Sports

GILROY—The $2 million renovation project at Gilroy High School's Garcia-Elder Sports Complex, which was delayed earlier this summer, remains on track for a Sept. 25 completion date.

GILROY—While other football players around the state snuggled up in their beds and dreamt of the first day of practice, the Cougars were strapping on their shoulder pads. Not a millisecond of practice time was wasted at Christopher High School. The instant the clock struck midnight on Aug. 14, ending the two-week mandatory “dead period,” the team was on the field to usher in the start of a new year for prep sports.

GILROY—The camaraderie in the Gavilan College gym Tuesday was undeniable. After each drill, the Rams volleyball players huddled together to acknowledge each other's accomplishments, always ending with a “Go Rams” chant before breaking. That, head coach Kevin Kramer said, is what an entire summer of bonding does for a team.

The Christopher High football team held its annual Midnight Madness football practice, starting with a barbecue and team building exercises on Aug. 13 before taking the field at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 14. 

GILROY—For the past 39 years, runners from around the Bay Area and beyond have tested themselves on the steep slopes of Mt. Madonna—and they show no signs of stopping anytime soon.

GILROY—When Ricardo Espinosa took over Gavilan’s soccer team last season, he said the odds were already against him. With the recruiting season over prior to his arrival, he had little time to piece together a team and the result was a 2-15-3 record.

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.

GILROY—Though a picture from her signing day hangs in Mariza Rodriguez’s bedroom, she still finds it hard to believe it actually happened. Life has thrown the Gavilan sophomore plenty of curveballs—in the form of injuries, ineligibility and a learning disability—but each time she swung and knocked them out of the park.

VANCOUVER, WASH.— The Gilroy Junior All Stars finished third in the Western Regional Tournament Wednesday, escaping Washington 7-5, thanks to a four-run seventh inning.

VANCOUVER, WASH.—The Gilroy Junior All Stars had no answer for Southern California’s pitching during Tuesday’s Junior Western Regional semifinal game.