Casa's Gentile Player of the Year in Redwood Empire

June 28, 2006

Casa Grande High School super slugger D.J. Gentile has been chosen the best prep baseball player in the Redwood Empire.

Gentile was named the All-Redwood Empire large school baseball Player of the Year by the Santa Rosa Press Democrat in its annual roundup of top spring sports athletes.

Gentile led Casa Grande to the Sonoma County League championship and its third straight North Coast Section championship, batting .535 with six home runs and seven doubles. He scored 33 runs and had 30 RBIs. His 24 walks gave him a .678 on base percentage, meaning he reached base in more than two-thirds of his at bats. He has already agreed to continue playing baseball for Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo.

Gentile shared large-school honors with Zach Tiedeman, Montgomery High School's outstanding senior shortstop.

Also named best in their sports for the Redwood Empire were Jenna Lowder of Maria Carrillo, large-school track; Mindi Wiley of Sonoma, large-school track; John Morris of Montgomery, large-school golf; Katie Lewis of Santa Rosa, badminton; Ashley Wright of Ursuline, large-school softball; Amanda Sims of Montgomery, swimming; Blair Bracewell of Montgomery, badminton; Brittany Rumfelt of Clear Lake, small-school softball; Connor Olson of Montgomery, tennis; David Sallee of El Molino, swimming; Mike Perez of Lower Lake, small-school track; Dan Coccia of Sonoma, golf; Jean Lightfoot of Maria Carrillo, large-school track; and Kris Cole of Middletown, small-school baseball.

A number of south county athletes were chosen to various All-Empire teams.

Casa Grande senior pitcher Kory Wallace, Petaluma sophomore catcher Chadd Krist and Casa Grande senior third baseman Justin Montante were chosen to the large school baseball team. Casa Grande's Paul Maytorena shared Coach of the Year honors with Dean Haskins of Montgomery and Mark Domenichelli of Healdsburg.

Ryan Tallesfore and Hubble Richmond of Petaluma along with Chris Jensen of Casa Grande were chosen to the second team. Andrew Ross and Brett Pawlan of Petaluma and Robert Morales and Joe Bouchard of Casa Grande received honorable mention notice.

St. Vincent outfielders Kevin Markovich and Jon Grinnell, third baseman Ryan Galloway and shortstop Tommy Mellin made the All-Empire small-school baseball team. St. Vincent's Gary Galloway was Coach of the Year.

Also chosen to the select team was Tomales junior Nick Caramagno.

St. Vincent's Nick Baldocchi and Brad Davis were placed on the second team. Chris Borjian of St. Vincent, along with Tomales' Joe Moreda, Ben Kain-Williams and Jared Spainhour were selected for honorable mention notice.

Casa Grande's James Ko was placed on the All-Empire badminton team, as was the Gauchos' top doubles duo of Michael Brady and Brian Brady. Hera Karim of Casa Grande received honorable mention notice as did the Gaucho mixed doubles team of Argus Lam and Anna Hoang and the Petaluma girls doubles team of Kelly Behm and Lindsay Perrigo.

Petaluma freshman Max Marshall received honorable mention notice on the All-Empire tennis team.

Petaluma senior Tom Duensing was chosen to the All-Empire golf team. Matt Anderson of Casa Grande received honorable mention notice.

Casa Grande senior shortstop Heather Salgado was placed on the All-Empire large-school softball team as were Amanda Sharp, junior first baseman, and Shannon Kehr, sophomore outfielder, from Petaluma.

Receiving honorable mention accolades were Cassie Pitkin and Ali Klemenok from Petaluma, along with Nicole Byrne and Nikita Zaharin from Casa Grande.

St. Vincent's Don Jensen was one of three softball coaches honored as Small School Coach of the Year, sharing honors with Mark Spaulding of Geyserville and Gary Pickle of Clear Lake.

Named to the All-Empire team from Jensen's Lady Mustangs were junior pitcher Shawna Hettrich, senior third baseman Alex Shaffer and senior infielder Danielle Frisk. Receiving honorable mention notice were Lady Mustangs Brittany Perez, a senior, and Danielle Garcia, a freshmen. Tomales junior Ali Gerritsen also received honorable mention acclaim.

Petaluma freshman Sterling Lockkey was named to the All-Empire boys track team. Lockkey hit the high school athletic world in a big way, winning the SCL 3,200 and the 1,600. He was sixth in the 3,200 at the NCS championship meet. His 9:31.48 3,200 best was the 24th all-time tops in the Redwood Empire.

Petaluma senior jumper Mike Clifford, the SCL long jump and triple jump best, was named to the track second team, along with Casa Grande senior sprinter Cater Ebbesen, the SCL 100-meter champion.

Petaluma pole vaulter Jordan Cabral, the SCL champion with a vault of 10-10 (sixth all-time best in the Empire) was named to the All-Empire girls track team.

St. Vincent's Gina Linehan, Petaluma's Michelle Mascherini and Casa Grande's Katharina Xu were chosen to the girls swim team.