oregon.
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Tyler Cravy, who pitched this past year for Napa Valley College as a freshman, is 2-0 with a 4.44 ERA for the Arizona Brewers, a rookie league team based in Phoenix.
Cravy, a Napa resident who was selected by Milwaukee in the 17th round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, has appeared in 10 games with three starts.
Cravy was named to the Community College Baseball All-America team. A pitcher-position player, he was chosen as the Bay Valley Conference’s Player of the Year as the Storm (22-18 overall, 16-11 BVC) took third place.
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Left-hander Jordan Roualdes is 1-2 with a 3.07 ERA for the Beatrice (Neb.) Bruins of the M.I.N.K. Baseball League.
The best outing of the summer college season for Roualdes, a Justin-Siena graduate who pitches for the University of Nebraska, was a 14-strikeout, three-hit shutout over Clarinda (Iowa).
The M.I.N.K. summer collegiate league is composed of teams from Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas.
E-mail Executive Sports Editor Marty James at mjames@napanews.com or call 256-2223.
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