Hoover Sizes Up as Pretty Tough

The fact that the rules of boys’ volleyball favor tall players does not necessarily mean a team must have tall players to be successful.

Hoover High is testimony.

The Cardinals are 12-0 in non-tournament matches, 6-0 in the City Central League, ranked third in the 2-A, and yet have only one player taller than 5-feet-11.

“I don’t have a tallest guy, so we don’t rely on that,” said Coach Trent Jennings, who began the program five years ago.

Instead, Hoover mixes desire, experience, moxie and unity with the knowledge and commitment of Jennings and a rapidly growing appreciative student body.

And it wins.

Jeff Schroeder (6-2) is the only “tall” Cardinal, but that doesn’t stop Phavisak Souraphol, Tam Lai, Gonzalo Farias, K.K. Ratsamangkhon and Mark Tan from routinely recording double figures in kills.

And the platoon of Anousinh Inthisane and Farias at setter has produced as well. Inthisane had 40 assists Friday, and he and Farias combined for 44 assists Wednesday.

Jennings: “They’re real quick, and they’re good leapers, and they have a lot of experience playing volleyball.

“You know what? I’ll tell you something about these guys. If we didn’t have a team here at Hoover, these guys would still be playing volleyball two to three hours every day somewhere. They really enjoy the game.”

Passing fancy: John Leppert, a junior setter for The Bishop’s School boys’ volleyball team, had 56 assists in a three-game victory over Christian last Tuesday. The previous week, he had 68 in a 3-2 victory over Clairemont.

Mailman’s nightmare: Kevin Ward, an outfielder on the Coronado High baseball team, lives on the same street as Padre outfielder Kevin Ward. They are not related.

Not quite: Ten innings of baseball between San Diego and Crawford last Thursday produced 22 runs, 27 hits, four home runs--including two-run homers by both sides in the ninth inning--and this statement from longtime Crawford Coach Roger Engle:

“That was one of the best high school games I’ve ever been involved in. I’m serious. It was fantastic.”

Short Pause.

“Well, all but that last inning.”

That was when San Diego scored five runs after a two-out error and went on to win, 13-9.

Understated: In the past two weeks in their Palomar League schedule, Fallbrook’s baseball team beat fifth-ranked Vista, 7-6, lost to seventh-place San Dieguito, 5-3, beat first-place Rancho Buena Vista, 3-1, and lost to eight-ranked Poway, 7-5, in 11 innings Friday.

Said Warrior Coach Bill Waite of his 9-9 club: “We’re just so inconsistent.”

Frightening matchup: Before their 11-inning game Friday, Poway and Fallbrook needed 10 innings to decide their first meeting of the season.

Said Poway Coach Rudy Casciato: “Next time could be scary.”

Surprise, surprise: Eight games into the Avocado League schedule, Escondido’s unranked baseball team is 8-0, and the No. 1-ranked Cougar softball team is 7-1.

Escondido’s softball team, the defending 2-A champion, would be undefeated, but had its 32-game winning streak snapped April 24 with a 3-2 loss to San Pasqual.

Meanwhile, the Cougar baseball team, which has won only four of 11 nonleague games, has remained perfect in league by winning three one-run games, three in extra innings and two more by two runs. Their most recent victory was a 17-15 eight-inning victory over El Camino after trailing, 14-6, going into the seventh inning.

Legend returns: Twenty-four years after leading Castle Park to its only San Diego Section championship in football, Gil Warren will return to the sidelines as the Trojans’ head coach.

Warren, who previously coached at Castle Park from 1967-78, replaces Alan Duke this fall. Duke left the school last month to become the first football coach at East Lake, which is scheduled to open in the fall and field its first football team in 1993.

Warren was graduated from Sweetwater. After playing at San Diego State from 1962-64, he guided Castle Park to a 21-14 victory over Escondido in the 1968 county championship game.

Place your bets: The San Diego High School Sports Assn. will host a Casino Night at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Hall of Champions. Proceeds will benefit the SDHSSA year-end luncheon. For more information, call John Shacklett at Morse at 262-2805.