Sports

Earlier this year, former Gilroy High School quarterback Niko Fortino had a message on his phone. On the other end of the voicemail, Independence High School head coach Norm Brown relayed the news Fortino had wanted to hear for quite some time. He had been chosen to be a member on the South squad in the Silicon Valley Youth Classic Charlie Wedemeyer All-Star football game – the annual exhibition that showcases the upper-echelon of outgoing senior football players in Santa Clara County.

Editor’s note: This story is part of a series of prep previews the Dispatch will be running leading up to the start of the season. We will focus on a different sport and team each week.

Gary Diaz’s eyes get a little wider and his smile a little brighter when he talks about his trip to Cooperstown. As a man who lives and breathes baseball, both as a fan and as a local umpire, visiting the birthplace of the sport was on his bucket list and he got to check it off in unique fashion this summer.

Christopher’s offense exploded in the second half with 28 unanswered points in its 41-14 win over Woodside Friday.

The Gavilan College men’s basketball team continues to show improvement in year two under coach David Kaplansky. The Rams (3-6) recently won back-to-back games, beating Ohlone-Fremont 69-58 on Dec. 4 and Merced 82-71 on Dec. 8. The victories came off the heels of a four-game losing streak.

GILROY—The Christopher girls’ shot at a third straight Monterey Bay League title hinged on the last race of the day.

GILROY — For a split second, Rosino Legan’s win streak came to an end.

Meghan Popma grew up with two older brothers who never took it easy on her. The Gilroy High senior credits her upbringing for helping her to develop into a bona-fide impact outside hitter at the high school level.  “My brothers taught me how to be...

The Gilroy girls basketball team took sole possession of the Monterey Bay Pacific League Monday.

Willie Fox doesn’t use many words. He succinctly explains himself. The sentences he carefully constructs are to the point. Four or five words long if you’re lucky.