Foothills Sentry - June 2022

Foothills Sentry Page 14 June 2022 COMMUNITY SPORTS BY CLIFF ROBBINS AND CHAD CLINE Canyon High School changing of the guard After six years serving Canyon High School athletics, Ashley Higuera announced that she will be stepping down from her role as athletic director at the conclusion of the 2022 school year. Higuera has been instrumental in helping Canyon become one of the top athletic programs in the Century Conference. She has led the Canyon athletic programs to 61 Century Conference league championships, six CIF Finals appearances, two CIF Championships, two State Finals appearances and has seen several teams ranked nationally during her tenure. Higuera was also a driving force in the track and field and gymnasiumrenovations, aswell as overseeing the startup of the boys and girls lacrosse programs. She was recognized by her colleagues with the Norm Mackenzie Award, which is presented from CIF to an outstanding rookie athletic director every year. Nate Harrison will assume the role of girls athletic director. Sean Barnett will take over as head girls varsity basketball coach, after two seasons as girls assistant varsity coach at Espe- ranza High. He helped lead the team to a Division 1 Final and State Regional Semifinal appear- ance. Previously, Barnett was the head girls varsity coach at Mag- nolia High School, leading the Sentinels to a CIF quarterfinals appearance in his first season with the team. He was awarded the Co-coach of the Year for the Orange League that same year. As Anaheim High’s head girls JV coach and assistant varsity coach, he helped lead the team to a State Regional Finals appearance that year. Matt Silva takes on an additional role as Canyon’s head girls volleyball coach. Silva has spent four successful seasons as CHS head boys volleyball coach, and will continue in that role. Silva has led the boys to back- to-back league titles, as well as trips to the CIF quarterfinals and CIF semifinals. This year, his boys finished with a 20-4 overall record. Prior to Canyon, Silva attended and played volleyball at St. John Bosco High, where he was All- CIF and earned MVP of the Del Rey League; he attended Long Beach City College, where he was a part of multiple state titles. When his playing career ended, Silva became co-head coach for the college, and was named Coach of the Year after leading his team to another state championship. Andrew Grove from Villa Park drives home Villa Park’s only run in the semifinals of the boys Div. 1 baseball playoffs. Century League pitchers silence Empire League bats The senior Century League pitchers combined to limit the Empire League to just one run on four hits, while striking out 11 batters to win the Ryan Lemmon Senior Showcase in Irvine, 4-1. Both teams left runners stranded in the first and second innings. Ryan Osso (El Modena) led off the third with a walk, Aaron Ceniceros (El Modena) singled, Pedro Hernandez (Foothill) singled scoring Osso. JT Swain (Brea) singled, driving in Ceniceros and Hernandez, taking a 3-0 lead. Brett Castillo (Foothill) hit into a double play to end the inning. Bryant Smaaladen (El Mode- na) came in to pitch the fourth; with two outs, he walked a batter and gave up an unearned run on a throwing error. Nick Aufdemberg (El Modena) singled to start the sixth, and Justin Cabada (Brea) sacrificed to score Aufdemberg. Jack Burke, the catcher for Villa Park, catches the JSerra runner in a run down, making the out. Foothill’s Paddy Hawkins (left) and Roman Marchetti received schol- ar-athlete awards from the National Football Foundation-OC Chapter. Hawkins carried a 4.61 GPA, and Marchetti a 4.63 GPA. The National Football Foundation OC Chapter awarded Roman Marchetti from Foothill High the Paul Schwegler Award. Marchetti was captain of the team and league Co-most Valuable Player for defense. Marchetti carried a 4.63 GPA and played football all four years at Foothill. He will continue his education and walk on at USC in the fall. The Paul Schwegler Award was a memorial scholarship fund in his honor. The athlete must maintain a high scholastic standard to receive one academic year to the college of choice.