Caller 1: First of all, I wanted to say that I really think you and the rest of your sports staff have done a great job of covering the local sports teams. The sports page looks great. I also wanted to compliment head coach Jay Baksa and assistant Craig Martin for the great job they’re doing with the JV boys’ basketball team. They put in many long hours and always have this team well-prepared – and they’ve really had success in getting the players to buy into their system. That was evident when the team won the junior varsity tournament in Hollister this weekend. So anyway, great job players and coaches. Keep up the good work.
Green Phone: Indeed, it appears the success many of the players had this summer in leagues and AAU tourneys was no fluke. The 4-2 Mustangs made that clear with a winning weekend in Hollister. They own convincing victories over North Monterey County, Monte Vista Christian, Seaside and Santa Cruz. The team’s lone losses came in hard-fought games at Bellarmine and then with the Seaside Spartans Tuesday, when the ‘Stangs rallied from 22 down and lost by just four. Freshman Derek Jensen, who was named MVP in the Hollister tourney, led the way against the Spartans. Sophomore Destry Jones also played a major role with a double-double – 11 points and 11 rebounds. It’s been a complete team effort, though. The other contributors include juniors Christian Cania, Travis Graham and Chris Yates, sophomores Aaron Foster, Brandon Harrell, Matt Hemeon, Michael Martinez, Robert Mercado, Frank Tomasetti and Ben Wilson and finally, freshmen Jason Conrad and Jacob Dexter.
Caller 2: I was wondering when we were going to see some wrestling coverage. The Gilroy team, as I’m sure you know, are two-time CCS champs. They are also expected to repeat. They have quite a few wrestlers who are state-ranked. This is quite an accomplishment given the size of California. I’m not sure if you realize how big wrestling is here. Thanks. Hope I didn’t offend.
No offense at all. And we can assure you the wrestlers haven’t been forgotten. Over the past couple years, Armando Gonzalez and his program have made the community proud many times over, and that’s a fact not lost on us. We did our basketball season preview last week and wanted the wrestling team to have the spotlight this week. The grapplers started last weekend in Fresno, but don’t compete again until just before Christmas. So we decided to document the team’s tremendous start to the year – finishing third out of 48 schools – in our section a few days ago, and plan on running the larger season preview in Saturday’s edition. Look for continued coverage throughout the year.
Caller 3: I saw something about sign-ups for this Barnstormers football team, but it didn’t really explain who or what they are. So I was just wondering if it was a semi-pro team or something. And if we come to this mini-camp thing, do we have to bring anything with us? I was just wondering. Thanks.
Green Phone: The Barnstormers are indeed a semipro football team. They were established in 2000 and compete in the Golden State Amateur League. Made up of players from Gilroy, Hollister, Morgan Hill, Salinas and south San Jose, the team is coached by Jeff Borges, who leads a staff which includes Gilroy High defensive coordinator Greg Garcia.
Helped by national all-stars Bryan Smith (QB), Joffre Longoria (OL/DL) and Joe King (LB), the Barnstormers have advanced to back-to-back conference title games and are currently ranked 11th in the National West rankings. The new season starts in April and if you’re interested in joining the team, mini-camps and registration will be taking place the next two Saturdays from 9 to noon on the soccer fields behind South Valley Middle School (Forest Street) in Gilroy. Bring cleats, shorts or any type of work-out clothes.
