Stakes Are Not as High for Righetti, Arroyo Grande

There won’t be any long winning streaks on the line when Santa Maria Righetti High travels today to Arroyo Grande for a key Northern League game.

Arroyo Grande took care of that last season with a 7-6 victory over the Warriors, ending Righetti’s string of 50 league games without a loss.

But there’s plenty of motivation for both teams to win today and better their position heading into the league tournament Nov. 2 in San Luis Obispo.

Righetti is hoping to win the Northern League for the seventh consecutive season, while Arroyo Grande is hoping to win its first title.

The Warriors (15-4, 2-0) are ranked second in Southern Section Division IV, Arroyo Grande (6-5, 2-0) is ranked sixth. Though the Eagles ended Righetti’s league winning streak last season, they lost the title when the Warriors won the league tournament.

Unlike most leagues in the Southern Section, the five-team Northern League uses a one-day postseason tournament to help determine the champion because regular-season games are often played in pools that don’t meet regulation. Teams are awarded a point for each league victory and additional points depending on where they place in the tournament..

“The regular season pretty much just seeds you for the league tournament,” Righetti Coach Rob Knight said. “Winning the tournament is worth a lot more.”

Knight came to Righetti in 1991 after coaching at Fullerton College in 1990 and at Fullerton High from 1982-89. Righetti does not have a pool on campus, so Knight spent four seasons practicing the varsity and junior varsity together at a nearby YMCA.

In 1995, the varsity practiced at Hancock College. Righetti won its first league title in 14 years.

“That’s when the program took off,” Knight said. “When we split the teams up and brought the varsity over to Hancock College.”

Righetti reached its first Southern Section final in 1997, losing in overtime. That same year, the city of Santa Maria began restoring its aquatic center, replacing its L-shaped main pool with an Olympic-sized pool. Righetti began practicing and playing home games at the new Paul Nelson Aquatic Center, and in 1998 and ’99 won Division IV titles, the only team to repeat in the division’s nine-year history.

Righetti stayed busy the first month of this season, playing tournaments in the first three weeks.

After today’s game against Arroyo Grande, the Warriors are scheduled to play a nonleague game Saturday against Santa Barbara, the third-ranked team in Division IV.

The game is set for 4 p.m. at the Paul Nelson pool.

Knight said Righetti will be without junior Nick McGilvray (broken hand) for the rest of the month, but seniors Ethan Silva, Blake Vanderlei, Mark Gill and James Heidlebaugh have kept the Warriors balanced.

Mighty matchups: Another key game this afternoon will be El Segundo traveling to Manhattan Beach Mira Costa for a Bay League game. Mira Costa is the top-ranked team in Division III and El Segundo is ranked fourth.

Another good match of Division III teams will be No. 3 La Canada hosting No. 5 Whittier La Serna in a nonleague game today at 5:30.

Highlighting Friday’s schedule will be Riverside Poly traveling to Arlington for a pivotal Ivy League game at 3:15 p.m.

Poly is the top-ranked team in Division V and Arlington is No. 3.