SPRING: All spring sports strive to succeed as the 2017 spring season begins.
By Emma Carson, Staff Writer
As spring approaches, we are greeted with the sound of a bat hitting a ball, starting guns and splashing water. All spring sports teams, including baseball, softball, swim, track and field, boys’ tennis, boys’ golf and boys’ volleyball are working hard in practice and preseason out on their playing fields.
Poly Varsity Baseball started with a 5-8 record, a 1-0 win and a 14-4 loss in a doubleheader against Corona High School on Saturday, February 25. In the first game, pitcher Cole Percival (12) threw a nearly perfect game, and Poly took the upper hand in a one-run game. On March 1, they lost 7-1 against Huntington Beach High School but brought home a 4-3 win against Capistrano Valley High School on March 2. On Saturday, March 5, they lost to Mater Dei High School. On Tuesday March 7, they lost to Damien High School 6-5, and on the following Wednesday they lost to Palm Desert High School 10-4. On March 10, they lost 4-0 to St, John Bosco, and lost to Woodcrest Christian and Cajon in the Cougars Classic, but found three wins against Covina, Burroughs and Xavier Prep. Softball began with a 4-1 record in the Stu Parker Tournament, a 5-1 win over Vista Del Lago High School and a very memorable 3-2 win over top-ranking team Santiago High School. The girls went on to beat Chino Hills High School 7-6 and Valencia High School 6-0 in the tournament on Thursday, but fell to Murrieta Mesa 4-1 in the Championship game. The varsity team later competed in Bullhead City, Arizona in the Dave Kops Tournament of Champions with a 3-2 record. They also won first place in the Redlands Softball Tournament this past week with a 5-0 record.
The first swim meet for Poly Varsity Girls’ Swim was on February 28 against Citrus Valley High School where the girls won 114-55, and boys lost 89-81. “With progression throughout the season, we’ll do much better,” boys’ swim athlete Taiyo Diamond (10) said. The following Saturday, the swim team had the Seventh Annual Riverside Poly Swim Pentathlon with nine other schools attending. Each athlete was able to choose either the stroke or freestyle events, with five races for each event. “It’s a fun event that swimmers can participate in because since there are different races, it allows swimmers to choose and go their own pace,” Nicole Tormey (10) said. On March 9, swim competed against Martin Luther King High School with a boys’ win 95-75, and a girls’ loss 106-64. Both teams went on to beat Valley View the following meet.
Poly Track and Field had their first invitational meet on February 25 at the Ontario relays, placing seventh for boys division I and tenth for division III, with an impressive second place win in the sprint medley relay. Both boys’ and girls’ track also won against Patriot and Rubidoux High Schools. The girls’ team scored 100 and swept the other teams with scores of 17 and 19. The boys’ team won with 66 points while Rubidoux and Patriot earned 38 and 27 points. Girls’ track and field also took first place in the Palamino Relays on March 4. However, both teams lost to Corona High School in a friendly meet. Select athletes went on to place in events at both the Redondo Nike Festival on March 10 and 11, and the California Relays at Cerritos College on March 17 and 18.
On February 23, Poly boys’ tennis competed against Murrieta Valley High School with mixed results. “All I know is that we have a lot of work to do,” Jacob Martin (10) said. The team currently has four losses and one win against Arlington High School. On February 25, Poly Boys’ golf placed eighth out of sixteen schools in the Riverside Cup. They also beat Centennial High School 204-257 but lost to Martin Luther King High School on Wednesday March 1, scoring 203-213, before losing to Santiago 206-217 the following meet. They placed fourth in the Homer Thomas Poly Classic on Tuesday March 7, and won two more matches. They have three more wins against Arlington, Valley View and Rancho Verde. Poly Boys’ Volleyball started with a 8-0 league record and wins against Roosevelt High School and Chaparral High School, as well as placing third in the Hemet High School Volleyball Tournament. They also have four more three-period wins against Tahquitz, Corona, Norco, Citrus Valley, Carter and Eisenhower.
Best of luck to all Poly spring sports teams. Never hesitate to express your Poly pride at every game, match or meet you compete in.