San Benito High School graduate Anthony Synegal (Class of ’04)
and the Gonzaga Bulldogs baseball team qualified toward the NCAA
Division I Tournament last weekend after it routed Loyola Marymount
14-3
SPOKANE, WASH.
San Benito High School graduate Anthony Synegal (Class of ’04) and the Gonzaga Bulldogs baseball team qualified toward the NCAA Division I Tournament last weekend after it routed Loyola Marymount 14-3, clinching its first ever West Coast Conference title as well its first postseason berth since 1981.
Compiling a record of 35-16 overall, 14-7 in the WCC, the Zags earned the No. 19 national ranking following its win last weekend, according to Baseball America.
No. 3 Gonzaga, meanwhile, will open the NCAA tournament in the Fullerton Regional, where it will play in a four-team, double-elimination first round against No. 2 Georgia Southern University today, Friday, at 3 p.m.
No. 1 Cal State Fullerton and No. 4 University of Utah make up the other two teams in Gonzaga’s regional.
Synegal, meanwhile, who transferred last season from San Jose City College, is batting .329 (54 of 164) for the Zags, including six home runs – all of which came in WCC play – and 32 RBI. He started in 47 of the Bulldogs’ 51 games this season.
A 5-foot-10, 201-pound senior who is listed as both a catcher and outfielder – he played catcher for the Balers – Synegal was recently named first team all-WCC.
Gatto, Barrientos, Fata continue softball at college level
The West Coast connection Canisius College is employing with its softball team seems to be paying off. Despite being located in Buffalo, N.Y., the Griffins boast eight players from California, including Hollister’s Lizzy Gatto (SBHS ’08) and Rachelle Barrientos (SBHS ’06), each of whom finished with a top-five batting average on the team this season.
Barrientos hit .294 (32 of 109) and Gatto .273 (35 of 128), and Canisius qualified to its third straight NCAA Softball Tournament appearance this past season.
Although it lost 3-0 to No. 11 Ohio State in the first round before falling 7-0 in an elimination game to Kentucky, the Griffs (26-25 overall, 9-7 MAAC) were champions of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament when it trumped Niagara 9-0.
Both Barrientos and Gatto were named to the all-tournament team.
Gatto’s teammate at San Benito, Elena Fata (SBHS ’08), recently wrapped up her freshman campaign at UNLV, where she batted .255 (25 of 98) for the Rebels (31-21 overall, 7-9 MWC).
UNLV also qualified for the NCAA Softball Tournament, but lost 2-1 to No. 25 Fresno State in the first round; Fata drove in the Rebels’ lone run. Later in the tournament, UNLV fell 3-1 in 13 innings to Long Beach State to complete its season.
Gino Fata, UCSD completes season in NCAA Div. II semifinals
Gino Fata, Elena Fata’s older brother and also an SBHS graduate, recently wrapped up play in the NCAA Division II National Championship for the UC San Diego baseball team in North Carolina.
Despite being ranked No. 1 after compiling a 38-14 record, including a 27-9 mark in conference, the Tritons lost last Sunday to No. 21 Dowling 3-1. San Diego rebounded in an elimination game to upend West Chester 8-6 Tuesday, and later avenged its loss to Dowling with a 13-1 rout on Wednesday, but the Tritons lost in the national semifinal game to No. 3 Emporia State on Thursday, 5-3.
San Diego trailed 3-1 but scored runs in the sixth and ninth innings to tie the game, but fell in the bottom of the ninth on a two-run walk-off homer.
Fata batted .333 (2 of 6) in eight games played with three RBI this season. San Diego finishes its year with a 41-15 record.
Klauer, Canez, SJSU fall short of tournament
After compiling 41 wins and earning the Western Athletic Conference regular-season title, the San Jose State University baseball team was left out of the NCAA Division I tournament on Monday.
The team consists of a pair of SBHS graduates in Karson Klauer (Class of 2006) and Breyon Canez (Class of 2006). Klauer batted .263 (41 of 156) with 31 RBI and four homers, while Canez was .333 (6 of 18) for the Spartans.
