Spring Sports Preview

By Ian Slaughter

Softball

Despite the league being especially strong this year, the softball team has goals of making the playoffs. Junior Nicole See said the team is really focused, and has made an effort to, “increase the intensity and really try and be competitive in MCALs this year.” The team will be led by two returning All-League selections, catcher Amanda Borries and pitcher Emma Goodwin. In addition to competing this year, the team has a core of young, promising players that will make Drake softball competitive for years to come.

Girls Lacrosse

After the graduation of eight seniors from last year’s squad, the Pirates will need girls who have only had limited experience playing lacrosse to step up and perform. The team will rely heavily on the experienced play of seniors Izzy Doerschlag, Olivia Richards, Sophia Stuart, Claire Zerbe and junior Charlotte Moxley. Doerschlag is excited for the upcoming season. She stated, “We have a lot of potential this year. We have tons of new players and they’re learning very fast, which is always a good sign.”

Boys Lacrosse

Coach Brendon Clifford has aspirations of going deep into the MCAL playoffs and qualifying for the NCS tournament. While they face a tough non-league schedule, Clifford believes they can achieve big things this year. When asked what some of the biggest challenges facing the team are this season, he replied, “Obviously replacing last year’s seniors is always the first step. But we have a great group of returning kids so that shouldn’t be an issue.”

Boys Golf

First-year head coach, Daley Cort, expects the golf team, led by sophomores Devin Gregg and Max Morris, to be competitive in MCALs this year. In addition to the talented sophomore duo, Cort anticipates strong contributions from seniors Dwight Scales, JP Zamanillo and Dante Malone. However, he knows the team can’t rely on just a few players. He said, “We have talented players on our team, but it has to be a team effort every time we play a match. One player can’t win matches for us.

Girls Soccer

With Rene Ayala returning as head coach, the girls’ varsity soccer team is looking forward to a promising season. With very few losses from last year’s team, the girls are hoping their familiarity with each other will translate into success on the field. Junior Kendal Clare says the team has been putting in a lot of work in the offseason. The team has been consistent over the last few years and Clare expects them to return to playoffs and perform well there.

Boys Tennis

A young tennis team is looking to continue improving this season. Coach Brent Zeller said, “All these guys have a lot of potential and have made great strides over the last two years.” However, he knows that with no seniors, other guys will have to step up and compete. “Every member is key because we have a young team, so it will take depth all the way down the line in order to win matches.”

Boys Volleyball

Having not lost a league game in the last three years, the boys’ volleyball team is planning to dominate the league for a fourth consecutive year.  Coached by John Hedlund and led by senior Sam Dines, the team is looking to win banners in both MCAL and NCS. With other strong players such as Liam O’Neil and Owen Karlenzig, this will be a fun team to watch. “If you don’t come to our games this year, you are going to miss out,” says Dines.

Boys Baseball

View a separate article on boy’s baseball at http://drakejollyroger.com/2014/02/10/baseball-team-preparing-for-successful-season/

If you were a cheese, which cheese would you be?

“Goat cheese…because I am really not that ba-a-a-a-a-a-d!!!” – Dan Freeman

“Havarti because it is hard to cut cleanly.” – Eric Best

“I would be Swiss cheese because I’m holy. If it were windy out, I’d be bleu cheese. Who am I trying to kid? As a vegan, I don’t know enough types of cheese to make a decent pun.” – Francie Salle

“Monterey Jack – I like burritos!” – Alissa Fong

“Goat – year of the goat (born in 1967). Brie – goes with everything. Swiss – because I’m holy 😉 Cheddar – cause I’m sharp. Melted – cause I’m hot (jk – but I couldn’t resist the pun). I can’t decide – cause I’m a Gemini, not a piece of cheese!” – Laurie Hailer

“Cave-aged Gruyere. Because caves were tech back in the day!” – Jasper Thelin

“Hmmm, maybe something local, slightly aged, and delicious…  Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam!” – Judy King

Baseball Team Preparing for Successful Season

By Jacob Day

Our baseball team is one our school’s most storied programs. Seemingly countless pennants dangle from the rafters of the gym, illustrating all of the past wins and accomplishments. However, the baseball team’s success isn’t just history; the team has won both of the Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) championships the previous two seasons, and is preparing to win their third straight MCAL championship title.

Leading the Pirates is Coach Adam Farb, who is entering his fifth season as head coach. Farb has led Pirates to three MCAL titles in the past four seasons he has coached. However, the Pirates have yet to win a North Coast Section title under Farb, who believes this year may be different. “I believe we have a lot of talented and determined guys that give us the opportunity to make a deep run into not only the MCAL playoffs, but also the NCS [playoffs],” said Farb.

The team’s success over the past two seasons was greatly accounted to the players in the class of 2013.  However, the team believes that the loss of so many key players will not hurt their chances of another MCAL title. “We lost a lot of talented guys last year, but we are still bringing back a lot of experienced players that will allow us to still be the best team in the league,” said Senior Kyle Helstrom.

One of the strongest returning players is Senior Joe Ryan, who was awarded the MCAL pitcher of the year in 2013 and has committed to play baseball for the Cal State Northridge Matadors. “I am just really excited to play in my final year of high school [baseball], and gain some more experience before I go into college,” Ryan said.

A key to the Pirates’ success this year will be the return of senior pitcher Kyle Aubrey. Aubrey, who will be entering his fourth year on the varsity team, only started three games last year before he went down with an illness. Aubrey was not able to fully recover before the season ended, and had to watch his team move on without him. “It was hard just to watch and not be able to help, but I believe I can stay healthy this season and help us make it far into [the NCS playoffs].”

The addition of Aubrey to the team is enormous according to Ryan and Farb. “I believe that Joe [Ryan] and [Kyle] Aubrey can be the two strongest pitchers in MCAL this season, and if we have Aubrey for the entire season we can have one of the most dominant rotations in the league,” said Farb.

“Kyle doesn’t just add strength to our pitching; he also brings an experienced bat to our lineup,” Ryan added.

While both Aubrey and Ryan have admirable statistics, Aubrey believes that the statistics do not accurately represent the players’ performances. “Our team doesn’t really look at individual stats as a judge of how good a player is. We judge players on how good they are by how they perform in practice, in clutch situations, and how well they play as a team,” Aubrey said.

While the Pirates’ pitching rotation is talented and experienced, the batting lineup is new to the varsity team, according to Farb. “We are losing a lot of starters in our lineup, and are replacing them with some young and inexperienced guys. As result we’re going to have to rely on our pitching early in the season, but as the season progress and the younger guys get some experience our offense should improve,” Farb said.

The Pirates have been putting a lot of energy and effort into their preparation for the upcoming season and hope for not only a third straight MCAL title, but to win their first North Coast Section tournament under Farb. “We’re doing everything we can do to prepare ourselves to earn a NCS title,” said Farb.

Winter Rally Theme Changed After Concerns

By Nick Seminerio

The theme of the Jan. 31 Winter Rally was changed after a group of students had concerns that some transgender students might feel uncomfortable. Originally, the theme was Boys vs. Girls, but was changed to Evens vs. Odds, with sophomores and seniors competing against freshmen and juniors.

“For a while we have thought that the [Boys vs. Girls] rally promoted a harsh environment of binary gender stereotypes; ones that reinforced the typical roles of what girl or boy should be like,” said Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) co-President Mick Bruckner.

Before the rally, Bruckner and fellow GSA co-president Sam Blanchard, had a conversation with Assistant Principal Eric Saibel and Leadership teacher Kendall Galli about the possibility of changing the theme for future rallies.

“We made it clear to Leadership that we did not expect them to change the rally, given the timing. We hoped to influence future rallies. [Kendall] Galli decided that it would be awesome to make the change for THIS rally. She was unbelievably understanding and supportive,” Bruckner said.

Assistant Principal Eric Saibel said that while the Boys vs. Girls theme isn’t offensive to most students, it has put some in an awkward position. The conversation about the rally themes was positive and a collaborative decision.

“It’s about the spirit of friendly competition,” Saibel said.

What was your New Year’s resolution?

“On the positive side, I’ve made an effort to include more meditation in my life and that is going well.  On the down side, I need to clean out virtually every shelf, drawer, closet and the garage in my home and I have made no progress on that project since January 4.  However, I gave myself the 2014 goal of parking in the garage so I still have plenty of time!” – Judy King

“Enjoy more books, swim, and learn how to tune my guitar.” – Cooper Clark

“I resolved to live each day with joy and purpose.  Boring?  Nah!!!  This is a resolution that could really be life-changing!!  Those 5 pounds will have to take care of themselves!” – Linda Bonura

“I don’t make New Year’s resolutions because I am perfect.” – Francie Salle

“Don’t hit the “send” button on emails.  You can see how well I’m doing with it.” – Mary Kitchens

“Make new friends.” – Tristan Bodle

“don’t do new year resolutions…” – Dan Freeman