A reason to smile in a sorrow-filled year

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • RSS Feeds
    • Dec 2015
    • 52112

    A reason to smile in a sorrow-filled year

    On Saturday, with a 1-0 win over Burlingame, the first-year Menlo School-Atherton baseball coach was able to momentarily rejoice with a Central Coast Section Division II title at San Jose Municipal Park.

    “It was an emotional win for sure,” Riley said by phone Monday in his thick Boston accent.

    Police still have no leads or suspects in what has been described as a random act of violence.

    Calvin, a former baseball standout at Serra who was the closer at Delta College in Stockton in 2016, was killed in a region known for tourism and family fun, not bloodshed.

    Maybe it was some sort of gang initiation shooting.

    Calvin was a chip off the old man’s block, a baseball junkie who stood out at shortstop and on the mound at Serra, where Riley was also an assistant coach in 2014 and 2015.

    Serra’s 2016 Northern California championship football team wore his initials on their helmet.

    Padres football coach Patrick Walsh told Sports Illustrated: He was what we call an all-in kid.

    With wife Kariann, two younger children — Justin, a senior at Serra, and daughter Bria, a fifth grader — Riley couldn’t flee the area.

    The baseball head coaching job opened at Menlo, to which he had no particular connection.

    [...] behind the leadership of seniors Griff McGarry, Chandler Yu and Ben Somorjai, Menlo began to gel, putting together a pair of four-game win streaks.

    A pitching gem by McGarry and steal of home by freshman Kevin Alarcon were all the Knights (19-10-1) need to win their seventh title overall.

    Serra had dedicated its season to Calvin in numerous ways, including wearing T-shirts with his number 9 and initials on the front with the words: “I’m Shippin’ Up to Boston” on the back.

    Before each game, a member of the team would read a long passage about Calvin that included the motto “Siempre Adelante (always forward),” along with this passage Each day of our lives, in everything we do, let us follow the example set by Calvin and dedicate ourselves to being and doing the best we can.

    MaxPreps senior writer Mitch Stephens covers high school sports for The Chronicle.

    More...
Working...
😀
😂
🥰
😘
🤢
😎
😞
😡
👍
👎