R-C Sports Notebook: Eerily similar

We'll be printing a story in Wednesday's paper (and subsequently posting it online) commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 1989 Douglas High baseball team's regional championship season.

Over and over again, while researching the story, I was struck by the similarities between this year's squad and the 1989 vintage.

Here's a small list of what I noticed:

- Both teams were extremely senior-laden and heavily experienced around the horn. 1989 had eight seniors, 2009 has seven. All 15 of those players were/are returning starters and several of those saw playing time as sophomores.

- Both teams had/have a righty-lefty 1-2 punch to lead the pitching staff. 1989 had Russ Garside and Jake Rogers, who went a combined 18-4 (.818 winning percentage) on the year with 222 strikeouts. 2009 has Tyler May and Tyler Hoelzen, who heading into the regional tournament are a combined 13-2 (.866) on the year with 118 strikeouts.

- Both squads had some power, but not a ton. Their lineups were/are both known for timely hitting and solid defense.

- The 1989 squad's biggest competition heading through regionals was arch-rival Carson High. As we saw last week, the 2009 team had to contend with a solid Senator lineup for the Sierra League title.

- Both teams went 14-3 in their respective league seasons.

- 1989's No. 2 Starter Jake Rogers doubled as the teams first baseman when he wasn't on the mound " something this year's No. 2 starter Tyler Hoelzen has been known to do often this year.

- The bulk of 1989's power came from left field as Frank Raschilla belted a team-leading five home runs. May, who spends his non-pitching games in left, leads this year's squad with 11 home runs.

Just a couple observations, but it couldn't go without mentioning.

I can't recall a week where Douglas High brought home as many league titles as they did last week.

You had baseball, softball, boys' swimming, girls' swimming and Thomas Wicker in boys' golf all bringing home their respective league titles. Five titles in four days? Not bad. We'll see how it translates in regional competition this week.

- The Carson-Douglas game at Carson High on Wednesday had more than a couple casual observers in the crowd. University of Nevada coach, and Douglas High grad, Gary Powers was in attendance. Whether he was there simply to cheer on his old school, or to give Tiger starter Tyler May a look is unknown. Regardless, May's seven-strikeout, one-walk, one-run performance had to catch Powers' eye.

- The Douglas baseball team has played, and beaten, everyone in this year's Northern 4A Regional tournament, with the exception of their first round opponent " Spanish Springs.

This is in Wednesday's story, but who was the winning pitcher in Douglas' 9-2 regional champioship win over Carson in 1989?

- Douglas baseball sweeps Carson. I thought Douglas was the better team heading into the series with Carson last week and would have been surprised had they not won the series. But a sweep against a team of Carson's caliber is something else.

- South Tahoe baseball upsets No. 4 Damonte Ranch 11-7. This is the big win I was half expecting the Vikings to come up with in the Douglas series. As I said last week, the talent is there for the Vikings to pull off one of these major upsets every couple of weeks.

- Reed baseball left out of the playoffs. Someone said earlier this year they couldn't remember the last time the Raiders missed the playoffs, if ever. Given that the High Desert was the weaker of the two leagues this year, this was especially surprising. It'll feel a bit different for Douglas this year as the Tigers had faced the Raiders five times in the last three Northern 4A Regional tournaments.

- NIAA realignment. I'd been hearing for some time that the NIAA was looking at a "super-league" of sorts for football. Their announcement Monday that the proposed re-alignment would be for all sports with the possible exception of football, though, came as a shock to me. The bigger shock was that Hug was put on the chopping block for moving to what will be known as 4A Division II " or the combination of the smaller 4A schools and current 3A schools. The crazy part about that? You're talking about taking this year's boys' basketball regional champ and dropping them a class.

- Not so much: Galena baseball left out of the playoffs. It was a given all year that one of the top-five Sierra League teams was going to be left out of the playoffs. It's not that I didn't think much of Galena's team it's more that I couldn't see them making it in over a Damonte or a Manogue.

If I had a vote for overall player of the year in the Northern 4A Regional baseball and softball honors ballots (and I don't), this is what it would look like, based mostly on their respective performances over the last week:

Baseball

1.Tyler May, Douglas; 2. Tyler Hoelzen, Douglas; 3. Tom Jameson, Reno; 4. Matt Rutledge, Carson; 5. Cody Stevens, Damonte Ranch.

Softball

1. Chelsea Cohen, Reed; 2. Ashley Collier, Spanish Springs; 3. Megan Dortch, Manogue; 4. Stephanie Harper, Douglas; 5. Samantha Puzey, Reno.

The top athletes, regardless of sport, at Douglas High determined by production during competition, overall value to their team, ability to perform with consistency in routine situations, performance compared to others at the same position throughout the state/region, ability to come up big in clutch situations, versatility, attitude, sportsmanship, overall athletic ability, heart, potential at the next level, and a host of other intangibles (emotional leadership, role-playing value, work ethic, etc.) This is all, of course, just my opinion.

Spring Sports

1. Jessica Waggoner, track & field

2. Tyler May, baseball

3. Thomas Wicker, golf

4. Stephanie Harper, softball

5. Tyler Hoelzen, baseball

6. Tim Rudnick, baseball

7. Emily Weaver, softball

8. Kyra Barth, track & field

9. Katie Dry, track & field

10. Maddy Gilbert, softball

Watch list: Katrina Morgan, softball; Kameron VanWinkle, baseball, Jessica Gorton, track & field; Eddie Kollar (diving); Morgan Blomstrom (softball); Mia Townsell (softball), Troy Torres (baseball), Tanner Thomas (baseball)

2008-09 School Year

1. Jessica Waggoner, volleyball/basketball/track & field

2. Tim Rudnick, football/basketball/baseball

3. Eddie Kollar, cross country/wrestling/diving

4. Nico Barker, football/wrestling

5. Parker Robertson, football/basketball

6. Katie Dry, soccer/basketball/track & field

7. Dany Heidt, soccer/basketball

8. Ally Freitas, soccer/basketball

9. James McLaughlin, basketball/football

10. Tyler Hoelzen, basketball/baseball

Since I've been here (2003)

1. Luke Rippee, football/basketball/baseball (2003)

2. Jessica Waggoner, volleyball/basketball/track (2005-present)

3. Tim Rudnick, football/basketball/baseball (2006-present)

4. Brittany Puzey, basketball/softball (2003-04)

5. Bridget Maestretti, volleyball/basketball/softball/track (2004-08)

6. Tyson Estes, football/basketball/baseball (2003-05)

7. Ryan Pruitt, football/wrestling/baseball (2005-07)

8. Mike Gransbery, soccer/basketball (2004-07)

9. James McLaughlin, football/basketball (2006-present)

10. Andy McIntosh, football/basketball/track/golf (2003)

Shawn Estes