Park wins tourney, honor
The following are updates on local athletes at the collegiate level.
Katie Park (Crescenta Valley High, 2010) sophomore, Occidental College golf: During her time as a Falcon, Park was bestowed plenty an individual honor and it’s continued during her time as a Tiger.
She was recently named to the All-Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference first team.
It comes on the heels of Park winning the first-ever Women’s Golf SCIAC Championship on Monday in Hemet, tallying a 12-over 156 (74-82) to win by five strokes, as she was buoyed by a first-day 74 that gave her a six-stroke lead. Her second-day 82 tied for the second-best mark on the day.
“I just went into tournament thinking it was a normal tournament. I wasn’t thinking about it being the first SCIAC (tournament),” Park stated on the school’s website. “It didn’t hit me that it was the first time that there was a women’s tournament. I’m still processing that it’s a big deal.
“Now I’m realizing it’s going to be a bigger deal each year.”
Park had five birdies and 17 pars over the event’s two days.
“Katie has the amazing ability to stay in the moment and not let the surrounding circumstances affect her,” Occidental Coach Erik Johnson stated on the school’s website. “She is a great ball striker who can make a lot of birdies if she’s putting well.
“I couldn’t be prouder of Katie. The best part is her best golf is yet to come.”
Leading up to the tournament, Park had top-five finishes in two of the three previous SCIAC tournaments.
Michael Noteware (Glendale Community College, 2011) junior, Lewis-Clark State baseball: After his stretch as a lights-out reliever for the Vaqueros during their historical state run as season ago, Noteware has opened eyes in a starting role for the Warriors.
Noteware currently boasts an 8-1 record with a stellar 1.98 earned-run average.
In his last start — a 13-2 win over Patten on Friday — he twirled seven innings, allowing two runs on nine hits, while striking out six and walking one.
For the season, in which Lewis-Clark is 37-10 and 25-6 in the NAIA West, Noteware has made 10 appearances, seven starts and chewed up 63 2/3 innings. He’s tallied 56 strikeouts to just eight walks.
He’s likely to get the start today when the Warriors, winners of six straight, open up a three-game homestand against Linfield College.
Scott Hong (Glendale Community College, 2011) junior, Occidental College baseball: Hong’s fleet feet saw him beat out a double-play ball on Saturday for a run-scoring, game-winning fielder’s choice in the Tigers’ 3-2 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win over Cal Lutheran.
As he’s done much of the season — consequently the most successful in 22 years for the program — Hong did it all for the Tigers, going one for five with a run and a run batted in, while also pitching a perfect inning of relief for the victory.
Hong leads the team and the conference with 31 stolen bases. He also sports a .295 average, a .446 on-base percentage, a team-high 24 walks, 24 RBI, 16 extra-base hits (including team-bests of 10 doubles and three triples) and a team-high 41 runs.
Oxy (21-16, 16-10) hosts Claremont-Mudd-Scripps today in its second-to-last game of the season.
Nick Gentili (St. Francis High, 2009) junior, Pomona-Pitzer baseball: Saturday was a big day for Gentili, but the 2012 season has been filled with those for the former Golden Knight, who is leading the Panthers in batting average this season with a .410 mark (57 for 139).
The outfielder flashed the power he’s become known for in Saturday’s 16-1 win over Caltech, as he tripled, homered and drove in four runs in the game.
Gentili is also maintaining slugging and on-base percentages of .712 and .523, respectively, this year with a team-high 16 doubles, 51 runs scored, four triples, six home runs and 39 RBI.
Pomona-Pitzer has been faring just as well as the junior this year with a 23-12-1 record, 17-9 in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Hope is still alive for the Panthers to win a conference title this season after defeating conference-leading La Verne, 8-2, on Friday. Pomona-Pitzer has to win out in its final two games and hope the Leopards drop one of their remaining games to capture the conference title.
Lonnie Kauppila (Former La Crescenta resident) sophomore, Stanford baseball: The former two-time All-Area Baseball Player of the Year suffered a season-ending knee injury on April 15, fielding a ground ball up the middle.
Kauppila, who played his first two seasons of high school ball at Crescenta Valley before transferring to Burbank, started 29 games this season and was hitting .280 with 16 runs scored and 13 driven in.
Christine Cho (Crescenta Valley, 2008) senior, Harvard golf: Cho and the Crimson won the Roar-EE Invitational at Spook Rock Golf Club on April 14, emerging from the field of 15.
With a two-day total of 600 (306-294), Harvard won by six strokes against fellow Ivy Leaguer Columbia. Cho was the seventh-place finisher on her team and tied for 16th overall with a two-round 13-over-157 (82-75).
Cho, a team captain, had her best finish at 10th overall in the season-opening Yale Intercollegiate.